Councilwoman Sallee Orr sticks to her guns! City Council Meeting – 1/6/2009

South Ogden City Council meeting wasn't as eventful as some of our past ones. Besides the large amounts of Boy Scouts that attended the meeting and Mayor Garwood jokingly calling Councilwoman Vicki Mattson "the biggest cheater on the council,"(because she always gives the scouts the answers to Garwood's trivia questions), most of the focus was centered around vacating of an easement on Fashion Point Dr. for some signage. Councilwoman Sallee Orr had a lot of good questions. She questioned why so many signs were needed, the purpose of the signs and how the signs looked. In the end she expressed her concerns of having so many signs. I was proud to see her stick to her guns and vote no on the ordinance; especially since everyone else voted yes before here. Final vote 4 to 1 in favor.

The condescending looks that Councilwoman Vicki Mattson gave when Sallee Orr asked questions during the meeting amazed me. I thought she [Vicki] was going to start laughing at one point, but instead she just rolled her eyes. This is not the first time I have seen her do this. It appeared most of the council was puzzled as to why Ms. Orr would be questioning the ordinance. It also seems the council becomes annoyed when Ms. Orr questions the issues brought up at many of the council meetings. I can't stress enough how I am impressed I am with Sallee Orr and her questions. She seems to really be taking her job serious and studying the issues at hand. On more than one occasion Sallee Orr has caught spelling errors, problems, and incorrect information in the city ordinances and paperwork. She seems to always be looking for ways to improve the community. We are lucky to have her on the council.

As for future meetings, January 20^th is a public hearing on our sewer rate jump. Be prepared to hear why your rate is going nearly 120+ percent. On February 3^rd will be our public hearing for the rec center gym facility. Scott Darrington is of the opinion that not everyone will care about the tax increase. He said, "When you talk to people about the tax increase some people might not like the idea, but some people might not have a problem with it". However why do we need to ask for public for comments when people have already responded in the 2007 survey the council commissioned. (See Here). 64 percent of South Ogden residents do not want to see a tax increase for a rec center gym facility.