The showdown in Ogden between the City Council and Mayor Matthew Godfrey appears to be anything but over.
The next move in the spat over the Marshall White Community Center belongs to the mayor.
The council, in a split vote this week, put its foot down on the central Ogden facility -- funding its operation in full at $337,450. The council's action came after Godfrey's proposed annual budget reduced operating money for the 40-year-old facility to zero.
Godfrey has signed a contract with the nonprofit Ogden/Weber Community Action Partnership Inc. to run Marshall White, in an apparent attempt to rid the city of the center's financial load.
Under Utah law, the council could not thwart the contract, but the budget it passed Tuesday called not only for funding the center, but it attached a policy statement to the document that would require OWCAP to keep Marshall White's pool open and continue all of its programs.
The mayor, who has line-item veto power, has hinted he may cancel the Marshall White budget and the policy statement, said Bill Cook, the council's executive director.
Godfrey, through a spokesman, didn't specify what he would do, but said, "All options are on the table," concerning a veto of part or all of the budget.
"The mayor has the right to veto any ordinance within 15 days," Cook said. But in Ogden's form of government, "the council sets policies and the mayor carries them out."
The council attached the policy statement, said Councilwoman Amy Wicks, because the mayor left the body little choice. Marshall White is the focal point of the community for many in the central Ogden area.
Among other things, the contract the mayor signed allows OWCAP to close the swimming pool, Wicks said.
"It seems ridiculous that we should entertain the idea of closing the pool," she said. "I see it as devaluing city assets."
OWCAP Director Donald Carpenter did not return phone calls Thursday inquiring about the nonprofit's plans for the center.
The future of Marshall White appears undecided. Wicks said she expects the mayor to veto the budget allocation for the center.
In that event, the council could override the veto, but that would require a super-majority of five votes on the seven-member board.
Council members Brandon Stephenson and Doug Stephens voted against the budget and the attached policy statement on Marshall White.
Council members Wicks, Jesse Garcia, Caitlin Gochnor and Dorrene Jeske voted in favor of the budget and policy statement.
Councilman Blaine Johnson was absent.
If the council does not have five votes to override a veto, the budget would revert to its previous form and the center could get no funding, according to Cook and Wicks.
Community activist Joyce Frye said the mayor has ulterior motives for closing the community center.
"He doesn't want low-income people to survive in this community," she said. "He should be fighting for it, not trying to get rid of it."
