This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Ogden activist Dan Schroeder scored a weak win Thursday in his fight to obtain records from the state Attorney General's Office regarding a closed investigation into Envision Ogden.
At issue were close to 300 bank records, a spreadsheet categorizing those transactions, an investigator's scrawled Post-It note and a draft press statement that was revised before it was released.
The bank records, deemed private Thursday by the state Records Committee, contained five canceled checks. Schroeder hoped to see who signed for Friends of Northern Utah Real Estate, an unregistered entity that received $20,690 from Envision Ogden in 2007 and then funneled those dollars to the campaigns of two City Council hopefuls — Blain Johnson and Royal Eccles.
Of the two, Johnson won election to serve out a two-year term that ended in 2009.
If neither side appeals the committee's decisions within 30 days, Schroeder will receive the spreadsheet, Post-It note and a few bank records with some information redacted.
"It will be very interesting to see what's on this summary [spreadsheet]," Schroeder said after the panel concluded its three-hour session. "It may or may not include the name on the backs of those checks."
Last year, Schroeder obtained records from the State Bureau of Investigations that revealed the scope of its probe into Envision Ogden and the donations.
"We know that Mayor Matthew Godfrey was never questioned, and Blain Johnson and Royal Eccles were never questioned," Schroeder said.
Many donors were interviewed and said they did not know their contributions would be sent to political campaigns.
twitter: @catmck —
History of Envision Ogden probe
Between April 2009 and March 2011, the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) scrutinized Envision Ogden. It began in 2007 as an economic booster for the city, with Mayor Matthew Godfrey raising the bulk of its funds, then helped fuel campaigns for two City Council candidates — Royal Eccles and Blain Johnson — later that fall. Those funds were funneled through a non-registered entity called Friends of Northern Utah Real Estate.