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Dolan knows his soccer plans, not soccer stars
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Tom Dolan doesn't know soccer. Says so, even.

But for good measure, the Sandy mayor butchered the name of perhaps the best-known player in the world last week - twice - while making a pitch to Salt Lake County Council to help fund a suburban soccer stadium.

Dolan suggested the stadium would bring international exposure to Utah. After all, "David Becker" will be here in August during the international friendly between Real Salt Lake and Real Madrid, he told the row of politicians.

Dolan conceded he didn't know who David Beckham is, but "I know who David Becker is married to."

Seems Sandy's top pol knows his Spice Girls - at least one of them: Posh.

Still, it didn't satisfy the smattering of RSL fans in the audience, who snickered each time the Sandy mayor mangled the name of the soccer star.

If looks could kill . . .

Integrity seems to mean different things to different people, but a universal truth is that people hate to have their own brought into question.

Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey responded vehemently during last week's City Council meeting when a police officer, talking about the importance of integrity, glanced his way.

Godfrey, who apparently saw deeper meaning in that look, offered to stay after the meeting and discuss his integrity with the police officers, who were there seeking better pay.

At meeting's end, he was observed having an animated talk with the glancing officer and several of his comrades.

The cops argue they have been dealt an unfair blow after reaching an impasse in salary negotiations with city brass. They resent being held to a higher standard than other city employees in order to receive a full 5 percent merit increase.

"My integrity is impeccable," Godfrey said, addressing the men and women in uniform who had come to sound off. "I know of nothing we've done to have our integrity called into question. Our integrity is of the highest standard. We don't tolerate staff who are not honest."

Meanwhile, a female officer said she works overtime and weekends to have enough money to support herself and her daughter.

"We never planned on living in Shadow Valley [an upscale Ogden neighborhood] driving a Hummer or having a car allowance," said Detective Melissa Melcher, an 11-year veteran.

She could have been referring to the 2004 Hummer driven by Mark Johnson, now the city's management-services director, who used his $375 monthly vehicle allowance to supplement city payments for the gas guzzler.

Media attention and subsequent public reaction apparently took the fun out of driving the darn thing, so now he clunks around in a 2005 GMC Yukon.

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l Attention political junkies: Get your daily fix from The Tribune's "Out of Context" political blog at http://blogs.sltrib .com/utahpolitics.

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