Ex-official for West Valley may get Ogden job

Former West Valley City manager John Patterson may be Ogden-bound for a new job as community services director — if the mayor can persuade the City Council to go along with it.

"For the mayor to come out and say he'll be a great addition is not accurate," said city councilwoman Mary Hall. "I think the council will have some fairly probing questions for John."

"My one-seventh vote isn't cast yet," said city councilman Mark Johnson. He wants to talk with Patterson in a closed session before Tuesday's City Council meeting and perhaps probe issues of honor and character.

During the closed meeting, Mayor Matthew Godfrey plans to make his recommendation for the appointed position.

Godfrey said he'll seek top pay for Patterson, which could be about $100,000 a year. That's about $20,000 less than Patterson's West Valley City salary. Of the three previous appointments Godfrey has made, none has been turned down by the council, the mayor said.

But Patterson may be a different story.

He resigned his West Valley post Nov. 7 after he was publicly criticized for using city time and resources to raise money for a beauty-pageant contestant. At the same time, rumors were resurfacing about a relationship Patterson was having with the beauty queen's mother, Patterson's former assistant at West Valley City. Patterson said he resigned after 11 years because of rumor and innuendo.

"We have not even met this fellow," Hall said. She said she'll definitely ask Patterson about the fund-raising and relationship. "There may be nothing there. I think we're certainly going to talk to him about that."

Godfrey said that after talking with "many, many" people from West Valley City, some of whom he called Patterson's "enemies," he's satisfied Patterson did nothing illegal. Godfrey called Patterson capable and aggressive, acknowledging he may ruffle a few feathers along the way. He compared Patterson with Stuart Reid, Salt Lake City's former economic development boss. Godfrey hired Reid as Ogden's development director after Reid lost the Salt Lake mayoral election to Rocky Anderson.

City Council approval is still pending, but Patterson has been given a tentative start date of Dec. 2.

Godfrey hopes Patterson can dig the city out of $1 million in debt from its golf-course endeavors and turn Union Station, which receives a city subsidy of $350,000 a year, into a financially viable place. Patterson will also be charged with buying up land for an extensive trail system.

Even if he gets the Ogden job, Patterson and his family will continue living in West Valley City in a new home built earlier this year. If Patterson is hired, the current community services director, Stephen Chatwin, will move on to replace a retiring parks director.

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