Posted inCity of Salem Third Bridge

City of Salem Third Bridge actions being appealed to LUBA. Yay!

Salem don't need no damn billion dollar Third Bridge boondoggle. That's one way of putting it. Another way is, The Salem River Crossing project has been marked by poor planning that failed to properly consider much less expensive and more environmentally-friendly alternatives to achieving the purported benefits of an additional bridge across the Willamette. Regardless, recent land use actions by the City of Salem in support of the Third Bridge by expanding Salem's urban growth boundary are being appealed by opponents of the Third Bridge to the Land Use Board of Appeals, LUBA. Thumbs up! Here's their press release. December…
1
Posted inPolice facility

“No organized opposition” to $82 million police facility bond levy? Fighting words, Oregon Pioneer.

How do you argue with the "golden man" statue on top of the Capitol building? Through a blog post! I'm sure the Oregon Pioneer reads Salem Political Snark, since he's sitting right on top of a whole lot of fodder for political snarkiness. Of course, I guess it's possible that the regular Musings of the Oregon Pioneer column in the Salem Business Journal isn't written by the statue.  Regardless, the column in the December 2016 issue contains some fighting words. Download SBJ piece about new police station Last November 8, the voters turned down a new $82 million police station at…
No Comments
Posted inCity of Salem Downtown T.J. Sullivan

Salem City officials asked to explain $749,000 giveaway. Waiting for answers…

Do Salem's Mayor, Mayor-elect, city councilors, and other officials care about Truth and Transparency? In a few weeks we'll find out.  By January 6 I've asked them to explain -- in a simple, clear fashion -- why a $749,000 urban renewal grant was approved for the Park Front building on December 12. The applicant was T.J. Sullivan, a former city councilor and current vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. I asked city councilors to say why they were going to vote "Yay" or "Nay" on the $749,000 when I testified in opposition to this giveaway during the public comment period…
3
Posted in2016 election Citizen involvement

Facebook post boosts are an Oregon election independent expenditure

Just what I wanted for Christmas: an Oregon election law violation! I've already unwrapped it (by opening an envelope that came from the Secretary of State office) and am "wearing" it proudly. After all, I had no idea that there was a requirement to register as an Independent Expenditure Filer if someone spends $750 or more in a calendar year in support of, or opposition to, candidates or ballot measures independently of those officially involved in a campaign (like, the candidate, a PAC, and so on). So I openly and happily wrote a blog post after the May primary election,…
1
Posted inPolice facility

City of Salem leasing old O’Brien auto site until June 2017

I wasn't aware that the City of Salem was leasing the old O'Brien auto dealership site north of downtown until I read about this in a recent Statesman Journal story, "Salem preps old dealership for homeless warming shelter." The city of Salem dispatched staff Tuesday to ready the old O’Brien Auto Group space for the homeless to use as a warming shelter while coming winter nights are expected to dip below freezing....The city leases the O’Brien property, which would have been the site for a new police facility if the measure to fund it hadn’t failed this November. O'Brien site when it was…
2
Posted inT.J. Sullivan Urban Renewal

Urban renewal crony capitalism is alive and well in Salem (may it die soon)

Last night the Salem Urban Renewal Agency board, which is just the City Council by another name, approved a $749,000 grant to T.J. Sullivan for his Park Front office building. Nine days ago I called this "crony capitalism" in a blog post written after Sullivan's application came to light. Nothing I saw at yesterday's meeting changed my mind.  Here's a video of my testimony, which includes an interchange between Councilor Jim Lewis and me. I'll share the text of what I said at the end of this post. My central points were based on two indisputable facts: (1) The City of…
No Comments
Posted in2016 election

Salem is getting even more liberal. Clinton won everywhere!

I just got 2016 Clinton vs. Trump election results for Salem from someone who, as with the 2012 Obama vs. Romney results, shall be known as a "fellow political junkie." There's some positive news for us local liberals/progressives in this Age of Trump. In Salem we're getting increasingly stronger! Here's the overall result -- arrived at by aggregating vote tallies by precinct to get ward totals, which, when summed, provides a result for Salem. Clinton crushed Trump by 11%. By comparison, Obama beat Romney by almost as much, 10%. Note the disparity in the major party percentages: 87% in 2016,…
1
Posted inCity Council Downtown

Salem City Hall, let’s have some citizen JOY in 2017

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about Salem City Council goings-on that had "sad" and "pathetic" in its title. I don't enjoy doing this. I'd much rather be writing about the marvelous things City officials are doing that make almost everybody in town joyful.  But I can't do this, because such isn't happening. Under Mayor Anna Peterson's less than inspiring reign, she and her Chamber of Commerce-backed city council majority have chosen to focus on what pleases the already rich and powerful in Salem -- not on the needs and wants of ordinary people.  So, to offer up one significant…
1
Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Third Bridge sadly staggers on in pathetic City Council meeting

Tonight five clueless members of the Salem City Council voted to move ahead with the unneeded, unwanted, and unpaid-for Third Bridge, a.k.a. the Salem River Crossing.  Let it be remembered who supported this billion dollar boondoggle: Mayor-elect and current city councilor Chuck Bennett, along with fellow councilors Steve McCoid, Jim Lewis, Brad Nanke, and Warren Bednarz. Councilors Tom Andersen and Diana Dickey voted against the bridge. Bednarz was roundly defeated in this year's election by Third Bridge skeptic Sally Cook. So his vote tonight can't hurt him. But Bennett, McCoid, and Lewis will be up for re-election in 2018. Their opponents…
5
Posted inT.J. Sullivan

More crony capitalism in Salem: $750,000 for T.J. Sullivan’s downtown building

Man, the outrages never end when it comes to the Powers That Be in this town financially rewarding... get ready for a non-shocking revelation... other members of the Powers That Be. The newest example of Salem's crony capitalism is T.J. Sullivan's request to the Downtown Advisory Board for $749,999 to help pay for the $8.9 millionPark Front office building on the old Boise Cascade property adjacent to Riverfront Park. See: Download DAB agenda 12-01-16 Note: Sullivan's request letter asks for $749,000, but I guess the Downtown Advisory Board threw in an extra $999 just to get the total tantalizingly close…
1