Posted inOregon politics

Marion County garbage burner propaganda disputed by Clean Air Now Coalition

Most of us don't pay much attention to where our garbage goes after it is picked up. But if you live in Marion County (Oregon), you should. Because the end point of our trash gets burned up by an incinerator owned and operated by Covanta, a multi-billion dollar company that's trying to get the Oregon legislature to give it renewable energy tax credits. Yes, for burning garbage. Who knew that garbage was a renewable resource? (It isn't -- that's why hardly anybody but Covanta favors bestowing taxpayer money on the incinerator in Brooks, north of Salem.) On February 21, a…
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Posted inCity Council Downtown Homeless

Revised sit-lie ordinance is a laudable compromise, but still flawed

Last night the Salem City Council voted 7-1 to move ahead with considering Cara Kaser's creative attempt to find a middle ground on how to deal with downtown's homeless problem. (Jim Lewis was the only no vote; Tom Andersen was out of town). A Salem Reporter story, "Salem City Council moves ahead with sit-lie -- with some conditions," explains the essence of Kaser's approach. The Salem City Council is moving forward with a plan to ban sitting and lying on public sidewalks — with provisions. Councilor Cara Kaser made a motion to go ahead with the ban on Monday, Feb.…
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Posted inChuck Bennett City Council Downtown

Salem’s proposed sit-lie ordinance rests on a bunch of “can’ts”

Tomorrow there's a good chance the Salem City Council will approve a citywide sit-lie ordinance that prohibits sitting and lying on public sidewalks between the hours of 7 am to 9 pm, subject to certain exceptions.  Aimed at homeless people, obviously, this is the most recent attempt to pass a sit-lie ordinance, which so far has failed to get a majority vote from the City Council. Mayor Chuck Bennett Mayor Bennett really wants to have it passed this time, as a recent Salem Reporter story made clear. Here's an excerpt from "Salem Mayor pushes for 'sit-lie' in the face of…
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Posted inOregon politics

Marion County officials are clueless about profit margin of garbage incinerator

Today's Salem City Club program on the controversial Covanta garbage incinerator that handles Marion County trash was as disappointing as I and others expected it to be. Back in January I criticized the City Club for making the program totally biased in a blog post called "Salem City Club sparks outrage with one-sided garbage burner program."  Last week I was included in email exchanges between environmentalists from the local chapter of 350.org and City Club members in charge of the garbage burner program. My sympathies then, as now, are with the environmentalists. For after failing to have the Oregon legislature…
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Posted inOregon politics

Some rural Oregonians want to join Idaho. Good luck with that.

There's a movement to have the most rural Oregon counties join with Idaho so those living outside of the Willamette Valley don't have to put up with annoying democratic niceties such as elections have consequences.  Here's what Greater Idaho would look like if that fantasy were to somehow become reality, against great odds, courtesy of a map in the Oregonian story. This is how a USA Today story, "Secession in the Pacific Northwest? Some Oregon residents petition to join Idaho," starts out. Frustrated by liberal policies, some Oregon residents are petitioning to leave the state –by moving the border with Idaho…
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Posted in2020 election National politics

Please, Democrats, no purity tests for the presidential candidates

Let's make this the overarching mantra for Democrats until Donald Trump is defeated in the November 2020 presidential election: No Dem candidate is perfect, but all of them are hugely better than Trump. Which means, ditch any thought of a purity test for the candidates still in the hunt for the Democratic nomination. I was reminded of this oh-so-important adage when I came across a piece in The Atlantic, "Bloomberg Flunks the Wokeness Test."  Right on subtitle: Stop-and-frisk was awful. But to disqualify the former New York mayor from the presidency on that basis is to risk something more destructive:…
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Posted inCity of Salem Peter Fernandez Trees

Neighborhood association criticizes city officials for not enforcing tree ordinance

Way to go, South Central Association of Neighbors (SCAN) -- the neighborhood association that represents the area where Daniel and Richard Gatti knowingly destroyed four valuable street trees by topping them, yet so far haven't been required to pay the full cost of their value, as required by the City of Salem tree ordinance.  One of the mangled Gatti trees Here's the resolution that was passed by SCAN yesterday.  SCAN RESOLUTION OPPOSING FAILURE TO FULLY ENFORCE THE SALEM REVISED CODE CONCERNING STREET TREE REMOVAL Adopted by the SCAN Board on February 12, 2020 WHEREAS, on or about January 2, 2020,…
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Posted in2020 election National politics

Here’s what worries me about Bernie Sanders

Until the November election is over, I'm going to be in a perpetual state of political anxiety. Dumping Trump is super-important for lots of reasons, preserving our democracy from authoritarian rule being high on the list. So obviously it's vital that the Democrats nominate someone who is well suited to defeat Trump. And that means winning the Electoral College, not just running up the score in the popular vote, because we saw how that worked for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.  In short, not well. Which is why I worry most about Bernie Sanders being the Democratic candidate.…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump

Here’s what really scares me about Donald Trump

As I said a few days ago, progressives like me are going through an anxious period. There's no obvious Democratic presidential candidate who seems fully up to the job of beating Trump in the November 2020 election.  Meanwhile, polls show that Trump has managed to hold on to his base of support, and maybe even has expanded it a bit. This befuddles people, again, like me, who wonder what 44% or so of the country sees in a guy who is so obviously immoral, a habitual liar, and mean. A book I just finished re-reading gave me a new perspective on…
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Posted in2020 election City Council National politics

Anxiety among progressives is real. Here’s how I’m coping.

Don't get me wrong. It's always a good time to be a progressive leftie. But at the moment I'm not feeling much pleasurable buzz from being on the right, or better put, wisest, way of looking at the political world. Let's count some of the reasons. (1) Trump is emboldened following his impeachment acquittal. He's shown no sign of repentance for trying to get Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election. Aside from Senator Romney, congressional Republicans are kissing Trump's ass with disgusting relish. (2) The Iowa caucuses were a disaster. The messed-up tally of results makes Democrats look incompetent.…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Peter Fernandez

Peter Fernandez, Public Works Director, is failing to enforce Salem’s tree ordinance

Just when I thought the wanton destruction of four valuable street trees by Daniel and Richard Gatti couldn't be more outrageous, it turns out I was wrong. Because Michael Slater reported in a Salem Tree Advocates post on Facebook that the City of Salem's Public Works Director, Peter Fernandez, has admitted that he hasn't been requiring people who improperly remove street trees to pay for the full assessed value of the trees, as is required by a city ordinance, SRC 86.105(c). l heartily agree both with Jim Scheppke's comment above, plus a post that Scheppke wrote on the Facebook page…
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