Posted inCity Council Cycling

City Council approves protected bike lane from Harritt Drive NW to 17th Street NE

It isn't everything that Salem Bike Vision proposed for a network of protected bike lanes in Salem, but it's a good start. After all, politics is the art of the doable. Idealism is fine. In the end, though, getting part of what you want is a heck of a lot better than falling on a idealistic sword and not getting anything. A protected bike lane So even though I'd hoped for more protected bike lanes to be included in the $300 million community improvement bond measure Salem voters will be asked to approve this November, it was pleasing to watch…
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Posted inNational politics

Chaos is the real reason abortion rights have been lost

Like most Democrats, and indeed most Americans, I'm a strong supporter of abortion rights. The recent Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case which ruled that the Constitution protects a woman's right to choose an abortion, deeply irritates me. So does the weak response of Democratic leaders in Washington, especially since the leaked draft Supreme Court decision gave Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer plenty of time to formulate plans for protecting abortion rights after the court gave a green light to about half the states banning abortion entirely. Telling people, vote in November, is pretty much useless…
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Posted inCity Council Cycling

More evidence that City of Salem staff hate protected bike lanes

Totally predictable. But disturbing all the same. City staff played games with a survey intended to gauge public support for an upcoming $300 million bond measure by slanting the survey to make it less likely that those responding would say Yes! to the Salem Bike Vision proposal to build a network of protected bike lanes. City councilor and Mayor-to-be Chris Hoy recognized this game a month ago, as I noted in a May 24 blog post, "Mayor and city staff try to keep Salem from having protected bike lanes."  Discussion then turned to the public opinion research mentioned in the…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem

Salem isn’t really one of the best-run cities in America

The City of Salem Facebook page was all proud about Salem supposedly being one of the best-run cities in America. Not surprisingly, Mayor Bennett said it showed how wonderfully the folks at City Hall are doing. I'm not nearly as excited, for reasons I'll describe below. First, this isn't a scholarly bit of research conducted by an organization with impeccable credentials. It's a report by WalletHub designed to drive clicks to their web site, where I assume they do something involving being a hub for people with wallets. Second, it might make sense to speak of the "best-run city government,"…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump

Georgia election workers show what a hateful liar Trump is

At this point I'm rarely shocked by anything Donald Trump does or says. But today's televised hearing of the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol moved me deeply,  because what Trump did to two Georgia election workers -- Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman -- was so horrible even by Trumpian standards. Moss and Freeman at the January 6 committee hearing He and his lying accomplice, Rudy Giuliani, destroyed the lives of Moss and Freeman by falsely accusing them of falsifying many thousands of ballots for Joe Biden.  It was infuriating to listen to…
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Posted inHumor

These disturbing days I’m doing my best to deny reality

It's a tough time for lots of people in the United States. No, let's make that most people. President Biden said as much yesterday. Speaking to the Associated Press in a rare one-on-one interview in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, the president touched on many topics from war to hair. “People are really, really down,” Biden told the Associated Press White House reporter Josh Boak, according to a transcript of the interview. “They’re really down.” Agreed. Maybe you aren't feeling down, but I sure am. Not totally, of course. I have plenty of cheerful moments. But I find it…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem

A middle-aged white guy will be the next Salem City Manager

So after four months of searching the country for candidates to be Salem's next City Manager, the folks at City Hall came up with three middle-aged white guys.  My intuitive reaction when I saw the image below on Facebook was, Oh, no! And this is coming from an old white guy. Look, I have nothing against middle-aged white guys. I can remember being one myself a mere couple of dozen years ago. It just seems wrong for city officials to conduct a nationwide search and end up with three candidates who don't reflect the vast majority of people in Salem. Women…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City Council Cycling

Read why people want Salem to have protected bike lanes

Ten days ago I started a petition in support of the Salem Bike Vision proposal to spend $10 million of an upcoming $300 million community improvement bond on building a network of protected bike lanes. Please sign the petition, if you haven't already. So far 228 people have signed the petition. Over half, 130 people, left comments explaining why they support the protected bike lanes proposal.  I've copied in those comments below, which total 3,876 words. Yes, that's a lot. But the people who wrote those words spoke well, and sometimes eloquently, about how protected bike lanes are a big…
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Posted inCity Council Cycling

Weird reasons against protected bike lanes in Salem

Any user of Facebook knows that while there is a lot to like about this social media platform, there's also a lot not to like -- such as damn crazy ideas being spread around. About a week ago I started a petition in support of the Salem Bike Vision proposal to build a network of protected bike lanes in Salem. At the moment it has 190 signatures. Please sign it! To publicize the petition, I shared a post on three Facebook pages that I administer: Salem Can Do Better, Strange Up Salem, Salem Political Snark. The 591 reactions to date…
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Posted in2022 election City Council

Medlock now leads Gwyn by two votes in Ward 4 council race

If this was a fast-moving sporting event, rather than a slow-motion counting of all the votes, the contest between Dynee Medlock and Deanna Gywn to become the next Salem City Councilor in Ward 4 (a seat currently held by Jackie Leung, who didn't seek re-election) would have fans on the edge of their seats, waiting to see who ends up on top when time runs out. Here's how the contest stands as of today. Yesterday Gwyn led Medlock by two votes. Now Medlock leads Gwyn by two votes. We're not done yet with the May 17 election. A Salem Reporter…
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