Posted inCitizen involvement

Difficult-to-hear truths in “Sustaining Democracy” book

I guess it was good timing. Just as the fight in Washington D.C. over the Build Back Better bill and related bipartisan infrastructure bill hit a crescendo the past few days, I started reading a book by Robert Talisse, "Sustaining Democracy: What We Owe to the Other Side." I'd learned about the book by hearing an interview with Talisse on the POTUS channel on satellite radio. Even though it's a rather spendy Oxford University Press hardcover, I liked what Talisse was saying. (He's a philosophy professor specializing in democratic theory.) The book is aimed at a general audience, thankfully.  I've…
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Posted inEnvironment Land use

Thirty-acre Meyer Farm property in south Salem may be developed

If you drive past Trader Joe's on Hilfiker Lane SE, on your left you'll see a surprising urban sight: thirty acres of beautiful undeveloped land.  Unfortunately, there's a decent chance that before too long this property will become thirty acres of much less beautiful developed land. But not if a group of people devoted to seeing the land remain as natural as possible succeed in their effort to stop the planned subdivision. Consider joining the Friends of The Meyer Farm Facebook group if you share their goal. The Statesman Journal has done some good reporting on plans for the Meyer…
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Posted inNational politics

If Democrats can’t pass a voting rights bill, democracy dies

There are times when it makes sense to ignore the political mess that is Washington, DC. This isn't one of them. Today may have marked a milestone in how our democracy died -- not through a violent coup, but through two Democratic senators refusing to do away with the Republican filibuster of the Freedom to Vote Act. This is the replacement for the considerably more expansive voting rights act that started off as the first bill introduced in both the House and Senate, indicating how important it was to congressional Democrats. However, Senator Manchin of West Virginia, who often sounds…
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Posted in2020 election Marion County politics

Salem voters need to realize they’re in Marion County

Aside from West Salem, which is in Polk County, everybody else who lives in Salem is in Marion County. Unfortunately, when it comes to electing the county Board of Commissioners, too many Salem voters tend to forget the reality of this map. For a long time -- I'm not sure how many years it has been -- the three members of the Marion County Board of Commissioners have all been Republicans.  Most recently, in November 2020 Republican Danielle Bethell handily beat Democrat Ashley Carson Cottingham 52-44. Yet the voter registration breakdown for Marion County as of September 2020 showed an…
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Posted inCity of Salem Homeless Police reform

We need to keep Salem from having Portland’s problems

I used to have Portland envy. Not so much that I wanted to move there -- I've had a Salem address since 1977 -- but Portland seemed like the cool kid to our north, while Salem was decidedly geeky. Now, though, I'll happily take Salem, even if termed So-Lame, over Portland's increasing dysfunction.  Every night my wife and I watch the Portland late night news on KGW. I used to fast forward through a couple of minutes of crime news, because I don't like the "If it bleeds, it leads" sort of journalism.  Throughout 2021, and especially recently, shootings, vandalism,…
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Posted inSalem-Keizer school district

Anti-racist resolution passed by Salem-Keizer School Board

Racism is bad. This should be a uncontraversial position, but last night there was plenty of arguing about the pros and cons of a Salem-Keizer School Board resolution calling for a commitment to equity and antiracism. Here's a PDF file of the resolution. I've also copied it in below.Download Salem-Keizer School Board Antiracist Resolution I watched much of the public testimony online, along with the board's discussion of the resolution. My main takeaway is that the school board did the right thing when it approved the anti-racist resolution on a 4-2 vote -- with the four recently elected progressive board members…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City Council Police reform

Salem Police Department survey has problems, like the department

The Salem Police Department wants people to take a survey about the strategic plan being developed to guide how the department operates in coming years. I completed the survey today. And I could have completed it over and over, for as long as I wanted, because the survey allows people to respond more than once to it. This alone makes the value of the survey dubious.  Letting people fill out the survey multiple times makes it vulnerable to vote manipulation by vested interests -- either pro-police or anti-police -- who want to skew the results in their favored direction.  The…
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Posted inCity of Salem Homeless

City Council to reconsider West Salem homeless micro shelter camp

Complaining works. A Salem Reporter story, "Salem City Council to reconsider west Salem managed camp after opposition from neighbors," tells the outraged tale. West Salem's city councilor wants the council to reconsider allowing a managed homeless camp on Wallace Road after residents objected to the plan. At a Monday meeting, the council will hear a motion from Councilor Jim Lewis to reconsider the council’s previous approval of a managed camp along Wallace Road following overwhelming opposition to the project voiced during a Tuesday meeting at Salemtowne. In council documents, Lewis explained that he wanted the council to withdraw its approval…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City Council City of Salem

Homelessness is the top concern of Salem residents

Recently the City of Salem released the results of its 2021 Community Satisfaction Survey, which is conducted annually by contacting a random sample of about 400 residents.Download City of Salem 2021 Community Satisfaction Survey - September 2021 Not surprisingly, city officials put a positive spin on the results in their Salem Connection email blurb. Ah, note the mention of "core City services." It's true that most people, 70%, are satisfied with city services. But that's a big drop from the 86% satisfaction in 2020. Since Covid was with us in both years, the pandemic doesn't seem to be the reason…
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Posted inNational politics

Debt ceiling fight shows how dangerous Republicans are

Just when I thought the dysfunction in Congress couldn't get any worse, it has. And not by a little, by a lot. What's grabbed the part of my brain that is prone to panic is another fight over raising the debt ceiling. That's the ridiculous century-old law that requires Congress to vote on paying for the federal debt that already has been incurred. The usual way of describing it is agreeing to pay for the credit card charges you've already made. For almost all people, that's a non-choice. Of course, we pay for what's already been put on our credit…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Police reform

Setback for Salem mental health crisis response team

Led by Vanessa Nordyke, last June the Salem City Council appropriated $135,000 for a mental health crisis response team similar to the CAHOOTS program that has been a big success in Eugene -- where a medic and crisis worker handle about 17% of the police department's call volume, saving about $12 million a year at a cost of about $2.1 million a year. But now the Salem project is on life support, according to a Salem Reporter story, "Salem, United Way halt plans for mental health crisis responder program."  The city of Salem paused its plans to start a program…
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Posted inUncategorized

350 Salem OR’s TOP TEN Climate Action Strategies

Nicely done, Salem branch of the 350 climate action organization that advocates for reducing carbon pollution as much and as rapidly as possible. Below are the top ten climate action strategies that 350 Salem OR submitted to the City Council as a public comment in advance of last Monday's work session on the Salem Climate Action Plan. This is how their web site introduced the strategies. To meet the Salem City Council’s goal of a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2035 it is critical that the City focus on the most effective reduction strategies immediately, particularly related to…
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Posted inOregon politics

GOP state legislature walkout over redistricting likely tomorrow

Oregon Republicans absolutely love to walk out of the state legislature to deny a quorum when they're unable to get their way. Which is often, since this is a blue state with Democrats firmly in control. The current GOP hissy-fit is about House Speaker Tina Kotek changing the agreement she made with Republicans to have a 3-3 Democrat-Republican split on the House Redistricting Committee. That deal gave Republicans veto power over maps to redistrict both legislative and congressional seats following the 2020 census. At the time I thought what Kotek did was a bad idea. Recently I wrote a post,…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Environment

City Council needs to strengthen Climate Action Plan

I admire how the Salem Breakfast on Bikes blogger told it like it is in a recent post about the Salem Climate Action Plan that's up for discussion by the City Council on Monday. This is a devastating criticism from someone who knows what he's talking about. The Breakfast on Bikes blogger has followed progress on the Climate Action Plan much more closely than I have, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been a longtime crusade for him. So when he says it's a dud, the City Council needs to wake up and pay attention. There's still time to alter…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City of Salem

Planned Parenthood doesn’t want counter-protests or protests at its health centers

Here in Salem, the so-called "The Church at Planned Parenthood - Salem OR" has been holding anti-abortion protests (which they call services) at the Planned Parenthood health center on Wolverine Street NE.  I said so-called because Awakening Ministries is the group behind The Church at Planned Parenthood -- which basically is a national group that local churches can become a franchise of. I'm an atheist who supports a woman's right to choose an abortion. So I strongly oppose what The Church at Planned Parenthood (TCAPP) is trying to accomplish through its services/protests.  However, that group has a right to protest…
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Posted inNational politics

Quiz: see which party you’d belong to if America had six

If you'd like to know where you'd find a political home if the United States had six political parties, take the 20-question quiz in a New York Times opinion piece, "Quiz: If America Had Six Parties, Which Would You Belong To?" I ended up in the New Liberal Party. Based on a survey of 5,000 voters who answered the same 20 questions, here's the estimate of where the American electorate would end up if we had these six parties. The first three are left-leaning. The next three are right-leaning. Progressive Party -- 14%New Liberal Party -- 26%American Labor Party --…
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Posted inCoronavirus

On 9/11, let’s remember the 659,556 Covid deaths

This isn't exactly a politically correct sentiment, but it's how I feel. There should be a statute of limitations on mourning the 2,996 people who died in the 9/11 attack twenty years ago. I say this because our country has a nasty habit of getting all emotional about the wrong things. Or to put it differently, not getting all emotional about the right things.  Yes, it was a tragedy that so many people died and suffered as a result of the 9/11 attack. But the current number of Covid deaths in the United States is 659,556 -- 220 times the…
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Posted inNational politics

Can anyone defend the Texas “bounty” anti-abortion law?

I've got a question for anyone who favors the recently-enacted Texas law that allows private citizens to seek $10,000 in civil court from anyone who provides an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, aids someone in getting an abortion, or even intends to seek an abortion. Why do you think this law is a good idea? Before you answer, "Because it bans almost all abortions in Texas," consider the implications of what you're saying. There's no doubt that the law is unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that abortion is legal in all 50 states until a fetus can…
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Posted inOregon politics

Oregon Democrats should hang tough with redistricting map

There are times to play nice, and there are times to play tough. When it comes to drawing a new map of Oregon's six congressional districts following the 2020 census -- we get an additional seat due to population growth -- it's definitely a time for Democrats to play tough.  After all, in states where they're in control of redistricting, Republicans are going all-out to draw maps that are gerrymandered to ensure that GOP candidates win as many seats as possible. Republican politicians even have said that redistricting alone is going to guarantee a Republican takeover of the House of…
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Posted inNational politics

Texas abortion ban excites American “Taliban”

Today could mark the beginning of the end for abortions in much of the United States. This is horrible news for the majority of Americans who support a woman's right to choose.  But the fervent anti-abortion minority are rejoicing in a Texas law going into effect which effectively bans abortions, since the law forbids the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, which is before most women even know they're pregnant. Providers said the ban — which relies on private citizens to sue people who help women get forbidden abortions — effectively eliminates the guarantee in Roe v. Wade and subsequent…
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