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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Posted inCity of Salem Trees

Gatti brothers fined $2,000 for tree destruction, but they should pay more

Today, after filing a public records request, I learned how much Daniel and Richard Gatti are being fined for destroying four street trees after failing to get a permit, as required by a City of Salem ordinance: $2,000, $500 per tree. Here's the PDF file I got.Download 20-132 Enforcement Order-Notice Redacted_Redacted One of the mangled Gatti street trees However, here's part of what I said in my first blog post about the tree destruction, "Gatti brothers trash street trees. City of Salem needs to  fine them, big-time." Wow. Richard Gatti knew he shouldn't trim street trees on public property without…
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Posted inOregon politics

Youth fighting for climate change action should inspire Oregon politicians

My 12-year-old granddaughter, Evelyn, did the right thing in sending me an "OK Boomer" hoodie for Christmas. While at first I took it as a putdown of my baby boomer generation, upon further reflection I see it as a totally justified putdown of my generation. About the same time as the arrival of the hoodie, TIME magazine's Person of the Year issue arrived. It featured Greta Thunberg on the cover, with the words "The Power of Youth." Since, that issue has been sitting in my pile of Things to Blog About One Day. That day has come, in part because…
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Posted inOregon politics

Oregonians will punish GOP legislators if they walk out again

I'm already irked again at Republicans in the state legislature, because they're indicating that another walkout could happen in the upcoming short legislative session over a bill to reduce carbon pollution in Oregon and stem global warming. The leader of the Senate Republicans has said a walkout is possible, as has the leader of the House Republicans.  The GOP leader in the Oregon Senate says there could be another walkout by Republicans over legislation aimed at stemming global warming. Senate Minority Leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., told reporters Wednesday that a bill being prepared by Democrats in the Legislature, which they…
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Posted inCity of Salem Trees

Gatti brothers trash street trees. City of Salem needs to fine them, big-time.

Salem is a town that claims to care about trees. Yes, it's true that most people who live here are tree lovers. Unfortunately, there's a lengthy history of businesses and developers who treat trees really badly with few, if any, consequences.  Photo I took today of one of the mangled trees Today's Statesman Journal has a story, "Illegal trimming destroys street trees at Gatti property, famous for holiday light display." There's plenty in the story by Tracy Loew that's infuriating. Like... In an interview, Richard Gatti said he hired a contractor to do general work around the properties, and asked…
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Posted inChamber of Commerce Citizen involvement Homeless

A view of Salem’s problems from wide angle of inequality and corporatism

Watching the Salem City Council discuss homeless solutions last Tuesday night made me feel like I was looking through a magnifying glass. The problems were real. The ideas about how to help homeless people were tiny. Now, there's nothing wrong with small steps, like allowing a women's homeless shelter to add nine beds to their current 10 bed capacity, or considering allowing the homeless to camp in industrial parts of town. But equally valuable, if not more so, is looking at Salem's problems through a wide-angle mental lens that sees homelessness, environmental degradation, lack of affordable housing, urban sprawl, and…
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Posted inOregon politics

Salem City Club sparks outrage with one-sided garbage burner program

It hurts when an organization you like screws up, then offers up a weak explanation for why the screw-up happened. That's why I'm so disappointed with the Salem City Club, which has decided to only have Marion County representatives speak at a February 21 program about the Covanta garbage burner in Brooks -- a decision that has outraged environmentalists who urged the City Club to also have someone speak about the downsides of the garbage burner. Which are many, as this excerpt from an Oregon League of Conservation Voters post says. When you think of clean energy, what do you…
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Posted in2020 election City Council Homeless

Great idea to deal with Salem’s homeless problem

A few days ago Susannn Kaltwasser asked an excellent question on a Facebook page where Salem City Council issues are discussed.  Kaltwasser is correct. An October 2019 survey of Salem residents found that after being asked an open-ended question, 41% said that homelessness and poverty were their top concerns. Crime and drugs were mentioned by only 4%. Here's a screenshot from the survey report, So it's perplexing that City officials want all of a proposed employee-paid payroll tax that will be on the May 2020 ballot to go to public safety. Here's a information sheet about the payroll tax and operations fee…
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Posted in2020 election City Council Homeless

Homelessness is a lot like climate change. Local action isn’t nearly enough.

Watching how city staff and the City Council are trying to deal with Salem's homeless problem reminds me of a 60 Minutes story I saw recently about Venice's flooding problem. The periodic floods of Venice have become more threatening and more frequent. This past November, a sudden storm surge overwhelmed nearly 90% of the city. Climate scientists say what happened that night exactly two months ago in Venice is a warning to the world of what's to come – and not just in Venice. Climate change is raising sea levels. Venice is being inundated with water to a greater extent…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Tom Andersen

Salem City Club discusses employee-paid payroll tax

Nobody likes paying taxes. (Well, almost nobody.) But everybody likes the services taxes provide. (Well, almost everybody.) That's the perpetual dilemma facing government at all levels, federal, state, local. Robert (Bob) Barron Today's Salem City Club program on the City of Salem's financial situation featured Bob Barron, who became the city's Chief Financial Officer last June -- a new position created by a reorganization at City Hall that did away with the assistant City Manager, leaving the CFO in charge of financial goings-on. Barron has an impressive background, as evidenced by his bio above. He came across as a straight-shooter…
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Posted inCity of Salem Homeless

Not supporting Salem’s Arta Potties was a dumb move by city officials

Back in 2015, providing artistically decorated Arta Potties (portable toilets) in downtown Salem was a brilliant idea of Rebecca Maitland Courtney and other women who wanted to give homeless people a place to go, rather than defecating and urinating in public places. First Arta Potty (photo courtesy of the Arta Potties Facebook page) But the folks at City Hall, including the Mayor and City Manager, never supported Arta Potties in any meaningful way, apparently figuring that putting them downtown would encourage the homeless to congregate in central Salem. Well, guess what? Five years later, there are more homeless people sleeping downtown…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Iran, if you’re listening…

Even though I can be prone to magical thinking at times, I haven't gone down that rabbit hole deep enough to really believe that if I'd written a blog post with the above title a day or two ago, Iran wouldn't have fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Iraq today. But since I spent some time this afternoon prior to the attack thinking about what I wanted to say in an Iran, if you're listening... post, I might as well start off by summarizing my advice to Iran -- some of which still makes…
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Posted inCity of Salem Homeless

Bad P.R. for City of Salem: homeless and library debacles

The folks who run City Hall aren't doing very well in the public relations department recently. KGW News has been doing a good job of holding city officials accountable for failing to live up to their promise to add shelter beds for the homeless following a citywide ban on homeless camps. Here's how a January 3 KGW story starts out. SALEM, Ore. — More than two weeks after the city of Salem enacted a ban on public camping and two days after their self-imposed deadline, by which they promised to open 140 shelter beds, officials confirmed they’ve come up woefully…
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Posted inChamber of Commerce City Council Progressive Salem

Honor Mike Swaim by making Salem more progressive

Mike Swaim was a much-admired former mayor of Salem who died on December 17 from a stroke that occurred during heart surgery.  Other people have praised Swaim for how he worked to improve Salem during his three mayoral terms in office from 1997 to 2002. Below I'm sharing a piece that Bill Smaldone wrote about Swaim that was posted on the Salem City Watch site.  And both the Salem Reporter and Statesman Journal had stories about Swaim. So since I don't have anything to add about Swaim's exemplary life, I want to talk about how we can honor him in the…
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Posted inHumor

Angry Owl’s Top 10 Predictions for Salem in 2020

Funny. Sarcastic. Provocative. In short, a hoot. Here's Angry Owl's Top 10 Predictions for Salem in 2020 that came to perch on the top of the Twitter tree today. It's tough for me to pick a favorite, because I like them all, but I suppose my #1 of the Top Ten would be... "Botched construction at the polo grounds and clubhouse delay grand opening of Salem's $73 million police facility," because cost overruns were so extreme on this Police Palace. Be sure to follow Angry Owl on Twitter so you don't miss this famous bird's tweets. And check out Angry…
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Posted inBroadway Commons City Council City of Salem

Why the City of Salem shouldn’t give taxpayer money to a church that discriminates

In 2019 the most disturbing decision of the Salem City Council was to go along with a poorly thought-out plan by city officials to temporarily house the public library in a building owned by an organization that denies LGBTQ rights, the Salem Alliance Church.  In case you missed out on reading my blog posts about this unethical travesty, type "Salem Alliance Church" in the Google search box in the right sidebar to find what I've written on this subject. For example... Disturbing wrongness of last Monday's Salem City Council meetingSalem's city officials say "screw you" to supporters of LGBTQ rights…
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