Posted inLand use Oregon politics

Oregon’s urban-rural divide explained by political scientist

So, why is there such a tension between people in rural Oregon and urban Oregon? We saw this divide in action earlier in 2019, when Republicans in the state Senate walked out in protest of a climate change bill, supported by loggers driving their trucks in circles around the Capitol building, horns blaring. Today a political scientist from Western Oregon University, Mark Henkels, offered up some explanations of what's going on here in the course of his presentation at a Salem City Club meeting, It's Complicated: The Politics of Oregon's Rural-Urban Divide. Mark Henkels Early on in his talk, Henkels…
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Posted in2020 election City of Salem Homeless

Homelessness is a problem that’s too big for Salem to solve

Yesterday I attended a Progressive Salem meeting that featured remarks by two highly qualified City Council candidates, Vanessa Nordyke and Trevor Phillips. (Nordyke has been appointed to the council to fill a vacancy, and is seeking a full term in the May 2020 election.)  Homelessness came up in both audience Q&A's and the initial remarks. What struck me loud and clear is a simple fact that shouldn't be overlooked even though it is obvious: Homelessness is a complex problem that will require action at all levels of government, plus the private sector and nonprofit organizations, to find viable solutions. Sure, the…
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Posted in2020 election City Council

City Council candidate Reid Sund is too right-wing for Ward 7

Residents of Ward 7 in south Salem will have a clear choice in the May 2020 primary election, when they'll vote on who should be their city councilor following the resignation of Sally Cook.  Vanessa Nordyke, a progressive like Cook, was appointed recently by the City Council to serve as the Ward 7 councilor for the rest of Cook's term, which runs until December 31, 2020. She will be on the May 2020 ballot. Reid Sund, a conservative, has announced that he also is running to be the Ward 7 councilor.  Since Ward 7 went for Hillary Clinton over Donald…
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Posted in2019 election 2020 election City Council

Good election night for Dems. Now, let’s turn Salem more progressive.

Ah, the sweet smell of Democratic election victories has temporarily banished the stench of Trump's disastrous presidency from my political nostrils. It looks like Kentucky has chosen a Democrat, Andy Beshear, to be the next Governor. Yes, Kentucky, where Trump won by 30 points in 2016, and where Trump campaigned last night for the Republican incumbent, Matt Bevin. Sweet!  Of course, I'm confident Trump will claim that if he hadn't supported Bevin, the race wouldn't have been as close as it was, with Beshear on top by about 5,000 votes. But no matter how Republicans spin the Kentucky outcome, it's…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Steve Powers

City Manager Steve Powers spouts more falsehoods, which I easily demolished

The more I communicate with City Manager Steve Powers about the truth of what happened with the highly controversial selection of a building owned by the Salem Alliance Church to serve as a temporary public library (the church denies basic LGBTQ rights), the more Powers comes across as sort of a Donald Trump wanna-be. Meaning, Powers keeps doubling down on his false statements, even when I present indisputable facts that contradict what Powers is saying. This should bother the Mayor, City Council, and other citizens. A lot.  Why? Because the City Manager is the top non-elected official for the City…
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Posted inBroadway Commons City of Salem

Public records show how Salem Alliance Church lobbied to be temporary library location

Only in Salem is the public library on the wrong side of LGBTQ rights. As retired State Librarian Jim Scheppke noted recently, historically libraries in Oregon have stood up for LGBTQ rights.  But in our city the library is going to be temporarily located in a building leased from an organization that denies fundamental gay rights -- the right to marry, and the right to engage in same-sex sex. A headline in a Willamette Week story about this issue summed up the situation nicely. If an anti-gay organization was a business or corporation, the bigotry of those in charge would be…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Steve Powers

City Manager Steve Powers makes false statements about temporary library location

Well, I've got to give Salem City Manager Steve Powers high marks for one thing: consistency. Meaning, he consistently spouts falsehoods. Steve Powers After he and his staff misled the City Council and other citizens about the church-owned Capital Press building being the only feasible location for a temporary public library, I got an email message from Powers that contained more false statements about this debacle. Because we here at the world headquarters of Salem Political Snark value truth-telling, and consider that not being able to trust City of Salem staff is a big deal, I'm calling out Steve Powers…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem

Why not being able to trust City of Salem staff is a big deal

So what's the big deal about City of Salem staff misleading the City Council and citizens, as I wrote about yesterday in "City officials misled citizens about temporary library location"? That post started out this way: The key thing I wanted to learn from a City of Salem public records request that ended up costing me $844.85 was whether City officials were telling the truth when they said this in a staff report for the July 22, 2019 City Council meeting. "The former Capital Press building (Site) at 1400-1440 Broadway Street NE  (corner of Hood and Broadway) is the best…
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Posted inBroadway Commons City Council City of Salem

City officials misled citizens about temporary library location

The key thing I wanted to learn from a City of Salem public records request that ended up costing me $844.85 was whether City officials were telling the truth when they said this in a staff report for the July 22, 2019 City Council meeting. The former Capital Press building (Site) at 1400-1440 Broadway Street NE  (corner of Hood and Broadway) is the best and only option available to the City that meets the project schedule and site criteria. "Best and only option." NOT TRUE. This is decidedly disturbing for those of us who value transparency and honesty in our…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City of Salem Comprehensive Plan

“Our Salem” workshop laid out an appealing vision for our city

Yesterday I came away more enthused than I expected about Salem's future, because there seemed to be widespread citizen agreement about how our city should grow in a fashion that improves quality of life. Last night I attended a City of Salem workshop at Pringle Hall that marks another phase of the Our Salem project aimed at updating our city's Comprehensive Plan. OK, that sounds geekily boring.  And as I sat at a table at the beginning of the workshop, listening to someone describe what sounded like an overly complex plan for how the two-hour meeting was supposed to go,…
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Posted inCity Council

Place your City Council bets on Sally Cook’s replacement

OK, so far as I know there's no betting odds on who will be chosen to replace Sally Cook on the Salem City Council.  But it's still entertaining to make predictions. Twelve people applied to be appointed to serve as the Ward 7 councilor for the remainder of Cook's term, which ends on December 31, 2020. One person dropped out, which left eleven. According to a City of Salem staff report, on October 10 the Board and Commission Appointments Committee met to discuss the applicants. They chose three to be interviewed at a special meeting of the City Council on…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Salem River Crossing project officially dead, says ODOT

OK, this is akin to beating a dead horse twice, since I'd previously noted that the Oregon Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration had issued a "No Build" Record of Decision.  But today ODOT sent out a news release that deserves to be commemorated, given the excellent news that it contains. The Billion Dollar Boondoggle that would have saddled Salem with vastly increased transportation costs with no real benefit for downtown rush hour congestion is officially dead. The Salem River Crossing, or Third Bridge, was a terrible idea that took a long time to die. But thanks to steadfast…
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Posted inCity of Salem

Tell City officials you want Battle Creek Park to be left natural

As you can read below, the City of Salem is working on a master plan for Battle Creek Park, which now is undeveloped. Lora Meisner clued me in to what's going on with the 50+ acres. I've shared part of an email where she urges people to express their preference for Option 1: Habitat, since this fits best with the original purpose of this property after the City bought it -- flood control/stormwater retention. As Meisner says, it doesn't make sense to build large impervious features like a skate park and 60 car parking lot, given that this will lead…
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Posted inCity of Salem Trees

Seven strange things about the City of Salem’s “Urban Forestergate”

These days every scandalous revelation pertaining to public officials demands a name that ends in "gate." So I'm calling the tell-all report of an applicant for the City of Salem's (Oregon) Urban Forester position Urban Forestergate. Yeah, not very creative. But it works for me. Yesterday I shared the applicant's report of a three-day visit to Salem from New York at the City of Salem's expense in "Devastating critique of Salem's Urban Forester program by a job applicant." Today I talked with this person by phone and got additional details about their job interview/audition experience in Salem. I found myself…
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Posted inCity of Salem Peter Fernandez Trees

Devastating critique of Salem’s Urban Forester program by a job applicant

It's an open secret to those of us who live here that the City of Salem doesn't treat our town's trees well, to put it mildly. But I was pleasantly surprised that a highly qualified person who applied for the City's Urban Forester position saw through the bullshit of City officials during a three-day job application visit and came to the same conclusion. You can read that person's critique below. It's devastating. Hopefully it will wake up the City Manager (Steve Powers), the Mayor (Chuck Bennett), and city councilors to the fact that Peter Fernandez, the Public Works Director, has…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Warren Binford talks about horror of migrant child detention center

It wasn't the cheeriest City Club talk I've ever been to, but it was one of the most important. Warren Binford, from my seat at a City Club table Today Warren Binford, a Willamette University law professor and children's rights expert, spoke about the history of child separations at the Mexican border and her four day visit to the Clint, Texas Border Patrol Facility. Binford told us that the Clint facility, better termed a child warehouse, was built for about 100 adults, yet housed around 400 children.  When asked "How have you been treated," they started to cry. Binford spoke…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump

I was wrong about the wisdom of impeachment. Go for it, Dems!

Time in this age of Trumpism is a lot like "dog years." It passes seven times (at least) more quickly than what I've been used to in every other presidential administration. Only last Sunday -- which now seems like two months ago, rather than only two days -- I was opining to a friend at our usual get-together at West Salem's Urban Grange coffee house that I hoped Democrats would take the advice of Nancy Pelosi and make the 2020 election an impeachment of sorts. I said the Dems should tell voters, "Here's the horrible stuff that Trump has done.…
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Posted inOregon politics

Oregon Republican Party platform showcases GOP craziness

I'm a firm believer that Republicans here in Oregon are just about as extreme as those, say, in Alabama. Members of the GOP in our state often just try to look moderate, because they know that with only 26% of registered voters in Oregon identifying as Republican, it's an uphill battle for them to win statewide elections. (Democrats are at 35% and Non-affiliated are at 32%). But I think Oregon Republicans should be proud of their extremism. Rock on, crazy conservatives! Don't hide your right-wingless. Flaunt it! To that end, I'm pleased to share some highlights -- OK, for many,…
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Posted inHomeless

Why homelessness is an absurd problem, philosophically

Being human is tough. We're subjective creatures, as are all other animals. Yet unlike our fellow primates with whom we're closely related, us Homo sapiens possess a strong capacity for objectivity -- seeing the world from a perspective largely, though not completely, distinct from our personal viewpoint. Many social problems are difficult to perceive clearly given the often-blurry double vision that comes with our twin capacity for empathetic subjectivity and detached objectivity. Homelessness is one such problem. I got to thinking about this after finishing a book by philosopher Thomas Nagel today, The View From Nowhere. Nagel is more famous…
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Posted in2020 election City Council

City Council shake-up: Sally Cook and Brad Nanke aren’t running again

Today brought some interesting, though not hugely surprising, local political news. The Salem Reporter broke the story that Sally Cook has decided to resign her Ward 7 City Council seat following the death of her husband, Jason. Sally Cook plans to resign her seat on Salem City Council soon, she informed City Manager Steve Powers on Thursday. The 39-year-old councilor said the sudden death of her husband three months ago and reality of being a single mother of two led to her decision. “I need to be able to spend time with my family. It really is a large commitment,…
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