Posted inCity of Salem Land use Third Bridge

Legal ruling deals the Third Bridge a huge setback

This is a great day for Salem. The billion dollar boondoggle known as the Salem River Crossing (or Third Bridge) got a big defeat in a ruling by the Land Use Board of Appeals. Congratulations to the eight petitioners and E.M. Easterly, who joined in their appeal. Also, kudos to Salem attorney John Gear who argued the appeal. I haven't read the ruling yet, as LUBA hasn't released it to the public. (The image above came from a No 3rd Bridge Facebook post.) UPDATE: I now have a copy of the ruling. A quick look-through shows that LUBA rejected most…
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Posted inCity of Salem Trees

Beautiful bigleaf maple damaged by another City of Salem screwup

I've been blogging about the City of Salem's War on Trees ever since City officials engaged in unethical backroom dealmaking so five gorgeous Japanese Zelkovas on downtown's State Street -- a.k.a. the U.S. Bank trees -- could be cut down for no good reason in 2013.  In 2014 I wrote: Here's a dirty (or let's say, sawdusty) open secret: the City of Salem doesn't really care much about trees. It allows beautiful healthy trees to be cut down when they don't need to, bowing to special interests rather than the broad public interest, often ignoring expert arborist advice in favor of making…
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Posted inGator Gaynor Third Bridge Tom Andersen

I was right about the Salem Bridge Solutions disturbance. Gator Gaynor was wrong.

Ah, it always feels so good to be proven correct about a local issue I blogged about. Especially when  a local conservative talk show host, KYKN's Gator Gaynor, criticized me for supposedly falsely claiming that a pro-Third Bridge group, Salem Bridge Solutions, had disrupted a recent meeting of the West Salem Neighborhood Association.  After I wrote "Salem Bridge Solutions 'goon squad' roughs up West Salem NA meeting" and posted a link on a Salem City Council Facebook discussion page, Gaynor started up with his fake news! blather.  Here's a screenshot of the comment interchange between Gaynor and me. Well, what…
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Posted inCity of Salem Smart growth

Salem, it’s OK to reinvent yourself. Don’t cling to the past.

During my 40-year tortured relationship with Salem -- love you! hate you! let's never part! divorce time! -- here's one of the things that bugs me the most about the town I both can't leave and can't be totally happy with. Salemians (the obviously proper word for people who live here) tend to expect that our city's future should be like the past, only more so. Conservatism runs rampant, even when this isn't of the political variety. Bold visions of what could be are shunned in favor of sticking with an embrace of what has been. Individuals frequently reinvent themselves.…
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Posted inCitizen involvement National politics

Pluralism — fox’y rather than hedgehog’y — is what Salem (and the nation) needs

We live in a polarized political world, both locally here in Salem and nationally. This is extremely bothersome. There's no way a city or a country can thrive when roughly half the population is viewed by the other half as worthy of disdain, because they hold views opposed to a supposedly Obviously Clearly Correct position. Today I finished reading Stuart Firestein's book, "Failure: Why Science is So Successful." In a concluding chapter Firestein praises pluralism. Specifically value pluralism, a notion promulgated by philosopher Isaiah Berlin. He writes: Berlin's value pluralism was at once far more radical and more constrained than…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Salem Bridge Solutions “goon squad” roughs up West Salem NA meeting

Salem can't tolerate this. "Tough guys" trying to take over a neighborhood association meeting, pushing people around and creating an uproar.  I've gotten two reports of how supporters of the Salem Bridge Solutions group that wants the Third Bridge billion dollar boondoggle built disrupted last Monday's meeting of the West Salem Neighborhood Association. Read the mildly edited reports below. (I've taken out information that could identify the people who contacted me, given that the Salem Bridge Solutions goons are so nastily uncourteous.) I think you'll agree with me that this kind of behavior can't be allowed to take root in Salem.…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Third Bridge would harm enjoyment of Union Street Pedestrian Bridge

Here's one more of many reasons the Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. Third Bridge) is a really bad idea: An elevated bridge connection would pass about 10-15 feet over the west end of the Union Street Railroad Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail -- the way-cool non-vehicular bridge used by lots of people, including families with children, every day.  The No 3rd Bridge folks ask us to consider how the current pleasant experience of walking or cycling across the river will change when an elevated noisy multilane highway is right above people's heads. Here's their recent post about this: WOULD A HIGHWAY RAMP…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City of Salem

Salem needs some civic cheerleaders

I wish Salem had more cheerleaders. I'm not talking about the rah-rah pom-pom wielding variety (though I love them too; my granddaughter is one), but people who manifest these qualities: (1) They have an over-arching creative progressive vision for the marvelous town Salem can become.(2) They have the charisma and drive to draw others into supporting this vision.(3) They have the power, talent, influence, and resources to convert visionary dreams into reality. I got to thinking about this after someone thanked me for my blog posts about Sustainable Fairview, the project to redevelop the Fairview Training Center in south Salem…
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Posted inReligiosity

“Jesus loves strippers” sign gets Salem hot and bothered

Over on the Salem Community Vision Facebook page, a post about this illegal sign has gotten a lot of attention.   The sign is in the public right of way, which violates the City of Salem sign ordinance. So I'm wondering if Jesus loves illegal signs. Here's what the Salem Community Vision post said. THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DON'T ENFORCE THE CITY SIGN CODEThere are hundreds of illegal temporary signs in the public right of way all over Salem, but this one on Mission Street really takes the cake! The signs proliferate because for years now the…
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Posted inNational politics

Cable news, stop talking about Trump’s stupid tweets!

I've got MSNBC and CNN prominently displayed on my VW's satellite radio -- along with a couple of music stations, Classic Rock and Chill. I'm a news junkie. Especially political news.  But today I listened to a lot more music than usual, because almost every time I tuned in to MSNBC or CNN they were jabbering on about Trump's morning tweet fest about "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski. Sure, the tweets were tasteless, crude, and sexist. Which isn't exactly new news when it comes to Donald J. Trump. Yet MSNBC, CNN, and other news outlets rose to Trump's bait in…
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Posted inCitizen involvement National politics

Twenty-nine years ago, Oregon showed how health care planning should be done

Many years ago, twenty-nine of them, I was the lead staff person for an Oregon Health Priorities for the 1990s project. In 1988 it culminated in a Citizen's Health Care Parliament organized by Oregon Health Decisions, which is still in existence (I was the first executive director of Oregon Health Decisions). In May 2009 I wrote a blog post just before the Affordable Care Act became law that focused on a paper I wrote for the Citizens Health Care Parliament, "Quality of Life in Allocating Health Care Resources." In the post I said: Like most Americans, I'm hoping that a viable…
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Posted inCitizen involvement Third Bridge

West Salem NA Third Bridge vote was conducted shamefully

I'm giving the West Salem Neighborhood Association a big dose of Salem Political Snark for the shameful way a June 19 vote to support the Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. Third Bridge or Billion Dollar Boondoggle) was conducted. The pro-bridge Salem Bridge Solutions group is giddy with delight at how the vote to have the West Salem Neighborhood Association (WSNA) go on record as supporting the Salem River Crossing turned out: 302 in favor, 49 opposed, 3 abstaining.[Note this is a correction. Previously I reported a vote on an amendment to the final motion, not the final motion.] They're also super-proud…
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Posted inCitizen involvement Third Bridge

West Salem Neighborhood Association vote on Third Bridge won’t mean much

The astroturf (fake grass roots) Salem Bridge Solutions group is super-excited about tonight's West Salem Neighborhood Association meeting.  They think there will be a vote at the neighborhood association meeting to support building the Billion Dollar Boondoggle known as the Salem River Crossing, or Third Bridge. And also to build Marine Drive, which would connect with the as yet unpaid-for bridge -- should Salem-area residents decide they want to pay a $1.50 toll each way to cross the unneeded bridge, along with an increase in the local gas tax, vehicle registration fees, and property taxes. Well, Salem Bridge Solutions should…
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Posted inStatesman Journal

Statesman Journal outrage: New subscribers charged half of what loyal subscribers pay

If you're a loyal Statesman Journal subscriber like I am -- I've subscribed since 1977 -- here's some disturbing news for you: us existing subscribers are being charged double what new subscribers are paying.  I consider this not only a rip-off, but an insult to those of us who have stuck with our local Gannett newspaper as it has steadily declined in quality, reporters, and, yes, subscribers.  Back in March I got upset about receiving a notice that my Monday-Sunday (7 day) home delivery subscription was being increased from $36 to $41 per month. As I said in "Salem Statesman…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Third Bridge boondoggle gets another City Council setback

Good news for Salem: the massive waste of a billion dollars known as the Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. Third Bridge) encountered another roadblock at last night's City Council meeting.  There was a public hearing on the FY 2017-18 budget, which included $3.6 million to do something with Marine Drive in West Salem, which currently is just a short street that blends with Harritt Drive south of Riverbend Road. Two options were on the table.  The clearly legal something was to use the leftover money from the 2008 Streets and Bridges Bond to do what voters approved when they passed the bond…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem

So, who’s in charge at the City of Salem?

I'm starting to hear people wonder why goings-on at the City of Salem haven't changed more this year, given that four newly-elected city councilors joined Tom Andersen to form a 5-4 progressive majority on the City Council. Well, this is sort of similar to asking why Republicans haven't been able to get much of their legislative agenda passed even though they control the presidency and both houses of Congress. Politics is complicated. So are bureaucracies.  But at the national level, the reins of power are easier to discern. Here in Salem, all one has to do is look at a…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Salem Bridge Solutions group laughably lacks facts

The Powers That Be in Salem who love wasting taxpayer money on special interest projects have set up a new lobbying group for the Billion Dollar Boondoggle known as the Salem River Crossing, or Third Bridge. After browsing through the Salem Bridge Solutions Facebook page and web site, it seems clear that their main rationale for wanting to foist $1.50 each-way tolls on citizens, plus increases in the local gas tax, vehicle registration fees, and property taxes, can be summed up as... We want a new bridge! Badly. Waaaaahhhhh! We're going to cry and fuss until we get one! By…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem

Climate Action Plan an absolute must for Salem City Council

Yesterday Donald Trump made a great argument for the Salem Climate Action Plan that was a major focus of last night's City of Salem Strategic Plan open house at the Broadway Commons. In one of the most shameful actions in his scandal-plagued presidency, Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement.  His announcement gave no coherent reasons for doing this. Trump simply lied, as he always does.  Yesterday, President Donald Trump gave a speech announcing that the US would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. It is a remarkable address, in its own way, in that virtually every…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City of Salem

Demand a Salem Climate Action Plan. Speak up on June 1!

Donald Trump doesn't accept the reality of global warming. He's working to reverse our nation's environmental protection efforts aimed at reducing harmful carbon emissions.  So this makes it even more important that Salem stand up for science, sustainability, and moving toward a 21st century economy that isn't based on outmoded fossil fuel assumptions of "drill, drill, drill" and "drive, drive, drive" (internal combustion vehicles). Salem needs a Climate Action Plan. Next Thursday, June 1, the City of Salem is holding a Strategic Plan Open House at the Broadway Commons from 6 to 8 pm. People need to speak up at…
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Posted inCitizen involvement Police facility

How citizen activism produced a much better Salem Police Facility plan

Yesterday Salem voters approved a second-try $62 million police facility bond measure. This is a good time to recollect how citizen activism led by Salem Community Vision (and Salem Can Do Better, an offshoot formed to oppose the first-try bond measure) prevented bad police facility ideas from being implemented -- which made possible the better plan approved by voters. Here's the "headlines" of eight citizen activism accomplishments. Stopping a police facility from being built at the Civic CenterStopping the Library from being converted to a police facilityStopping the idea of building a police facility anywhere at the Civic CenterStopping the…
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