Posted inPolice facility

City Council seems to favor smaller, cheaper police facility and making Library earthquake-safe

I just got back from a 2 1/2 hour Salem City Council work session on a new police facility plan. Being more than a little tired, decaffeinated, and looking forward to watching the newest episode of The Young Pope (a great HBO series), I'll just offer up a fairly short take on what transpired tonight, and maybe add on to this post tomorrow.  First, on a personal note I found it really satisfying to hear everybody talking about how to reduce the cost and size of the previous $82 million, 148,000 square foot police facility plan that was rejected by voters…
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Posted inPolice facility

New plan for Salem police facility too costly. Beaverton shows how to do it right.

Last November citizens in Salem and Beaverton each voted on bond measures to build a new police facility. Here in Salem, voters rejected an $82 million, 148,000 square foot plan that cost $555 per square foot by a margin of 52% to 47%. In Beaverton, voters approved a $35 million, 90,000 square foot plan that cost $389 per square foot by a margin of  50% to 49%. This was the second try for Beaverton. In November 2014 voters there rejected a different public safety plan, which included a new police facility, by 53% to 47%. Tomorrow, Monday, February 6, at…
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Posted inCitizen involvement City of Salem

“Stakeholders” and “Citizens” have different priorities at Salem Strategic Plan meetings

Salem residents gave City officials and their consultants an earful at last Tuesday's Salem Strategic Plan Open House at the Broadway Commons. Actually, many earfuls, as the large crowd of concerned citizens was feisty, outspoken, and unwilling to accept pat answers from the moderators. This photo, courtesy of the City of Salem Facebook page, only shows about half of the attendees. A partition at the back of the room had to be opened up to accommodate the unexpectedly large number of people who showed up to express their views about how Salem needs to change for the better. (My seated…
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Posted inCity Council

Chris Hoy is best choice for Ward 6 Salem City Councilor

The March 14, 2017 special election to fill Daniel Benjamin's seat on the Salem City Council is really important for everyone in our town, not just people who live in Ward 6 -- the McKay High School area shown in brown below. Currently there are four progressive councilors on the nine-member City Council: Tom Andersen, Cara Kaser, Sally Cook, and Matt Ausec.  The Ward 6 election is an opportunity for progressives to be a majority, ending quite a few years of conservative domination in our liberal city.  There are four people running for the Ward 6 seat. Only two lean…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem T.J. Sullivan

Disturbing facts revealed about $749,000 Park Front urban renewal grant

After making a public records request to the City of Salem for documents related to approval of the $749,000 Park Front LLC grant, and reviewing what I got, I'm even more disturbed by how this grant request was handled -- which relates to how Downtown Urban Renewal funds are being handled in general. The easiest way to read this post is via an Adobe Spark web page I've fashioned. The images are larger on that web page, and copies of the documents are a bit easier to download and view. Just click below. Alternatively, scroll down and continue reading the…
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Posted in2016 election Citizen involvement

Salem Women’s March 2017: photos, videos, my take on an amazing day

Though I'm posting this on my Salem Political Snark blog, there's not going to be anything snarky in what I say about last Saturday's Salem Women's March. The rally and following march through downtown Salem was the most inspiring political event I've ever been to. And that includes Barack Obama's 2008 campaign stop in Salem. A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. So rather than blab on about why the Salem Women's March was so freaking fantastic, I encourage you to take a look at a web page I made about the event using Adobe Spark. Click…
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Posted inDonald Trump

On Trump’s first day as president, I predict his next four years

If the title of this blog post were longer, I'd add "...and I'm almost certainly wrong."  Nonetheless, my political-junkie side wants to make some predictions about Donald Trump's presidency. If nothing else, four years from now this post will be proof that the future always holds unpredictable surprises, and pundits who claim to be able to foretell political happenings are just talking crap. So... here's my particular brand of crap. (1) There's a good chance Trump won't be president for his full term. My wife is particularly confident about this, so if this prediction is wrong, I'll blame her. She…
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Posted inCity Council Jonathan Crow

I talk with Jonathan Crow about his Ward 6 City Council candidacy

Yesterday I talked with Ward 6 City Council candidate Jonathan Crow over beers and a hummus plate at the Commercial Street Ventis restaurant.  Jon told me he was going to have a Jonathan Crow for Ward 6 Facebook page up soon. Searching for it just now, I had the honor of being the first "like." And probably the first to share his page's photo.  After Jon contacted me via Facebook messenger, I was intrigued by his unconventional campaigning approach. Here's what he said: Good afternoon, I read your article and I thought I would introduce myself to you. My name is…
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Posted inChuck Bennett Third Bridge

Mayor Bennett is wrong: Third Bridge plan can’t be changed easily

Words matter. The truth matters. It really bothers me when an elected official -- whether President-elect Trump, Salem Mayor Bennett, or anyone else -- says stuff in a public forum that is flat-out false.  Chuck Bennett has been doing that in regard to the Third Bridge. Fortunately, knowledgeable people are correcting his misstatements. I did that yesterday in "Mayor Bennett either deceptive or wrong about Third Bridge planning." I did that three months ago in "Mayor-elect Bennett doesn't understand Third Bridge approval process." And I'm doing that tonight in this post. Because again... Words matter. The truth matters.  As I…
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Posted inChuck Bennett Third Bridge

Mayor Bennett either ignorant or deceptive about Third Bridge planning

Last Monday's Salem City Council meeting was a poor start for newly-elected Mayor Chuck Bennett. After Councilor Tom Andersen asked some good questions of City staff about how the design of the proposed Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. the Billion Dollar Boondoggle) could affect a West Salem agenda item, Bennett spoke up, telling Andersen that there wasn't a design for the bridge.  Which is wrong. Of course there is. Mayor Bennett didn't speak the truth. Have a look:  Here's what the No 3rd Bridge folks said in a Facebook post about Bennett's falsehood. MAYOR BENNETT PRACTICES "POST-TRUTH POLITICS"Hey it worked for…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Salem Weekly

Salem Weekly’s bright ideas for the new City Council

Salem Weekly, our alternative newspaper, is an indispensable voice for those who aren't listened to by the Powers That Be in this town. The Salem Weekly editorial board leans decidedly progressive, but that's as it should be in Salem, a city that votes liberal. Here's their end-of-year editorial -- a wish list of ideas to be considered in 2017 by the new City Council. New, because there are three fresh progressive faces on the council.  Naturally I couldn't resist adding in my own comments (in blue) on each of the 18 ideas. 18 IDEAS FOR THE NEW SALEM CITY COUNCIL…
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Posted inChamber of Commerce City of Salem

Few City of Salem “stakeholders” are ordinary citizens

Officials at the City of Salem are engaged in a strategic planning process that involves, in part, learning what sort of place people want our town to become. It's been criticized by the Breakfast on Bikes blogger in "City Strategic Planning Process too Opaque, Open House on 31st." Because of the winter storm earlier this month, the City's Open House on a strategic planning process was postponed until January 31st. At least from here the whole thing has seemed a little strange. If Council authorized it, we all missed it. If Council didn't authorize it, it's being funded by some secret…
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Posted inJohn Kitzhaber

Good to see John Kitzhaber on Salem City Club health policy panel

Ex-Governor Kitzhaber is back! Not that he ever really left Oregon, but since his resignation in 2015 Kitzhaber hasn't been very visible.  Gradually, though, he's been popping up again in the public eye, as noted in an August 2016 Willamette Week story, "The Rehabilitation of John Kitzhaber Continues," which was about his participation in a Portland health care policy conference. Today Kitzhaber was one of three panelists in a Salem City Club discussion, Policy and Impact: Healthcare Reform in Oregon. The other panelists were Jesse O'Brien, Policy Director of Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) and Dean Andretta, CFO…
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Posted inCara Kaser Chuck Bennett City Council

Swearing-in of three new Salem city councilors notable for what wasn’t said

Tonight there was a packed house in the City Council chambers for the swearing-in of newly elected Mayor Chuck Bennett and four city councilors: Cara Kaser, Sally Cook, Matt Ausec, and Brad Nanke.  Bennett and Nanke were already on the City Council (Bennett moved to Mayor from his Ward 1 seat now held by Kaser). So the big turnout mostly was due to progressives wanting to celebrate the election of Kaser, Cook, and Ausec.  The three of them join fellow progressive Tom Andersen to form a much-needed counterweight to the conservative majority that has dominated the City Council for quite…
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Posted inChuck Bennett T.J. Sullivan Urban Renewal

Salem Business Journal publishes my urban renewal “crony capitalism” story

"If you can write an Urban Renewal story by tomorrow noon, I will run it in the January Business Journal." This was the good news part of a reply I received from Bruce Taylor, publisher of the Salem Business Journal, after asking him via email if he was interested in a story about problems with the City of Salem's urban renewal agency.  I was pleased to get Bruce's positive response. The bad news part was, I read his message about five hours after he sent it, having been totally absorbed until about 8:30 pm in watching the mesmerizing men's basketball…
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Posted inCity of Salem Third Bridge

City of Salem Third Bridge actions being appealed to LUBA. Yay!

Salem don't need no damn billion dollar Third Bridge boondoggle. That's one way of putting it. Another way is, The Salem River Crossing project has been marked by poor planning that failed to properly consider much less expensive and more environmentally-friendly alternatives to achieving the purported benefits of an additional bridge across the Willamette. Regardless, recent land use actions by the City of Salem in support of the Third Bridge by expanding Salem's urban growth boundary are being appealed by opponents of the Third Bridge to the Land Use Board of Appeals, LUBA. Thumbs up! Here's their press release. December…
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Posted inPolice facility

“No organized opposition” to $82 million police facility bond levy? Fighting words, Oregon Pioneer.

How do you argue with the "golden man" statue on top of the Capitol building? Through a blog post! I'm sure the Oregon Pioneer reads Salem Political Snark, since he's sitting right on top of a whole lot of fodder for political snarkiness. Of course, I guess it's possible that the regular Musings of the Oregon Pioneer column in the Salem Business Journal isn't written by the statue.  Regardless, the column in the December 2016 issue contains some fighting words. Download SBJ piece about new police station Last November 8, the voters turned down a new $82 million police station at…
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Posted inCity of Salem Downtown T.J. Sullivan

Salem City officials asked to explain $749,000 giveaway. Waiting for answers…

Do Salem's Mayor, Mayor-elect, city councilors, and other officials care about Truth and Transparency? In a few weeks we'll find out.  By January 6 I've asked them to explain -- in a simple, clear fashion -- why a $749,000 urban renewal grant was approved for the Park Front building on December 12. The applicant was T.J. Sullivan, a former city councilor and current vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. I asked city councilors to say why they were going to vote "Yay" or "Nay" on the $749,000 when I testified in opposition to this giveaway during the public comment period…
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Posted in2016 election Citizen involvement

Facebook post boosts are an Oregon election independent expenditure

Just what I wanted for Christmas: an Oregon election law violation! I've already unwrapped it (by opening an envelope that came from the Secretary of State office) and am "wearing" it proudly. After all, I had no idea that there was a requirement to register as an Independent Expenditure Filer if someone spends $750 or more in a calendar year in support of, or opposition to, candidates or ballot measures independently of those officially involved in a campaign (like, the candidate, a PAC, and so on). So I openly and happily wrote a blog post after the May primary election,…
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Posted inPolice facility

City of Salem leasing old O’Brien auto site until June 2017

I wasn't aware that the City of Salem was leasing the old O'Brien auto dealership site north of downtown until I read about this in a recent Statesman Journal story, "Salem preps old dealership for homeless warming shelter." The city of Salem dispatched staff Tuesday to ready the old O’Brien Auto Group space for the homeless to use as a warming shelter while coming winter nights are expected to dip below freezing....The city leases the O’Brien property, which would have been the site for a new police facility if the measure to fund it hadn’t failed this November. O'Brien site when it was…
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