Posted inCitizen involvement City Council

City of Salem strategic planning effort seems to be going backward

Showing that I'm either (1) crazy, (2) got too much time on my hands, (3) a glutton for punishment, or (4) a dedicated citizen activist blogger (I like this choice!), I just spent two hours of my remaining lifetime watching a Salem City Council work session on its strategic planning effort that was streamed live on Facebook. One of the most interesting comments came from Mayor Chuck Bennett when he said, "I'm tired of planning" and "We don't need to sit around and talk about it." Understand: these sentiments were expressed during a meeting of City officials who have been…
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Posted inCity Council Gator Gaynor

Salem right-wing talk show hosts Gator Gaynor and Denise Nanke decry Inclusive City resolution

Last Monday the Salem City Council unanimously approved an Inclusive City resolution after hearing highly emotional, and also highly reasoned, testimony from 45 citizens -- all but two of whom supported the resolution. Person after person talked about the fear being experienced by both undocumented and documented immigrants after Trump announced stepped-up deportation efforts. They urged passage of the resolution to show these immigrants that Salem cares about them and will support them. But as I blogged about in "Citizens strongly support Salem 'Inclusive City' resolution. Conservatives not so much." there was both subtle and not-so-subtle resistance to the resolution…
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Posted inCity Council

Citizens strongly support Salem “Inclusive City” resolution. Conservative city councilors, not so much.

I hugely enjoyed watching a passionate parade of people testify in support of an Inclusive City resolution at last night's Salem City Council meeting. (An "Inclusive City" is a lot like a "Sanctuary City," but not quite, for reasons I'm unclear about.) Download Resolution 2017-22 Councilor Cara Kaser said she counted 45 people who testified. I'm pretty sure only two opposed the resolution. The rest talked forcefully and eloquently about the danger, fear, stress, anxiety, and uncertainty caused by President Trump's misguided efforts to build a wall and kick out undocumented Latinos who are already in this country, most of…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Police facility

Why I’m urging a NO vote on the new Salem police facility plan

I'm a positive guy. My wife often says, "You don't worry enough." (She does much of my worrying for me, like whether I'm eating enough cruciferous vegetables.) So I would have much preferred to say Yes to the second-try $62 million City of Salem police facility plan than No.  But I can't do this. Because I wouldn't be able to live with myself, and I'm not aware of any way to move out of my own mind. I led the fight against Measure 24-399, the first-try $82 million plan that was defeated by voters last November. So it made sense…
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Posted inCity Council Police facility

I’m trying to stop the City Council from making a big mistake on a new police facility plan

Here's a little 2,000 + word message, which some might call a rant, that I just emailed to Mayor Bennett, City Manager Powers, Police Chief Moore, city councilors, and other City of Salem officials. I'm trying to help them understand why what the City Council seems poised to do about a PLAN B for a new Police Department headquarters is the wrong way to go. This is one blunt part of my message: IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that the John Hawkins-led group, mostly composed of conservatives and “Powers That Be” types, recommended at the previous Council work session that a proposal for a…
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Posted inChamber of Commerce

Chamber of Commerce’s Create Jobs PAC late on filing penalty for late filings

A sharp-eyed citizen who, like me, loves political irony sent me this screenshot of a transaction filed by the Salem Chamber of Commerce's Create Jobs PAC. This is public information available by searching the Secretary of State's ORESTAR system. As noted in red, on January 18, 2017 the Create Jobs PAC filed a transaction report about a $60 payment to the Secretary of State for penalties assessed against the Create Jobs PAC for late filings. These penalties totaled $4575.05, as reported in a February 7 Statesman Journal story, "Chamber of Commerce-backed PAC hit with campaign finance violations." A political action…
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Posted inPolice facility

Why “regret” is key to passing a new Salem police facility bond measure

Along with my Salem Community Vision colleagues, I'm an avid supporter of the plan SCV released at last Monday's City Council meeting for a new $66 million bond measure that includes $46 million for a 115,000 square foot police facility, plus $20 million for lifesaving seismic retrofitting of City Hall and the Library. Now, there are other PLAN B options that will be considered by the City Council at a February 21 work session. There's been quite a bit of talk among some councilors that making City Hall and the Library earthquake-safe shouldn't be part of a new police facility bond…
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Posted inCity Council Police facility Tom Andersen

Video of disturbing Salem City Council machinations about new police facility plan

[Update: I've gotten a message from City Manager Steve Powers that is reassuring. He says that all police facility options are still on the table for the February 21 City Council work session. Brian, Thank you for your email.  Council has not taken the library and civic center/city hall seismic work  out of consideration for a May 2017 bond measure.  The action that Council took Monday night was to add for discussion at the February 21 work session an option that would have the City proceed with a ballot measure for a police facility in May followed by a later…
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Posted inChuck Bennett City of Salem Third Bridge

Mayor Bennett doubles down on false claim of no 3rd Bridge tolling

Mayor Bennett is going backwards, truth-telling-wise, on the City of Salem's false contention that there is no plan to toll any of Salem's bridges. Friday I blogged about the original falsity in "'Alternative Facts' in City of Salem Facebook post about 3rd Bridge tolls."  Regarding the post on the official City of Salem Facebook page, I said: I was deeply irritated after reading it, and not just because I'm strongly opposed to building an unneeded half-billion dollar 3rd Bridge, a.k.a. the Salem River Crossing (which would cost around a billion dollars once financing is included). What bugged me the most was…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Third Bridge

“Alternative facts” in City of Salem Facebook post about 3rd Bridge tolls

I've been worried that the Trump administration's love of "alternative facts," otherwise known as falsehoods, would creep into other levels of government such as the City of Salem.  Well, today that worry manifested as reality in a post about 3rd Bridge tolling on the City's Facebook page.  I was deeply irritated after reading it, and not just because I'm strongly opposed to building an unneeded half-billion dollar 3rd Bridge, a.k.a. the Salem River Crossing (which would cost around a billion dollars once financing is included). What bugged me the most was the disregard for evident facts in the post. Look, I…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Salem City Council to vote on tolling a 3rd Bridge (and likely existing bridges)

Are you ready and willing to pay a $1.50 toll each way to cross the Willamette River between West Salem and the downtown area? I'm sure not. But the Salem City Council is going to vote on this at their meeting on Monday, February 13, 6:oo pm, at City Hall. I'm urging citizens to tell Mayor Bennett and the seven city councilors (one seat is vacant) that, in short, NO WAY DO I WANT TO PAY A TOLL TO CROSS THE RIVER. You can email them: citycouncil@cityofsalem.netYou can testify during the public comment period (3 minutes maximum). Here's info posted…
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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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