Posted inCity of Salem Peter Fernandez Sabre Ridge Estates

City of Salem favors rich developers over ordinary people

Here's a 3 1/2 minute excerpt from a half-hour interview Greg Fabos and I did with Ken Adams on his Salem CCTV show, "The Valley View." After some remarks by me, Greg speaks about how he's seen Salem change for the worse over the years when it comes to rich developers being able to trample on the rights of ordinary people. He says: There's a real negative feeling about what's happening in Salem, and I've been here a long time. It used to be a nice well-run city with, I felt, good concern for its citizens. Right now, it's at…
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Posted in2016 election

Ed Dover’s analysis of the 2016 election made me feel better about Trump’s victory

There's a lot of depression and anxiety floating around, following Trump's surprising victory. (And that describes me on my good days; sometimes I feel like I'm trapped in the scariest nightmare ever, one impossible to wake up from.) But after I raced back to Salem from Portland late Friday morning, desperate to hear Ed Dover's City Club talk, "A Postmortem on the 2016 Election. What Happened?," making it to the meeting just a few minutes after Dover started speaking, I realized how wise it was to break some I-5 speed limits. Dover is a Political Science professor at Western Oregon…
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Posted inPolice facility

PLAN B for building a Salem police facility

Behold! PLAN B! What's not to like about this PLAN B? Voters have said "No" to the unwise, over-priced $82 million police facility bond measure. So you'll find a two-page document describing our better "Yes" below. Hopefully City officials will begin to work with concerned citizens so another Public Safety bond measure can be passed in 2017 that gives the Police Department a perfectly adequate smaller-sized headquarters AND makes City Hall and the Library earthquake-safe. All for $62 million, $20 million less than the rejected bond measure would have spent on a police facility alone. I wrote the PLAN B…
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Posted inPolice facility Public Safety

Lessons for Salem from defeat of $82 million police facility bond measure

It's always tough to say why an election result turns out the way it did, especially at the local level where we don't have exit polls. But here's an initial attempt to get into the minds of Salem voters who rejected Measure 24-399 by 52% to 48% in yesterday's election -- combining that opining with insight into a mind I'm much better acquainted with: my own. Here's a couple of reasons why I'm optimistic about the defeat of the $82 million police facility bond measure that I led the fight against via Salem Can Do Better. The defeat shows the…
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Posted in2016 election

Millennials need to grow up and vote for Clinton — says this pissed-off baby boomer

Yeah, I admit to being in a cranky mood, what with the election being just four days away and Donald Trump showing more signs of presidential election life than this idiot deserves.  But what I read today in Greg Sargent's Washington Post piece would have gotten me irked at voting-age millennials (who are, roughly, those born between 1982 and 2004, so people aged 12 to 34 or thereabouts) no matter my state of mind.  Here's an excerpt from "Top Democrats say Clinton took a real hit from Comey. But they're cautiously optimistic." Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told me that the impact…
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Posted inCity of Salem Peter Fernandez

Salem subdivision gone wrong: City staff ignore horrendous screw-ups

This is a disturbing tale of how City of Salem officials have allowed a subdivision developer to trample the rights of neighbors, while ignoring two women's requests to explain how repeated screw-ups keep happening.  The subdivision is Sabre Ridge Estates, off of Sunnyside Road in south Salem. The women are Lisa Basalto and her mother, Lynn. Lisa wrote to me several weeks ago, looking for someone to help with her extremely frustrating situation. Below I've shared her story, along with some related photos and videos.  Last Thursday I went to the Basalto home. I've shared some of the photos I…
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Posted inStatesman Journal

Statesman Journal staff stunned by theft of their opinions

UPDATE, a note to the humor-impaired: it seemed pretty damn obvious to me that the notion of opinions being removed from the minds of newspaper staff through a supernatural means fell into the genre of SATIRE. But a few reactions from people on social media indicates that some are taking this post seriously. Which makes me wonder: has someone removed a sense of humor from the minds of certain readers of this blog? I may need to expand the reach of this story... Breaking news: I'm hearing reports that staff at the Statesman Journal newspaper in Salem, Oregon are shellshocked…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem North Campus

Appealing proposal to save North Campus historic buildings rejected by City/State officials

Here we go again... the City of Salem and the State of Oregon are doing something incredibly stupid. Yeah, I know, this isn't shocking news. Government officials are notorious for making bad decisions. In Salem, for example, the Mayor and her current City Council majority have laid plans to build an unneeded half billion dollar Third Bridge requiring $1.50 each-way tolls (on the two current bridges also) and want taxpayers to fork out $82 million for a vastly over-priced police facility that costs twice as much per square foot as it should. Oregon state government operates under the shadow of…
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Posted inChuck Bennett Third Bridge

Mayor-elect Bennett doesn’t understand Third Bridge approval process

It's a big deal when Salem's Mayor-To-Be appears to be clueless about what needs to happen before a plan for the proposed $430 million Third Bridge across the Willamette can be approved by the Federal Highway Administration. Chuck Bennett takes office in January 2017. Hopefully he will educate himself in the next few months about the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and what is required before a NEPA Environmental Impact Statement can be given a thumbs-up by the Federal Highway Administration. Today the No 3rd Bridge folks put up a post called "The Mayor-elect does not understand the NEPA process."…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police facility

Salem’s Civic Center needs renovating, not replacing

There's more and more talk floating around about doing away with the Salem City Hall and Library, even though the buildings are only 44 years old.  Geez. Our house was built at almost exactly the same time. My wife and I have steadily maintained and improved it since we bought our home in 1990. It's still highly livable, and worth much more than we paid for it. In Europe, buildings hundreds of years old are still in use. So why is it that I keep hearing rumors that City officials want to trash Salem's not-very-old City Hall and Library --…
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Posted inPolice facility T.J. Sullivan

No, savings from Measure 24-399 WOULDN’T fund Civic Center seismic strengthening

Here's another T.J. Sullivan falsehood about Measure 24-399, the $82 million police facility bond on Salem's November ballot. (Sullivan's previous falsehood is described here.) At the September 23 Salem City Club debate on the police facility bond between Sullivan and me, he said this: So if we get $82 million for this new police facility, and we don't use the whole $82 million, we can, depending on how we write the bonding language, we can take that money and put it into retrofitting City Hall and the Library...That's the fastest way we're going to get City Hall and the Library…
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Posted inCity of Salem Creekside Golf Course

Creekside golf course farce highlights City of Salem dysfunction

So... today we learn that after months of Creekside advocates moaning and groaning that the golf club absolutely needs a $60,000 irrigation water rate reduction or it will go out of business, thanks to good reporting by the Statesman Journal's Tracy Loew we know this isn't true. Creekside Golf Club’s owners have released a statement saying they will not close the business after all. "We want to reassure the membership that our intentions are not to close Creekside Golf Club and we would like to put that concern to rest," owners Terry Kelly and Larry Tokarski wrote. Since April, the owners have been…
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Posted inPolice facility T.J. Sullivan

T.J. Sullivan lies about cost of proposed Salem police facility

Yeah, I know. "Lie" is a word that's supposed to be reserved for Donald Trump'ian sorts of deliberate falsehoods. "Misspoke," "shaded the truth," "was inaccurate" -- these are oft-heard replacements for "lie." But I don't what else to call what T.J. Sullivan, a representative of the Keep Salem Safe campaign that's advocating for Measure 24-399, the vastly over-priced $82 million police facility bond measure on the November ballot, did last night at a Morningside Neighborhood Association meeting. Sullivan spoke first during the "pro" and "con" agenda item. Then I had another five minutes to present the Salem Can Do Better…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Third Bridge planning by City of Salem is horrendously bad

Billion dollars, so what? Just trust us and pay the bill.   In a nutshell, that's how officials at the City of Salem are approaching the Billion Dollar Boondoggle, known also as the Salem River Crossing, Third Bridge, or Preferred Alternative. They're rushing to get an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) expansion approved that's necessary for the proposed bridgeheads on either side of the Willamette.  There's a joint hearing tonight at the 55+ Center, 6 - 9 pm, to hear public testimony on the UGB expansion. The Salem City Council, the Keizer City Council, the Marion County Commission and the Polk…
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Posted inStatesman Journal

Breaking news: Michael Davis is out as Statesman Journal executive editor

Ah, it gives me great pleasure to scoop the Statesman Journal on a story -- especially since it involves one of the newspaper's top staff, executive editor Michael Davis.  Who is gone. Fired seemingly is a more accurate word.  I first broke the news on this last Wednesday, in a Facebook post. Confirmation of Davis' departure comes from a comparison of the Statesman Journal's editorial board composition on consecutive days. Wednesday, October 5, Michael Davis was listed. Thursday, October 6, Michael Davis is gone. The reason(s) for his departure aren't known yet. They might have something to do with his…
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Posted inCity of Salem Smart growth

Five “Strong Town” things Salem is doing wrong

Loved it! Chuck Marohn's talk about Strong Towns last night at the Salem Library was hugely inspiring. And, well attended. I was pleased to see Mayor-elect Chuck Bennett and City Manager Steve Powers there. Now, they need to take to heart the logical, evidence-based advice Marohn gave to Salem. This town is doing a lot of things wrong. Of course, we aren't alone. Most cities in the United States have fallen into the same traps. Here's five things Marohn said Salem needs to fix in order for us to become a strong smart town, city planning-wise, rather than a weak…
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Posted inPolice facility

Busted! Keep Salem Safe campaign caught in police facility falsehood

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the following email from the Keep Salem Safe campaign, which is backing the poorly-planned, way-over-priced $82 million police facility bond measure on the November ballot.  Turns out my eyes were OK, because the Statesman Journal endorsed Measure 24-399 was a falsehood.  I know, because the Statesman Journal editorial page editor, Dick Hughes, told me yesterday that the newspaper hasn't made any endorsements yet. I've told Hughes and the rest of the editorial board that I and others involved with the Salem Can Do Better campaign look forward to meeting with the board…
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Posted inCity of Salem

City of Salem web site survey doesn’t work. So fitting!

I hate the City of Salem web site. It was hard to use before it was supposedly "improved," and now I find it even more confusing. Getting info on City Council meetings and staff reports is way more difficult than before.  So I was thrilled to see a Community Connection email in my inbox this morning.  An item invited me to take a Website Navigation Survey. Ooh, ooh! I'd be HAPPY to, City of Salem. I was SO looking forward to telling them how difficult their web site was to use and navigate.  Except... when I clicked on "Take Our…
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Posted inChamber of Commerce Police facility Statesman Journal

Either Chamber of Commerce is wrong, or Statesman Journal is deceitful

"What the ___?!" (I'll leave it to you to imagine a proper profanity to fill that blank.) That was my reaction when someone sent me the message below from the Keep Salem Safe folks who are advocating for passage of a way over-priced and poorly planned $82 million police facility bond measure on the November ballot.  They're telling people that the Statesman Journal has endorsed Measure 24-399. But clearly, this isn't true. The link circled in red below leads to a newspaper editorial that talks in a confusing fashion about "lowest common denominator" and earthquake safety, but doesn't call for a…
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Posted inKate Brown

Gov. Kate Brown rocks the room at Marion Dems fundraiser

It was a premonition, I guess, a message from the Progressive Cosmos that the positive vibes Governor Brown provided Sunday at Salem's Red Lion Inn were a warmup for Hillary Clinton's masterful debate performance on Monday.  So, yeah, it's been a couple of good days for my liberal-leaning wife and myself.  Brown was the keynote speaker at the Marion County Democrats Monroe Sweetland Annual Auction & Dinner. Laurel and I have gone regularly, so I can attest that this event felt like it had way more energy and enthusiasm than in previous years. This is partly due to 2016 being…
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