Posted in2022 election City Council City of Salem

Wasteful use of fire trucks called out by 350 Salem OR

Sending a giant fire engine out to respond to a medical emergency is like having an Amazon package delivered by a semi-trailer truck. In each case, almost always there's no need for such vehicle overkill.  But even though just 2% of calls to the Salem Fire Department involved fires, the department is asking for $26 million in the $300 million bond levy on the November ballot to replace worn-out fire trucks.  The reason, pretty obviously, is that those trucks are being used inappropriately. If a right-sized vehicle was used for medical emergencies, fire trucks would be used for their intended…
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Posted in2022 election Oregon politics

Deb Patterson and Raquel Moore-Green debate at City Club

Today it was pleasant to watch a polite substantive Salem City Club debate between the candidates for Oregon's Senate District 10, Democrat Deb Patterson (the incumbent) and Republican Raquel Moore-Green, who holds the District 19 seat in the Oregon House. Deb Patterson (D) and Raquel Moore-Green (R)  This was the first in-person meeting for the City Club in what seems like forever, but actually is just since Covid struck in early 2020. It felt great to be in the Willamette Heritage Center Dye House in physical reality, rather than watching the program via Zoom. (That reality included made-to-order lunches by…
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Posted in2022 election

Great letter in support of Jamie McLeod-Skinner

Salem isn't in the 5th Congressional District now, being put in the new 6th Congressional District after Oregon gained a seat in the House of Representatives when the 2020 census showed we deserved it. But most of Marion County is. So if you're a 5th Congressional District voter, or know someone who is, urge them to cast their ballot for Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the November election.  Here's a letter to the editor in today's Oregonian newspaper in support of McLeod-Skinner. Cathy Whiting, the person who wrote it, is a friend who lives in Canby. She's a member of the Salon…
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Posted in2022 election National politics

Kansas votes for abortion rights. Good news for Democrats.

Being an avid Democrat, I needed this. A big win for abortion rights in Kansas today. Yes, Kansas. A decidedly red state.  A Washington Post headline buoyed my liberal spirits. Political prognosticators were saying the vote in Kansas would be close. Actually, it wasn't.  This bodes well for Democrats in the November midterms. The Kansas legislature, dominated by Republicans, put this constitutional amendment question on the ballot in what they thought would be a low-turnout primary election, hoping that Kansas voters would sleepwalk their way to approving a change to the state's constitution that would take away a woman's private…
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Posted in2020 election 2022 election Donald Trump

Anyone who still supports Trump is a democracy-hater

If there was any doubt that Donald Trump is the worst president in American history, the rock-solid findings of the January 6 committee have put that doubt to rest. I haven't watched all of my recording of tonight's primetime hearing by the committee into Trump's 187 minutes of utter inaction following the insurrection at the nation's capitol. But I listened to about an hour while driving around, and looked at some of the hearing when I returned home. It's amazing that there's anyone in the United States who still backs Trump. If any other president had done 1/1000 of the…
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Posted in2022 election City Council

Medlock now leads Gwyn by two votes in Ward 4 council race

If this was a fast-moving sporting event, rather than a slow-motion counting of all the votes, the contest between Dynee Medlock and Deanna Gywn to become the next Salem City Councilor in Ward 4 (a seat currently held by Jackie Leung, who didn't seek re-election) would have fans on the edge of their seats, waiting to see who ends up on top when time runs out. Here's how the contest stands as of today. Yesterday Gwyn led Medlock by two votes. Now Medlock leads Gwyn by two votes. We're not done yet with the May 17 election. A Salem Reporter…
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Posted in2022 election

Local election results look positive for progressives

Election night results always change in Oregon, even with vote by mail. This year they likely will change to a greater degree, since for the first time ballots postmarked today will count if they're received within a week. That said, it's no fun to be cautious and say, "Let's wait until all the votes are in." Instead I say, "Let's look at the results as they are now!" Assuming those results hold up -- again, a big assumption -- progressives like me should be pleased with how things are looking in local races.  Chris Hoy leads in the race for Salem…
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Posted in2022 election

Big bucks flowing to conservatives in mayor and city council races

Today the Statesman Journal had a story about spending on the races for mayor and four city council seats in next Tuesday's primary election (which usually determines the winner in those contests, since a candidate getting 50% of the vote plus one more vote wins outright and avoids the November election). The title of the story by Whitney Woodworth shows its primary focus: where the $375,000 came from. But equally important is where the money went. There are four contested Salem races on the ballot -- mayor and three of the four even-numbered city council seats up for election (Ward…
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Posted in2022 election Tom Andersen

Claudia Howells text unfairly smears Tom Andersen in HD 19 race

It's getting close to the Oregon primary election day, May 17. Per usual, the nastiness is ramping up in campaign attack ads.  Here's an example. Today I learned the identity of the person who's been sending text messages wrongly accusing Tom Andersen, the Salem city councilor running in the Democratic primary for House District 19 against Brad Witt, of being weak on abortion rights. It didn't take much sleuthing, since Claudia Howells identified herself in the text message. Howells' husband, Bradd Swank, lost badly to Andersen in a 2014 City Council race, so this raises the question of whether retribution…
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Posted in2022 election

Why Paige Clarkson is unfit to be the Marion County District Attorney

A recent mailer I got from Friends of Paige Clarkson, who is running to be the Marion County District Attorney, shows why voters should cast their ballot for Spencer Todd, her opponent.  It's disgusting. Todd is a public defender. But apparently Clarkson doesn't understand that in the United States everyone is entitled to an attorney who defends them in court, because the front page of her mailer says this: And who is the company Spencer Todd keeps? Why, defense attorneys! OMG! The horror! A public defender has friends who are defense attorneys.  (Note: if you're a spelling geek, another reason not…
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Posted in2022 election National politics

If we make the mistake Zelensky did, we’ll lose our democracy

I'm a huge fan of Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. They've fought against Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine with amazing skill, valor, and determination.  Zelensky Since the war began on February 24, Zelensky has led his country almost perfectly. He inspires both Ukrainians and the entire freedom-loving world with his words and actions. And yet... A special report in the May 9 issue of TIME magazine, "Inside Zelensky's World," describes how close a bad decision by Zelensky came to imperiling Ukraine in the first few days of the war. The error was ignoring the obvious evidence that Russia was…
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Posted in2022 election National politics

Once abortion is illegal, gay marriage and contraception could follow

Unless you're living in a news desert where word of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning abortion rights hasn't reached yet, likely you're either outraged or ecstatic -- depending on how you view abortion.  Me, I'm in the outraged camp. I strongly favor a woman's right to choose what medical care she gets. That leads me to be upset at what anti-abortion zealots and their enablers in the Republican Party have wrought: the imminent doing-away of a constitutional right to an abortion that has been the law of the land since 1973, almost 50 years. Even worse, there's good…
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Posted in2022 election

My feelings as I filled out the May 2022 Oregon ballot

Here in Oregon we vote in the privacy of our own homes. Or any other damn place that we choose, since our oh-so-enlightened state is 100% vote by mail in every election. Yesterday my ballot arrived in the mail. Being eager to vote ASAP, almost immediately I sat down at our dining room table, a pen with black ink in hand, so I could put my ballot in a mailbox on my way back from a Thursday evening Tai Chi class. I can't say it was a highly emotional experience. But I did have some clear feelings as I filled…
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Posted in2022 election Chris Hoy City Council

Vote for these progressive candidates in the May election

I like progress. That's why I'm a progressive. And why I'm recommending that you vote for these candidates in the May election that likely will determine who becomes the next Salem mayor and wins the even-numbered Salem City Council seats. (If a candidate gets 50% of the vote, plus one more vote, they win outright in the May election, which is a primary for partisan Democrat/Republican races, but usually is the deciding election in local nonpartisan races.) For more detail, here's a recommendation I saw today from a progressive group that includes some additional races. They leave out the Ward…
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Posted in2022 election City Council

Three reasons to vote for Medlock rather than Gwyn in the Ward 4 council race

If you live in Salem's Ward 4 and are thinking of voting for Deanna Gwyn, I urge you to think again. Her opponent, Dynee Medlock, is a much better choice to represent you on the City Council. A couple of Salem Reporter stories by Rachel Alexander provide the reasons. Here's three of them, based on a written Q&A where Medlock and Gwyn answered questions sent to them by Salem Reporter staff, and a devastating story, "Salem council candidate Deanna Gwyn has rarely voted, records show." (1) Voting records. Gwyn has voted just twice in the past decade, not voting in…
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Posted in2022 election Chane Griggs

Chane and James Griggs’ campaign contributions, 2008-2022

Today someone sent me a spreadsheet that, they said, was pulled from Oregon's campaign contribution database, ORESTAR. It showed the contributions to 28 candidates by Chane Griggs and James Griggs between 2008 and 2022. The amounts ranged from $100 to $2,000, aside from a $5,000 contribution by James to Chane's campaign. Chane Griggs Since Chane Griggs is running for Salem Mayor against Chris Hoy, the accompanying email pointed out that while the Mayor's office is non-partisan, most of those receiving money from the Griggs were Republicans or conservatives. That's true. But most of the donations, 25 of the 28, were…
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Posted in2022 election Marion County politics

Marion County District Attorney candidates offer clear choice in City Club debate

I'm healed! Thanks to the current Marion County District Attorney, Paige Clarkson, and her challenger in the May election, Spencer Todd, I've recovered from the (mild) trauma of watching the previous Salem City Club debate via Zoom between the candidates for Salem Mayor, Chris Hoy and Chane Griggs, where Hoy and Griggs agreed on almost everything and were kind and gentle toward each other. Morally uplifting, perhaps, but boring.  In contrast, Clarkson and Todd disagreed on almost everything and were pleasingly snarky toward each other. Partly that was because being attorneys, they're used to arguing with their fellow lawyers. But…
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Posted in2022 election Oregon politics

I’m uncertain about who to vote for in the Democratic Governor primary

I'm usually quite opinionated when it comes to politics. But this morning my wife asked me who I favored in the upcoming May Democratic primary for Oregon Governor.  I said, "I don't know. Tina Kotek and Tobias Read are the favorites. I'm not sure which is best." A KGW story, updated as of April 12, shows 16 candidates in the Democratic primary. Wikipedia has 15 candidates, lacking Michael David. This is the Wikipedia list. Again, Tina Kotek and Tobias Read seem to be the only viable candidates. Both are experienced in Oregon politics, have a decent amount of campaign funds, and…
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Posted in2022 election

Other CD6 Dem candidates furious at Carrick Flynn getting $1 million from House Majority PAC

A tweet this afternoon by an Oregon Democratic consultant, Kari Chisholm, clued me in to an controversial action by the House Super PAC backed by Democratic leadership in Washington, D.C. Below is the Joint Statement from the six Democratic candidates that I copied from the tweet above. It is indeed highly disturbing that the House Majority PAC would back a particular candidate in the Democratic primary for an newly created House seat, especially since Carrick Flynn isn't lacking for campaign funds, given how many mailings my wife and I have gotten from him. An Oregon Capital Chronicle story about this…
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Posted in2022 election City Council

Ask these tough national questions of local conservative candidates

The saying used to be "All politics is local." Now the reverse is at least equally true: "All politics is national." Meaning, whereas there used to be lots of politicians who were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans, those days are pretty much gone. Democratic politicians are almost all liberal. Republican politicians are almost all conservative. This poses a problem in nonpartisan races, such as for Salem Mayor and City Councilor.  Sure, nonpartisan has a lovely inclusive vibe to it. Let divisiveness rule in those nasty races where candidates have Democrat or Republican accompanying their name. Our local races can simply…
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