Posted inCity Council Cycling

City Council approves protected bike lane from Harritt Drive NW to 17th Street NE

It isn't everything that Salem Bike Vision proposed for a network of protected bike lanes in Salem, but it's a good start. After all, politics is the art of the doable. Idealism is fine. In the end, though, getting part of what you want is a heck of a lot better than falling on a idealistic sword and not getting anything. A protected bike lane So even though I'd hoped for more protected bike lanes to be included in the $300 million community improvement bond measure Salem voters will be asked to approve this November, it was pleasing to watch…
2
Posted inCity Council Cycling

More evidence that City of Salem staff hate protected bike lanes

Totally predictable. But disturbing all the same. City staff played games with a survey intended to gauge public support for an upcoming $300 million bond measure by slanting the survey to make it less likely that those responding would say Yes! to the Salem Bike Vision proposal to build a network of protected bike lanes. City councilor and Mayor-to-be Chris Hoy recognized this game a month ago, as I noted in a May 24 blog post, "Mayor and city staff try to keep Salem from having protected bike lanes."  Discussion then turned to the public opinion research mentioned in the…
No Comments
Posted inCity Council City of Salem

Salem isn’t really one of the best-run cities in America

The City of Salem Facebook page was all proud about Salem supposedly being one of the best-run cities in America. Not surprisingly, Mayor Bennett said it showed how wonderfully the folks at City Hall are doing. I'm not nearly as excited, for reasons I'll describe below. First, this isn't a scholarly bit of research conducted by an organization with impeccable credentials. It's a report by WalletHub designed to drive clicks to their web site, where I assume they do something involving being a hub for people with wallets. Second, it might make sense to speak of the "best-run city government,"…
No Comments
Posted inCity Council City of Salem

A middle-aged white guy will be the next Salem City Manager

So after four months of searching the country for candidates to be Salem's next City Manager, the folks at City Hall came up with three middle-aged white guys.  My intuitive reaction when I saw the image below on Facebook was, Oh, no! And this is coming from an old white guy. Look, I have nothing against middle-aged white guys. I can remember being one myself a mere couple of dozen years ago. It just seems wrong for city officials to conduct a nationwide search and end up with three candidates who don't reflect the vast majority of people in Salem. Women…
1
Posted inCitizen involvement City Council Cycling

Read why people want Salem to have protected bike lanes

Ten days ago I started a petition in support of the Salem Bike Vision proposal to spend $10 million of an upcoming $300 million community improvement bond on building a network of protected bike lanes. Please sign the petition, if you haven't already. So far 228 people have signed the petition. Over half, 130 people, left comments explaining why they support the protected bike lanes proposal.  I've copied in those comments below, which total 3,876 words. Yes, that's a lot. But the people who wrote those words spoke well, and sometimes eloquently, about how protected bike lanes are a big…
No Comments
Posted inCity Council Cycling

Weird reasons against protected bike lanes in Salem

Any user of Facebook knows that while there is a lot to like about this social media platform, there's also a lot not to like -- such as damn crazy ideas being spread around. About a week ago I started a petition in support of the Salem Bike Vision proposal to build a network of protected bike lanes in Salem. At the moment it has 190 signatures. Please sign it! To publicize the petition, I shared a post on three Facebook pages that I administer: Salem Can Do Better, Strange Up Salem, Salem Political Snark. The 591 reactions to date…
No Comments
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…
1
Posted inCity Council Cycling

Why are progressives on Salem City Council so uninterested in protected bike lanes?

I'm a confused progressive. Along with many others, I've spent a lot of time, money, and energy working to get progressives elected to the Salem City Council. Now they have a 7-2 majority on the council. I put councilors Virginia Stapleton, Tom Andersen, Trevor Phillips, Jackie Leung, Chris Hoy, Vanessa Nordyke, and Micki Varney in the progressive camp, with Mayor Chuck Bennett and Jose Gonzalez in the conservative camp. So it's perplexing why the highly appealing Salem Bike Vision proposal to build a network of protected bike lanes in Salem appears to be getting such little love from the progressives…
2
Posted inChuck Bennett City Council

Mayor and city staff try to keep Salem from having protected bike lanes

Given how pleasurable and safe it is for all ages to ride a bicycle on protected bike lanes, rather than dangerous white lines painted on the side of busy streets, it was irritating to watch a video of last night's City Council meeting and see Mayor Bennett, along with city staff, do their best to shoot down the popular proposal put forward by Salem Bike Vision.  One way among several to create a protected bike lane Councilor Virginia Stapleton handled the falsehoods with more patience and calm than I would have been capable of. Stapleton is taking the lead in…
2
Posted inCity Council Cycling

Tell the Salem City Council you want protected bike lanes

While it is unclear whether the Salem City Council will be deciding tonight, May 23, on what to include in a $300 million bond measure to be voted on by citizens in the November election, it still would be a good idea to urge them ASAP (before 5 pm today, if possible) to include $15 million for protected bike lanes in the measure. Email your testimony to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net Say you heartily support the proposal to use existing infrastructure to create the protected bike lanes, and want to see money for this in the bond measure. I described the proposal by…
No Comments
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…
2
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…
No Comments
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…
1
Posted inCity Council Land use

Salem City Council reverses itself and approves Meyer Farm subdivision

Some Salem progressives are deeply irritated at fellow progressives on the City Council after Monday night's 4-3 approval of a revised Meyer Farm subdivision application , which followed a 5-2 denial of the application on February 28. The Friends of The Meyer Farm Facebook page has an image that sums up how opponents of the subdivision are feeling today. They're justified in feeling this way.  One reason is how City of Salem staff turned a subdivision denial into an approval by working with the applicant on a revised application, even though opponents figured that what staff should have been doing…
2
Posted in2022 election City Council

Stacey Vieyra-Braendle is the progressive Ward 6 candidate

I guessed right. Twelve days ago I wrote a blog post, "Mayor and City Council candidates: a first look," where without knowing much about the two Ward 6 candidates for city council, I said: Ward 6. Julie Hoy and Stacey Vieyra-Braendle are the candidates seeking to fill Chris Hoy's seat. I could be completely wrong about this, but it seems strange that an unrelated Hoy just happens to hope to replace Chris Hoy.  This is the sort of thing Republicans would do. So I'll indulge my conspiracy theory mind and theorize that Julie Hoy leans conservative. I know nothing about…
No Comments
Posted in2022 election City Council

Mayor and City Council candidates: a first look

This is going to be an unusual year for local politics. For the first time since I've been following political goings-on in our city, there's no incumbents running for Mayor or half of the City Council seats -- the even-numbered ones, Wards 2, 4, 6, 8. What's obvious is that control of the City Council is at stake. Currently progressives have a 6-3 majority. Well, actually 6-2, since Jim Lewis, the conservative Ward 8 councilor, has resigned and a temporary replacement hasn't been appointed yet.  The five seats being voted on in the May primary (which determines who wins outright…
No Comments
Posted inCity Council City of Salem Land use

Meyer Farm subdivision rejected by City Council, but city staff are trying to keep it alive.

Ah, the games City of Salem staff like to play, even when they seem illegal, or at least, decidedly improper.  Last Monday night the City Council voted 5-2 to reject an application to build a 139 single-family lot subdivision on the beautiful property in south Salem known as the Meyer Farm. I wrote about this last October in "Thirty-acre Meyer Farm property in south Salem may be developed." Neighbors, along with others concerned about the proposed development, formed a Facebook group, Friends of The Meyer Farm. I've followed their persistent, thoughtful, energetic efforts, finding them impressive. Fighting a subdivision is…
4
Posted inChuck Bennett City Council City of Salem

Mayor Bennett accused of Climate Action Plan shenanigans

It's rare that I get to use "shenanigans," since that's an old-fashioned word. But it came to mind when I read what Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett is being accused of by our local 350.org affiliate, 350 Salem OR. As you can read below, it does seem like Mayor Bennett is engaged in a devious, underhanded trick -- trying to undermine the Salem Climate Action Plan so NW Natural can continue polluting the atmosphere with dangerous greenhouse gases. I've got more to say after the 350 Salem OR news release. -------------------------------------------------- January 26, 2022FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Contact: Phil Carver, Co-Coordinator (503) 562-9878…
No Comments
Posted inCity Council Police reform

Councilor Nordyke makes progress on mobile crisis unit

Thanks to Councilor Vanessa Nordyke, last night the Salem City Council approved a motion to have city staff prepare a report about a mobile crisis unit pilot project. She was happy in a Facebook post. And humble, because the staff report that was approved was written by her. Here's Nordyke's approved proposal. The pilot project would be a civilian-led mobile crisis unit similar to CAHOOTS in Eugene to respond to calls for service involving persons experiencing homelessness or behavioral health crisis and would likely be for one year. Staff is directed to consult with CAHOOTS of Eugene regarding what this…
No Comments
Posted inCity Council Police reform

Councilor Nordyke pushing hard for mobile crisis unit

I'm tempted to call this a cage fight between Vanessa Nordyke, Salem City Councilor, and Trevor Womack, Salem Police Chief, over the establishment of a civilian-run mobile crisis unit. Oops. Looks like I gave in to that temptation. Nordyke looks sweet and gentle. But my advice to Womack is to throw in the towel now before you get thrashed by her. A few days ago Nordyke announced in a Facebook post that she wants City of Salem staff to prepare a report on the feasibility of a mobile crisis unit. Note the language: "civilian-led mobile crisis unit." Those are fighting…
3