Posted inCity Council City of Salem Micki Varney

I just initiated an ethics complaint against the City of Salem

Pressing "send" on an email rarely feels as satisfying to me as it did a few minutes ago when, after laboring on a message to officials at the City of Salem that is required by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission as the first step in filing a complaint regarding a violation of our state's public meeting law, I finally felt satisfied with it. Below is the email that went to various officials at the City of Salem. Some of the formatting is screwed up given that I copied and pasted from my email, which looked fine. Note that what I've…
No Comments
Posted inCity of Salem Micki Varney Peter Fernandez

As forests burn, Salem parks board OK’s cutting trees without a permit

It was quite a juxtaposition last night. While wildfires burn forests across Oregon, I watched the Salem Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (SPRAB) say "no problem" to a developer cutting down two large White Oak trees without a permit, after which Peter Fernandez, the Public Works Director, granted an after-the-fact tree removal permit 105 days after those trees, and three others, were removed. This was a horrible decision for reasons I'll describe below. The only good news is that the vote to deny an appeal by the Southwest Association of Neighbors (SWAN)  of the after-the-fact permit being issued was close,…
5
Posted inJim Lewis Micki Varney Third Bridge

Salem Bridge Solutions isn’t trying to vote out anti-bridge city councilors

The Salem Bridge Solutions group is big on talking about building a half-billion dollar Third Bridge across the Willamette, but so far their actions are kind of puny.  A Statesman Journal editorial, "Group urges community to complete city survey on traffic congestion," included some brave words from Salem Bridge Solutions.  The SBS group's co-founders, Mike and Craig Evans, believe this survey, which runs through March 10, is a good way to capture every idea out there. But make no mistake. This group of third-bridge supporters that dresses in lime-green T-shirts and plants pro-bridge signs in West Salem front lawns is determined that the…
4
Posted inMicki Varney

Micki Varney is a great candidate for the West Salem city council seat

If you live in Ward 8, which is most of West Salem, I hope you'll vote for Micki Varney in the May election. I've heard Varney speak several times, and it's obvious that she'll make a great Salem city councilor.  Here's a photo of Varney at a fundraiser for her campaign that I attended last night. I'm the gray-haired guy who has a blue jacket on the back of his seat. A close-up from her web site reflects some of Varney's appealing attributes: openness, honesty, intelligence, good humor. She's a salmon biologist who wants to use her scientific approach to…
1