Posted inCity of Salem Police facility

Time to take a close look at the Salem Police Department budget

I'm optimistic about the good that is going to come from the nationwide protests against George Floyd's murder by a police officer, since it is long past time that the United States faced up to the injustices people of color have endured at the hands of police for many decades, centuries, really. But there's another aspect to how our nation looks upon police: we throw a huge amount of money into police department budgets, often with little oversight or analysis into whether this spending is really needed. In most cities, Salem included, police and fire consume a third to a…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Police facility

How did the Salem police facility cost balloon 36% in just 18 months?

Last night the Salem City Council, meeting as the Urban Renewal Agency board, failed to ask the right questions about a massive cost overrun on the not-yet-built new police facility. This failure was across the board. Council progressives didn't ask the right questions. Neither did the council conservatives. The Mayor didn't ask the right questions. And City of Salem staff sure didn't either. So I'm going to present some key questions that went unasked.  What bothered me the most about the approval of $2 million in urban renewal funds to fill a hole in the police facility budget wasn't so…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police facility

Three reasons City Council should think twice about adding $2 million to police facility budget

Nine days ago I argued that the Salem City Council should cut costs to bridge a funding gap facing the yet-to-be-built police facility planned for just north of downtown. As noted above, in the $63.9 million plan 9.18% was budgeted for escalation, meaning construction inflation. This totaled $4,503,000. There also was a 9% contingency line item of $4,907,000. So $9,410,000 was set aside for construction cost increases and unforeseen contingencies. It sure seems this should have been enough, so why are City officals asking for $2 million on top of the $9,410,000? (Note: in my blog post I observed that if…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police facility

Salem police facility should cut costs, not use urban renewal funds

A headline in a recent Statesman Journal story didn't tell the entire truth about a cost overrun on the $61.8 million police facility Salem voters approved in a May 2017 bond measure election. The headline, "Salem officials seek extra $2 million as police HQ construction costs rise," makes it sound as if construction cost inflation is the reason City officials are wanting $2 million to be allocated from urban renewal funds to fund additional police facility costs. But there already was $4.5 million in the police facility budget earmarked for 9.2% worth of cost escalation due to construction inflation. So…
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Posted inCitizen involvement Police facility

How citizen activism produced a much better Salem Police Facility plan

Yesterday Salem voters approved a second-try $62 million police facility bond measure. This is a good time to recollect how citizen activism led by Salem Community Vision (and Salem Can Do Better, an offshoot formed to oppose the first-try bond measure) prevented bad police facility ideas from being implemented -- which made possible the better plan approved by voters. Here's the "headlines" of eight citizen activism accomplishments. Stopping a police facility from being built at the Civic CenterStopping the Library from being converted to a police facilityStopping the idea of building a police facility anywhere at the Civic CenterStopping the…
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Posted inPolice facility

Outspent 52 to 1, the No on Measure 24-420 campaign is feeling fine

If you like political underdogs, you should love the Salem Can Do Better campaign I'm leading against the second-try $62 million police facility bond, Measure 24-420 on the May ballot. I just checked. The YES campaign being run by Friends of Salem Police has raised $114,750. The Salem Can Do Better NO campaign has raised $2,200.  That's a 52 to 1 difference.  Which doesn't bother me at all. Last year's first-try $82 million police facility bond measure was turned down by voters in the November election even though Salem Can Do Better also was outspent by a lot, about 30 to 1…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police facility

New police facility doesn’t fit with City of Salem “North Downtown Plan”

Here's another reason to vote against Measure 24-420, the second-try $62 million police facility bond measure on the May 2017 ballot: Building a police facility in the north downtown area (on the old DeLon/O'Brien auto dealership site) goes against longstanding plans for how this area should be developed. Salem Can Do Better lays out four other good reasons to vote NO, but this is a fairly fresh idea that just came to light for me.  I've heard criticisms of putting a large 115,000 square foot tax-exempt police facility on a prime piece of downtown land. But until someone mailed me several…
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Posted inPolice facility

Four reasons to vote NO on Measure 24-420, the second-try Salem police facility bond

Today I updated the Salem Can Do Better web page to reflect our new campaign: urging a NO vote on the $62 million police facility bond measure on the May ballot. Because even though the rejection of last November's hugely overpriced $82 million bond measure forced City officials to reduce the size and cost of the proposed police facility -- a win for Salem citizens -- the $62 million second-try bond still suffers from some major flaws: Notably, (1) an excessively high cost per square foot, and (2) a continued failure to realize that saving the lives of everybody at City…
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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 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 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 inPolice facility

“No organized opposition” to $82 million police facility bond levy? Fighting words, Oregon Pioneer.

How do you argue with the "golden man" statue on top of the Capitol building? Through a blog post! I'm sure the Oregon Pioneer reads Salem Political Snark, since he's sitting right on top of a whole lot of fodder for political snarkiness. Of course, I guess it's possible that the regular Musings of the Oregon Pioneer column in the Salem Business Journal isn't written by the statue.  Regardless, the column in the December 2016 issue contains some fighting words. Download SBJ piece about new police station Last November 8, the voters turned down a new $82 million police station at…
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Posted inPolice facility

City of Salem leasing old O’Brien auto site until June 2017

I wasn't aware that the City of Salem was leasing the old O'Brien auto dealership site north of downtown until I read about this in a recent Statesman Journal story, "Salem preps old dealership for homeless warming shelter." The city of Salem dispatched staff Tuesday to ready the old O’Brien Auto Group space for the homeless to use as a warming shelter while coming winter nights are expected to dip below freezing....The city leases the O’Brien property, which would have been the site for a new police facility if the measure to fund it hadn’t failed this November. O'Brien site when it was…
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Posted inDowntown Police facility

Rumor: City plans to buy police facility site with urban renewal funds

A credible source has told me that, following the defeat of the $82 million police facility bond measure a few weeks ago, City officials plan to use urban renewal funds to buy the old O'Brien auto dealership site where the police facility was planned to be built. The budget for the facility showed $5.5 million for site acquisition. I believe the City of Salem had an option to buy the property, which apparently is owned by the Delon family, but the option expires before next year. Hence, the need to find a way to tie up the police facility site…
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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 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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