Posted inCity Council City of Salem Third Bridge

City of Salem Third Bridge conspiracy theorizing: “Something’s amiss here”

I agree with the Salem Breakfast on Bikes blogger who said Something's amiss here in a Tuesday post that is more interesting than the title portends, "At the MPO: Work Program and Rule-Making Updates for the TAC." Here's the juicy part of the post. The Technical Advisory Committee for our Metropolitan Planning Organization meets today, and there is no important action item.But the agenda does have a couple of other things to note.Work on the formal Work Program continues, and if there is any sign that the remand by LUBA on the land use matters had any real consequences, I'm still…
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Posted inJim Lewis Third Bridge

Third Bridge supporters fantasize about taking control of Salem City Council

I just finished a great book, "Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire." Now, fantasies come in different shades of unbelievability. The Salem Bridge Solutions fantasy reflected in a comment left by one of their leaders, Mike Evans, isn't totally fantastical, but in talking trash about a No 3rd Bridge proclamation of "Our Work is Done," it also isn't highly realistic. A recent post on the Salem Bridge Solutions page points to what I mean. Five positions on the nine-member City Council will be on the May 2018 ballot (whoever gets a majority of votes in the May primary election wins outright,…
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Posted inChuck Bennett City Council Third Bridge

Ding, dong, the Third Bridge is dead

And so it came to pass that there was cause for much rejoicing at last night's City Council meeting, for the Wicked Third Bridge (of both East and West, since it would have connected these two sides of Salem) almost certainly was put to death. Not by having a house dropped on it, or by being splashed with water, which would indeed be a perplexing way for a bridge to die, but by the City Council approving a motion to establish a committee that will examine ways to reduce traffic congestion around the two existing bridges without building a new…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

City Council plans to reduce traffic congestion without a Third Bridge

The writing is on the wall as regards the eventual demise of the Salem River Crossing, a.k.a. Third Bridge. Or rather, the writing is in the form of a motion to be made by Mayor Chuck Bennett at next Monday's City Council meeting to form a Council task force "to evaluate options for reducing traffic congestion and improving vehicular mobility around the Marion and Center Street bridges." Download CITY OF SALEM - File #: 17-545 It seems clear that this is how the Third Bridge will begin to die after opponents were successful in getting the Land Use Board of…
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Posted inChamber of Commerce City Council Third Bridge

Salem conservatives should do more actual conserving

I remember when conservatives used to actually believe in conserving things. Like money. And nature. My mother, an ardent Republican, was one of those old-time conservatives.  She was frugal. She was an environmentalist before that word came into fashion. Remembering the Great Depression (she was born in 1912), my mother hated to waste anything.  For a long time, "conservative" and "conservation" almost meant the same thing. A 2015 Think Progress piece talked about this in Republican Politicians are Betraying Their Party's Legacy of Conservation.  “You’re worried about what man has done and is doing to this magical planet that God…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Third Bridge supporters resorting to ridiculous arguments

Over the years I've heard lots of ridiculous arguments about why Salem should build a billion dollar (with financing costs included) Third Bridge across the Willamette River. For example, back in 2013 I asked Public Works Director Peter Fernandez to give me the "single most important reason Salem needs a Third Bridge." How did he respond? By saying that the single most important reason is that there is only one way into and out of West Salem. Redundancy and safety were the top reasons a Third Bridge is needed. He said that the bridges are seismically unfit. Currently serious accidents…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Great video discussion of why Salem needs to ditch the Third Bridge

Whether or not you believe Salem needs to spend more than $400 million on another bridge across the Willamette River, this CCTV interview between Ken Adams and Bob Cortright will help you understand what's going on with the Salem River Crossing project. Sure, I know a 26 minute video can seem like eternity in these days of 30-second social media attention spans. But Adams and Cortright do a great job of digging into some details that everybody in Salem should know about.  I jotted down some notes as I watched the video while eating breakfast this morning. Here's ten things…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

City Council elections count. Time to kill the Third Bridge.

Hypocrisy. We're all prone to it. But conservatives in Salem sure seem to be more hypocritical than progressives -- especially when it comes to the most controversial local political issue in this town, the Salem River Crossing or Third Bridge. I don't recall any of my progressive friends calling into question the legitimacy of a long string of pro-Third Bridge votes by the Salem City Council back when conservatives were in power. And I sure don't remember any members of that right-leaning council majority saying that even though one of their campaign positions was to build a Third Bridge, this…
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Posted inCity of Salem Land use Third Bridge

Legal ruling deals the Third Bridge a huge setback

This is a great day for Salem. The billion dollar boondoggle known as the Salem River Crossing (or Third Bridge) got a big defeat in a ruling by the Land Use Board of Appeals. Congratulations to the eight petitioners and E.M. Easterly, who joined in their appeal. Also, kudos to Salem attorney John Gear who argued the appeal. I haven't read the ruling yet, as LUBA hasn't released it to the public. (The image above came from a No 3rd Bridge Facebook post.) UPDATE: I now have a copy of the ruling. A quick look-through shows that LUBA rejected most…
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Posted inGator Gaynor Third Bridge Tom Andersen

I was right about the Salem Bridge Solutions disturbance. Gator Gaynor was wrong.

Ah, it always feels so good to be proven correct about a local issue I blogged about. Especially when  a local conservative talk show host, KYKN's Gator Gaynor, criticized me for supposedly falsely claiming that a pro-Third Bridge group, Salem Bridge Solutions, had disrupted a recent meeting of the West Salem Neighborhood Association.  After I wrote "Salem Bridge Solutions 'goon squad' roughs up West Salem NA meeting" and posted a link on a Salem City Council Facebook discussion page, Gaynor started up with his fake news! blather.  Here's a screenshot of the comment interchange between Gaynor and me. Well, what…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Salem Bridge Solutions “goon squad” roughs up West Salem NA meeting

Salem can't tolerate this. "Tough guys" trying to take over a neighborhood association meeting, pushing people around and creating an uproar.  I've gotten two reports of how supporters of the Salem Bridge Solutions group that wants the Third Bridge billion dollar boondoggle built disrupted last Monday's meeting of the West Salem Neighborhood Association. Read the mildly edited reports below. (I've taken out information that could identify the people who contacted me, given that the Salem Bridge Solutions goons are so nastily uncourteous.) I think you'll agree with me that this kind of behavior can't be allowed to take root in Salem.…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Third Bridge would harm enjoyment of Union Street Pedestrian Bridge

Here's one more of many reasons the Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. Third Bridge) is a really bad idea: An elevated bridge connection would pass about 10-15 feet over the west end of the Union Street Railroad Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail -- the way-cool non-vehicular bridge used by lots of people, including families with children, every day.  The No 3rd Bridge folks ask us to consider how the current pleasant experience of walking or cycling across the river will change when an elevated noisy multilane highway is right above people's heads. Here's their recent post about this: WOULD A HIGHWAY RAMP…
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Posted inCitizen involvement Third Bridge

West Salem NA Third Bridge vote was conducted shamefully

I'm giving the West Salem Neighborhood Association a big dose of Salem Political Snark for the shameful way a June 19 vote to support the Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. Third Bridge or Billion Dollar Boondoggle) was conducted. The pro-bridge Salem Bridge Solutions group is giddy with delight at how the vote to have the West Salem Neighborhood Association (WSNA) go on record as supporting the Salem River Crossing turned out: 302 in favor, 49 opposed, 3 abstaining.[Note this is a correction. Previously I reported a vote on an amendment to the final motion, not the final motion.] They're also super-proud…
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Posted inCitizen involvement Third Bridge

West Salem Neighborhood Association vote on Third Bridge won’t mean much

The astroturf (fake grass roots) Salem Bridge Solutions group is super-excited about tonight's West Salem Neighborhood Association meeting.  They think there will be a vote at the neighborhood association meeting to support building the Billion Dollar Boondoggle known as the Salem River Crossing, or Third Bridge. And also to build Marine Drive, which would connect with the as yet unpaid-for bridge -- should Salem-area residents decide they want to pay a $1.50 toll each way to cross the unneeded bridge, along with an increase in the local gas tax, vehicle registration fees, and property taxes. Well, Salem Bridge Solutions should…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Third Bridge boondoggle gets another City Council setback

Good news for Salem: the massive waste of a billion dollars known as the Salem River Crossing (a.k.a. Third Bridge) encountered another roadblock at last night's City Council meeting.  There was a public hearing on the FY 2017-18 budget, which included $3.6 million to do something with Marine Drive in West Salem, which currently is just a short street that blends with Harritt Drive south of Riverbend Road. Two options were on the table.  The clearly legal something was to use the leftover money from the 2008 Streets and Bridges Bond to do what voters approved when they passed the bond…
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Posted inThird Bridge

Salem Bridge Solutions group laughably lacks facts

The Powers That Be in Salem who love wasting taxpayer money on special interest projects have set up a new lobbying group for the Billion Dollar Boondoggle known as the Salem River Crossing, or Third Bridge. After browsing through the Salem Bridge Solutions Facebook page and web site, it seems clear that their main rationale for wanting to foist $1.50 each-way tolls on citizens, plus increases in the local gas tax, vehicle registration fees, and property taxes, can be summed up as... We want a new bridge! Badly. Waaaaahhhhh! We're going to cry and fuss until we get one! By…
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Posted inCity of Salem Third Bridge

Some City of Salem officials want to toll our bridges. No one else does.

Dirty little secrets deserve to be broadcast to the world when this is in the public interest.  At last night's City Council meeting I was pleased to play a part in revealing something that the folks at City Hall have been trying to hide as best they could: The main source of projected funding for the $430 million Third Bridge (or Salem River Crossing) is tolls -- $175 million worth, generated by a $1.50 each way charge to cross both the new bridge and the two existing bridges.  Here's the proof: a chart from the official Salem River Crossing Project…
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Posted inCity Council Third Bridge

Salem City Council votes 5-4 against Third Bridge

Elections matter. Beginning in 2014, five (of nine) Salem city councilors have been elected after vowing to oppose the Third Bridge, also known as the Salem River Crossing.  Or, as I like to call it, the Billion Dollar Boondoggle.  The Statesman Journal has some good reporting on tonight's 5-4 vote to reject an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Department of Land Conservation and Development that would have helped move the Third Bridge forward. Check out Jonathan Bach's story, "Salem councilors reject third bridge agreement with state department." Opponents of a third Salem traffic bridge over the Willamette claimed a victory Monday as…
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Posted inChuck Bennett City of Salem Third Bridge

Mayor Bennett doubles down on false claim of no 3rd Bridge tolling

Mayor Bennett is going backwards, truth-telling-wise, on the City of Salem's false contention that there is no plan to toll any of Salem's bridges. Friday I blogged about the original falsity in "'Alternative Facts' in City of Salem Facebook post about 3rd Bridge tolls."  Regarding the post on the official City of Salem Facebook page, I said: I was deeply irritated after reading it, and not just because I'm strongly opposed to building an unneeded half-billion dollar 3rd Bridge, a.k.a. the Salem River Crossing (which would cost around a billion dollars once financing is included). What bugged me the most was…
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Posted inCity Council City of Salem Third Bridge

“Alternative facts” in City of Salem Facebook post about 3rd Bridge tolls

I've been worried that the Trump administration's love of "alternative facts," otherwise known as falsehoods, would creep into other levels of government such as the City of Salem.  Well, today that worry manifested as reality in a post about 3rd Bridge tolling on the City's Facebook page.  I was deeply irritated after reading it, and not just because I'm strongly opposed to building an unneeded half-billion dollar 3rd Bridge, a.k.a. the Salem River Crossing (which would cost around a billion dollars once financing is included). What bugged me the most was the disregard for evident facts in the post. Look, I…
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