Posted in2020 election City Council

Special interest money propels Reid Sund campaign to record contributions

Reid Sund is running against Vanessa Nordyke for the Ward 7 Salem City Council seat. His campaign apparently has set a record for contributions to a city council candidate: $46,847. But there's a lot of room for debate about whether this record deserves applause or boos, since $18,000 has come from special interest PACs: $10,500 from the Oregon Association of Realtor's PAC and $7,500 from the Mid-Valley Affordable Housing Coalition, which is the political arm of the Marion-Polk Homebuilder's Association. After all, PACs (Political Action Committees) carefully choose which politicians they support financially. In my opinion, it isn't so much…
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Posted in2020 election City Council

Crazy talk from Reid Sund and Jan Kailuweit about climate change

Two conservative Salem City Council candidates in the upcoming May 19 election have decidedly crazy ideas about idling cars and climate change.  Reid Sund (Ward 7) and Jan Kailuweit (Ward 1) are claiming that building a 3rd Bridge across the Willamette would be a big contributor to lowering greenhouse gas emissions in Salem. Yes, they say, it is one of the best solutions we have in our “tool kit” for fighting climate change. In this regard they have a lot in common with Donald Trump. They make stuff up that has no basis in fact and then they repeat it…
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Posted inCoronavirus

Survey shows Oregonians strongly support stay at home orders

Facts matter. And it's a fact that a recent DHM Research survey found that 82% of Oregonians support Governor Brown's Stay Home, Save Lives orders. Here's the graphic from the first survey release. You can read about the findings in this DHM Research PDF file.Download COVID Survey--Annotated--March 2020 Below is an excerpt from the report about the overwhelming support for stay at home orders, and how this undercuts the claim of right-wing activists that people want Oregon opened up for business as soon as possible. Oregonians overwhelmingly support the state’s stay at home orders. 82% of Oregonians support the state’s…
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Posted in2020 election City Council

Salem, be wary of Citizens for a Livable Community

A few days ago I wrote "Fascinating facts about contributions to Salem City Council candidates." The compilation of contributions that I shared had Citizens for a Livable Community as a major donor to each of the conservative candidates: Jan Kailuweit, Brad Nanke, Jose Gonzalez, and Reid Sund. That got me to wondering, "What the heck is Citizens for a Livable Community?" I'd never heard of the group before. So who are those citizens with such a concern for making our community livable? And why are they only contributing to conservative candidates? Well, the answers to those questions point to why Oregon has…
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Posted in2020 election City Council

Fascinating facts about contributions to Salem City Council candidates

As we approach the May 19, 2020 Oregon primary election, where each of the four Salem City Council races likely will be decided (candidate with more than 50% wins outright), I'm pleased to present a detailed look at the campaign finances of those races as of yesterday, April 15. Salem City Council: Kaser, Andersen, Nanke, Leung, Mayor Bennett, Ausec, Hoy, Nordyke, Lewis The images below, which I converted from a spreadsheet, come from a fellow political junkie who compiled the information from campaign finance reports on the state ORESTAR system. There's a lot to digest in the images. Here's some…
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Posted inCity of Salem Peter Fernandez Trees

Salem tree outrage: city officials slumber while chain saws thunder

It's an open secret that the folks at City Hall don't care much about protecting Salem's street trees. I've documented this over the years in numerous blog posts, the most notable one being "Outrage: the true story of Salem's U.S. Bank tree killings." Two of the U.S. Bank trees prior to their needless destruction  Peter Fernandez, the Public Works Director, was the city official who was most responsible in 2013 for the outrageous destruction of five healthy, beautiful, large downtown trees that weren't causing any problems.  But so far as I know, Fernandez didn't face any consequences for engaging in…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics Oregon politics

Trump will have to pry Oregon’s stay-home order out of my cold, dead hands

Today President Trump's authoritarianism reached a peak when he said at the White House coronavirus briefing that his authority is total. This was in reference to his supposed ability to order states to relax their stay-at-home and physical distancing orders. “The president of the United States calls the shots,” he said at his evening news briefing. “They can’t do anything without the approval of the president of the United States.” Asked what provisions of the Constitution gave him the power to override the states if they wanted to remain closed, he said, “Numerous provisions,” without naming any. “When somebody’s the…
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Posted in2020 election City Council

These Salem City Council candidates deserve your vote

Yes, the coronavirus crisis is consuming our attention. That's understandable. But don't forget something important.Next month, May, there's an election for four City Council seats. And it's clear to me who you should vote for.The candidates who will move Salem forward to a brighter future. I'll have more to say about them as the May 19 election nears.For now, keep these names in mind. Because they're the most progressive candidates.Which is what Salem sorely needs in this trying time. Progress.  Click on a name to visit the candidate's web site. Virginia Stapleton (Ward 1) Trevor Phillips (Ward 3) Hollie Oakes-Miller…
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Posted inCity of Salem Coronavirus

Minto Brown dog park should be open during COVID-19 crisis

Woof, woof. That's the sound of our dog agreeing with the title of this blog post. For some unknown reason, parks in Salem are open, but the Minto Brown off-leash dog park is closed. I took this photo today at the entrance to the parking lot that serves the dog park. My wife and I, along with Mooka, our dog, were disappointed to see this barricade and sign saying "This Area is Closed Until Further Notice."  But it wasn't a total surprise, since I'd read this letter to the editor in the Sunday Statesman Journal. Closure of dog park disappointing…
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Posted inCoronavirus

Survey finds Oregonians anxious about coronavirus crisis

Today DHM Research released the results of an online survey of 507 Oregonians aged 18+.Download COVID Survey--Annotated--March 2020 Not surprisingly, it found that people are anxious about the coronavirus, worried about their financial situation, feel that things will get worse for at least another month, disapprove of how Trump is handling the federal response, and approve of how Governor Brown is handling the state response. But as you can read below in the summary of findings that I copied from the survey report, there's some surprises. Young people say they're more concerned about the coronavirus than people 65+. But maybe…
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Posted inCoronavirus Donald Trump

Don’t fall for Trump’s latest coronavirus B.S.

A bullshit detector should be mandatory equipment for everyone who watches Trump's coronavirus press conferences, which was held today in the White House Rose Garden for some reason (maybe so the roses could be fertilized by the crap that came out of Trump's mouth). It's difficult for me to pick the most disturbing thing Trump said today, given how many candidates there are. But I'll start with what irked me the most: Trump's repeated claim that if there are only 100,000 to 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States, that's a good thing, a success, because supposedly there could have…
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Posted inCity of Salem Downtown

City of Salem giving out parking tickets in a deserted downtown

Well, at least the City of Salem is heeding Trump's call for business as usual during the coronavirus crisis. Parking tickets are still being given out in the downtown area, even though spaces are plentiful now and visitors are few. This evening downtown resident and property owner Carole Smith let me know about this dubious policy. Here's what Smith said, along with three photos she took today during the lunch hour, which, as she says below, usually is the busiest time for downtown. Last week I ran into a parking services officer downtown and I asked him “You aren’t giving…
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Posted in2020 election Coronavirus Donald Trump

Trump wants people to die so he can be re-elected

I can't believe how many times I've said, "Trump can't do anything worse than what he did today." But he does. And today was the latest example of appalling worstness. During the daily White House coronavirus briefing, where Trump hogs the microphone while other officials cower in the background, doing their best to keep a poker face as Trump rambles on semi-coherently, our Idiot-in-Chief announced that he wants to make saving lives a distant second priority to resuming business as usual by the end of March. Why? Well, because he doesn't want the country to be in a recession, or…
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Posted inCoronavirus Donald Trump

Experts agree: Trump horribly mismanaged the U.S. COVID-19 disaster

Two days ago my daughter lost her job as sales manager for a small business in southern California. She's shocked. Her company's financial problems arrived very suddenly because of the COVID-19 outbreak. As I described in a previous blog post, with no retail outlets being open, with the companies that owe them money being unable to pay, and with them being unable to pay their suppliers, every employee has been furloughed. I blame Donald Trump. For good reason. Trump is why the United States is facing a massive disaster. Lots of sickness and deaths. Economic recession, if not depression. Shortages…
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Posted in2020 election Donald Trump

Progressive policies will win the war against COVID-19

Have you tried to buy toilet paper? Good luck with that. There isn't any available. Here in Salem, Oregon, a friend reported there's none at Costco today. The shelves were bare at several grocery stores I went to this week. Amazon has none, aside from a bunch of ripoffs trying to get people to buy masqueraded paper towels with a cautionary notice: "Don't worry if this product doesn't fit on your usual toilet paper dispenser." Of course it won't! It's a freaking paper towel! That's the free market at work. Or rather, not working.  Sure, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, these…
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Posted inNational politics

My daughter clues me in to why small businesses need help fast

Last night I enjoyed talking with my daughter by phone. Except when I didn't. Which was when she gave me a disturbing rundown of the challenges the small company she works for faces because of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.  She and her family live in southern California. Her company (she's the sales director) makes a product that is sold in retail outlets in the United States and other countries, almost all of which aren't owned by the company.  But the dynamics she described to me must apply to huge numbers of small businesses all across the United States, notably including…
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Posted inChuck Bennett City Council City of Salem

Salem’s city officials need to WAKE UP about COVID-19 danger

I'll be blunt and red flag colorful. People are going to die if Salem's Mayor, City Manager, and City Councilors don't freaking WAKE UP about the danger COVID-19 poses to everybody in our city, but especially to those who are over 60 and those with underlying medical conditions. With St. Patrick's Day coming up, those city officials need to be screaming from the rooftops of social media, Statesman Journal, Salem Reporter, local radio stations, and Portland TV stations that Salem residents need to stay out of bars, restaurants, and other crowded gathering places until the COVID-19 outbreak has stabilized. Which will…
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Posted in2020 election Chamber of Commerce City Council

Salem Chamber of Commerce apparently trying to hide $25,000 in PAC money

In tonight's blog post I planned to focus on the curious case of Brad Nanke suddenly deciding that he wanted to run again to be the Ward 3 city councilor, even though back in September of last year he told the Statesman Journal that he wouldn't seek reelection in 2020.  Salem City Councilor Brad Nanke will not seek reelection in 2020, planning to cap a nearly two-decade run representing southeast Salem after his term concludes. Nanke, in his fifth term on the council, has more than a year left to influence policy: His current term ends Dec. 31, 2020. "Five is enough," he told…
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Posted inWomen's March

Photos of 2020 Salem Women’s March

Another year, another Women's March at the Capitol Mall here in Salem, Oregon. This time it was on International Women's Day, rather than in January as in 2017, 2018, and 2019.  I wasn't able to attend, but my wife, Laurel, did. She took these photos. The commentary is mine. We can only hope to be free of the bondage of the past. I was a big fan of Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren, all of whom would have been both a great Democratic presidential nominee and president. But such was not to be, so we're stuck with Joe…
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Posted in2020 election Oregon politics

Make Oregon Republicans pay for their anti-democracy walkout

Four days ago I titled a blog post, "It's a make-or-break week for democracy in Oregon." Well, today we learned that Democrats in the state legislature stood firm in defense of democracy, while the Republicans who walked out basically said screw you, democracy.  Oregonians need to remember this in the upcoming November election. Democrats care about democracy. Republicans don't. It's that simple. Vote accordingly on the local, state, and national level.  The only bright spot in the legislature being forced to close up shop because of the Republican walkout, which was a taxpayer-funded vacation for them, was how Democratic leaders…
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