Why Salem Chamber of Commerce endorses worst city council candidates

Hines Brian May 17, 2014No Comments

I heartily enjoyed David Engen's letter to the editor in today's Statesman Journal. Well, aside from his use of the term "marginal."

I don't consider the 2014 Salem City Council candidates who weren't endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber's compliant extension, our daily newspaper, to be marginal in any way.

Probably Engen meant "outside the power structure," or something like that. Vote for Andersen, Swank, Bassett, Lor, and Proudfoot — they will represent ordinary citizens, not special interests.

Anyway, since it doesn't take long for the Statesman Journal to put letters to the editor into its must-pay-to-view archives, here's Engen's "Those not endorsed by chamber deserve chance." Along with the cogent comments submitted by readers.

When the Chamber of Commerce becomes a political party and puts forward and funds its own group of candidates, it cannot pretend to be for the welfare of the general public.

The fact that the Statesman Journal endorsed all the chamber's candidates for the Salem City Council is hard to ignore.

An examination of all the candidates shows that the marginal candidates are a well-educated and well-experienced group. They are indeed at least as qualified to be members of the City Council as the people the Statesman Journal have endorsed and without the baggage the others bring.

Too bad they have been dismissed so lightly by the Statesman Journal.

David Engen
Salem

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Eric Palmer

Yep……loved how the Statesman threw every non-chamber candidate under the bus with statements like….."They are too rigid in their views" simply because they promoted no more sweetheart deals for the Chamber and their lackeys. Sticking up for the average guy makes you "too rigid". Putting public assets into private pockets gets you an editorial endorsement.

Haven't people had enough of the Chuck Sides type developer being in bed with the powers that be? Haven't people had enough boondoggles at taxpayer expense like The Meridian? How many more Boise Cascade sweetheart deals is Mountain West going to be given?

Terri Moore

Totally agree, Mr. Palmer…."too rigid" means not voting how the Chamber wants….it's a symbiotic relationship between the SJ, the Chamber and Mayor/City Council…The regional Chamber of Commerce advertises with the Statesman Journal and funds candidates through their three PAC's in turn for SJ's endorsements for those candidates and City Council votes for projects the Chambers' realtors and developers monetarily benefit from, including tax breaks.

Kevin Rash

Terri Moore You and Eric are perceptive. Anyone who grew up here knows that it's a small crowd who really runs this town.

Terri Moore

Kevin Rash Yes, Mr. Rash, that's exactly right…the Chamber of Commerce and the non-elected, tax-payer paid employees, Linda Norris (City Manager) and Peter Fernandez (Public Works Director) are behind all of the wheeling/dealing.

Anyone who is actually elected, the Mayor and City Council candidates, are backed and funded by the Chamber. That is how they secure their platform. Former City Councilor TJ Sullivan now works for the Chamber. Councilors Tesler and Clem are not running for re-election, but I haven't discovered where they are moving on to. Anyone out there know anything?

Whether they are Dems or Repubs doesn't make a difference, they are of the same mindset and need to go.

Hay Jim

A chamber loaded City Council is not good, a balance City council with Chamber representation is good. A while back the Statesman complained about too many 6-5 votes by City council… yet to date I have not seen the evaluation of a three person commission board of GOP members and the problems Marion County has faced. I think too many decisions are made behind close doors and without a desenting vote to go after more information.

The statesman has not been as good a steward for our community as it could be, but since i am not a subscriber and the Chamber members at least financially support the paper it is hard to complain about.

Kevin Rash

Generally, I usually pick the opposite of what the Chamber of Commerce recommends. Nothing is certain except that what the Chamber wants isn't always in the best interests of the people who live here.