Posts by Hines Brian

It deeply bothers me when "public servants" are pleased to suck up taxpayer money for their often-lofty salaries, yet fail miserably at their core job -- choosing to lord it over the people they should be serving. Case in point: Salem (Oregon) City Manager Linda Norris. A recent Statesman Journal story, "Will latest downtown group succeed?," only tells part of the sorry tale of how Norris did away with the existing downtown association so she could personally rule over how funds provided by businesses are spent. Download Will_latest_downtown_group_succeed_ Business booster groups for merchants have a rocky history in this city,…

Olympia, Washington and my home town, Salem, Oregon, are both state capitals. Each has an institution of higher learning, Evergreen State College and Willamette University. But after that, the Path of Cool diverges -- based on what I've been learning about Olympia after being entranced by a video of Olympia's annual "Procession of the Species" parade through downtown.   And this was taken in 2012, before Washington legalized marijuana. Man, imagine how the parade will look in 2014! Well, probably about the same. I suspect that, especially given Evergreen State College's far-out reputation, folks in the Olympia area are considerably…

Maybe Salem, Oregon's Mayor, City Manager, and City Councillors are so entralled with their desire to spend $400-600 million on an unwanted, unneeded, and unpaid for 3rd Bridge, they've come to look upon wasting $40 million on some unwanted, unneeded, and unpaid for Civic Center projects as small change.  But to taxpayers, this is real money. Money that will come out of their pockets.  I find it amazing that the City is pushing an ill-considered plan to build a hugely expensive new police building on the Civic Center site without seriously considering much cheaper alternatives -- like Eugene did. Geoffrey…

OK, maybe its not a good idea to title this blog post after a 2000 stoner movie, given that most of my readers here in Salem, Oregon haven't had the cinematic experience of being wasted and unable to find their car.  But it just seemed so freaking appropriate after No 3rd Bridge and Breakfast on Bikes shared how the unneeded, unwanted, and unpaid-for proposed new bridge across the Willamette River has become nearly unrecognizable after someone -- consultants?...tooth fairy?...who knows? -- markedly altered the "Salem Alternative" design approved unanimously by the City Council. Where did the Salem Alternative go? Somebody…

Beautiful!  That was my thought when I parked on Court Street in downtown Salem (Oregon) about a week ago, looked up the block, and noticed that something had changed. No "2-hour parking" signs, with their metal poles. Salem looked so much more welcoming without those rule-filled signs. Now there's a more free feeling to downtown. Want to visit? Shop... dine... do business... just hang out. Feel free. See an empty space; pull in; park; for as long as you want. Simple. Reminds me of the small community where I grew up. This is the vibe that downtown Salem needs to…

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at last night's Willamette Humane Society Bowser's Boo Bash. Laurel adapted a cavegirl outfit that she had made a long time ago. And it still fit fine!  And I went as a duded-up version of my actual longboarding self: Senior Citizen Skateboarder. The Longboard Sling (nice product) that I used to hang my board over my shoulder when I didn't want to carry it around obscured an important part of my costume, the t-shirt. So here's a photo that I took at home with a different longboard. I was thrilled to find this…

Below is an update from Salem Community Vision on the $70-90 million proposal by the City of Salem to renovate the Civic Center and build a new police department headquarters. Head over there and give them a Facebook like. This recently formed group is out to bring better urban design, more citizen involvement, and improved efficiency to City government -- all sorely needed. Already Salem Community Vision seems to be having an impact. In this post I shared a message from Gene Pfeifer, who chaired the group's first meeting at the Capitol Theatre. Gene described how seismically retrofitting all of…

City of Salem officials want to spend at least $70 million (could easily be $90 million) on a Civic Center renovation and new police department building just north of the current headquarters. See my previous post, "Citizens suggest better ways to renovate Salem's Civic Center." It sure looks like the cost to taxpayers could be $40 million less. This is the rough, but informed, conclusion of Gene Pfeifer. He's got 45 years of design/build experience and was instrumental in finding a lower cost solution to fixing Salem's Courthouse Square. Below is an email message that Gene sent to Geoffrey James,…

\The 2-hour parking limit signs will be coming down soon. And the prospect of parking meters being imposed upon an unwilling downtown by the City of Salem has vanished. Free unlimited parking has become the law of downtown.  Salem’s Downtown Parking District has unlimited, free parking for the first time in decades. City councilors on Monday voted in favor of adopting an initiative that eliminates parking time-limits and bans the installation of parking meters in the Downtown Parking District. Salem City Manager Linda Norris said the changes would go into effect immediately.  Today I was happy to see "We Won!"…

Kudos to Geoffrey James, a Salem architect, for organizing a community meeting next Friday, October 18, 2013, Grand Theatre (191 High Street, downtown), 6:30 pm. Everyone who cares about the future of the downtown area should attend. See info below from James. What makes this meeting even more important than it otherwise would be is that James recently met with the Salem City Manager, Linda Norris, and three other high-ranking City officials. Basically he was given a brush-off and told that the City wasn't interested in hearing what citizens think about the important issues below. That's a horribly heavy-handed way…