Current affairs

A few days before Christmas Architect Geoffrey James gave Salem, Oregon taxpayers a great present: $30 million. Well, let's call it a potential present, because this is how much James believes a City of Salem bond levy could be reduced if some viable alternatives to the City's proposal are pursued. The project under discussion is a new police facility and seismic retrofitting of the Civic Center. Plus the City wants to tear down the current Council Chambers and construct a new Chambers close by.  James, a founder of Salem Community Vision, describes a better way in a December 20 guest…

I made a good decision to join the Salem City Club.  What's not to like? Great historic meeting rooms at Mission Mill; excellent lunches by Loustic Catering; friendly members; and always-interesting presentations with an opportunity to ask questions afterward. Today Norm Gruber, President and CEO of Salem Health, talked about how health care is changing. I came away impressed. Gruber was appealingly honest about the screwed-up American health care non-system. Having spent about 15 years in health planning and policy analysis, and now being Medicare eligible, I had both a previous professonal and current personal interest in what Gruber had…

Downtown Salem, Oregon recently went from two-hour onstreet parking with the likelihood of parking meters being installed, to free unlimited parking -- thanks to a citizen petition that was adopted by the City Council after about 9,000 people signed it. Check out Stop Parking Meters Downtown for an update on how the City of Salem is implementing the new parking policy. In short, not well, according to Carole Smith. The petition the city council adopted on Oct 14th clearly required city enforcement to prevent prohibited parties from parking where they should not. The City Councilors pledged to “do everything in…

Are there better ways for Salem's citizens to spend $70 million than what City Hall is planning -- a brand new police department building and a massive redesign of the civic center, along with seismic upgrades? Sure seems so. That's what I learned by spending my Friday night at a meeting sponsored by Salem Community Vision, a new group formed by some old-timers with a lot of experience in architecture, construction, urban planning, and community involvement.  As reported previously, local architect Geoffrey James came up with the idea for the meeting. Gene Pfeifer, a Silverton resident with 45 years of design/build…

Here's a terrific letter that Carole Smith, one of the leaders of Salem's highly successful Stop Parking Meters Downtown movement, has sent to the City Council. The Council meets tomorrow, Monday, October 14, to decide whether the Stop Parking Meters citizen initiative petition should (1) be placed on the May 2014 ballot, where it likely would pass, (2) implement the initiative petition provisions immediately via changes to City ordinances, or (3) submit a competing ballot initiative for citizens to vote on. A City staff report lays out the supposed fiscal implications.  It also reports the results of a survey of…

Hmmmm. Something is strange here, and not in a good Strange Up Salem way. Take a look at how a survey of downtown businesses requested by the Salem City Council at its last meeting starts off. City Council is considering whether to remove time limits for on-street parking in the Downtown Parking District.  In the meantime, the holiday season is rapidly approaching. Last year, the time limits for on-street parking were extended from 2 hour limits (once a day per block face) to 4 hour limits. City Council would like to have feedback from downtown businesses about your preference for…

"Lie" is a strong word. But it is honest. Straightforward. Direct. So I'll use it instead of "untruth," "falsity," or some other term for the supposed First Fact in the Pringle Square developer's "Fact Check" ad in today's Salem Statesman Journal. This is the developer's supposed Myth, which actually is a Fact. There are other ways to access the apartment site. The developer can construct a new railroad crossing or build a bridge over Pringle Creek. This is the developer's supposed Fact, which actually is a Myth. There is no other feasible access to the site. The state has a…

If I was a self-promoting, egotistical, I-told-you-so sort of blogger, I'd say about Michael Rose's excellent story in the Salem Statesman Journal, "Federal government could have final say on Riverfront Park easements," you read it here first. So naturally I'll do just that. You read it here first. In my September 3 "Pringle Square development could be delayed 1-2 years." Rose's story makes the same point, without mentioning the time frame that I was given by Michele Scalise, the state coordinator of the federal program that requires the lengthy application process. Salem City Council on Monday will deliberate an apartment…

Here's a photo that warms my citizen activist heart: Salem-area residents meeting this evening at the Carousel to talk about better alternatives to the ill-advised proposal to convert part of the Carousel parking lot into a private access road to the Pringle Square development. Elaine Sanchez and Hazel Patton, two women who know how to get good things done, organized and led the meeting. I was hugely impressed by them and everybody else who had things to say. Key theme: everyone wants to see the old Boise Cascade downtown riverfront property redeveloped. This isn't a Stop the Development crusade. The…