Salem

Who says nothing interesting ever happens in Salem (Oregon)? Well, I do, a lot. But ever since it was reported that recently constructed Courthouse Square -- a building that houses most county offices, along with the downtown transit mall -- is in serious danger of falling down, things have been popping in the local newspaper. Today the Statesman Journal ran a bunch of stories and opinion pieces about this debacle. The $34 million building, which takes up an entire block, is being vacated as quickly as possible. It might not be repairable. Yet it opened just ten years ago, in…

Today Blue Oregon, our marvelous state's numero uno progressive blog, published a Guest Column by yours truly: "Marion County charter change loses, but isn't lost." A commenter took the all caps typographic approach favored by right-wingers, saying "YOU LOST, GET OVER IT!" My response:Michael, why should I (or any other supporter of the Measure) "get over it"? If a basketball team loses 77-23, are they supposed to give up the sport? Or do they practice harder, find a different game plan, and expect to win next time?And if the other team played dirty, they'll take steps to be sure the…

Some elections put an issue to rest; others keep it alive. I'm betting that last Tuesday's defeat of Marion County's Measure 24-292, a citizen initiative to reform county government, will turn out to be a great example of how a loss will turn into victory.Today's opinion piece by Dick Hughes, editorial page editor of the Salem Statesman Journal, points to a reason why. In "These Oregon candidates should be honored -- or ashamed" he gave out a Worst campaign award. Download Statesman Journal Worst Campaign awardWorst CampaignThe anti-Measure 24-292 "Protect Public Safety" misinformation.The Marion County charter amendment had nothing to…

Today the leading political blog in our great state, Blue Oregon, published a post that I submitted last night: "GOP flack Chuck Adams sleazes up Marion County charter change campaign."I'm pretty proud of sleazes up. Already Google has the Blue Oregon post as the first hit for this term, which hopefully will go viral as an action word for what sleazes do.It came to me in an intuitive flash as I was trying to think of a way to describe the highly deceptive letter that was signed by Walt Beglau (Marion County District Attorney) and mailed to county voters last…

Whether it passes or fails, a Marion County citizen initiative which got on the May ballot after almost 6,000 citizens signed petitions to improve county government, has served one important purpose:We've learned how far the existing power structure in Marion County is willing to stretch ethical bounds in order to keep the political system running along in its dysfunctional special-interest-favoring way.A few weeks ago a neighbor gave me a "No on Measure 24-292" letter that had been sent out by two Salem Chamber of Commerce bigwigs: CEO Mike McLaran and board member Dick Withnell, who owns several car dealerships. It…

Republicans are strangely fond of calling people they disagree with liars. I say "strangely," because Republican politicians certainly are as prone to lying as their more progressive counterparts.Yet rather than debate the merits of a policy issue, their tendency is to resort to ad hominem name-calling -- which fans the flames of our already incendiary public discourse.Today, in a front page story, the Statesman Journal reported that Marion County (Oregon) commissioner Sam Brentano considers the people who are backing citizen initiative 24-292 to be "liars."Brentano and the two other commissioners, Janet Carlson and Patti Milne, have spoken against the home…

Opponents of Measure 24-292, the Marion County (Oregon) charter change, have been using scare tactics in an effort to preserve the county government status quo. I guess they think government is working so wonderfully, we, the people, shouldn't try to improve it. Well, polls show that most citizens want more control over government. They're tired of politicians working for special interests, rather than the general good.One of the be scared! approaches of some No on 24-292 folks is to claim that the Measure will lead to increased taxes. On page 27 of the Marion County Voter Pamphlet that came in…

Wow! When ordinary people try to make the government that their taxes pay for work better, the big money guys who profit from the status quo get frantic.In the Salem Statesman Journal today there was another bunch of desperate untruths from Dick Withnell, a Salem Chamber of Commerce board member -- adding to the stack in a letter that I debunked recently.The business interests opposing improvements to county government must be super-scared of Measure 24-292, a citizen initiative to be voted on in May that would enlarge the Board of Commissioners from three to five members and elect commissioners by…

Here's another good reason (in addition to those I've written about here, and here) for Marion County, Oregon residents to vote Yes on Measure 24-292 next month: Big-business opponents of the citizen initiative are so afraid they'll lose their insider lobbying connections with the county commissioners, they're willing to spread Big Time untruths about what the Measure will do. Measure 24-292 gives ordinary people more control over county government, and promotes better decisions by the county commissioners. It changes the Marion County charter in positive ways, including: -- Adding two members to the Commission, for a total of five, bringing…

I hope it was a sign of the times in the West Salem Starbucks this afternoon. I'm tired of the Democrats in Congress passively putting up with Republican lies. If it's true what Obama said during his campaign, We are the change we have been waiting for, then what interrupted my coffee house debate with a long-time conservative friend is a positive omen.We were avidly discussing the current state of national politics. I'd taken serious exception to my friend calling Obama a socialist. "That's just a word," I said. "What has he done specifically that could be called socialist? I…