Now what? Salem leaders and the community face that question in the wake of last week’s vote. Local voters clobbered the city-imposed income tax. That means the millions that City Hall counted on won’t be coming in. City leaders planned on that new money to keep and expand city services. In the coming weeks, city officials have decisions to make. What city services should be cut? What other source of money is there to tap? Reporter Abbey McDonald is keeping you updated on it all. She polled city councilors, Mayor Chris Hoy and City Manager Keith Stahley immediately after the defeat to take their temperature. They offered what message they see in the results – and what they plan to do about that. Separately, we asked readers like you to weigh in. Managing Editor Rachel Alexander assembled thoughtful remarks sent to Salem Reporter. And if you happened to miss the results, the final vote count was 4-to-1 against the wage tax. This all means what you get from city government is likely to change. Our team will be there every step of the way, reporting on the options, what they mean and what decisions are made. Keep a close eye on us. Meantime, Councilor Vanessa Nordyke organized a community listening session last week that drew a good crowd to the Westminster Presbyterian Church. The event cost all of $50. That’s in contrast to the bad news for the city from a jury in a federal courtroom last week. A man falsely arrested by Salem police was awarded $3 million, according to a report from our colleagues at The Oregonian. This comes as the city separately decided to pay $95,000 to settle another complaint against Salem police. The $3 million verdict may be the largest ever against the city of Salem and we’re planning more reporting on what happened, whether the city will appeal, and where that money would come from. In other news, photographer Ron Cooper captured the Veterans Day event at the Capitol and we gave readers a fun story about the comedy climate in Salem. Increasingly, we hear from people in the community that they rely on our reporting. Without Salem Reporter, most of these stories shared here would never have been done. One person at a time, our team works hard to earn your trust – and your support.

As always, I’m eager to hear from you directly on any matter. You can reach me by email at [email protected]. You can trust that I read them all.

­–Les Zaitz, editor, Salem Reporter

PS: We want to grow and add another reporter or two to do even more of this kind of work, but that all depends on building our local support. How to help: SUBSCRIBE DONATE

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