Good morning…..
Confusion best describes what’s going on regarding Salem city councilors at the moment.
Neighborhood associations have been told that councilors won’t be attending their meetings. The fear: Showing up could trigger a state ethics violation.
Our reporters have been told councilors can’t talk about city issues. The fear: Getting quoted could trigger a state ethics violation.
But the people who enforce state ethics laws say the fears are unfounded.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission reports it has given no directive that would put councilors in jeopardy.
That conflicts with the association of cities in Oregon – the League of Oregon Cities. In a recent letter to the ethics commission, the league said state trainers did leave the impression that caution is justified.
The team at Salem Reporter is chasing down documents and experts to untangle this. Expect a probing report in the coming days.
Speaking of probing reports, Salem Reporter delivered on several fronts in recent days.
Reporters Abbey McDonald, Ardeshir Tabrizian and Joe Siess collaborated on a deep look at what’s happening downtown. They pursued the question of whether downtown is so dangerous that ramped-up police presence is needed. Their detailed story explores what the statistics tell us – and what downtown business owners want to happen.
You may recall that about a year ago city officials announced a big drive to cut down on gun violence. Tabrizian doubled back to examine what progress has been made. Bottom line: Not much.
The headline-making news of the week was the surprise decision by Avelo Airlines to cut and run from Salem. Managing Editor Rachel Alexander and reporter Mirandah Davis-Powell broke the story. Rachel followed up with a look at what’s next for Salem air service.
We published a couple of stories about public officials in trouble over ethics violations. Reporter Abbey McDonald explains why Salem’s former mayor and others were dinged over belated meeting notices. And state Rep. Greg Smith is facing both a state Justice Department lawsuit and new ethics investigations.
In other local government reporting:
•Free meals are available for local kids through the summer, a continuation of the Salem-Keizer School District’s program to keep students fed.
•The Salem Police Department is making it easier for victims to report crimes that don’t need an immediate response.
•With federal funding uncertain, school officials say they have money otherwise to continue key local programs.
•Authorities aren’t saying much about the death of a man in the Marion County Jail.
In community news reporting:
•Reporter Madeleine Moore checked in on the organizations affected by that massive fire out on Northeast Lancaster Drive last week. They’re forging ahead to recover.
•Salem Health contends in a lawsuit that a $6.4 million piece of radiation equipment is a bit of a dud, as reporter Hailey Cook reports.
•Bush House Museum has a new exhibit on Black history “to improve transparency about the Bush legacy and expand the narrative to include Black people and women.”
•A shooting that left a South Salem High School student dead in a city park prompted a Salem woman to dramatically change her life to help local youth.
From our columnists:
•Pamela Ferrara helps us all better understand the true story found in Salem’s unemployment numbers.
•Harry Fuller checks in with his latest observations of Salem’s osprey families.
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Have thoughts about our reporting? A story we should do? A person we should profile? Or do you have questions about how we do our work? You’re welcome to send me an email – I read every one of them. Email: [email protected].
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