Good morning!
An aspect of Salem Reporter that I treasure is engaging with our readers.
Last week, I wrote an Editor’s Note, asking you what we should do about a live election event since a mayor’s debate seemed off the table.
Ask and you shall receive – more than 60 people sent in their thoughts. You can read most of them at the end of that column.
The most common thread: Proceed with some event.
I met with the Salem Reporter team on Friday to consider just that. We’ve come up with a new approach and I’ll share details in a day or so.
That meeting came after Mayor Julie Hoy explained on a podcast a day earlier why she hadn’t accepted our invitation. She spoke in an hour-long appearance on “What’s Happening Salem.”
Asked about our debate, she said, “We’ll just have to play it by ear……I’m not saying no. I’m good right now….The truth is, we don’t have to do it, right? But I’m here as mayor. I’m doing the job.”
I invited her to expand on that and she did. In part, here’s what she said:
“Debates can be useful, but I think most voters would agree with me that the best way to judge a candidate is to look at their track record: both the votes they’ve taken and also how they lead – do they make the process more functional, do they show inclusive leadership or do results become all about them?”
Another remark in that podcast caught my ear. For 50 years, I’ve been covering candidates for every office from U.S. president to fire district boards.
Commenting on the May election, she said, “I’m not going to lie. I kind of wish it wasn’t happening because it feels like a distraction to the progress….But it needs to be done and we’ll get through it.”
I invited her to expand on that, and she did.
“Sometime folks may not realize Salem is rare in that our mayoral terms are only two years long, while many other communities and our own council terms are four years,” she wrote me. “I have had the privilege of serving as mayor for less than a year before starting to also run for re-election. I very much enjoy the work of implementing solutions for the residents of Salem, and the need to spend time also campaigning can feel like a distraction from the volunteer, yet more than full-time job I was elected to do.”
In any event, watch for word on what’s next, at least from Salem Reporter.
Speaking of what’s next, you might have seen last week yet another improvement in how we serve up information.
Reporter Joe Siess took the lead in crafting a new way to share details about upcoming government meetings. The inaugural result was his work advancing last week’s Salem City Council meeting. The intent is to give you a quick sense of not only what’s to be decided, but why it matters.
If you missed it, take a look at his effort and let me know what you think.
He followed that up with a readable digest of a key city decision – to expand Salem Fire Department ambulance staffing.
Watch for more improvements as the Salem Reporter team strives to give you the very best local news source around.
In local government reporting:
*Local leaders gathered to consider what is next as Salem makes strides addressing homeless challenges.
*Campaign alert: Here’s the latest on who has filed for city public offices in Salem.
*Your water is ready – if Detroit Lake proves a problem. City officials recently tested connections to Keizer as a backup.
*No money, no program. Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson closes one effort to keep drug offenders out of jail, citing a drop in state money.
In community reporting:
*Salem is going to get some fresh approaches to providing health care, outlined in the latest assessment of the health of local people.
*You can volunteer to be part of the community’s team responding to local emergencies, as columnist Mark Wardell explains.
*Columnist Jim Sellers surveys the Medicare insurance landscape – with advice on how to pick the right plan.
In local education reporting:
*Graduation rates ticked up for the Salem-Keizer School District, with some notable improvements.
*And at the state level, Oregon schools achieved a record performance in graduation, as reported by our colleagues at Oregon Capital Chronicle.
*Elementary students had a couple of extra days off last week. That was so their teachers and others could themselves go back to school and learn more about teaching reading.
And in state politics:
*I continue to report on one of the state’s most powerful legislators, state Rep. Greg Smith, a Republican from Heppner. That’s important to you because he holds a lot of say over where your tax money goes. Last week, he resigned from a six-figure public job. That came days after a local Republican group called for his resignation from the Legislature. Days later, the rural Condon Times-Journal newspaper ran a lengthy editorial cataloguing Smith’s conduct while in office. That paper is in the heart of Smith country.
FINALLY….
A reminder that you are invited to attend our Town Hall on the student reading crisis. The event is at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Elsinore Theatre and tickets are free. This is one of our community’s most significant challenges. Please come and find out how you can help.
Email: [email protected]
–Les Zaitz, Editor and owner
VIDEO: Salem Reporter Town Hall
Email: [email protected]
–Les Zaitz, Editor and owner
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