Salem’s Town Hall a hit – you can help
Helping the community work through big issues is a prime duty of local journalists.
And that’s why our crew at Salem Reporter conducted a Town Hall on the city’s payroll tax.
With your help, we can do more such events and produce more quality news. I’ll tell you how in a moment, but first let me share more about the Town Hall.
In today’s environment, politics can seem toxic. We all are exposed endlessly to people at the national and state level calling each other names, making outlandish accusations, and working to tear down rather than build up.
None of that happened at the Town Hall, held Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the Elsinore Theatre.
Two panelists spent 90 minutes going through the reasons to support or oppose the city of Salem’s new tax. Virginia Stapleton, Salem City Council president, spoke for the group Save Salem. Preston Mann of Oregon Business & Industry spoke for Defeat the Tax on Salem Workers.
They were questioned by journalists Rachel Alexander and Abbey McDonald of Salem Reporter, including many questions from the audience.
We weren’t certain how this would go, but it proved to be a valuable evening. More than 100 people attended and hundreds more have been watching the recording on Capital Community Media. (You can catch it HERE and it’s still timely given ballots are going out this week.)
After the event, one person after another thanked our team.
And here’s a sampling of messages we got:
•“We appreciate the opportunity to attend the town hall re the payroll tax issue. We exited more knowledgeable than when we entered. Also, the format and demeanor of the whole thing was so no nonsense compared with what bombards us each day on our electronic gizmos.”- Fred T.
•”I want to thank you for an excellent presentation at the Town Hall meeting about the payroll tax proposal. I thought it was well presented and offered information both pro and con to help the voters. It is a difficult decision facing voters but I think some new information was presented that I don’t recall hearing at the City Council Meeting. Thank you for your assistance in informing voters. – Pat E.
•”Thank you and thanks to all at SR for the town hall event last night. It was very well done and very informative.” – Emil G.
•”Just want to thank Salem Reporter for hosting the Town Hall last night. You kept it simple, straightforward and positive. Well done! “- Kathy D.
• “Rachel and Abbey did an incredible job of explaining what we’re up against, and both presenters were informative and passionate.” – Tom F.
•”It was an absolutely outstanding show. As you mentioned at the end both advocates were passionate in their efforts. Both were outstanding in their grasp of the big picture and
articulated their positions well. Thank you and congratulations on the entire project. It was an
outstanding community service.” – Ron S.
To pull this off, Salem Reporter partnered with Capital Community Media, which did an excellent job with the broadcast, and the team at the Elsinore, which flawlessly set the stage for the event.
But this really was made possible by our readers and subscribers.
Salem Reporter is locally owned. We don’t have deep-pocketed hedge fund owners. We depend almost entirely on local funding, most of it from subscribers.
So, I’m asking you today to consider helping our mission of serving people like you.
If you aren’t yet a subscriber, become one today. That gives you full access to all the news on our website. You also get our very popular morning and evening newsletters during the week. The cost is $10 a month, $100 for the year. Sign up HERE.
If you subscribe already and still want to help, contribute. Any amount is valued – and goes into our news operation. You can do that quickly and easily HERE.
The applause from last week is gratifying. All of us at Salem Reporter want to do more. Be part of making that happen, won’t you?
–Les Zaitz, CEO and editor
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Email: [email protected].