OCTOBER 14, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7
CHAT,
continued from Page A1
making it fee or a tax. I don't
want anybody to misconstrue
it as part of their water bill.
For people who are doing
everything they can to make
their bills and then a new fee
shows up, I don't want them
to feel like they were misled.
That aspect is concerning to
me.
Laura Reid: I like that
they are presenting the
options and involving the
community. It's important
to have a sustainable source
of funding. I'm not sure
it's entirely enough. If we
could do a bond measure
to get the parks up to snuff,
that might be doable. We've
been successful with bond
measures in the past, but the
sustainability would still be a
question.
KT: Mayor Cathy Clark
has tried to set up the
discussion without pitting
parks and police supporters
against each other. However,
would you give precedence to
one over the other if it came
down to that?
Barker: I think that the
police are more necessary
than the parks. The parks
help create the demeanor of
a population. If we have the
things in the city that people
want, families will come
here and not necessarily the
entities that make it more
troublesome. But, we've got
38 offi cers and other cities
our size have 42 to 45 offi cers.
That creates a lot of stress for
our offi cers who are having to
do more in the same amount
of time.
Reid: I think the police
force is doing a fantastic job
and I know we just added one
offi cer, but the parks are kind
of in critical condition right
now. They are falling apart
and in need of maintenance.
If they don't get addressed
it's going to cost more in the
long run. Overall, the police
seem to have a good handle
on community relations and
safety.
KT: How would you like
to see Keizer improve the
services of the division you
would give preference to?
Barker (on police): I
witnessed someone walking in
front of an offi cer on Cherry
Avenue and fl ipping them off.
It shouldn't be allowed for
our citizens to treat them that
way. If we make the situation
better for them, they will be
more likely to do more for us
when we ask more of them.
I would like to see more city
ordinances to give our offi cers
a chance to say that's not
acceptable.
Reid (on parks): When
I was a coach, practice fi elds
were hard to come by, but the
parks discussion also has to
take into consideration what
the schools have. We need to
look at the city as a whole
and fi gure out what is needed
and where and do it with the
input of neighbors.
KT: City offi cials recently
found out that payments
to the Public Employees
Retirement System will
increase. If the situation leads
to belt-tightening where
would you look for cost
savings?
Barker: We are going to
have to ask for help from the
employees. We are not in the
same situation now as we were
when PERS was created. We
may be forced to make cuts. I
like everyone who works for
the city. I would hate for any
of them to get cut because
they take ownership in what
they do. Would it be hard? Yes.
Would I be able to do it? Yes.
If they can't take a cut in pay,
that's another option.
Reid: I think parks might
be the fi rst place I look. I
think the safety issues are
a priority and then others
can be determined on an
as-needed basis. I think
we could probably involve
neighborhood
associations
and community groups to
help maintain parts of the
parks in their areas. If people
want parks, they either have
to be willing to pay for them
or support them through
volunteer efforts. The fact
is some parks are used more
than others and we could
look into making our efforts
more effi cient.
KT: Discussions regarding
expansion of the Urban
Growth Boundary may or may
not come to fruition during
your tenure on the council.
In the meantime, how would
you as a city council try to
mold infi ll development to
avoid quality-of-life impacts
on current residents?
Barker: What I hear is
that there's lots of infi ll we
can do, but we can't get the
revenue we need from those
properties. I made a point of
visiting some of the properties
with these larger open spaces
and some of them aren't
going to change it because it
would change the texture of
the neighborhood. The input
of everyone in an area creates
a lot of noise, but we have to
have that input. If you have
a spot that someone that is
willing to sell and it's zoned
for residential, let it happen.
But for multi-family in a
residential area? It better be
pretty close to a commercial
area.
Reid: One of the things
that concerns me is the
empty businesses around year
after year after year. If we're
talking about growth and
we have all these empty lots,
maybe we should look into
rezoning some business areas
for residential. It's a concern
because it doesn't look like
a thriving community when
you have all these empty spots.
It's important to not feel like
you're living in a ghost town
and we need to work with
the business community to
optimize our resources.
KT: What would you do
to attract business to Keizer?
Would that be a priority for
you as a city councilor?
Barker: What we need is
business. We need to be able
to offer more properties on
River Road and add housing
to the top of it, then we're
solved two problems. I've
seen that work in other places
and in projects I worked on.
The housing spaces stay full
most of the time. Right now,
there is limited ability for our
current businesses to invest
in redeveloping spaces. I've
walked into several of our
local businesses and asked
what it would take for them
to move to one of our empty
spaces. They say they can't
afford it. There are some,
maybe, but not for a lot of
them.
Reid: The kind of
business matters. We have a
lot of retail, but not a lot of
corporate properties. I would
probably need to be more
involved with the Keizer
Chamber of Commerce and
Rotary before forming a
solid opinion on that. People
should want to come and
do business because of the
community they are working
in and serving. We have to
make the community the
best we can make it and then
reach out to business.
KT: Given that you are
a Keizer resident, what has
been your best experience
with city staff or processes?
Barker: I've never had
anyone at the city who wasn't
able to get me an answer to
a question within a matter of
hours. In most government
offi ces, you're waiting and
waiting and waiting. If the
person you're talking to
doesn't know, the person
sitting a few cubicles behind
them is calling you down
because they have the answer.
That's cool.
Reid:
My
biggest
interactions have been with
the mayors and their intimate
involvement in goings-on.
Last year, Cathy Clark and
I were both judging the
talent show at McNary High
School and I don't know
how she found time to do
that. I like how both she and
Lore Christopher work on
their priorities and toward
convincing people of the
need. They are defi nitely not
on a pedestal.
KT: Was there a worst
interaction?
Barker: Only with what
I saw recently in terms of
Keizer Station apartments.
I'm concerned about parking
and traffi c around that area,
but a lot of the things that
have been done have worked.
I didn't think the roundabout
would work, I thought the
space was too tight, but they
did it. I also think we should
decline the extra space at
the bottom of the Herber
property (it may be deeded to
the city as park space). Making
that area work is going to take
a lot of landfi ll and we can't
take care of the park spaces
we already have. We don't
have money for that.
Reid: The decisions I've
seen have all been unanimous
and that's a little disturbing.
We have to have someone
willing to stand up and say
there is something else to
consider. I think I would
bring a fresh perspective.
I think I'm good at asking
questions, and I think those
questions are needed in the
discourse of the city council.
KT: From city staff down
to the volunteer committee
level, there isn't what anyone
would call a healthy amount
of diversity in the ranks. Is
promoting diversity within
city governance a priority for
you? If so, what steps would
you take to move in that
direction?
Barker: I would like to
see the city have a phone app
for collecting feedback from
residents. That would allow
us to push out to residents
questions like, “Do you
support a fee for parks and
police?” If we can tie that
to their voter identifi cation
number and they can only
vote once that gives us a
quantitative assessment of
what the residents are feeling.
If we can reach them by text
and email, that would be a
great way to bring what the
city does to the people.
Reid: We absolutely need
to do that. The demographics
at McNary have changed
considerably and its required
to learn how to hear and
understand their perspectives.
We need to be able to
understand our community,
and it doesn't always come
from the people who step
forward. It would take going
to the events and meetings
and the organizations. It
might start with the kids
and fi nding out where their
parents go. Pulling people in
to be tokens is not helpful
and we need to commit
to bringing them in as full
voices in the city government.
Maybe look at some of the
colleges and their minority
leaders or the churches to
help us understand and get
their voices heard.
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