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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018 ܂ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Sanctuary state status up for vote ‘Yes’ on Measure 105 will repeal Oregon’s longtime anti-racial profiling law; a ‘No’ vote keeps it intact Whitney Woodworth Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK On Nov. 6, Oregon voters will decide the fate of Oregon’s 31-year-old “sanctu- ary state,” anti-racial profiling law. A “yes” vote on Measure 105 is a vote to repeal the law. A “no” vote keeps it in place. Proponents claim the sanctuary law emboldens undocumented immigrants to commit crimes and ties the hands of law enforcement. Opponents say the law prevents ra- cial profiling, saying if the law is re- pealed, immigrant communities and people of color will feel unsafe and too frightened to report crimes to police out of fear of deportation. See VOTE, Page 2B Diana Alvarez Ramirez, a teacher at Sprague High and a DACA recipient, sets up a sign in a supporter’s yard. A billboard in favor of Measure 105, an effort to end Oregon’s “sanctuary state” law, is shown in South Salem. ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL MICHAELA ROMÁN/STATESMAN JOURNAL Property taxes jump 11 percent in Salem Intermodal facility would spur I-5 improvements Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK West Salem shows signs of fall on Oct. 13. Property tax rates will rise 11 percent for homeowners in Salem and Keizer after the passing of school and library bonds. ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL Increase is largely due to recent bonds Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Property owners in Salem and Keizer will see an 11 percent increase in property taxes for 2018-2019 due largely to new bonds for the Salem-Keizer School Dis- trict, police facility and the Salem Public Library. Average yearly taxes for residents of West Salem, which is part of Polk County, will go up to $4,009 for 2018 from $3,613 in 2017, Polk County Assessor Doug- las Schmidt said. “It’s a higher increase in the tax rate than we would normally see,” Schmidt said. “It’s one of those things that people vote in the bonds, and now they’ll be see- ing the impact of that.” The real market value of all property in Marion County increased by 9.9 percent from a year ago to $46.4 billion; the total real market value in Polk Coun- ty increased by 6.9 percent to $9.8 billion. Polk County residents will pay $96.5 million for 2018, up from $89.9 million in 2017 according to the Polk County Assessor’s office. Oregon Constitutional Amendment Measure 5, which was passed in 1990, limits property taxes to $10 per $1,000 of real market value for government ser- vices and $5 per $1,000 for education services. The comparatively large increase in property taxes in Salem could encourage buyers to look elsewhere. “(The) majority of buyers care about how high tax- es are and pay attention to that information when considering buying a home. Some buyers try to avoid purchasing in neighborhoods that are higher than others,” said Patti Williamson, president of Mid Valley Association of Realtors. On the other hand, a local mortgage banker said it needs to be kept in perspective. “The amount property taxes went up is way less than someone who goes through Dutch Bros on a daily basis and spends money for their daily fix of caffeine,” said Buddy Puckett, a senior mortgage banker in Sa- lem. “An example would be if your property taxes were $3,000 per year and you received a new tax bill for $3,300, which is a 10 percent increase, this equates to a $25 monthly increase in your overall mortgage pay- See TAXES, Page 3B The Brooks I-5 interchange has been woefully in- adequate at peak hours for years. The interchange has one-lane on and off ramps, no stop lights and at peak hours drivers trying to exit the freeway can back up onto the interstate. Building an intermodal facility in Brooks – at which shipping containers would be transferred from trucks to trains – would increase that traffic. Oregon Port of Willamette, an LLC fronted by former state lawmaker Kevin Mannix, is pursuing ways to make the interchange more efficient sooner than Oregon Department of Transportation’s current plan. “It’s dangerous,” Mannix said. “It’s currently dan- gerous.” In the formal 540-page proposal for Oregon Port of Willamette submitted Sept. 27, the group proposed to put aside $1 to $2 million in profits over the first 10 years of operation towards improving the Brooks I-5 interchange. “Our intention is to do more than that,” Mannix said. “Our intention is to put together funds in the short-term. We intend to instigate that, but we can’t work with them until the proposal is judged. “We see the intermodal facility that we’re plan- ning here is something that’s not just going to serve the needs of farmers, exporters and importers,” Man- nix said. “We want to improve it for everybody.” A traffic analysis as part of Oregon Port of Willam- ette’s proposal prepared by David Evans and Asso- ciates of Portland showed three intersections near Brooks in need of improvements: I-5 Northbound at Brooks, I-5 Southbound at Brooks and the River Road/Brooklake Road intersection. The River Road/Brooklake Road intersection falls under jurisdiction of Marion County. “It’s becoming a bottleneck, especially traffic com- ing from the south,” said Marion County Engineer Cynthia Schmitt. “Eventually it’s going to be signal- ized. As development occurs, they’re going to be trig- gering changes at locations like that.” Mannix estimates it would cost roughly $1.5 mil- lion each for short-term improvements at the I-5 Northbound exit, the I-5 Southbound Exit and the River Road and Brooklake Road intersection. Schmitt said funding for improvement for the Riv- er Road/Brooklake Road intersection as well as the I-5 interchanges is not in place. “It takes a long time,” Schmitt said. “The county is very dependent on getting federal grants to do a lot of these bigger projects.” The proposed I-5 interchange improvements would include widening the off-ramps and signaliz- ing the Northbound exit, but wouldn’t solve all of the existing, or projected future, problems. See I-5, Page 2A Cameron, Crier battle for commissioner seat Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Kevin Cameron and Shelaswau Crier each have challenges in their race for Marion County Commissioner Seat No. 1. Kevin Cameron, the Republican incum- Cameron bent from Detroit, has been outspent by Crier by a 3 to 1 margin. Crier, a Democrat educational consultant from Sa- lem, is a first-time candidate who had little name rec- ognition outside of the legal community in Salem be- fore running for office. “Even before this, I had friends who said, ‘If you think you should run for office at some point, let me Online at SilvertonAppeal.com News updates: ܂ Breaking news ܂ Get updates from the Silverton area Photos: ܂ Photo galleries know when you decide to run. I will be there,’” she said. County commissioners are elected to four-year terms at annual salaries of $94,244. Before being appointed to the Ore- Shelaswau gon House of Representatives in 2005, Crier Cameron had never held an elected of- fice. “It was six weeks into session,” Cameron said. “It was like drinking water out of a fire hydrant.” He won the election to the District 19 seat in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008, 2010 and 2012 before re- signing in 2014 and was appointed to fill the commis- See COMMISSIONER, Page 2A Vol. 137, No. 44 Serving the Silverton Area Since 1880 A Unique Edition of the Statesman Journal 50 cents ©2018 Printed on recycled paper An area west of the Powerland Heritage Park in Brooks is being considered by a group including former state representative Kevin Mannix to create Oregon Port of Willamette, an intermodal rail and freight site in Brooks. KELLY JORDAN/STATESMAN JOURNAL
