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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2015)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 19 SECTION A APRIL 10, 2015 50 CENTS SB hopeful talks of mistakes By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Tim Moles doesn’t hide from his dark past. The Keizer native has fi led his paperwork to run for the Zone 6 seat on the Salem- Keizer School Board. Moles is running against Chuck Lee, who is seeking a third term in the May 19 election. Just running is a big step for Moles. “I don’t know if I would vote for me, with that past,” a humble Moles said Wednesday. “I’m not trying to sell that. What I’m here for is accountability. I’m accountable for my actions. I’ll continue to be accountable for my actions. That’s the theme of who I am and who I’ve become.” That past includes 17 months in prison. According to a July 2002 article in the Kitsap Sun newspaper in Washington state, Moles, 35 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and one count of felony harassment against his wife. Moles was sentenced to 17 months in prison. Charges against Moles for trying to hire a hitman to kill his wife were considered but dropped in return for the guilty pleas, according to the article. The Keizer native, a 1985 McNary High School graduate whose dad started Moles Maytag in 1973 on River Road, has a project in Prineville that would convert waste streams into renewable energy including advanced transportation fuels. Moles’ past was highlight- Code enforcement position returns By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes History is repeating itself at Keizer City Hall. Starting next week, the city will have a code enforcement person again. Ben Crosby is scheduled to begin as Keizer’s newest employee next Mon- day, April 13. Machell DePina, Keizer’s human resources manager, said Crosby’s pay will be $21.06 per hour – which equates to $43,804 a year – and that Crosby has “a number of years’ experience performing similar work” for Salem. DePina said the city last had a similar position when Tony Casker was code en- forcement/zoning technician. “Half of his position was code enforcement,” DePina said. “As part of reductions due to budget shortfalls, that position was one of two elim- inated in 2011. Since then, the work has been covered by existing employees until we could establish this new posi- tion. This position is different in that it is a full-time code compliance offi cer perform- ing duties that have previously been handled by three differ- ent departments – Communi- ty Development, Keizer Police and Public Works.” In keeping with the some- thing old is new theme, Cros- by will be driving around town in a former Keizer po- lice car. Nate Brown, director of Community Development, will be Crosby’s boss. Crosby will work closely with Shane Witham, who took over some of the code enforcement du- ties following Casker’s depar- ture. “Shane will be his go-to guy,” Brown said. “Shane will monitor what’s going on.” While the position was pre- viously a 50-50 split between code enforcement and zoning technician, Brown noted the balance is different now. Please see CODE, Page A6 Hopping good time… Abigail Miller (left) and Hudson Erickson (below), both 2 years old, collect eggs at Keizer Christian Church's annual Easter egg hunt Saturday, April 4. KEIZERTIMES/ Eric A. Howald ed last sum- mer when he was asked to be on a small busi- ness coali- tion to sup- port Monica Moles Wehby’s run for U.S. Congress. A couple of weeks later, the Internet news site BuzzFeed inquired about Moles’ role in Wehby’s campaign, in light of the 2002 domestic violence conviction. “I didn’t even think about this,” Moles said. “I got all kinds of phone calls and e-mails. I felt really bad for Monica this got exposed like that, but I didn’t feel it was appropriate for me to explain on her watch. I stand here today accountable on my terms.” This is the fi rst time the U.S. Navy veteran has run for an elected offi ce. That past is why he hasn’t run before. “That’s the biggest reason why I never have done anything like this, but I have moved on,” Moles said. “I had to accept responsibility for my decisions. I blamed the Navy, the wife, I blamed everybody for what was going on in my life. But nobody causes me to do anything; it’s all on me.” Moles said he was diagnosed with Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in 2001 and was going to look at a business to buy when his wife came after him. “I was trying to disconnect from the whole thing,” Moles said of his marriage. “I realized on day one it was a mistake. I was packing for a trip when she attacked me from behind. I responded wrong. I called 9-1-1, but I was arrested. They wanted me to take a deal. “My world spiraled out of control,” he added. “It wasn’t until well into my jail term that I realized my mistakes. It’s been a hard last 12 years recovering from that.” Moles, who will stay here as his project in Prineville gets going, feels he has paid for his mistakes. “I have the experience and background to be a community member,” he said. Moles and Lee were ex- pected to be among the can- didates at a meeting on April 9, as well as at the Greater Gubser Neighborhood Asso- ciation meeting on April 16. PAGE A2 McLeod talks about housing Teen takes reins, tames wild horse By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Calypso is still afraid of a lot of things. Anything brightly colored is a challenge to lead her over. She doesn’t particularly care for having things placed over her head or around her body. Two months ago, she could barely tolerate a human touch. Now, the equine adores the attention. “The face was the last place I could touch her, but now she just loves it,” said Elisabeth Burleson, 13, giving Calypso a fi rm and loving face rub. Burleson is taking part in the annual Extreme Mus- tang Makeover, a competi- tion where youth and adults take on the task of taming and training wild mustangs captured on Bureau of Land Management lands. Burleson, along with other youth her age, was assigned a horse at random, but Burleson got to name her. “I named her after a friend’s dog,” she said. KRP theater funding studied PAGE A3 Volunteers will be back at KCFB PAGE A5 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Elisabeth Burleson hugs Calypso, a once-wild mustang she is work- ing with to ground train as part of the Extreme Mustang Makeover. Although Calypso, a palo- mino butte, is one year old on paper, she probably hasn’t passed that mark yet. She’s likely closer to 10 or 11 months. By May, Burleson must have her ground trained, meaning Calypso must be able to be led through and over obstacles with lead in-hand. She also has to have a stellar coat and, hopefully, be able to perform a few freestyle ma- neuvers – like having objects placed over her head. That’s where Elisabeth’s deft hand and mothering comes into play. When Elisa- beth goes to place a set of small hoops around Calypso’s neck, Calypso backs away. Elisabeth demonstrates what she’s go- ing to do by placing the hoops around her own neck. She does it twice to prove there’s no danger involved. Calypso doesn’t retreat when Elisabeth goes to place the object over the horse’s head again. “She’s not some dumb animal, she’s a smart one. I’ve learned how to be a lot more patient. We’ve always had MHS 4x100 team sets top time PAGE A8 Please see MUSTANG, Page A10 Consultant likes Big Toy By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes The Big Toy project is in good shape. That is the assessment of Bill Hugill, a consultant with New York-based Leathers and Associates, the consul- tant guiding the community build play structure to be built at Keizer Rapids Park over a fi ve-day period from June 10 to 14. Hugill was in Keizer on Tuesday to look at the play structure site, meet with mem- bers of various project com- mittees and to give guidance on what should be done over the next two months before community volunteers come together to build the 15,000 square foot play structure. Project general coordina- tor Mark Caillier picked up McNary baseball gets win KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy (From left) Mark Caillier, Bill Hugill and Bill Lawyer share a laugh while looking at the Big Toy playground site on Tuesday. Hugill from the airport on Monday evening and brought the consultant to the Big Toy site Tuesday morning. Hu- gill then spent the afternoon with members of the various committees before wrapping up the day with a summary meeting. Please see HUGILL, Page A10 PAGE A8