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