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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2015)
JULY 24, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9 Manager leaves Town Amphitheater project funded & Country Lanes after reader board incident By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes The fallout over a recent billboard message at Town & Country Lanes continued last week as manager Mardi Smith quit. Smith had been at Keizer’s bowling alley for 10 years and had been manager since 2010. Don Lebold has owned Town & Country for 47 years. On July 2, Lebold posted a message about the recent Su- preme Court decision allow- ing same sex marriages: “Judg- es making decisions contrary to the word of God will they themselves be judged.” Things were quiet for a few days, but word of the mes- sage went viral on July 7. By the next day, the message was making national headlines. Smith posted on the bowling alley’s Facebook page the mes- sage was solely Lebold’s and did not refl ect any other em- ployees at the business. There were immediately dozens of responses, most highly critical of the bowling alley. The post was eventually removed, but soon the page was fi lled with negative one-star reviews. By the end of last week, the Face- book page was taken down. On July 15, Smith an- nounced on her Facebook page she would be leaving her job. “I regret that I now an- nounce that I must separate myself from the leadership of Town & Country Lanes,” Smith wrote. “I am giving my reluctant resignation effec- tive July 29 to pursue available business opportunities within our community with the same fervor and enthusiasm with which I have built relation- ships, programs and business collaborations with so many of you during my work at Town & Country. I look forward to new opportunities and thank each and everyone who sup- ported me during this service.” By July 17, however, Smith had already left. Lebold said last Friday he talked with Smith the day be- fore about the sign board inci- dent and the fallout for the fi rst time, though Smith refuted that account and said there had been “many discussions” prior to July 16, the day she quit. “I told her how unhappy I was with her for putting that message up on Facebook,” Lebold said. “She really threw me under the bus. I was up- set with her for not support- ing me. I told her this all never would have happened if she had called me. What I said on the board was interpreted far differently from what I ex- pected. I’m sorry my message was wrongly interpreted. God’s word is my standard. I love people of all races and beliefs. I’ve never been accused of be- ing discriminatory in my 47 years here.” Lebold noted he’s had a les- bian manager in the past and currently has two African- American employees and a bi- sexual employee. “The bible is God’s word,” he said. “The bible makes it clear marriage is between a man and a woman. The bible also says you will be persecuted for your beliefs. That’s exactly what is happening now. I’m being made out to be a bad guy. It shows how intolerant they are.” Lebold said he had received many cards and letters in sup- port since the incident began, plus had 20 phone calls and 15 people stopping by to see him. “There’s never been one negative person that stopped by to talk with me,” he said. “It’s all been positive. There have been negative phone calls in the morning when I haven’t been here, but I’m getting a lot of support from various pastors and others. I’ve been overwhelmed by the support. Almost all of the negative has been on the internet.” Smith on Tuesday had no regrets about her decision to leave. “I will miss serving and interacting with the city,” she said. “I enjoyed the last 10 years of business development and community collaboration. It’s like the day you wake up and realize that your jeans don’t fi t. You can choose to be uncom- fortable or wear something else.” By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Jerry Nuttbrock’s project lost its funding, but got it back. Nuttbrock, a key player in the original construction of the Keizer Rapids Park amphithe- ater several years ago, has laid out a four-phase project to add amenities to the amphitheater. The fi rst phase is a 2,400 square foot concrete patio. In May, members of the Keizer Parks and Recreation Advisory Board approved $5,000 in funding from its matching grant program to help pay for the project. Nutt- brock’s plan was to have the project done in June, also the end of the 2014-15 fi scal year. A couple of factors – includ- ing the Big Toy project taking a week longer than anticipated – meant that didn’t happen, so Nuttbrock temporarily lost his funding support. At last week’s Parks Board meeting, he got the $5,000 back. “I am back with a grant proposal to replace my former grant proposal we didn’t take advantage of,” Nuttbrock told Parks Board members. “It’s an issue of timing. I had a win- dow in late June to get it done. That was my intention. It was a squeeze because we had to wait until the Big Toy was done. It gave me a couple of weeks. But it was during that hot weather. I can’t pour when it’s more than 90 degrees; it threatens the quality of the concrete.” Nuttbrock said another un- expected change took place. “The city told me to sub- mit receipts but the work it- self didn’t have to be done by the end of June,” he said. “That changed, so that I did have to be done by the end of June. That’s where we are. I’m back asking for $5,000.” The overall project costs were different from what Nuttbrock had estimated in the spring. The total value is now $25,305 which includes $13,000 in corporate sponsor- ship, $6,615 in labor, the $5,000 from the matching grant and $690 in private cash or material donations. “These numbers represent the reality,” said Nuttbrock, who refers to the amphitheater as Keizer’s living room. “I’m al- ready so far in, I know where we’re at and what I expect it traffi c court NO LICENSE Wesley Ivar Sellevagg, $267. Helio Huerta Bedolla, $260. NO INSURANCE Elizabeth Noelle Zepeda, $260. Jaime Marcus Miotke, $245. David Ybarra, $225. Donna Lillian Miller, $225. Angelique Smith, $225. NO PROOF OF INSURANCE Daniel Alberto Garcia Arias, $230. DRIVING WHILE SUSPENDED Elizabeth Noelle Zepeda, $435. Drew C. Winiger, $395. FAILURE TO OBEY TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE Mario Enrique Andrade Sr., $225. Hailey Cassandra Decker, $225. Dawn Riley, $230. 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On the numbers before, I was guessing. It is way beyond the 50 percent match.” Public Works Director Bill Lawyer said the project not be- ing done – or funded – last fi s- cal year meant there was a bal- ance of $5,000 left over in the matching grant program. “Staff has proposed going to city council soon and request a budget adjustment, where the $5,000 unspent is allocated di- rectly into the matching grant program for this year,” Lawyer said. “So for 2015-16 the total allocation would be $20,000, which is the $15,000 plus the $5,000 carried over.” Lawyer noted the hope is to get maximum use out of the project this summer with the free weekly concerts. “The idea is so it can be en- joyed this summer for the con- cert series,” Lawyer said. “This is the best overall approach.” Nuttbrock told Parks Board members he would be pouring the concrete when the weather cools a bit, which should mean this week. Parks Board members unan- imously approved the request. 503.393.2875 remodelkeizer.com CCB#155626 Ericka Marie Strausbaugh, $135. Kelsey Elizabeth Lund, $145. Sherry Lou Carlson, $135. Drew M. McHugh, $100. Joelle Dawn Davis, $135. USE OF MOBILE DEVICE Erik Martin Cid, $135. OTHER Alan Carl Stender, failure to use safety belts, $110. Jessica Ann Edmiston, careless driv- ing $405. Sophia Lorraine Jef- ferson, careless driving, $437. Micah Job Ebright, failure to register vehicle, $40. Joshua David Martin, loitering, $90. Christina Lynn Coleman, failure to drive within a lane, $260. Emma Lee Wentworth, improper display of validat- ing stickers, $40. Jennifer Jean Doyle, dangerous left turn, $260. Isaiah Matthew Burkhal- ter, careless driving, $415. Che- rie Dawn Hipp, improper dis- play of validating stickers, $40.