SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 2
SECTION A
DECEMBER 11, 2015
$1.00
Dieker leaving as chamber leader
KEIZERTIMES fi le/Craig Murphy
Christine Dieker, executive director of the Keizer Chamber of Commerce, speaks during an open
house event at the Kaiser Permanente clinic in Keizer Station in December 2014.
City extends Volcano lease
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Play ball, for a bit longer.
After several executive ses-
sions to discuss the matter,
members of the Keizer City
Council unanimously agreed
Monday to extend the ground
lease with the Salem-Keizer
Volcanoes.
City staff has been work-
ing with Jerry Walker, owner
and president of the Keizer-
based minor league baseball
team, on terms for an exten-
sion of the ground lease on
the property behind the Tar-
get in Keizer Station and near
Interstate 5 where Volcanoes
Stadium is situated. The origi-
nal lease was signed in January
1997, the year Walker, along
with wife Lisa, brought the
baseball team to town.
By the original lease, the
Volcanoes weren’t going to
be leaving anytime soon, since
the lease had an expiration
date of Jan. 6, 2026. That’s
even more the case now, since
the fi rst amendment to the
lease states the lease now ex-
pires on Jan. 6, 2036.
“There’s also a possible
eight-year extension after
that,” city attorney Shannon
Johnson said Monday eve-
ning. “We have been working
with the Walkers for several
months.”
The revised
agreement
calls for rent
from
ticket
sales to be in-
creased from 5
to 5.5 percent
J. Walker
in 2026. In
2031, that rent
increases to 6 percent. Mean-
while, the current 20 percent
rent for parking lot fees will
remain the same.
The lease amendment also
included some changes for
community events. For ex-
ample, by Feb. 15 each year,
the Walkers are to let the city
know what days they’ll be us-
ing the stadium and parking
lot from April 1 through the
next 12 months. Within 30
days, city offi cials are to sub-
mit a list of requested com-
munity events at the stadium
and parking lot to the Walkers.
Any events in the stadium
or parking lot needing con-
cessions prior to Oct. 31, 2017
will be required to use the
Walker’s concession vendor,
but for any events in the park-
ing lot after that date a differ-
ent vendor can be chosen.
Johnson noted the Walk-
ers are getting a $2.25 million
loan from Key Bank.
“We are just consenting
to the loan,” Johnson said.
“There is no liability on the
city’s part.”
Councilor Amy Ryan ap-
preciated the work put in over
the last several months.
“On behalf of myself, I
want to reiterate how much
I appreciate the details being
worked on,” Ryan said. “We
also took care to do what’s
best for the city.”
Mayor Cathy Clark nodded
in agreement.
“I concur with that,” Clark
said. “I also thank staff for the
work put into this.”
Councilor Dennis Koho,
who was mayor when the
Volcanoes fi rst came to town,
pointed to what the owners of
Salem-Keizer Sports Enter-
prises have done.
“I want to thank the Vol-
canoes for the $1 million
they have contributed to the
city these last 19 or 20 years,”
Koho said. “It’s been a good
partnership, I think.”
Clark went a step further.
“Indeed, it has certainly
raised our stature,” she said.
The Volcanoes are the
Northwest League Class A af-
fi liate of the San Francisco Gi-
ants, the team that has won the
World Series three of the past
Please see LEASE, Page A3
Rollin’ in it at WMS
Submitted
Ashley Doerfl er, Grace Trammell, Paytonn Wirt, Noah Gould, Megan Provost, Alyssa Rich-
ardson, Kacey Whitfi eld and Bailey True gear up to paint at pantry at Salem's HOME Youth
and Resource Center. For the full story, see Page 5.
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Silver Bells for
holiday parade
SKSD gets
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$14 million
PAGE A6
KEIZERTIMES fi le/Craig Murphy
The McNary High School Marching Band performs in the 2014
Festival of Lights Holiday Parade. The band will be in this year's
parade, which starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12.
limited to the parade. A Glow-
On party, a new addition last
year, returns this year at 3 p.m.
in the parking lot of Colum-
bia Bank at 4260 River Road,
where River Road and Man-
brin Street meet.
Also at 3 p.m., runners can
start signing up for the Glow
Run, a 5K race that starts at
the bank at 6 p.m. and goes
until 7. Because of those
events, vehicles will only be
allowed to cross River Road
at Chemawa Road. Manbrin
and Dearborn Avenue, which
were periodically opened to
vehicle traffi c in the past, will
be closed to vehicles this year.
“We focused on doing the
runs a bit differently this year,”
parade CEO Cheryl Mitch-
ell said. “We wanted to have
more of a glow effect, so we
changed the glow logo and
the run name. All of the pre-
parade activities will be at the
bank. Those in the run will
have special seating in the
bank parking lot to watch the
parade.”
Everyone who signs up
for the run will get a fl ashing
Santa hat and a clip-on safety
light.
Two other new additions
from last year are being carried
over this year. The $500 cash
prize for the Grand Sweep-
stakes award winner – which
went to May Trucking a year
ago – is back, as is the After
Glow Celebration in the Sky-
line Ford parking lot at 3555
River Road N.
With the parade start-
ing at 7 p.m., the After Glow
Celebration should get going
around 8:30. Keeping with
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
The weather outside might
have been frightful this week,
but on Saturday night there’s
something delightful.
It’s the second Saturday of
December, which means it’s
time for the Festival of Lights
Holiday Parade in Keizer.
This is a milestone year for
the parade, which is pretty
strongly hinted at with this
year’s theme: Silver Bells.
Indeed, this is the 25th an-
niversary of the annual night
parade, which started in Salem
and moved to Keizer in 2011.
Per usual, the parade starts
at the corner of River Road
and Lockhaven Drive at 7 p.m.
on Dec. 12 and heads south
along River Road. The parade
disbands at Glynbrook Street,
with some entries heading to
the Skyline Ford lot further
south for the After Glow party.
Bud Pierce, a longtime
medical cancer doctor in Sa-
lem and an early entrant in the
2016 race for Oregon gover-
nor, is serving as the parade’s
grand marshal, which has
caused angst among some.
Pierce expressed surprise at
being named grand marshal.
“It’s a great honor,” Pierce
told the Keizertimes last week.
“It’s a once in a lifetime hon-
or. It’s a surprise. I’m happy
to have the chance to do it.
I don’t know why I got the
honor. I was very surprised
to get the call. They asked if
I wanted to do it, I said that
would be great. You try to
work hard and be a good citi-
zen. This was completely un-
expected.”
The day’s events aren’t just
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have been comments (about
retiring) made periodically,
but I didn’t think it was seri-
ous. But she’s certainly put in
her time.”
That time began in 1998,
when longtime State Farm
agent Sam Goesch was serv-
ing as the chamber president.
“I like to think I hired
Christine Dieker,” Goesch
said. “That was a hard year.
We decided the chamber was
an institution worth saving.
We started looking at some-
one to run it day-to-day. We
had two candidates. I lobbied
hard for Christine Dieker. She
had been involved with the
Courthouse (Athletic Club),
and was president of Keizer
Soccer Club. I didn’t know
anyone in Keizer that didn’t
know Christine. Where do
you fi nd that kind of creden-
tial? I like her. She’s one of my
favorites. I’ll brag about being
the one that hired her.”
Goesch noted he had got-
ten a heads up the move was
coming.
“She talked to me maybe a
month ago about this,” he said.
“Things evolve and she feels it
is time. It will be hard, because
of the loss of the institution-
al memory. I think she did a
great job for us.”
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
It hasn’t happened in a
while, but the Keizer Cham-
ber of Commerce is looking
for a new executive director.
Christine Dieker took over
the position in March 1998
and has been in the position
since, aside from a few turbu-
lent months in 2003.
But that is changing: Diek-
er submitted her resignation
to the chamber’s Board of Di-
rectors on Dec. 2. The board
accepted the resignation.
“I have growing opportu-
nities,” Dieker told the Keiz-
ertimes. “I do not have another
job lined up or one targeted
in the near future. I’m very
blessed with a family that’s
supportive, a husband (Tom)
that can provide our income.
I don’t have to hurry up and
get a job on the fi nancial side
of things. I am open, but semi-
retiring. I still have some work
left in me. There will be some
opportunities for me, but
nothing is lined up.”
Bob Zielinski, the cur-
rent chamber president, knew
there were family consider-
ations but was still surprised
by the timing.
“She’s been kind of talk-
ing about her mother’s health
and she has grandkids who are
here,” Zielinski said. “There
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Keizer youth
councilor
PAGE A9
MHS boys
beat No. 3
PAGE A12