MAY 6, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9
BUDGET,
continued from Page A1
at the entrance to the disc
golf portion at Keizer Rapids
Park, resurfacing the tennis
court at Bob Newton Park,
rebuilding the sports courts at
Northview Park and Claggett
Creek Park and replacing the
old play structure at Meadows
Park.
“One
concern
is
maintenance that needs to
be done,” Lawyer said. “The
budget doesn’t refl ect that
need. We’re here to encourage
the Budget Committee to
evaluate that and to ask for a
possible increase in funds for
the Parks Board.”
While appreciating the
money currently spent on
parks, Walsh emphasized the
need for more.
“We’re not anywhere
near what we need,” he said.
“Maintenance needs to be
increased. Yes, we have a status
quo budget, which means it is
a deteriorating budget because
we don’t have the funding
to pay for maintenance. Ivy
continues to grow in trees and
roofs continue to crumble.
There are things we can’t get
to with our budget.”
Walsh said that Woodburn
has a smaller population and
budget, but puts more into
parks, with a similar story in
McMinnville.
“Their citizens want that
and support that,” Walsh said
of Woodburn residents. “They
want that here, too.”
Mayor
Cathy
Clark
pointed out both of those
cities have a higher tax rate
than Keizer.
JT Hager, another Parks
Board member, was slightly
more critical with his
comments.
“People and parks are
synonymous,” Hager said.
“When I fi rst heard about
Keizer, I thought Keizer was
a neighborhood of Salem.
One thing I continue to hear
is we want to be separate and
unique. I have to come to you
and be honest. It’s not against
you personally, but you’re not
living up to your uniqueness
of doing a good job in the
area of parks.”
Hager gave examples of
listening to his mechanic by
doing maintenance on his car
and doing work on his house.
“I maintain the car. I pay
money to maintain the roof
on my house so that I don’t
have to pay a bunch later,”
Hager said. “I’m not saying
take money away from the
police. I hear the argument
that not everyone uses the
parks. Well, not everyone uses
River Road or the police
department, either. But please,
do we have to beg? Our parks
are not in good shape. We have
guys doing yeoman work,
but we’re not giving them
enough. We’re falling behind
on parks and it’s going to get
worse. If I can’t maintain my
car, maybe I should sell it to
someone who can, but I don’t
want to. I don’t want to sell
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“We’re not
anywhere
near what
we need.
Maintenance
needs to be
increased...
There are
things we
can’t get
to with our
budget.”
— Richard Walsh,
Keizer Parks Board
our parks, either.”
As he ended his time
speaking, Hager got in one
more jab.
“Thank you for letting me
scold you a little bit,” he said.
“Now do the right thing.”
WKNA board member
Carol Doerfl er expressed
disappointment
on
maintenance issues already
cropping up on the Big Toy at
KRP, the play structure built
last summer by volunteers.
Doerfl er recalled a recent
outing to the Big Toy with
her 9-year-old granddaughter,
who along with her grandma
was surprised to fi nd several
parts broken.
“As
we
left,
my
granddaughter said, ‘How
come all of this stuff is broken
already?’ I said, ‘I don’t know
but I will ask. I hope they can
fi x it.’ I hope you will fi nd
it in your hearts to maintain
a thing that was created to
benefi t Keizer.”
Budget
Committee
member
Kim
Freeman
said she’d noticed the same
maintenance issues and said
Mark Caillier, who headed
up the Big Toy project, was
looking at setting up an
annual maintenance event.
“The people who donated
money to the project will
appreciate it,” Freeman said.
“Kids will, too,” Doerfl er
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said. “A lot can be done by
volunteers, but you get to the
point where you volunteer
your heart out, how much
more can you give? It’s up
to the city fathers to give a
boost.”
Budget Committee vice
chair Joseph Gillis, a father of
two young girls, referenced
Keizer’s tax rate of $2.08
per $1,000 of assessed value,
which is continually hyped as
the lowest tax rate in the state.
“This city is built on the
volunteerism and the citizens
within it,” Gillis said. “We do
a great job with saving money.
I don’t want to be the $8.48
(per $1,000) Roseburg tax,
but I don’t view the $2.08 as
a good thing, either. If we’re
not maintaining things, we
will lose the volunteer aspect.”
Jill Bonney-Hill, KPIC
chair, spoke about a request
for funding to have fl ood
history signs installed at KRP,
in addition to markings on
poles.
“The signs and markings
will serve as an educational
tool for those that visit the
park,” Bonney-Hill said. “We
hope these are the fi rst steps
in an outdoor museum where
the Sternwheeler Jean paddle
wheel could be displayed.”
WKNA vice president
Rhonda Rich asked for her
funding to be renewed, while
Jim Taylor asked for $5,000
for DUII patrols to pay for
overtime for police offi cers to
do 12 extra patrols a year.
“Very possibly when an
offi cer pulls over an impaired
driver, that offi cer could very
easily be saving that driver’s
own life or the life of someone
else,” Taylor said. “There are
thousands of innocent people
killed by drunk drivers each
year.”
Once public comments
were done, all of the audience
members left as committee
members started going over
the budget. By the end of
the three-hour meeting, all
budgets within Administrative
Services and Public Works
were approved. Based on the
progress made at Tuesday’s
meeting, it was possible the
budget could be approved at
Thursday’s meeting, which
was past this paper’s deadline.
The
requests
for
maintenance money were
interesting in that city
manager Chris Eppley went
over his budget message at the
start of the meeting, which
mentioned an area of higher
CHARGE,
continued from Page A1
the murder, Eric said the two
had met the summer before,
when Jerrid was working a
construction job in Tillamook.
As mentioned in the
previous article, a search
warrant affi davit showed
Jerrid had set up a time to
meet the suspects at Keizer
Station. Witnesses told KPD
detectives they saw two men
arguing before one got into a
dark sedan and took off, while
the other lay on the ground.
The death was believed to
stem from a marijuana deal
numbers this year.
“One area of increased
funding is to maintain the
community center, which is
getting a lot of use,” Eppley
said. “We’re approaching
seven years in this building.
The community center is
showing the wear the most. A
lot of people come through,
with food and beverages. In
order to maintain it, we need
to increase the funding to
sink into the center.”
Overall, Eppley said the
$38 million budget is largely
status quo. He pointed to the
urban growth boundary as a
big one.
“It’s one of the most
important discussions we’ll
have over the next year, to
go over the next 20 years,”
Eppley said. “How much do
we want to grow, if at all?”
gone bad. Jerrid died at Salem
Hospital due to injuries
from a single gunshot to
the abdomen, according to
documents.
The documents further
noted a medical marijuana
card and cell phone were
found in Jerrid’s pocket,
with the phone having a
conversation about the victim
selling the suspect an ounce of
marijuana for $120.
Eric expressed frustration
with the KPD previously and
talked at the time about his
frustration with the case.
“I hope something happens
soon,” he said. “It’d be nice to
at least have some closure. But
really, there’s never going to be
closure.”
puzzle answers