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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2016)
BAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 9, 2016 Homeless camping raises concerns presented by DRIVE A LITTLE – SAVE A BUNCH! 3893 COMMERCIAL ST SE • SALEM MORE INFO AT NORTHERNLIGHTSTHEATREPUB.COM UFC206 - Sat, Dec 10 Holloway vs. Pettis INTERIM FEATHERWEIGHT BOUT SATURDAY, DEC 10 Storks (PG) 11:00 AM TICKETS ARE JUST $3 SPECIAL SHOWING FOR KIDS AND ADULTS WITH AUTISM OR OTHER SENSORY SENSITIVITIES. 9 FIGHTS IN ALL ON THE HUGE SCREEN Live Fights at 5:00 (21 & Over) - Tickets $13 Reserved Seating Available Now Online. EscapeQuest LIVE ESCAPE ROOM – THE CABIN ESCAPE Can you solve the puzzles & dodge disaster in 50 minutes or less? $15 weekday or $20 weekend per person with groups of 4 –8 people. See website for further details. Today in History 1,800 United States Marines arrive in Mogadishu, Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order in the confl ict-ridden country. — December 9, 1992 Food 4 Thought “Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There’s no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn’t a gift. It’s a responsibility.” — Dalton Trumbo, author, blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter. Born Dec. 9, 1905 The Month Ahead Through Monday, December 26 Keizer Miracle of Christmas Lights Display, 6 to 10 p.m. Gubser neighborhood. Free, but cash and food donations for the Marion-Polk Food Share are welcome. Through Saturday, December 31 Something Red Art Walk, Exhibit and Sale presented by Artists in Action. More than 20 businesses in downtown Salem will participate. artistsinaction.org. Through Sunday, January 1 Christmas in the Garden, located at The Oregon Garden, 879 West Main Street. Features ice skating, a traditional German Christmas Market, and a light display in the Rediscovery Forest. Ice skating is available daily excluding Dec. 24 and 25. Visit www.oregongarden.org/ christmas-schedule-of-activities/ for general schedule information. Saturday, December 10 The Keizer Holiday Lights Parade begins at 7 p.m. on River Road North. Road closures will begin about 3:30 p.m. with River Road shutting down at 6 p.m. to make way for the Jingle Dash, a 5K fun run, beginning at 6:15 p.m. JROTC Drill Competition, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., McNary High School. Christmas at the Keizer Grange (441 Chemawa Rd N.), 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Gifts, giveaways, local vendors and crafters. Fill the Truck Toy Drive, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at all area Walmart stores. Help the Salvation Army make a merrier holiday season for more than 1,500 families. Millstream Knitting Guild meets at Arrowhead Mobile Park Community Center for holiday potluck party, 5422 Portland Road N.E. in Salem, 10 a.m. to noon. New members welcome, $24 membership per year. For more information, visit millstreamknitting.wordpress.com. Willamette Valley Genealogical Society will hold it’s Annual Christmas Get-Together, Potluck, Auction, and Surplus Book Sale. Starts at 10:30 am in Anderson Rooms A & B of Salem Public Library (585 Liberty St SE). Call (503) 363-0880 for more information. Saturday, December 10 – Sunday, December 11 American Ballet Academy will be presenting The Nutcracker . All profi ts will be donated to the Marion County Food Share. On Dec. 10, doors open at 6 p.m. and the performance starts at 7 p.m. On Dec. 11, doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the performance starts at 2:30 p.m. Tickets purchased in advance are between $14 and $20. Tickets purchased the day of the show are between $17 and $23. Buy tickets at elsinoretheatre.com. Sunday, December 11 Breakfast with Santa, Keizer Fire District, 7-11 a.m. Menu includes eggs, pancakes, sausage, coffee and milk. Free photos with Santa Claus. $6 for adults, $3 for children, free for children 3 to 12. Thursday, December 15 Heritage Christmas at Keizer Heritage Center, 980 Chemawa Rd. NE, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Free photos with Santa Claus, refreshments, live entertainment, activites at Keizer Community Library and Keizer Art Association. 503-393-9660. Friday, December 16 France School of Dance presents their December food drive and dance performance, located at North High School Auditorium. The show starts at 7 p.m. Admission is three cans of food or $3 per person and per dancer. All proceeds benefi t Keizer Community Food Bank. For more information contact Linda Martin at 503-390-1210 or 503-390-3481. Add your event by e-mailinc news@keizertimes.com. By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes While discussing which recommendations to accept from subcommittees of the Mid-Willamette Homeless- ness Task Force, some mem- bers balked at the use of the word “camping,” and wor- ried about how constituents would receive the idea. The task force met Thurs- day, Dec. 1, and the group has only two meetings left before disbanding in Febru- ary and paving the way for something new to take its place and put recommenda- tions into action. Since time is growing short, much of last week’s meeting focused on accepting recommendations from subcommittees, includ- ing one from the support ser- vices and education commit- tee that read: “Analyze the advisability of allowing, sup- porting or facilitating some form of temporary, support- coordinated camping.” Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark took issue with the verbiage. “Of all these recommen- dations, the word I know I’m going to get pushback on is ‘camping’,” Clark said. “I don’t want to facilitate someone staying in that type of housing long-term. I have not seen camping as an ef- fective means of facilitating growth.” Marion County Commis- sioner Janet Carlson said she understood Clark’s concern, but said the type of camp- ing she supported was tiny homes, such as ones she vis- ited in Eugene’s Opportunity Village. “I’m not a fan of camping, but Opportunity Village was comprised of makeshift shel- ters,” she said. Carlson also cautioned against accepting only those recommendations that dealt with services. “If all this task force does is provide social services without addressing the im- mediate issue, then we prob- ably haven’t done our job. It’s going to be diffi cult, but I don’t think we should avoid the issue,” Carlson added. Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers cited the poor handling of homeless camp- ing in Portland earlier this year, but said it was some- thing the task force has to look at and explore. His sentiments were echoed by Salem Police De- partment Chief Jerry Moore, who said, “We’d be foolish if we didn’t think we’d have to look at this. Someday, some- where, sometime, it’s going to be brought up. This is not an endorsement, but a chance to look at options.” Moore said one needs only drive through down- town Salem to see the need. Salem Mayor-elect Chuck Bennett said the city coun- cil in Keizer’s neighbor to the south had already been approached about the possi- bility of fi nding a place for a tiny home-community. “We’re in the process of looking for city-owned land with transit access and wa- ter hook-ups, but we haven’t found anything so far,” Ben- nett said. Clark said she was fi ne with assessment, and offered more full-throated sup- port when the wording was changed from “camping” to “support-coordinated tem- porary shelter.” In other business, the task force revisited a discussion from its October meeting re- garding how to proceed after the task force wraps up. Task force members hoped to fi nd support and funding for a private-public collaboration. In a quickly-etched frame- work, members suggested collaboration agreements between the various affected cities and support services in addition to a fi gurehead that kept everyone focused on outcomes. “You need somebody dragging people in to collab- orate. We have to decide who brings the players together,” Bennett said. Lee tapped for ethics commission By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes When it comes to government ethics in Oregon, Keizer is getting more skin in the game. Keizerite Ron Bersin has been executive director of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission since 2006, and longtime Keizer resident and former city councilor Chuck Lee was recently appointed to the commission after being nominated by the Oregon Senate and confi rmed by Gov. Kate Brown. “I’m looking forward to taking on this role and digging in to the commission’s agenda for the next four years,” said Lee. Lee is part of a wave of recent changes to the OGEC, which included the addition of two commissioners registered as Independents in pantheon of political views. Richard Burke of Tigard is the other new face. The total number of commissioners was raised from seven to nine. “I’ve never seen the commission be very partisan, but bringing in people like Richard and Chuck adds to the perspectives and I’m excited for the work they are going to do when they get their legs under them,” Bersin said. The OGEC oversees three key areas of Oregon law. The lookinc back in the KT area that most frequently puts the commission’s work in the spotlight are the ethics laws that apply to public offi cials using their offi ce for fi nancial gain, accepting gifts or granting favors to their families or relatives. It dovetails with the second role for the OGEC, which is determining appropriate applications of and adherence to the laws governing executive sessions – meetings between public offi cials that the public is not privy to. Past investigations by the OGEC staff have included a public fi gure using their government fuel card to gas up personal vehicles in Island City, Ore., and a fi re department employee who embezzled $1.9 million in Estacada, Ore. The latter case is why one of the OGEC’s primary roles in this area is advocating for and educating public employees on security measures that require checks on power. “The woman who got caught embezzling was the one who had access to the mail and she had also been given both keys to a check writing machine,” Bersin said. Anyone can lodge a complaint regarding ethical violations by public employees, but it must be a signed complaint and it must meet the standards of being unethical. Bersin said the offi ce gets several complaints a year about money being “misused,” but they most often originate from someone upset over how the money was spent rather than rising to an ethical violation. “We average between 110 and 130 complaints each year, but it tends to spike in years when our work is in the media more,” Bersin said. Not all complaints receive a full investigation, but when they do the OGEC offi ce and commissioners have six months to complete them. Bersin said his offi ce is working toward putting the entire process online. The third major area the OGEC oversees is the laws that apply to lobbyists and lobbying in the state. If someone spends more than 24 hours or $100 in a given quarter on food, beverages or entertainment with the hope of swaying government offi cials, they have to register as lobbyists. Bersin himself is registered as a lobbyist for work he does on behalf of the OGEC. Earlier this year, commissioners forwarded a bill to the governor for consideration that would require more individuals to register when lobbying is part of their job duties. Any expenditure on lobbying activity must be reported to the OGEC offi ce. In concert with the lobbyist reports, all government offi cials are required to submit Statements of Economic Interest (SEIs) disclosing potential confl icts of interest and all of the disclosures are available online. Between the lobbying and SEI databases, Bersin expects to see Oregon residents wanting more information available in the future “Right now, someone can be registered as a lobbyist, but unless they are spending money on food, beverages or entertainment, there’s not a lot to track. I think in the next several years, Oregonians are going to want more information and I think we can do that. Maybe we can make it work so that is shows how much was spent lobbying for a transportation package or on marijuana issues. In the meantime, Bersin hopes Oregonians take advantage of the information available already. After all, taxpayers have already paid for it through a small assessment paid by local governments, which also happens to reduce the confl ict of interest it had as part of the state’s general fund. “Don’t get upset that a city councilor supports an issue you disagree with, go ahead and look at where their fi nancial interests lie. If you fi nd out they have a confl ict, our agency wants to know about that,” he said. sudoku 5 YEARS AGO Rulinc may delay bic box crocery, apts. and offi ces The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the state land use board’s ruling that the city must reconsider its decision allowing the next phase of Keizer Station. 10 YEARS AGO Banthers shed their fur for Locks of Love 20 Claggett Creek Middle School Panthers, gathered in the schools gymnasium to have their hair chopped off for Locks of Love, a non profi t organization that makes wigs for cancer patients. 15 YEARS AGO Blind school honors Keizer woman Joan Myles, of Keizer, has completed 12 courses at Hadley School for the Blind, raised a family and become a published writer. She was honored for her achievements when she was given the school’s Donald Wing Hathaway Lifelong Learning Award. 20 YEARS AGO Holiday cheer Every year the Keizer Courthouse Athletic Club puts up a giving tree with the Christmas gift wishes of 50 children in Keizer schools. This year one child just asked for food. It took less than a week for the members to take each wish off the tree to be sent back with a gift. Enter dicits from 1-9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each dicit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square. 3893 COMMERCIAL ST SE KEIZERTIMES.COM Web Poll Results How much snow accumulation would you like in Keizer this winter? 57% – 6 or more inches 21% – 0 inches 15% – 3 to 6 inches 7% – 1 to 2 inches Vote in a new poll every Thursday! GO TO KEIZERTIMES.COM THIS WEEK’S MOVIE TIMES Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (PG-13) Fri 6:45, Sat 5:45, Sun 6:20, 8:35 Keeping Up with the Joneses (PG-13) Fri 5:50, Sat 4:45, Sun 6:40 Inferno (PG-13) Fri 9:00, Sat 8:05, Sun 5:35 Deepwater Horizon (PG-13) Fri 8:00, Sun 7:55 Sully (PG-13) Fri 6:15, Sat 6:45, Sun 4:40 The Magnifi cent Seven (PG-13) Fri 8:20, Sat 8:45, Sun 8:45 Suicide Squad (PG-13) Sat 1:20, Sun 12:20 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (PG-13) Fri 4:15, Sat 12:00, 2:30, Sun 12:45, 3:10, 3:55 Storks (PG) Fri 4:05, Sat 1:00, 3:40, Sun 12:00 The Secret Life of Pets (PG) Fri 4:00, Sat 11:30, 3:00, Sun 2:00, 2:50 FOR ALL SHOWTIMES GO TO NORTHERNLIGHTSTHEATREPUB.COM