BAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 9, 2016
Homeless camping raises concerns
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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.
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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