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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 2017)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 26 SECTION A MARCH 31, 2017 $1.00 Residents call for diversity resolution By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes When Cyndi Swaney moved to Keizer from California, she ended up renting a room in a home with a group of other adults. When she arrived to move in, the property manager rushed out to meet her in concern. “The manager asked if I knew that one of the other roommates was a black man and if I was okay with that,” Swaney told the Keizer City Council at its meeting Monday, March 20. “I remember thinking it was an awkward question and I wondered why his race would matter.” As she refl ected on the experience later, she wondered if her black housemate was okay with everyone else being white. “My guess is he wasn’t asked,” Swaney said. Swaney and another Keizer resident, John Scott, spoke to the Keizer City Council about their experiences Monday, March 20, and asked the council to take up a resolution declaring Keizer to be a safe and inclusive city. More recently, Swaney had participated in a recent conversation on a neighborhood social media site regarding a swastika that had been drawn in the snow of a neighborhood lawn. Swaney felt the conversation that evolved was mostly dismissive of the act and wasn’t tackled with seriousness the incident merited. “I don’t want Jewish people or people of color feeling fear or unwelcome in my city for any reason,” she said. As an educator, Swaney applauded recent efforts by the Salem Keizer Education Association, Salem-Keizer School Board and City of Salem to take a stand on issues of diversity and equity and wanted to see Keizer do the same. Scott, a Keizer resident and black man, said he would like to see a resolution that tackled the nuance of diversity issues as well as the broad strokes of exclusion. “We can be practical, but we can also be bold.” Track & field returns PAGE A12 — John Scott Keizer resident Iris poster contest opens PAGE A3 “For instance, I have an afro and people think that gives them the right to touch it. To pet me like an animal,” Scott said. “If I saw someone with an incredible neck and I asked to touch it that would be weird. Right? But that’s what people with hair like mine, or dread(lock)s, go through.” Please see DIVERSITY, Page A7 Parks survey results expected Monday By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The results of the Keizer parks survey are expected to be released at the Keizer City Council meeting Monday, April 3. The survey took months to plan and Keizer residents had three-and-a-half months to respond to the query that asked about priorities for the city’s parks and support for a fee to create a dedicated parks fund. The Keizer City Council meets at 7 p.m. at the Keizer Civic Center. Members of the Keizer Parks and Recreation Advi- sory Committee discussed the results briefl y at their March meeting and provided a glimpse of what the results are. Parks board member Matt Lawyer, who has spearheaded the efforts to craft the survey and outreach, said only about 18 percent of respondents wanted no fee. “That means 82 percent of the city (residents) support a fee at some level,” Lawyer said. The meeting was held a day before the survey closed. About 1,000 surveys had been returned. Lawyer added that the $2, $4 and $8 fee options received the most votes at that point in time. He added that the ma- jority of responses had come from those age 55 and older. “I think that’s a good in- dicator that people in this city recognize the need and are willing to move forward,” Lawyer said. Please see PARKS, Page A8 The things she carried KFD volunteer shoulders gear, memories up 1,000s of stairs KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Betsy DiNitto stitches together components for a RARE Bear that will be given to a child with a rare disease. Bernina Stretch & Sew Fabrics is hosting several bear workshops in the coming months. RARE Bears spotted at Keizer sewing shop By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Judy Craig is looking for local seamstresses willing to turn out a sloth of cloth bears while learning some new skills along the way. Last week, Craig, owner of Bernina Stretch & Sew Fabrics on River Road, launched the store’s RARE Bear campaign. Over the next few months, she’s inviting patrons and new- comers to visit the shop for a fi ve-hour sewing lesson that results in a stuffed bear that will be given to a child with a rare disease. “Each bear gets it’s own tag that’s sewn in with a serial number that is assigned to the maker. When that bear is given out, they’ll send a picture of the child with the bear to the per- son who made it,” Craig said. Please see BEARS, Page A8 By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Ryan Parkison, Ted Shultz and Shanie Hill. Those were three of the faces on Keizer volunteer fi re- fi ghter Amber Butler’s mind and helmet as she climbed 1,356 steps covering 69 fl oors to the top of Seattle’s tallest building, all while wearing 60 pounds of full gear. Joined by Keizer fi refi ght- er/paramedic Jeff Gallinger and Lt. Rachel Brozovich, Butler completed the Scott Firefi ghter Stair Climb, a fun- draiser for the Leukemia and Lumphoma Society, for the seventh time on March 12. “I have a personal attach- ment,” Butler said of Parkison, who lost his battle with blood cancer in 2001, Shultz, who passed away in December and Hill, who is currently fi ght- ing. “If I can raise money and awareness, I have my health, I’ll climb that beast. I’ll do it in their memory.” Firefi ghters are invited to Stage star takes show on the road PAGE A5 Submitted Keizer Fire District volunteer Amber Butler at the annual Stairclimb in Seattle. submit photos, which are then printed throughout the stair- well to remind competitors why they are climbing as their legs get tired and it becomes harder to breath. “It gives us encourage- ment to climb more,”Butler said. “Every year I have some- body’s face to look for and then I see all of these other Please see CARRIED, Page A8 Gone to Arizona PAGE A12