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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2018)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 20 SECTION A FEBRUARY 16, 2018 $1.00 Board backs parks smoking ban 7-1 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes After a public hearing and lengthy debate, the Keizer Parks Advisory Board is moving forward with a rec- ommendation to ban smoking in Keizer parks. Board members voted 7-1 to rec- ommend the action to the Keizer City Council. Matt Lawyer was the lone voice of dissent on the issue at a meet- ing of the board Tuesday, Feb. 13. The recommendation will go to the council and suggest revisiting the current Keizer parks ordinance and re- placing existing language that pertains to smoking in areas of high fi re risk with an outright ban. The suggestion of amending the existing ordinance, rather than creating something whole cloth, came from the board’s newest member, Zaira Flores Marin, who attended her fi rst meeting prepared to cite chapter-and-verse. Flores Marin said that a smoking ban represented a fi rst step in “more of a cultural change in the city.” Smoking is already banned in Salem and Marion County parks as well as Oregon’s state parks. The handful of residents who of- fered testimony on the issue favored the ban, but it was testimony from of Marion County and speaking in her role as a Keizer Kerryann Bouska, resident. a program coor- Bouska said dinator with the “When we as Keizer that smoke free Marion County citizens say we care rules and policies Public Health De- are typically self- partment who about health, we enforcing and that oversees anti- can send a stronger previous attempts smoking educa- at mitigating smok- tion programs, that message” ing in Keizer parks, appeared to sway — Kerryann Bouska like designating most of the re- Keizer resident smoking areas in maining holdouts. each park, are ham- Bouska, who is also a Keizer resident, was careful to walk pered from the outset. Please see BAN, Page A8 the line of educating as an employee Boys on top of GVC b-ball PAGE B1 Bond passage would have far-reaching effects By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes If voters approve a $619.7 million Salem-Keizer School District (SKSD) bond measure in May, improvements at Mc- Nary High School and Gub- ser Elementary School will be some of the fi rst in the district to receive renovations and re- designs. While those projects would be among the fi rst to undergo construction, the bond plan includes improvements or maintenance projects at every school in SKSD. As the second largest high school in the district, admin- istrators have long planned for McNary to be near the top of the list, but Gubser was more of a surprise, said Superinten- dent Christy Perry. “Gubser is one of the most overpopulated elementary schools right now. We tried placing an additional teacher there to help with class siz- es, but there simply wasn’t enough space in the building,” Perry said. There is still an additional teacher at Gubser, but they fl oat throughout the build- ing and assist where they are needed most, she said. In that sense, improvements at Gubser – including three At a glance: Keizer's place in SKSD bond Keizer Elementary McNary High 4 new classrooms 14 new classrooms Dedicated cafeteria and kitchen 1 new science lab Library upgrades 2 career technical education spaces Dedicated special education class space A new fl exible learning space Replacement classrooms (13,700 sq. ft.) Repurposed/renovated space for admin and support staff Redesigned parking lot and additional parking Purchase of additional property and relocating sports fi elds Cummings Elementary Cafeteria expansion Sidewalks along campus Claggett Creek Creek Middle Cafeteria expansion Converting 3 classrooms into 2 science labs Library upgrades Gubser Elementary School Not-So- Newlyweds 3 new classrooms Dedicated cafeteria and kitchen Gym upgrades PAGE A3 new classrooms, a dedicated cafeteria and kitchen and gym upgrades – will have the ef- fect of lowering class sizes. That will not be the case for all schools, but bonds can only pay for capital improvement projects and not continuing budget items like teacher sala- ries. The latter funds are much more volatile and heavily de- pendent on state funding set by the Oregon Legislature. The biggest single change district-wide, if the bond is approved by voters, will be increasing capacity at fi ve of the six high schools to 2,200 students. At McNary, that will mean about 200 more students than are currently enrolled, but it will also mean that the por- table classrooms some classes use will be replaced with per- manent structures. The bond will cost a home- owner $1.24 more per $1,000 Please see BOND, Page A2 Preparing for the hand-off Cathy Clark’s vision for a third mayoral term HOME By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes In the course of eight days, Salem Habitat for Humanity handed over the keys to two new Keizer families. On Saturday, Feb. 3, Con- struction Manager Dave Con- nell presented the Ramos- Gasca family with their keys to half of a new duplex on Alexis Lane North in Keizer. The family of four – including mother and father, Arturo and Sara, and daughters, Brianna and Jessica – were welcomed by Habitat staff and volunteers and led through the home for the fi rst time by members of Girl Scout Troop 10048 and Brownie Troop 10133. “It’s something we’ve dreamt about for a long time,” said Sara, after accepting the keys. “There is no way, shape or form that we could have pulled this off without each and every one of you, that’s a guarantee.” The build was sponsored, in large part, by Thrivent Fi- nancial, which has contributed more than $800,000 to Salem Habitat over the course of its last eight builds. A week prior to the Ramos-Gascas getting its keys, Habitat handed over the keys to the Ramos-Gasca’s new neighbors, the Wuelfi ng family. Please see HOME, Page A8 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Brianna Ramos-Gasca checks out her new bedroom at a Keizer home built by Habi- tat for Humanity. Girl Scouts who led her to the room – and helped decorate – wait in the hallway. By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Mayor Cathy Clark an- nounced she will be seeking a third term as Keizer’s may- or last week, but the crux of her vision for the city is less about what she will do during a third term and more about paving the way for those who follow her. “I’m very purposeful and I want to reach Gen Xers and the Millenials. I know they are very busy with families and have a lot demands on their time, but we have got to make sure that we are taking the long view,” Clark said. “ If we are going to have a vibrant legacy that continues, the next generation has to be ready for it and the ones working right now have to be okay with them changing it.” Clark served eight years as a member of the Keizer City Council before being elected as mayor in 2014. Prior to those duties she served on several of the city committees. In her time as public servant, Keizer has undergone wide- spread changes ranging from nascent stages of what is now Keizer Station to leading the charge to implement fees that created stable funding for parks and police services in 2017. “We had established great parks and a responsive police department and a fantastic planning department, but a lot of those good things were beginning to show some wear and doing nothing was not an option,” Clark said. Now she feels that other departments within the city need that same look, not the least of which is the future of Keizer’s Civic Center. “If we don’t properly staff it and maintain it, we won’t have it,” she said. “We will have to look at all the revenue streams and come to a decision re- garding the resources available and how the oversight (of the facility) looks in the future.” In a city where the most frequent response to any prob- lem is “volunteer,” Clark also wants to take a harder look at Please see CLARK, Page A8 Learning to fly PAGE A4 Statebound PAGE B1
