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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2018)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 27 SECTION A APRIL 6, 2018 $1.00 Dearborn bridge to be replaced KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Rep. Bill Post talks with about 30 constituents who attended a joint town hall with Sen. Kim Thatcher Tuesday, April 3. Guns, school safety take center stage in joint town hall KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald The bridge spanning Claggett Creek on Dearborn Avenue Northeast will be replaced this summer. By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes In recent weeks, a trio of large trees were removed from the south side of Claggett Creek Park drawing the attention of city residents on social media and calls to the local newspaper. The trees have been removed to make way for the next big construction project on the docket of Keizer Public Works: a reconstruc- tion of the bridge that passes over Claggett Creek on Dearborn Avenue Northeast. The project isn’t scheduled to begin until May 1, but the trees had to go earlier for an unusual reason, said Bill Lawyer, Keizer Public Works Director. “The trees needed to come down because of compliance with the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act,” Lawyer told members of the Keiz- er City Council at a meeting in March. Essentially, if protected migrating birds had the opportunity to build nests in the trees while making their way north for the spring and summer seasons, it could have delayed the project or increased costs incurred through re- locating them. The replacement of the Dearborn bridge will create a hiccup in traversing the core of Keizer for the summer months and possibly into the early fall. “The contractor schedule begins May 1 and runs to the middle of September, but it might be closer to the beginning of October,” Lawyer said. Motorists will be advised to avoid the area beginning June 1 when in-water work will be- gin. Lawyer said the contractor, Salem’s K&E Escavating, is being encouraged to keep access to the south parking lot of Claggett Creek Park for as long as possible. The Dearborn bridge, Keizer’s last wooden bridge, was constructed in 1964 with an ex- pected lifespan of about 75 years. Increases in population and the resulting traffi c have short- ened its expected life. “The main issue is that the existing bridge Easter fun KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Healaman Sanders grabs for an Easter egg at a hunt hosted by Avamere Court Friday, March 30. More Easter pics on Page A7. Road closure raises hackles of biz owner By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Discontent at a recent meeting of the Keizer Cham- ber of Commerce’s Iris Festival Committee spilled over into the chambers of the Keizer City Council Monday, April 2. The owner of a marijua- na shop on Cherry Avenue Northeast is requesting some sort of accommodation when the road in front of his business is closed to make way for the Iris Festival campus in front of Keizer Lions Club less than a block away. Keven Cutter, owner of The Grass Hut II, located at 4085 Cherry Avenue N.E., said his business was negatively impacted when Cherry Av- enue was closed in front of his shop for four days for the Iris Festival. “Over the course of four days we lost about $4,000,” Cutter told the city coun- cil during public testimony. “That’s about $126 in lost tax- es for your city.” At the time of the 2017 Iris Festival, The Grass Hut II had only been open for two months. Cutter said he stands to lose even more business this year. When some of his customers began parking at Bi-Mart, Bi-Mart’s managers complained to him. Cutter also took issue with being notifi ed of the closure less than a day before it went into effect in 2017. Cutter said he talked with members of the Iris Festival Committee at a March meeting and received “a big, fat ‘No’” when he re- quested that the road closure be moved north of driveway to the Patient Grower Net- work (PGN) Lodge across the street from his business. Please see BIZ, Page A12 Please see BRIDGE, Page A8 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes It didn’t take long for state Rep. Bill Post (R-Keizer) to get called out for a recent on- line dust-up during a town hall meeting with state Sen. Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer) Tuesday, April 3. In fact, it only took two questions before an attendee asked what kind of example Post was setting regarding bul- lying.The question stemmed from Post's posting of a link on his Facebook page to the the Secretary of State's website as part of a larger issue on how the initiative petition process works. Names, addresses and phone numbers of the chief petitioners seeking a ballot measure that would reduce the availablility of assault-style weapons and the size of maga- zine capacities in Oregon. However, Post’s decision to spread the information through social media prompt- ed the petitioners to be in- undated with phone calls by others who had seen the in- formation. In retaliation for Post’s ac- tion, a Texas writer revealed Post’s phone number and so- cial security number on Twit- ter, a tactic known as doxxing. “There was no doxxing, I got doxxed,” Post said at the town hall in response to the question about the example he set. The doxxer also alluded to knowing information about Post’s wife and son, but fol- lowers of the Texas writer on social media used the tactic to dig up additional phone num- bers and began calling Post's family as well as his chief of staff and campaign treasurer. By choosing to assign their names to the petition, Post reasoned, the chief petition- ers had made themselves fair game. “The minute you sign that petition you are a public fi gure,” Post continued in his defense. Home and Garden SPECIAL SECTION Former first citizen passes PAGE A2 Please see HALL, Page A9 Crosby holds keys to decoding Keizer By DEE MOORE For the Keizertimes Like many police offi - cers every situation that Ben Crosby, the code enforcement offi cer for the City of Keizer, investigates has the potential to go south and get him hurt or killed. What some people do not realize is that when a code en- forcement offi cer goes out to investigate a complaint they do so alone, without a Kevlar vest, gun or Taser. All Crosby has is a ready smile and a well honed set of people skills to keep him safe. “Being able to know your audience, know who you can talk to and how,” Crosby said. It’s a gift and one that he uses every day. “It’s hard to articulate that (know-how and skill) being able to tell someone they are doing something wrong with- out making them mad and in- stead making them want to fi x the problem, to come up with a solution” but that is what he does. Knowing when and how to talk to people comes naturally to Crosby and this makes him a perfect fi t for the position. He is Keizer’s fi rst full time code enforcement offi cer. He has been on the job for three years. “I am excited to be here, to be the fi rst full time code en- forcement offi cer. I like that,” he said. The opportunity to make it his own and build the Zombies at WMS KEIZERTIMES/Dee Moore Ben Crosby handles development and police code enforce- ment for the city of Keizer. position from the ground up is still very exciting to him. That said he isn’t new to the job. He has 16 years of se- curity and enforcement work under his belt. Before work- ing for the City of Keizer he worked for the City of Salem where he worked for the Park- ing Services Division before becoming a code enforcement offi ce. Before that he worked in security for Walmart. Even with all of this experience he has had his share of danger. “I’ve been stabbed. It was when I worked for Walmart Crosby said. His security team also received a commendation for having the most arrests in one year. Please see CROSBY, Page A12 Childress eyes state PAGE B1