PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 18, 2019
Opinion
Build vertically, not horizontally
It can assumed that an overwhelm-
ing majority of Keizer residents don’t
think about the growth of the city
and where it should go. That’s as it
should be. Citizens elect city coun-
cilors who hire the city
manager and approve
his choice for heads
of the various city
departments (known
as city staff). The city
council sets policy for
the city and the city
staff implements those
policies.
The Community Development
Department is overseeing discussions
about Keizer’s future growth. The
Housing Needs Analysis/Building
Lands Inventory (HNA/BLI) Advi-
sory Committee is the latest iteration
of various bodies appointed by the
city to discuss the way forward for
expected growth over the next two
decades. All these groups have been
funded by grants from the state.
With the state, the city and var-
ious bodies talking about where
Keizer will put its expected 10,000
new residents, there is not much rea-
son for current residents to think too
much about the issue. However, few
issues have greater potential to divide
the city. Some people don’t want to
grow, some people want to expand
the city limits, some people want to
grow vertically.
Members of the pub-
lic should understand that
they, as citizens, can attend
any subsequent meeting of
any task force that is devis-
ing a recommendation for
the city councilor to con-
sider. Especially sensitive to
these meetings should be
those whose livelihoods or lifestyle
could be affected by development.
There is much talk about splitting
the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB)
Keizer shares with Salem. As a single
UGB there is enough land invento-
ry to satisfy land use mandates set by
the state of Oregon. The problem is
that Keizer has basically run out of
room to grow. The state of Oregon
says that Keizer must prepare for
those additional 10,000 people; the
city must also consider what kind of
housing will be needed, from single
family homes to multi-family resi-
dences (apartments) to manufactured
our
opinion
homes.
Initial data shows that if the urban
growth boundary is expanded north
and Keizer annexes that land into
city limits, the prices of houses built
there would mostly be out of reach
of current Salem-Keizer homeown-
ers.
Keizer will continue to be a de-
sired address due to our low tax rate
and our schools. Unless the city wants
to get into the developing business
and become a land lord business, it
will have to see to it that the table is
set for the types of development that
can meet the expected demand.
The city should look into zoning
changes that will allow tall, mixed
used buildings along River Road.
Affordable housing units need to be
part of any new development; it’s the
city’s duty to assure that everyone
can fi nd a place to live in Keizer.
Being creative with development
swaps and land swap, goverment can
work with the private to build a
Keizer for the future that benefi ts all
concerned.
(LAZ)
Sex harassment at the Oregon capitol
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and
Industries (BOLI) investigations at the
state capitol have found that sexual
harassment in the form of inappro-
priate touching, suggestive language
and power plays over subordinates
are commonplace. However, those
legislators identifi ed as
responsible for what’s
been determined as
wrongdoing, say the
complaints against them
are not true.
It has been the case
among members of
Congress, the entertain-
ment industry, corpo-
rate executives, and others, that once
discloser of this kind of behavior is
made public the result has been stop
actions, including immediate dismiss-
al, forced resignation, heavy fi ne and,
in a couple of cases, impending prison
time. However, the case in Oregon has
so far been a study in contrasts while
the newly-elected BOLI commission-
er, Val Hoyle, has recused herself due
to what she argues is her predecessor’s
“unusual role in the case” and turned
the matter over to her second in com-
mand.
The upshot to where things stand
now is that, at the request of the Cap-
itol’s lawmakers, there will be no con-
sequences for those found guilty. In-
stead, there will be mediation. That
means things will remain as they have
been in that workplace, an
unchanged condition likely
undesirable to those wom-
en who work in the Cap-
itol and want action now.
Further, mediation entails
a lot of talk in search of
ways to address behavior
improvements and, once
agreed to, go into effect on
a kind of honor system where indi-
viduals promise self-correction with
nothing more done as long as every-
one there walks the talk.
It is imagined that this way of go-
ing about correcting behaviors places
more pressure on the victims than the
accused. Under mediation the pow-
er remains with the accused who can
bring down a whole lot of punish-
ment on those who would be so bold
as to report harassments again. As a
person who spent some of his work-
gene
mcintyre
ing years in state employment, anyone
who complained to higher ups about
the unacceptable conduct of manag-
ers received intolerable treatment in
return, to the extent that they were
often forced to resign while perpe-
trators, somewhat more encouraged,
survived.
What has been going on by way of
sexual harassment at the state Capitol
has been going on for decades there
and is, one might speculate, in the
DNA of the place as it resides wide-
spread in our society at large. Media-
tion steps will be taken because that’s
what the current authority (perhaps
involving the usual political suspects)
has committed to allow. But don’t
expect the inappropriate behavior to
disappear overnight. As history from
elsewhere has shown under similar
circumstances, it predictably will not
just go away through promises of
self-discipline and just may, possibly,
wait until those responsible have left
the premises due to retirements or are
replaced by way of the ballot box.
(Gene H. McIntyre shares his opin-
ion frequently in the Keizertimes.)
Dear mom and dad: cool it
By KARISSA NIEHOFF and
PETER WEBER
If you are the mother or father of a
high school athlete in Or-
egon, this message is pri-
marily for you.
When you attend an
athletic event that involves
your son or daughter, cheer
to your heart’s content, en-
joy the camaraderie that
high school sports offer
and have fun. But when it
comes to verbally criticiz-
ing game offi cials or coaches, cool it.
Make no mistake about it. Your pas-
sion is admired, and your support of
the hometown team is needed. But so
is your self-control. Yelling, screaming
and berating the offi cials humiliates
your child, annoys those sitting around
you, embarrasses your child’s school
and is the primary reason Oregon has
an alarming shortage of high school
offi cials.
It’s true. According to a recent sur-
vey by the National Asso-
ciation of Sports Offi cials,
more than 75 percent of
all high school offi cials say
“adult behavior” is the pri-
mary reason they quit. And
80 percent of all young of-
fi cials hang up their stripes
after just two years of whis-
tle blowing. Why? They
don’t need your abuse.
Plus, there’s a ripple effect. There are
more offi cials over 60 than under 30 in
many areas. And as older, experienced
offi cials retire, there aren’t enough
younger ones to replace them. If there
are no offi cials, there are no games. The
shortage of licensed high school offi -
cials is severe enough in some areas that
athletic events are being postponed or
guest
column
cancelled—especially at the freshman
and junior varsity levels.
Research confi rms that participa-
tion in high school sports and activities
instills a sense of pride in school and
community, teaches lifelong lessons like
the value of teamwork and self-disci-
pline and facilitates the physical and
emotional development of those who
participate. So, if the games go away
because there aren’t enough men and
women to offi ciate them, the loss will
be infi nitely greater than just an “L” on
the scoreboard. It will be putting a dent
in your community’s future.
If you would like to be a part of the
solution to the shortage of high school
offi cials, you can sign up to become a
licensed offi cial at HighSchoolOffi -
cials.com. Otherwise, adult role models
at high school athletic events here in
Oregon are always welcome.
(Karissa Niehoff is executive direc-
tor of the National Federation of State
High School Associations; Peter We-
ber is executive director of the Oregon
School Activities Association (OSAA.)
KEIZERTIMES.COM
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Kudos
to
cleaners
letters
To the
Editor:
A great
big
thank
you is in order for the volunteers of
the Keizer Cultural Center. Last Sat-
urday, volunteers from the (Keizer
Community Library, Homegrown
Theatre, Keizer Art Association and
the Keizer Heritage Museum) rolled
up their sleeves, grabbed clean-
ing supplies and worked together
to make short work of sprucing up
Keizer’s old school house. The clean-
ing was a prelude to touch-up paint-
ing of the interior and the volunteers
made short work of the project. The
Keizer Cultural Center organizations
are totally operated by volunteers,
with no paid staff, and it is gratifying
to see them pitch in to help preserve
this special historical building.
Gayle McMurria Bachik
Keizer
(The writer is the chair of the Over-
sight Committee.)
File
TOP: McGee wife family and friends at the dedication of a bench in honor
of his late wife, Shirley. ABOVE LEFT: McGee delivers a speech during a
First Citizen Banquet. ABOVE RIGHT: McGee with longtime friend David
Johnson on a cruise.
MCGEE,
continued from Page A1
McGee departed the council he gave
the sitting councilors a rock from his
mine with grains of gold in it “a re-
minder to always look at the bright
spots in every situation and to see
value in things that appeared worth-
less,” Walsh said.
His lengthy time on the council,
also gave him the opportunity to
mentor one of the city’s upcoming
mayors, Lore Christopher. Chris-
topher’s name was drawn from a
bucket when the sitting councilors
deadlocked 3-3 to fi ll a vacant seat.
McGee supported Christopher’s
opponent, and Christopher wasn’t
certain what kind of working rela-
tionship would come of the circum-
stances.
“The person I feared the most
was Councilor McGee, and I even
stated that I thought I would never
be able to work with him. Councilor
McGee turned out to be my closest
confi dant and mentor,” Christopher
said. “This was his nature. Council-
or McGee valued every relation-
ship and he worked to maintain
and nurture close relationships. For
years, I watched Councilor McGee
thoughtfully listen and respectfully
debate many individuals that he was
on the opposite side of an issue with,
yet all of those individuals felt sup-
ported and listened to.”
During his time as a councilor,
McGee sowed the seeds of his next
act, Keizer’s unoffi cial historian. He
helped establish the Keizer Points of
Interest Committee which has been
marking historical sites through the
city for almost two decades. Passion
projects for McGee included mark-
ing the spot where the 45th Parallel
1980s, but, by then, McGee was a
regular presence at meetings of the
then-new Keizer City Council. Mc-
Gee was already a past president of
the Rotary Club of Keizer, but he
was about to step into a much larger
arena of community involvement.
“Jerry steadfastly stood up for his
vision for the city and always felt free
to share it with the council,” said for-
mer city councilor Chet Patterson.
Former councilor Phil Bay said
there were some evenings when Mc-
Gee asked him to pick up Shirley so
she could be there in his stead.
“He didn’t want to miss any-
thing,” Bay said.
He developed a reputation as a
budget hawk during the meetings
simply through attendance, but soon
his needling pushed sitting offi -
cials to the brink. Then-Mayor Bob
Newton and Bay told him it was
time to put up or shut up.
“One day, I said he should get in-
volved. And he said, ‘By golly, I think
I will,’” Bay said.
McGee was elected to the Keiz-
er City Council in 1991 and served
until 2003, he is the longest-serving
city councilor to date.
Despite his reputation as a staunch
conservative and, at times, exhausting
penny counter, the thing most fellow
councilors recalled was McGee’s ca-
pacity for grace.
Patterson, who had left the coun-
cil for a time, returned during Mc-
Gee’s stint.
“There again
I saw his devo-
tion to Keizer and
all things Keizer.
While we were
not always on the
same page on any
given issue. Jerry
was always very
gracious in ac-
cepting the vote
of the council and
then moving on,”
Patterson said.
McGee’s time
on the coun-
cil included the
most epic council
meeting to date, a
Submitted
barn-burner that
extended to the McGee rides in on horseback to a dedication of the
wee hours of the Thomas Dove Keizur statue in front of the Keizer
Civic Center.
morning as the
council debated
on whether to bring a baseball team crosses River Road North, a spot at
the corner of River Road and Che-
to town.
For the baseball fan in McGee, it mawa Road that represents the do-
must have been a wrenching mo- nation land claim of Thomas Dove
ment, but he never failed to surprise Keizur, and a statue of Keizur him-
when he ended up on the losing end self outside the Keizer Civic Cen-
ter. McGee was a regular visitor to
of a battle.
“Jerry opposed the stadium proj- Keizer classrooms where he dressed
ect but was never too proud to admit in character as Keizur to deliver
that the Stadium was very good for enthralling history lessons, and he
Keizer and he was glad he lost that wrote about the Keizur family’s wag-
argument,” said Volcanoes’ owner on train trip to the Willamette Valley
Jerry Walker. At his retirement from in a historical novel titled It’s a Long
the council, Walker and his wife, Lisa, Way to Oregon.
On news of McGee’s death and
presented McGee with an offi cial
Walsh’s recollection about the gold-
team jacket.
Former councilor Richard Walsh veined rocks, Christopher said she
said McGee taught him the dif- found herself reaching for the rock
ference between a politician and a McGee gifted to her and found it
statesman, adding that McGee was alongside inscribed copies of his nu-
merous self-published books.
the epitome of the latter.
“I love reading his books because
“Jerry taught me that a statesman
uses his political power and resources I knew him so well that I can hear
to effectuate positive policies while his voice as I read his words. It is a
maintaining relationships. Politicians comfort now that we will always
are concerned with how a policy have him speaking to us through his
will affect themselves while a states- books,” Christopher said.
McGee was preceded in death
man only worries about how the
policy will affect others. Jerry was by his wife, Shirley, sons Shawn and
a statesman in all these respects and Shannon McGee, and sister Shirley
Olson.
more,” Walsh said.
He is survived by daughters Mar-
Walsh also got to know McGee as
ty McGee, Tammy McGee, Cathy
an educator.
“He took the Boy Scouts from Jordan and Wendy Hunt; grandchil-
Troop 121 on a trip to his gold dren Wes Jordan, Brianna Hunt and
mine and taught us all how to pros- Ian Hunt; and longtime friend Diane
pect for gold,” Walsh said. When Monroe.