SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 22
SECTION A
MARCH 1, 2019
The
s
o
t
o
h
p
we
won’t
By ERIC A.
HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The fi rst photo is a
group of three McNary
High School students in
various stages of loung-
ing while movies play
as part of an all-day fi lm
festival for youth members
of the lesbian, gay, bisexu-
al, transgender and queer/
questioning
(LGBTQ)
communi-
ty. Two on
the fl oor,
one count-
ing sheep
in a sleep-
ing
bag
–
mouth
open, no
drool, an-
other sitting by his side watching
3 Generations, a movie about a teenag-
er seeking to transition from female to
male and the tribulation something as
mundane as a birth certifi cate
can create. The third student
is sitting in a chair refusing
to give up on the avail-
able seating inside the
Keizer Homegrown
Theatre space within
the Keizer Cultur-
al Center after three
movies, an hour of short
fi lms and two more full-
length features to go.
The second photo, a group
of nine students, some from
McNary, others from elsewhere,
sitting on the steps to the second
moments
of
lucidity
fl oor of
the cultural center. Talking about how
soon to begin planning the next fi lm
festival, the struggles faced at home
and elsewhere, how nice it is to not
have to worry about those
frustrations in the here and
now. Laughing about
Dungeons & Dragons,
inside jokes and all
the other things that
make humans human
regardless of sexual
and gender identity.
The last picture is sol-
itary fi gure looking out
on the front lawn of the
Cultural Center, watching
cars pass. She
$1.00
show
you
City to
form
charter
review
committee
A fi rst step toward
removing anti-
LGBTQ language
in city's founding
document.
needed a
break – to rest her eyes
she told others – but privately wonders
how a movie can hit so close to home,
how a birth certifi cate can get things
so profoundly wrong and, then, loom
so large over all attempts defi ne one’s
self.
In my ideal world, these are the photos
accompanying this story. But this world,
these times and sadly – despite all lip
service to the contrary – this community
is not ideal. Putting those photos in these
pages could make the subjects victims of
harassment, bullying or worse.
In a 2018 Human Rights Campaign
report on LGBTQ youth, only 24 percent
of the roughly 12,000 respondents felt
they could be themselves at home, 67
percent reported hearing LGBTQ-
disparaging comments from members
of their family, 48 percent of those who
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The Keizer City Council
took a giant leap toward
removing language from the
city charter that alienates
members of the community
who identify as something
other than heterosexual.
As part of goal-setting
talks, councilors set a short-
term goal of establishing a
charter review committee to
eliminate pieces of Section 44,
which includes anti-LGBTQ
language in the city charter,
and make other adjustments
as recommended by the
committee.
Mayor Cathy Clark said
every city councilor had been
contacted at some point in
the past several months since
Please see PHOTOS, Page A6
Please see CHARTER, Page A6
Traffi c signal coming to transit center
After operating the Keizer
Transit Center (KTC) for
more than fi ve years with
only right-in /right-out
access only, the KTC is about
to get a new traffi c signal to
allow for right or left turn
access in and out of the
property.
The traffi c signal was
included in the original
design, but initial engineer’s
estimates placed the cost
above the funds Cherriots
had to build the transit center.
As a result, the signal was
eliminated from the original
project, but there was enough
left over in the original grant
to cover the expense.
Because the signal will
also benefi t Keizer for
development of property
to the west of transit center,
Cherriots and the city
negotiated an agreement for
Keizer to pay a matching
amount of roughly $315,000
against the grants Cherriots
has with the Federal Transit
Administration
(FTA)
to fund the project. In
addition to the signal, a
second, dedicated eastbound
turn lane will be added to
intersection of Lockhaven
Drive Northeast. Keizer will
make two separate payments
to complete its obligation
to the project and the fi nal
cost is subject to change
depending on the actual cost
of work.
In September 2018, an
invitation to bid was released
for the construction of the
signal and the additional
road and signal work
required because of the
traffi c fl ow changes. Brown
Construction, Inc. from
Eugene was the successful
bidder with an cost of
$1,578,822. The Cherriots
Board of Directors approved
the contract with Brown
Construction, Inc. on Dec.
13.
The project is slated to
be completed and fully
functional no later than Aug.
16, but could be fi nished
sooner.
Lady Celts
fall to South
PAGE A14
KFD adds
to budget
committee
PAGE A3
Snow
reverie
Brotherhood
of mentors
PAGE A4
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Prep work is being done for a new signalized intersection where
the Keizer Transit Center meets Keizer Station Boulevard.
New
community
journalist
joins the
Keizertimes
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Snow was coating the Twilight Reverence statue in north Keizer when residents awoke
to falling snow Wednesday, Feb. 27.
Hunter Bomar, a Keizer
native, has joined the staff
of the Keizertimes as a
community reporter with
emphasis on community
events and local businesses.
A McNary High School
graduate, where he served
as ASB president, Bomar
attended
George
Fox
University and earned a
degree in organizational
communication
while
serving in the Oregon Army
National Guard.
Bomar said, "I am really
excited to move back to my
home town and start learning
Hunter Bomar
the basics of journalism. This
job is a great step in the right
direction."
Bomar hopes to one day
get his master’s degree in
mass media communication.
Hunter can be reached
via email at reporter@
keizertimes.com.
Keizer
netters take
skills on tour
PAGE A11