PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 19, 2019
Parks board backs PROTECT,
new look at park host
continued from Page A1
DRIVE A LITTLE – SAVE A BUNCH!
3893 COMMERCIAL ST SE • SALEM
MORE INFO AT NORTHERNLIGHTSTHEATREPUB.COM
OPEN CAPTION SHOWING
Green Book (PG-13)
Saturday, April 20
SATURDAY,
APRIL 20
Marry Poppins
Returns (PG)
11:00 AM
TICKETS ARE JUST $4
SPECIAL SHOWING FOR KIDS
AND ADULTS WITH AUTISM OR
OTHER SENSORY SENSITIVITIES.
11:30 AM, TICKETS ARE $4/EACH.
Special showing with captioning shown
on screen with the movie.
Student Night
EVERY THURSDAY!
All Ages Movies
in Theatre #3.
Today in History
Just after 9 a.m., a massive truck bomb exploded outside
the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City,
Okla. The blast collapsed the north face of the nine-story
building, instantly killing more than 100 people and
trapping dozens more in the rubble; weeks later the death
toll stood at 168 people killed, including 19 young children
who were in the building’s day-care center at the time of
the blast.
— April 19, 1995
Food 4 Thought
“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature,
but by our institutions, great is our sin.”
— Charles Darwin, died April 19,1882
The Month Ahead
Continuing through Saturday, May 4
Pentacle Theatre presents Del Shores’ Yellow, a mature
drama about a southern family. Visit pentacletheatre.org
for show times and tickets.
Saturday, April 20
Dancing with the Salem Stars, 7:30 p.m., Historic Elsinore
Theatre. Tickets range from $15 to 40. elsinoretheatre.
com.
Friday, April 26
Enlightened Theatrics presents The Odd Couple, Female
Version by Neil Simon, at Salem’s Grand Theater. Visit
enlightenedtheatrics.org for show times and tickets.
Performances through May 19.
The Mid-Valley Literacy Center presents Spotlight on
Literacy, an opportunity for supporters to come together
and recognize the past year’s accomplishments and
recognize the progress made by students. The event will
be held at Creekside Golf Club, 6250 Clubhouse Dr SE,
Salem. The VIP event starts at 5 p.m. and the dinner
program starts at 6 p.m. Dinner and program tickets are
$50 or $500 per table. VIP reception and dinner program
$100 per person or $1,000 per table.
McNary Vocal Project will present Avi Kaplan’s Honor
Choir Festival for two performances (6 p.m. and 8 p.m.) in
the Ken Collins Theatre. The former Pentatonix member
will be backed by a 300 member choir. Tickets are $20,
available at mcnary-theatre.ticketleap.com; proceeds
benefi t McNary’s choir programs.
Sunday, April 28
The 2019 Oregon Ag Fest will be held at the Oregon State
Fair and Exposition Center. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m.
on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday. Tickets: $9 for ages 13
and up and free for children 12 and under, available at the
door. Credit cards, cash, and personal checks accepted.
Free parking. Advance tickets available at eventbrite.com,
or at any Wilco Farm Store.
Thursday, May 2
The 21st Annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast will begin at
7:30 a.m. at the Keizer Civic Center to celebrate National
Day of Prayer. The event is non-denominational and all are
welcome to participate. You can register at keizerchamber.
com. Bring peanut butter to benefi t Marion-Polk Food
Share.
FRIENDS! The Musical Parody, 7:30 p.m., Historic
Elsinore Theatre. The show is a comedic musical that
pokes fun at TV’s Friends. Recommended for mature
audiences. Tickets range from $17 to $49. elsinoretheatre.
com.
Friday, May 3
CASA of Marion County presents Light of Hope: An
Evening with Antwone Fisher at 7 p.m. Tickets range from
$31 to $46. Fisher is an award-winning fi lm and literary
writer. Proceeds will benefi t the CASA program.
Sunday, May 5
St. Paul’s Music Guild Presents: Extraordinary Young
Musicians. Sadie Byler, a cellist from South Salem High
School, will perform. Starts at 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, 1444 Liberty Street SE in Salem.
Thursday, May 9
SKIT Theatre will stage the musical, Annie, at Salem
First Free Methodist Church 4455 Silverton Road NE.
Performances are at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 10, Friday, May
17, and Saturday, May 18. There will also be performances
at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 11 and Saturday, May 18.
Tickets are $6 for ages 12 and under, $8 for students and
seniors, and $10 for adults. Group rates are also available.
To purchase tickets, visit skitheatre.com or call (503)689-
7588.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The call to re-examine the
caretaker role at Keizer Rapids
Park grew out of a request put
to the members of the Keiz-
er Parks Advisory Board at a
meeting Tuesday, April 9.
That was where former city
councilor Richard Walsh fi rst
aired his concern regarding the
ending of the caretaker pro-
gram.
At that meeting, Walsh said
the biggest cause of concern
was how a renter could change
the culture of the park, espe-
cially as it pertains to the noise
features like the amphitheater
and Big Toy can create.
“The biggest challenge is
that it is the closest neighbor.
The noise variance is based on
the closest neighbor and the
house is right next to the am-
phitheater,” Walsh said.
Rather than convert the
caretaker home (Buchanan
House) into a rental property,
Walsh said the public was better
served by re-instating the care-
taker role at the park, which the
city ended last year.
“We also saw a huge benefi t
to having a caretaker down at
the park. The more the eyes and
ears there the less likely people
will go there to do nefarious
activity,” Walsh said.
He added that with recent
changes to laws governing
rentals, and evictions, were also
a concern. As an alternative,
Walsh suggested modeling a
revived caretaker program after
the host and caretaker program
offered in Oregon State Parks.
Parks Supervisor Robert
Johnson suggested quick action.
“Our plan now was to make
it a straight rental. [The board]
should pursue a recommenda-
tion quickly because we were
looking at putting it on the
market within a month,” John-
son said.
The board had already re-
quested the city take another
look at reinstating the caretaker
role, but it was denied quickly
before the Oregon Legislature
revised laws dealing with rentals
and evictions.
“I think it as least worth rec-
ommending given the new cir-
cumstances,” said Dylan Juran, a
parks board member.
Board Member Donna
Bradley said the board has the
best interest of the park at heart
while the city is wary of spend-
ing money. Both, she said, de-
served airing.
“I think it’s important, but
the city has some good reasons,
too. I would like you to take
this to the council as soon as
possible,” Bradley said.
Johnson added that a care-
taker would be helpful with the
recent addition of a public re-
stroom with fl ushing toilets.
“We went in the weekend
after Spring Break and it was
rough. There was no toilet pa-
per left,” Johnson said. “A care-
taker could help with those
kinds of things.”
CARE,
continued from Page A1
House and the second known
as the Buchanan House. The
Charge House remained oc-
cupied by members of the
Charge family until their
death. The Buchanan House
had another purpose from the
outset, said Walsh.
“A lot of people and orga-
nizations have invested a lot
into that park and the Buchan-
an House is in view of virtual-
ly all of them,” said Walsh.
In the city’s parks master
plan, the Buchanan House
is designated as a home for a
park caretaker.
For many of the neighbors,
having a caretaker residing in
the park alleviated some con-
cerns.
“This is important to the
neighborhood to feel that
there is somebody at the park
who can feel out the place
when the police department
can’t,” said Rhonda Rich at
the city council meeting, Rich
is a nearby resident to the park.
“I think it benefi tted the
community,” added Garry
Whalen.
While the city supported
the caretaker role for more
than a decade, it was a source
of consternation from the get-
go. The city solicited applica-
tions for the caretaker position
and the Keizer Volunteer Co-
ordinating Committee vetted
the applicants. In the end, a
longtime employee of the city
was selected as the ideal can-
didate.
There were no public com-
plaints about his service but,
given the dual roles, there were
questions about the propriety
of the process, how the care-
takers hours should be tracked
and whether they should be
incorporated in assessment of
his overall performance.
“The initial reason the host
was put into place was to put
a face to the project as it was
developed. It really morphed
into a labor relationship,” said
Eppley.
Given those concerns, the
council opted to end the care-
taker position last year with the
notion of renting the home to
someone else and funneling
the rental revenue back into
the maintenance of the park.
RENTAL WORRIES
The greater concern that
arose out of the city council
meeting was turning the Bu-
chanan House into a rental
property, particularly given
recent changes enacted by the
Oregon Legislature aimed at
protecting renters.
Councilor Elizabeth Smith,
a branch manager for home
loan business, said she made
calls to some of the property
managers she works with for
their take on the rental scene.
“All said don’t get involved
in the landlord stuff right now.
I think we need a little more
information before making
that kind of decision,” Smith
said.
She was backed by Coun-
cilor Dan Kohler who said
experiences with his parents’
rental properties made him
wary of treading down that
path.
City Attorney Shannon
Johnson said, “I do have some
concerns, but not enough for
it to be a gamechanger [re-
garding rental].”
agreement to sell the property
to someone else who plans “in
good faith” to live there.
Instead, Walsh said, the city
should restore the caretaker
program at the park that ended
last year.
That proposal met with
some skepticism from the
council, including Mayor
Cathy Clark, as well as City
Manager Chris Eppley.
“We have to have clear ex-
pectations about what a [park]
host can and can’t do. My other
concern is that the house is va-
cant and I’m not comfortable
with that. If it means getting
a renter in there so the house
is occupied, that is important,”
Clark said.
If the caretaker position was
reinstated, Eppley said forgiv-
ing the $1,500 monthly rent in
exchange for providing hosting
or maintenance duties didn’t
amount to much equivalent
labor, “about two hours a day.
And we can’t expect them to
be there sun-up to sundown.”
Numerous neighbors of
Keizer Rapids Park and the
leadership of the West Keiz-
er Neighborhood Association
(WKNA) turned out to sup-
port the idea. WKNA voted
unanimously to support the
reinstating of a caretaker at its
meeting last week.
The council requested that
city staff bring back a report on
the pros and cons of both rent-
ing and reviving the caretaker
position.
ORIGINAL INTENT
As the city assembled the
various properties that became
Keizer Rapids more than 15
years ago, it two homes re-
mained on the park proper-
ty. One known as the Charge
3893 COMMERCIAL ST SE
THIS WEEK’S
MOVIE TIMES
Alita Battle Angel (PG-13)
Fri 3:55, 8:45, Sat 7:15
Sun 5:30
Fighting with My Family
(PG-13)
Sat 8:00, Sun 3:55
Mary Poppins Returns (PG)
Fri 1:45, 4:10
Sat 3:10,
Sun 1:00, 3:25,
Green Book (PG-13)
Fri 6:15, Sat 5:35, Sun 1:20, 5:50
KeizerFEST Kick Off Party (ages 21 and over only). Doors
open at 5 p.m. $5 cover. First 200 people through the door
will enjoy a free Adam’s Ribs Smokehouse BBQ chicken
dinner. Live entertainment includes The FlexTones at
5:30 p.m. and Dancehall Days from 8 until 11:30 p.m.
keizerchamber.com.
Lego Movie 2 (PG)
Fri 1:45, 5:50
Sat 1:55, 5:10
Sun 1:40
Sunday, June 2
Sacred Vocal Jazz Quartet. Jazz and gospel music
performance for the fi nal concert in the 2018-19 Evensong
Concert Series. Starts at 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, 1444 Liberty Street SE in Salem.
Enter digits
from 1-9 into
the blank
spaces. Every
row must
contain one
of each digit.
So must every
column, as
must every
3x3 square.
Chicks Connect
retreat planned
K-Town
Chicks
and
Dream Chicks, two chapters
of the networking organiza-
tion Chicks Connect, will host
their two and a half day Em-
brace the Journey retreat from
Thursday, April 25 to Saturday,
April 27 at Aldersgate Retreat
Center 7790 Marion Rd SE,
Turner, Ore.
The event will provide op-
portunities to network, listen
to speakers, participate in a
charity dessert bar, and more.
Participants will also have all
meals included as well as a
two-night accommodation.
To purchase tickets and
for more information, visit
chicksconnect.com.
looking
back in
the KT
5 YEARS AGO
REI set to open
May 2
The REI store in Keizer station
is about to open.
10 YEARS AGO
Transportation plan
goes to city council
A roadmap to Keizer’s
transportation future for the
next two decades goes before
the City Council on Monday,
April 20.
Aquaman (PG-13)
Fri 7:50, Sun 7:45
Saturday, May 11
Keizer’s 2019 Distinguished Young Women program at
Dayspring Fellowship Church. 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 12
Mother’s Day breakfast prepared by the Keizer Volunteer
Firefi ghters, at Keizer Fire station, 7-11:30 a.m., 611
Chemawa Rd. N.E. Proceeds fund volunteer fi refi ghter
community projects.
sudoku
wrote Sercombe.
Moreover, the courts found
“the city’s regulation of the
[owner’s] land usage in general,
and the preservation of low-in-
come housing in particular, are
well within the city’s longstand-
ing delegated authority under
the state statutes and adminis-
trative rules.”
In other words, Wilsonville’s
reasons for preserving the man-
ufactured home park because it
represented a form of low-in-
come housing were valid.
By the time the courts had
weighed in on the validity of
the local ordinances, the dam-
age was already done in Wilson-
ville. Thunderbird became one
of more than 50 mobile home
parks to undergo mass evictions
at the height of the housing
boom of the early 2000s, and
it was one of the largest. The
former residents who hadn’t
been able to sell or relocate had
to settle for a little more than
a third of the value of their
homes, and even that only came
after Wilsonville went to bat for
the residents and won a settle-
ment, according to reporting by
The Oregonian.
Still, the courts opened the
door for municipally-enacted
protections for tenants of man-
ufactured home parks. Whether
Keizer has the political will to
walk through it is another ques-
tion entirely, but there is a hint
that they might be.
In recent documentation
provided to a committee exam-
ining housing needs in Keizer,
a portion is dedicated to policy
changes that could keep a thriv-
ing mix of housing available.
Within that, there are com-
ments added from someone
within city hall.
They read, “The preserva-
tion of manufactured home
parks, a form of naturally occur-
ring affordable housing may be
a valuable addition for Keizer’s
housing strategy.”
maze
15 YEARS AGO
Knights rule the
boards at Kennedy
When it comes to elementa-
ry school chess clubs, there is
only one game in the mid-val-
ley; Pringle Elementary School.
But the Kennedy Elementary
School Knights are hoping to
change that.
Isn’t it Romantic (PG-13)
Fri 8:35, Sat 8:20, Sun 6:05
20 YEARS AGO
Clear Lake teacher
heads east with
reservations at the
White House
Kid (R)
Fri 6:40, Sat 4:00, Sun 7:55
Wonder Park (PG)
Fri 2:15, 4:05,
Sat 1:30, 3:30,
Sun 3:40
The Upside (PG-13)
Fri 5:55
What Men Want (R)
Sun 8:15
FOR ALL SHOWTIMES GO TO
NORTHERNLIGHTSTHEATREPUB.COM
Maze by Jonathan Graf of Keizer
Keizer will soon get some
time in the national spotlight
because of the city’s most
famous teacher. Dave Bertholf,
who teaches fi fth grade
at Clear Lake Elementary
School, was named Oregon
Teacher of the Year last year.