SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 42
SECTION A
JULY 19, 2019
$1.00
Attempts to quash newsletter
fl y in the face of Oregon laws
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A property manager at Wildwood
Villa, a manufactured home park in
northwest Keizer, appears to have run
afoul of Oregon law when attempting
to quash one resident’s efforts to
organize with his neighbors.
In June, Wildwood resident Leon
Search distributed a newsletter from
the community’s tenants committee
with an article from the Keizertimes
included. The newspaper article
included information from an attorney
who cautions against signing long-
term leases in manufactured home
parks.
Search put the newsletters in fl yer
boxes owned by Investment Property
Group, an Irvine, Calif-based business.
Soon after they were distributed, the
manager at the park removed them.
“The letter you last produced was not
MANUFACTURED
MANUF
NUFACT
CTURE
brought to the attention of
management before you put them
out. We will therefore not return to
the newsletter to fl yer boxes as you
requested,” wrote Kaycee Edgerton,
Wildwood property manager for IPG,
in a letter to Search. “Furthermore,
the creation and disbursement or your
tenant committees’ (sic) newsletter
must immediately stop.”
Edgerton couches much of her ar-
gument on the premise that the Wild-
wood’s tenants committee has not been
lawfully established, and cites an Ore-
gon law requiring formal registration
of homeowners associations (HOAs).
While the committee operates under
the name Wildwood Homeowners
Association, it is not an HOA, it is a
tenant committee and is not bound to
the laws of establishing an HOA.
In addition to demanding a cease-
and-desist, Edgerton also warns against
Search distributing newsletters door-
to-door.
“Should you choose to post non-ap-
proved newsletters or announcements
door-to-door, this can and may be
considered an act of interference with
management,” Edgerton wrote.
That assertion fl ies in the face of
Oregon law that preserves tenants’
rights to assemble.
Oregon Revised Statute 90.750
reveals that owners cannot deny
residents’ rights to assemble or canvass
in a facility. It reads: “No provision
contained in any bylaw, rental
agreement, regulation or rule pertaining
to a facility shall: Infringe upon the
right of persons who rent spaces in a
Please see NEWSLETTER, Page A6
KLL squad
makes state
tourney run
PAGE A14
Chainsaws fi re up at story pole
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Former Keizer mayor Lore
Christopher expected to have
the fi rst of two story poles,
located in front of the Keizer
Civic Center, completed six
months after the idea was
presented to her.
It took six years.
“I stand by Jerry McGee
who said a project will be
executed when it is ripe. I was
just unclear about the ripening
timeline,” Christopher said.
Christopher
said
the
original idea for the story
poles came from Public Works
Director Bill Lawyer when the
two trees reached their end-
of-life and had to be topped.
Lawyer thought turning the
remaining stumps into works
of art would make a unique
addition to the civic center
campus.
In the intervening six years,
Christopher remained one
of the true believers in the
project fending off suggestions
to cut down the stumps
entirely as mayor and then as a
member of the Keizer Public
Arts Commission.
“It feels wonderful to show
the public we were serious
all along,” Christopher said.
Please see POLE, Page A8
Richardson
celebrated
PAGE A3
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
ABOVE: Tyler Strauslin fi nishes off a an eagle near the top of the Keizer’s fi rst story pole in front of the Keizer Civic Center. INSET:
A photograph of the same eagle just three hours prior.
KPD Foot Pursuit supports Olympians
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Ever since Dorothy Diehl took over as the Community
Service Offi cer at the Keizer Police Department, she
wanted to get the department involved in a Special
Olympics event that took place in Keizer.
Two-and-a-half years later,
that goal has become a reality.
On Saturday, July 27, the
KPD will be hosting their
fi rst ever 5K foot pursuit, a
community run/walk event
in pursuit of funding and
awareness for the Special
Olympics of Marion County.
The event will take place
at Keizer Rapids Park from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Diehl started planning
— Dorothy Diehl
this event last summer after
KPD
Community
having a conversation with
Service
Offi cer
Lt. Andrew Copeland.
“We wanted to fi nd
something that we could do here in Keizer and have our
community participate with us and see their police offi cers
supporting the Special Olympics in Keizer,” Diehl said.
“We have a really strong community here that has a lot
of support for the police department and we imagine, a
lot of support for the Special Olympics too, if we can get
people to learn more about it.”
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
A planned City Charter
Review Committee will be
expanded to nine people
and any city resident will
be eligible to serve, not just
registered voters.
The Keizer City Council
voted
6-1
to
expand
the committee and the
requirements to serve on it at
a meeting Monday, July 15.
Councilors considered two
options: directly appointing a
single member to the com-
mittee or adding two new po-
sitions for the Keizer Volun-
teer Coordinating Committee
(VCC) to fi ll. The council
didn’t deliberate on the issue
before casting their votes, but
Please see PURSUIT, Page A6
Please see CHARTER, Page A6
“It’s been
extremely
rewarding
for me and
pretty eye-
opening.”
Submitted Photo
Dorothy Diehl (right) pictured with Special Olympics athlete
Jenny Hill at the Law Enforcement Torch Run in 2017.
Charter
review
group will
grow by 2
Man arrested
in car arson
PAGE A4
Hops take
two out of
three from
Volcanoes
PAGE A14