PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
KPD Lt: Misinformation
not helpful to any active
case, fi re or otherwise
GRASSROOTS
GOVERNMENT
Changing street design
standards sparks debate
The Keizer Traffi c Safety, Bikeways and Pedestrian Committee
had its most recent meeting Sept. 10. Here’s what was discussed:
• Chair Mike DeBlasi at-
tempted to get a discussion
off the ground regarding the
standards Keizer uses when
designing streets – it met
with resistance from City
Councilor Dan Kohler, the
council’s liaison to the com-
mittee.
DeBlasi and past mem-
bers of the committee have
championed a different
blueprint than the ones the
city currently uses. Keizer’s
roads generally are designed
according to standards is-
sued National Association
of Transportation Offi cials
(NACTO), a set of guide-
lines that focuses on rural
road and highway safety.
DeBlasi and others would
like the city to consider al-
ternative standards, issued
by the American Associa-
tion of State Highway and
Transportation
Offi cials
(AASHTO), that considers
multimodal and pedestrian
safety to a higher degree.
“AASHTO would be
more bike and pedestrian
friendly and a lot of it is in
traffi c-calming design,” De-
Blasi said.
DeBlasi noted that the
Oregon Department of
Transportation
(ODOT)
has been open to experi-
mentation with the guide-
lines in other cities, but that
it requires local leaders to
sign off on the proposals be-
fore advancing.
Kohler said there didn’t
appear to be much polit-
ical will when it comes to
changing the standards at all.
“When I ask city or
county (offi cials) about the
standards, I haven’t found
a whole lot of interest in
changing the standards,”
Kohler said.
DeBlasi countered, “I un-
derstand that there is some
inertia, but we can come up
with a plan and fi gure out
how to compromise.”
Kohler said emergen-
cy service offi cials contend
changing the standards
would make it harder for
emergency response. DeB-
lasi cited a recent example
of the city council going
against the wishes of the
Keizer Fire District when it
approved a gas station devel-
opment in the parking lot of
Safeway.
The Keizer Fire District
chief spoke out against the
development on multiple
occasions.
“These kinds of designs
are used in lots of larger
cities, like Portland, and the
emergency vehicles still get
around,” DeBlasi said.
Committee
members
moved on to other agenda
items without pursuing the
issue further.
• DeBlasi suggested
looking into applying for a
community program called
Tree City USA, which of-
fers grants and other fund-
ing for planting trees in ur-
ban communities.
“We’ve all been driv-
ing down the streets in the
blinding sun, and this pro-
gram offers money to put in
a canopy,” DeBlasi said.
• Committee member
Wayne Frey reported on
his investigation into the
Oregon Community Paths
Program, a new ODOT
program offering funding to
connect Oregon commu-
nities with pathways. The
committee would need to
identify a project and sub-
mit a letter of interest by
Oct. 31 to be eligible for
the fi rst round of grants.
13 days left to take
part in U.S. Census
a need to follow up. There is
no question about citizenship
status.
Census results determine
congressional representation,
the allocation of Electoral Col-
lege votes, and is used to draw
boundaries for state and local
election districts. Nonprof-
its and businesses use Census
data to help determine where
to build health care facilities,
child care and senior centers,
grocery stores and new facto-
ries. The demographic infor-
mation informs how the cities
like Keizer engage with the its
residents at nearly every level.
Police Department (KPD) Lt.
Bob Trump.
(NOTE: The KPD is not di-
rectly involved with the handling
of the wildfi res across the state.
The Keizertimes chose to speak
with them about the dangers of
misinformation in ongoing inves-
tigations in general because they
are a local agency.)
“In a general sense, wher-
ever the conversation would
come up we would remind
people that it’s not helpful to
the investigation to speculate
and spread things,” Trump said.
Various county sheriff ’s of-
fi ces have taken to social media
to plead with people to stop
spreading rumors. According
to a post made by the Douglas
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce peo-
ple have been overwhelming
9-1-1 and the non-emergency
line asking about a false report
claiming six Antifa members
were arrested for arson. It de-
layed people experiencing ac-
tual emergencies from getting
help.
“We join with our law en-
forcement partners in basically
reminding people not to spec-
ulate as to the cause or origins
of fi res until there can be a
complete investigation done,”
Trump said.
Trump said the KPD has
not ever been overwhelmed
with calls about a particu-
lar case in the way Douglas
County described, but he
does think social media plays
a role in the rapid spread of
unconfi rmed or not true in-
formation.
“People have a voice, a
direct voice to the commu-
nity and they can say literally
whatever they want to say,”
Trump said. Though everyone
is free and able to express their
opinion, that doesn’t mean
every opinion is helpful—or
even rooted in fact.
“There may be facts or cir-
cumstances about a case that
we want to communicate to
the public and that story is al-
ready being told across social
media before I, as a spokesper-
son, have all the facts of what
happened,” Trump said.
Social media gives users the
ability to spread information
quickly, but investigation and
fact fi nding take more time.
“I need to report things
based on what actually oc-
curred and so I’m gathering
all of that and there is al-
ready some speculation, peo-
ple talking about things that I
just know patently aren’t the
facts,” Trump said. He said
the department then has to
play “catch up” and attempt
to stop the spread of the false
information and promote the
spread of the actual facts.
In cases like the Clacka-
mas County deputy, who was
placed on administrative leave
and then resigned after shar-
ing a video in which he made
claims that Antifa was setting
the fi res, misinformation can
harm the relationship with the
community and damage a de-
partment’s reputation, though
Trump said it is diffi cult to
measure that damage.
As far as the KPD is con-
cerned, its leaders want to be
transparent. Trump encour-
aged community members
with questions about ongoing
cases to call and ask, though
there is a chance that the de-
partment may not be able to
answer certain questions be-
cause it is an ongoing inves-
tigation.
In times like these it can
be confusing on who to trust.
While government offi cials
tend to be more credible than
a friend of a friend of a friend’s
Facebook rant, there is a mid-
dle ground full of news stories
debunking rumors.
“The closer the person or
speaker is to the facts of the
investigation, the more reliable
that information is,” Trump
said.
CHURCH,
continued from Page A1
as (CCDRE representatives)
toured
congregations
to
raise money,” said Darren
Williamson, who has organized
the relief effort for the Keizer
church. Right before he was
interviewed, Williamson was on
the phone with a pastor from
Mill City and planning how
the churches could partner to
assist those who lost everything
in the fi res.
The whole operation got
underway about fi ve days prior
to the delivery Saturday, Sept.
12. The northwest director of
CCDRE reached out to ask if
the Keizer church wanted to be
part of the relief efforts. After a
meeting of the church elders
and a night of prayer, Keizer
Church of Christ agreed to
accept the delivery of relief
goods.
“The truck arrived at 10
a.m. and we had 28 volunteers
who helped unload it in an
hour,” Williamson said. A
donated forklift from Keizer’s
Herc Rentals helped make the
task easier.
The church can also
accept donations from outside
organizations to support relief
for evacuees.
A congregant of Portland-
based Southwest Church of
Christ, who lived through a fi re
that destroyed her home, sent
along more wheelbarrows with
notes of encouragement from
her church’s youth group.
“She also donated hard
candy so people can suck on
those while they clean up. She
said one of the hardest things
about her situation was the
smell of burned plastic,” said
Bob Busch, another congregant.
Like Colleen, Williamson
said he was set on his heels
when he realized how many
aspects of the potential need
the CCDRE delivery covered.
“We know people are going
to need diapers and food, but
then you realize someone is
going to have to clean up their
garage that burned down,”
Williamson said. “So we have all
these things we never thought
about sending to a disaster relief
area before.”
Members
of
the
church responded in such
overwhelming numbers that
Williamson doesn’t foresee the
need for additional help to assist
in the operation, but Busch
said that the donations from
CCDRE will keep coming
until the need subsides.
“They’ve told us they are in
this with us for as long as they
are needed,” Busch said.
Effort (CCDRE) contained
buckets full of cleaning supplies,
gallons of bleach, long-handled
scrubbing brushes, rakes and
wheelbarrows.
Those in need of assistance
can visit the church, 5405
Ridge Drive N.E., Mondays
and Wednesdays between 10
a.m. and noon or 4 and 7 p.m.
or Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Target donated a dedicated
phone to the church’s response
effort, call 971-375-5285
outside of operating hours.
Busch said church elders are
making themselves available for
counseling, those in need can
call the same number to reach
a church elder.
“Disaster Relief is an
effort we’ve supported as a
congregation in the past, but
we’d only seen what they do
on slides during presentations
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©1986
The deadline to complete
the U.S. Census has been
moved up a month to Sept. 30.
The Keizer Community
Library is a resource for any-
one needing internet access
to complete the United States
2020 Census. Computers will
be available by appointment
Mondays from 1-4 p.m. and
Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. The
library is on the ground fl oor
of the Keizer Cultural Center,
980 Chemawa Road N.E.
To make an appointment,
call the library at 503-390-
2370 and leave a message; or
503-363-4548. The email ad-
dress is info@keizerlibrary.
org. Information is also avail-
able at www.keizerlibrary.org.
The Census questionnaire can
also be completed online, even
from a mobile device, at cen-
sus2020.gov.
Taking part in the Census
has an impact on almost ev-
ery aspect of government from
city to federal levels and, for
the fi rst time, completing it
can be done online in about
10 minutes.
The questionnaire asks for
the names, gender, age (includ-
ing date of birth) and race/
ethnicity of each person living
at the residence, whether res-
idents own or rent and for a
phone number in case there is
By LAUREN MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Even though offi cials have
named lightning as the chief
suspect in starting the Beach-
ie Creek and Loinshead fi res,
which are the two deeply af-
fecting Marion County, the
internet suspects a more sinis-
ter hand at play.
Social media has been
abuzz with rumors that mem-
bers of Antifa have been set-
ting the fi res that are raging
across our state. Both Marion
and Clackamas Sheriff ’s Of-
fi ces have denied these claims.
Antifa is described by the
Anti-Defamation
League
(ADL) as, “a loose collection
of groups, networks and indi-
viduals who believe in active,
aggressive opposition to far
right-wing movements.”
When confronted with
the fact that no one has been
arrested for arson in Mari-
on County (at time of press)
conspiracy theorists will often
throw out the line, “I have a
right to my opinion.”
While freedom of speech
is a First Amendment right,
there are consequences for the
words people choose.
“It’s a tough thing, you’re
talking about some govern-
ment offi cial saying, ‘Hey, lim-
it your speech,’” said Keizer
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