PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 18, 2020
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Public input rules cause
rupture in school board
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
After months of substantial amounts of crit-
icism and verbal attacks during public com-
ment, the Salem-Keizer school board voted to
give board chair Satya Chandragiri additional
authority to manage public comments during
meetings.
Despite receiving numerous complaints
about the proposal from the community since
October, the policy passed with a 4-3 vote —
Paul Kyllo, Jesse Lippold and Sheronne Blasi
were the dissenting votes.
Danielle Bethell, Kathy Goss and Marty
Heyen sided with Chandragiri in passing the
policy.
“I don’t want to silence the community.
They have a right to call in a speak. I want to
hear from them. There is nothing wrong with
asking them to be polite. We’re human beings
with feelings. We’re here to serve, but there’s
no reason to be mean. There just isn’t,” Hey-
en said. “I don’t understand why people have a
problem with it.”
Since June, hundreds of citizens have been
calling into board meetings accusing multiple
board members of racism and calling for the
removal of Student Resource Officers (SROs)
from schools.
The new policy allows the board chair to
cut off comments that are “obscene, derogato-
ry, name-calling, racist, threatening” or criticize
district employees by name.
Before the vote, Paul Dakopolos, the Sa-
lem-Keizer School District’s attorney, warned
the board that the new policy could present a
number of legal issues.
“The central problem with trying to de-
fine comments that are not civil and respectful
is that the more language we use, the harder
it is to not apply our own subjective lens to
the comment,” Dakopolos said. “Applying this
policy consistently will be a chore. You’ll need
to apply it consistently because if you don’t,
the claim will be that you’re censoring the
message — messages you like versus messages
you don’t like. That’s what the community is
saying.”
Chandragiri cited safety concerns as the
main reasons for this proposal and said that
the policy isn’t meant to silence anyone. He
compared board meetings over the last several
months to being in a domestic violence rela-
tionship.
“I felt like I was walking into a domestic
violence relationship every time I sat in this
board meeting. Words were hurtful. It was like
walking on eggshells. Our ability to bring up
or even entertain an alternative point of view
was completely stifled,” Chandragiri said. “It
was important to create an atmosphere where
the rest of the community would feel safe to
ask questions in the public comment section
without fear of being doxed, threatened, hu-
miliated or misunderstood.”
Chandragiri’s comments drew the ire of
Blasi, who has been openly critical of the
board chair since he brought forward this pro-
posal two months ago.
“Quite frankly, I’m appalled that you would
compare the criticism you receive as a board
chair to domestic violence,” Blasi said.
Lippold also offered pushback to Chandra-
giri’s comments.
“I don’t think it was your intention at all,
but I do think we want to be careful when
speaking about domestic violence victims. To
compare that to what we are going through
I think could be viewed as demeaning to do-
mestic violence victims,” Lippold said. “We
don’t want to do that.”
Although the Oregon School Boards Asso-
ciation encourages boards to provide oppor-
tunities for input, Oregon law doesn’t require
school boards to take public comment during
meetings.
Keizer
lights a
holiday hit
The Keizer Miracle of
Christmas Lights Display is
drawing enormous weekend
crowds this year.
The display will continue
through Saturday Dec. 26. The
route is approximately 3.5
miles and runs through the
Gubser neighborhood, begin-
ning at 14th Avenue NE and
Lockhaven Drive.
The Miracle of Lights
Display serves as a fundraiser
for Marion Polk Food Share.
While admission is free, peo-
ple are encouraged to donate
non-perishable food or cash at
the tent on Mistwood Drive
Northeast.
Follow the SnoCop bar-
riers. Since it is a residential
neighborhood, be aware and
courteous to pedestrians and
residents attempting to get in
and out of their driveways.
Public restrooms are not
available and drivers should
keep their headlights on at
all times. People who want to
walk the route will be allowed
to do so. Those who choose
to walk should park at Gubser
Elementary (6610 14th Ave.
NE) or Whiteaker Middle
School (1605 Lockhaven Dr.
NE).