Keizertimes., June 25, 2021, Image 1

EIZER times
$1.00/ ISSUE
Volume 42 • No. 36
JUNE 25, 2021
Council work group begins plotting path of DEI work
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Despite some contentious
moments, a group of three
Keizer city councilors laid out
a partial path forward as the
city seeks to make progress on
issues of diversity, equity and
inclusion (DEI).
Councilors Roland Herrera,
Elizabeth Smith and Laura
Reid met for the fi rst time
as the Community Diversity
Engagement Work Group
Wednesday, June 16. The group,
along with city staff members,
spent most of the time brain-
storming possible paths and
parceling out assignments for
the next meeting. The work
group will, eventually, make rec-
ommendations to the council
at-large about how to proceed.
Whether to hire a consultant
to help guide the city in DEI
matters became the fi rst major
topic.
“I want our brand to be inclu-
sive, not ‘The Keizer Way’ or
whatever. A consultant would
help us do this and it would be
timed well with the hiring of a
new city manager,” Herrera said.
Smith backed the idea as a
good investment, but Reid wor-
ried about where the city would
fi nd the money. City Manager
Pro Temp Tim Wood suggested
that an expected share of federal
funding tied to COVID-19 could
free up some resources to pay
for a consultant.
Smith had researched how
Beaverton and some other
cities were han-
dling DEI issues
as models, noting
that Beaverton’s
eff ort had been
divided
into
several paths,
“arts, gardens,
services
and
engagement, cul-
tural
inclusion,
mediation
and
dialogue
and
neighborhood
associations.”
Neighborhood
associations, which
have had pre-
cipitous drops
in attendance
in recent years,
were an avenue
she would like
City Councilor
to see the city
invest
more
time in.
“We should fi nd
out if there is any-
thing [the city and
council] can do to reach out and
build their resources,” Smith
said.
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SUBSCRIBER ADDRESS :
I want our
brand to be
inclusive,
not ‘The
Keizer
Way’ or
whatever.
— ROLAND
HERRERA
See DEI, page A5
Pride fl ag debate stirs more ire
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Advocates calling for the city to dis-
play a LGBTQ+ Pride Flag continued
their eff orts at a Keizer City Council
meeting Monday, June 21.
Two weeks prior, Councilor Roland
Herrera fl oated the idea of fl ying a Pride
Flag alongside the existing ones outside
the Keizer Civic Center. The discussion
quickly devolved into something more
heated when Councilor Ross Day noted
that if the city chose to fl y a Pride Flag,
it would also need to allow other points
of view access to the space. Day said a
group wishing to fl y the confederate fl ag
might request access to the space and the
city would have no recourse to deny it.
During the meeting Monday, Mayor
Cathy Clark took some responsibility for
letting the conversation end up where it
did.
“I’m very sorry that the conversation
ended there. We have some set limits on
fl ags in particular, and that is where the
See FLAG, page A5
Guilty plea lodged in 2020 Keizer death
DASIO GONZALEZ
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
One of two men charged in connec-
tion with the 2020 death of a man found
dead in a vehicle in Keizer Station was
sentenced to 15 years in prison last
week.
Dasio Gonzalez, 23, pleaded guilty to
manslaughter and robbery in the fi rst
degree in the death of 21-year-old Oscar
Martinez, of Salem, on Feb. 3, 2020.
Gonzalez will be eligible for parole
after serving 12 years of his sentence.
Another suspect in the death,
Kristian Mann, of Keizer, is still await-
ing trial, currently scheduled for March
2022.
Martinez was found dead of a
gunshot wound in a smashed van in
the parking lot of the Keizer Station
Starbucks. The van had collided with
parked cars before coming to a stop on
an island.
One caller to 9-1-1 reported seeing a
male hanging out of the van and falling
to the pavement where he was picked
See PLEA, page A13