EIZER times
$1.00/ ISSUE
Vol. 43 • No. 19
FEBRUARY 25, 2022
School board directors join protesters
at rally against school mask mandates
BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI AND MATT
RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Over 200 people gathered outside
Salem-Keizer School District’s Student
Services Center Friday, Feb. 18 to pro-
test mask requirements in the dis-
trict’s schools. Many of the “Rally for
Our Students” protesters stood along
Commercial St. in south Salem holding
anti-mask signs and waving American
fl ags.
The rally was the second protest of
school mask mandates in two weeks,
with a previous rally on Feb. 8 being held
outside the school district offi ces. The
location of Friday’s rally, the Student
Services Center, has been the location
for Salem-Keizer school board meetings
in the past.
School board directors Marty Heyen
See PROTEST, page A2
Protesters line Commercial St. during a Feb. 18 rally against school mask mandates.
Photo by JOEY CAPPELLETTI of Keizertimes
City council goes for Brown
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Adam Brown has been selected as Keizer’s
next city manager, the city announced Friday,
Feb. 18 in a press release.
NEWSTAND PRICE: $1.00/ ISSUE
SUBSCRIBER ADDRESS :
Brown has worked for the past six years in
Ontario, Oregon as a city manager and has
over 25 years experience in city government. In
an interview Monday, Feb. 21, Brown said that
while contract details are still being fi nalized, he
has told Ontario’s city council that he intends
on taking the position.
“After going to Keizer it was really too good
an opportunity to pass up being near family
and an opportunity for growth,” said Brown,
whose wife’s family lives in Molalla.
Brown’s selection came after he and two
other fi nalists spent Feb. 15 and 16 interviewing
with community members, city staff , depart-
ment heads and the city council. Keizer Finance
Director Tim Wood and former West Linn City
Manager Eileen Stein were also fi nalists for the
position.
Keizer has been without a city manager since
April of 2021, when Chris Eppley, who served in
the position for over 20 years, resigned after
accidentally discharging a fi rearm in his offi ce.
After holding close door interviews with
the fi nalists on Feb. 16, the city council went
into executive session Wednesday to make a
fi nal selection. The council had sole discretion
in the hiring but had said previously that they
planned to take the opinions of community
members and city staff into consideration.
At a Feb. 15 public forum, Brown said that
after living in nine states early in life and work-
ing in three states professionally, he’s grown
accustomed to adapting to a new place quickly.
“I’ve just kind of learned to be adaptable and
learned to enjoy something about everywhere I
live,” Brown said in his introduction.
When asked later in the forum why he
wanted the position, Brown said the two main
reasons were to be closer to family and working
for a great city like Keizer.
“I can see why those values of spirit and
pride and volunteerism are so important. This
community has a lot to be proud of. It’s an amaz-
ing place,” Brown said. “And the city’s been well
run for a long time as far as I can tell.”
Brown leaves behind a position in Ontario
that’s been anything but easy. Last year, the city
endured a months-long recall of a city councilor
and also an attempt by the mayor to shift hiring
power of department heads from the city man-
ager to the city council.
Ontario City Councilor Michael Braden told
the Malheur Enterprise that certain elected offi -
cials had contributed to a toxic city hall environ-
ment, which he believed contributed to Brown’s
search for a new job.
“There was staff turnover and it greatly
aff ected Adam because he works to build a
family environment for his staff at city hall,”
said Braden.
Brown said that the past year has been a dif-
fi cult one and that sometimes it’s “good to get
remotivated by change.”
“I maybe applied for (Keizer’s position)
out of frustration but I am taking it because it
is the right thing for our family,” Brown said.
“Sometimes it doesn’t matter what gets you in
the conversation, once you are in it, it comes
down if it’s the best thing for you.”
Brown is expected to begin work in Keizer in
early April and will start in time to be part of the
city’s annual budget process. The city’s press
release said that Brown’s contract is expected to
be fi nalized at the March 7 city council meeting.
Brown’s salary in Ontario, according to
him, was $137,000 a year. His salary in Keizer is
expected to be between $130,000 and $169,000.
Adam Brown (right) sits at an Ontario City Council meeting last year. Brown will leave
Ontario in April to take the city manager position in Keizer.
Courtesy of the Malheur Enterprise