`Step Brothers' is a matrimonial disaster. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly star in comedy set to release today.
Batman and The Joker face off in theatresIn case you were stuck under a rock this weekend, there's a Batman movie out.
By Katie Moore
from WillametteLive, Section News
Posted on Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 06:41:05 PM PDT
All of us at Salem Monthly and WillametteLive would like to welcome you to the live coverage of the Salem City Election Forum. Let's explain exactly how to keep up with the coverage. First of all, we're expecting to have updates on a minute to minute basis. So we recommend "refreshing" or "reloading" your browser from this page. In Internet Explorer, you can use the shortcut F5. On most Mac browsers, you can reload using APPLE and the letter R. If all else fails, you can scroll up through the existing content and click the following link.
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Tonight's live blogging will be brought to you by Salem Monthly Newspaper Editor Reina Pike and Development Director Shawn Estes. Feel free to post your own comments, too, and that includes any questions you may have about the forum.
SE: We're just getting started here with the introductions. A.P Walther is introducing our candidates and everyone is taking their seat. The crowd definitely outnumbers the normal audience at a city council meeting. This is just the beginning of a number of campaigns, so we're happy to be involved.
RP: Definitely a good turn out.
SE: The introductions included the news that Mayor Janet Taylor, the incumbent candidate will not be in attendance tonight. However, Lloyd Chapman, her opposition, Diana Dickey, and Chuck Bennett are here and ready to get going with questions.
RP: No huge reaction from the crowd on the news that Mayor Taylor isn't coming. Kind of felt like they knew that was going to happen.
SE: Lloyd Chapman has given his introductions and some background information. WillametteLive covered some of his background in previous stories like his announcement at: Lloyd Chapman is running for mayor Chuck Bennett has given his introductions which include a good story on how he got involved in politics. Salem Monthly covered some points he has made in Chuck Bennett: Defender of Ward 1
RP: Some good crowd reaction on Chuck Bennet's intro. He's an animated speaker. Chuck Bennett cites the lay-out of City Hall as a stumbling block to good public participation. Interesting point.
SE: Bennett's response stands out with his answer on how to get the city involved with the public, instead of the public getting involved with the city. It's an interesting take on the problem.
RP: Onto diversity within the Planning Commission. Everyone seems to basically agree that more diversity is needed.
SE: The overall tone of the responses is very telling, Balance (Bennett), Diversity (Dickey) and the ability to find a middle ground (Chapman)
RP: One of the Young Republicans from Willamette University just asked about the Wal=Mart shipping center coming in. Most candidates seemed to dodge the question.
RP: Onto growth and development. So far Dickey says she supports sustainable development and Bennett points out that growth is inevitable, but should be balanced. Chapman comes in with protecting green spaces. Nicely played.
SE: Salem resident Angela Obery has a question regarding how a third bridge would help. Her point is that she does not have any problems with traffic and is concerned about the millions of dollars being spent on a third bridge.
RP: Chapman says he's convinced of need because of emergency vehicles. Dickey acknowledges that money is an issue. Bennett said the one time he tried to use the bridge a guy was trying to jump off it. The audience is loving him.
SE: Salem Monthly ran an exclusive interview with Reeves, which you can read here:Who is Shawn Dell Reeves?
RP: Bennett points out that mass transit is an issue that has been ignored and one that he would like to see explored more.
SE: Cliff Boyer follows up with the question on how to promote the use of mass transit. Chapman says that service being expanding on Sunday service is important despite votes against it.
RP: Dickey agrees and Bennett weighs in with reiteration of how important mass transit is. He says part of that is packaging. How can we make it exciting for voters?
SE: Questions have now moved onto environmental. Chapman believes that we need to sign the US Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement to help regulate emissions. Bennett states that it hasn't came up to vote for Salem city council to vote on. He also admits that he hasn't read the agreement, but that we should assume a role to reduce emissions. He also mentions that he believes Salem is moving in the right direction and that the council is ready to embrace the issue further. Dickey seems to remember a council meeting where the agreement was brought up and states that the community had only positive comments for acceptance. The general feeling is that everything is a go with agreeing to it.
SE: It appears that we were having some technical problems for those of you visiting the site anonymously. We apologize for the inconvenience and welcome EVERYONE to the story.
SE: Downtown interests, Diana Dickey says that bring in multiple agencies including Marion County and state offices. Bennett says that a "certain amount of disagreement" is part of any community and that is what we're experiencing with downtown currently.
RP: Just to clarify, Chuck Bennett is mistaken. The Mayor's Climate Agreement HAS been before Salem City Council. It was voted down and council decided to implement their own proposal.
RP: Onto parking, particularly 2-hour parking. Chuck Bennett says that 2-hour parking was originally supposed to energize downtown, but with all the tickets given that seems to have changed. Chapman doesn't necessarily think that paid on street parking is inevitable. All agree that a city the size of Salem is unique by offering free parking.
SE: Parking is an issue that has came up many times in Salem Monthly. For starters, check out Free Parking from Salem Monthly November 2007.
RP: Now we're discussing the new EID tax. Dickey comes out for it. Bennett is not so sure. He says to be careful that we are being fair and inclusive.
RP: Topic has switched to the economy. The moderator has asked how to deal with the City's deficit.
RP: Audience seems to not be as interested in the economy as they were in earlier topics.
SE: What can the city do about the airport noise while still expanding it? Chapman admits he is one of the citizens that has complained.
RP: Bennett points out that most complaints are not about commercial service.
SE: Both Bennett and Dickey agree that commercial air flights are good for Salem.
RP: Question was when is it appropriate for council to comment on national issues. Bennett says yes, of course, it's a free country.
SE: It seems like these candidates disagree with previous city council statements about how the city shouldn't take a stance on federal issues.
RP: Diana Dickey was given a chance to say what issues are important to her that haven't yet been covered. She says graffiti, gang activity and meth. Chapman comes out strongly for a better state hospital.
SE: We are starting with final statements from the candidates. Diana Dickey gets the first word, saying that she is looking forward to knocking on doors in her Ward to fair represent them. Chuck Bennett expresses his disappointment on the number of candidates running for the city council.
RP: Chuck Bennett gives Salem Monthly a hearty thank you for the forum, saying it's the best coverage of a local election he's see. Lloyd reminds the audience that he is only one opinion. He also expressed disappointment that Mayor Taylor wasn't there to share her views.
SE: That concludes the forum and our coverage of the City Election Forum. We will be continuing coverage with video online in the near future and covering the forum extensively in the next issue of Salem Monthly due out at the end of this week. We'd like to thank our Internet readers for their participation.
Post A Comment| Salem City Election Forum: LIVE | 1 comment
Post A Comment| Salem City Election Forum: LIVE | 1 comment
