Bike Tax, Scorching at Minto, Lyons Retirement - Newsbits

You probably already know about the proposed expansion for the $15 bicycle excise tax. The Department of Revenue wants to "simplify" collection, and others see the need to correct the errant miscategorization of battery-assist ebikes. There are a few other elements that might seem to need a "fix."

Funny that it was front page news

BikePortland has a more focused story on it. They report there's a formal Work Session on it today at 5:30pm, in Hearing Room D.

(I haven't spent much time on it because while it is a very dumb tax, it is a small tax and not a catastrophic tax. It has seemed like there were much more important focuses for criticism, advocacy, and protest. Our bike shops, too, have mostly rolled with it. If they aren't fussing, maybe it's not such a big deal.)

Scorching at Minto Park

The January/February newsletter of the Salem Bicycle Club has a bit on the problem of scorching in Riverfront and Minto parks. Back in October at a club meeting, City staff talked a little about it. "The biggest complaint...is cyclists going too fast." When I am on foot, that's certainly my experience. That's not to say that dog-walkers with too-long leashes or groups spread out all across the paths might not be annoying, but people on foot should the primary users, have the primary claim, and when we are on bike the rest of us should accommodate them, not the other way around.

(from the January/February Spokes)

New-ish "Pass with Care" signs all around Minto Park

Over the winter the City's installed new "Pass with Care" signs throughout the path system.

(More on the history of scorching here. It is unfortunately something of a perennial problem with people biking!)

Sheila Lyons

Sheila Lyons, manager of the Bicycle and Pedestrian program at ODOT, is retiring today.

So a tip of the cap and clink of pint to Lyons! She took over in 2007 from Michael Ronkin, and now it's time for another transition.

Hilfiker Park Open House, Open Streets Salem Job Announcement

This is old news now, and maybe even too late as I missed it when it was fresh, but a month ago the City published a second round of information on the Hilfiker Park concepts and asked for comments. That opportunity is gone, but they'll be having another Open House on Wednesday the 28th.

The first round of comments really tended towards the idea of the public space of a park as a quasi-private space and ornamental emptiness. It's true the park is being planned as a "neighborhood park," and not one of the larger "community parks" or "urban parks," City classifications for parks that serve and draw on an area larger than a neighborhood.

But like with on-street parking, there's this creeping proprietary claim to public space for personal use, an extension of one's yard. It's just something to register.

They published three concepts, and one aspect in particular deserves comment.

The "minimal" and "nature park" options are closed on west end

Two of the three concepts envision the park as a kind of cul-de-sac. On the west, there would be no connection to Hilfiker Lane. These have connections on the north and east only. The potential extension of Sunland Street does not appear to connect on the west to Chaparral Drive or anything else.

Fiasco of 1897 Legislature: Eldridge Block Den of Prostitution and Evil!

After The Salem Clique I was interested in reading a Portland-centric take on things, and started Merchants, Money, and Power: The Portland Establishment, 1843-1913. E. Kimbark MacColl doesn't dwell very long on the Dryer-Bush newspaper wars, or even on the Salem Clique very much. He focuses on money-making, merchant activity and banking (then later the railroads), as the main drivers. For him, Democratic party politics are a supporting and side detail, not the main story. (There might be more to say on this later.)

Along the way, there are some humorous episodes in it that involve Salem, and one of them was about the total melt-down during the 1897 Legislative session. It was nuts. US Senators were still selected by the Legislature rather than by direct vote, and the session got stuck quite spectacularly. (Rather than littering the quote with square brackets or footnotes, I have inserted reference links, a few brief newspaper clippings, and the photos of the Eldridge Block. Comments, like this, are in italics.)

Greenbaum's (right) in the intact Eldridge Block, 1954
Commercial Street at Chemeketa
(University of Oregon)

The north part of the Eldridge Block earlier, circa 1905.
(Salem Library Historic Photos)

Shortly after the election of November, 1896, Bourne was horrified to learn from Mitchell that the senator was abandoning his pro-silver friends and planning to embrace the "gold crowd." Bourne warned him, "You are [not] going to be elected." Having won the seat in the Oregon House, with a chance to become speaker, Bourne was in a strong position to carry out his threat. He approached his old friends Simon and Corbett (with whom he had been allied 10 years earlier) with plans to stall the forthcoming session - to prevent it from organizing, if need be - to deny Mitchell reelection.

Start of session, on January 11th
Bourne set up in Eldridge Block - Jan 9th, 1897

As Bourne later recalled:

I then hired the best chef in the State of Oregon; sent him to Salem to fix up apartments in the Eldridge Block; things to eat and drink and entertainment. I said to the chef, 'I pay all expenses. I want to take care of all my friends in the lower House who signed pledges with me, the friends of silver.'

At the MPO: Final Adoption of Project List for $5 Million

The Policy Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets on Tuesday the 27th, and they'll hold a formal Public Hearing and close the decision on the projects for the $5M in supplemental Federal funds.

The Public Hearing Comes at the end of the process

Public Hearing on the TIP

On the extra funds and projects, last month the Policy Committee ended up accepting the "Scenario B" recommendation from the Technical Advisory Committee.

A consensus on Scenario B last month

This seems to be a pretty firm consensus now around this "Scenerio B," and the vetting process has been a reasonable one, so short of some unanticipated fiasco with big new information, it seems unlikely that the Policy Committee will change the recommendation. Indeed, there is no publicly known reason for the Committee to change recommendation. The lowest-scoring project is out, and there are good reasons it was the lowest-scoring!

Notwithstanding appearances in a "Public Hearing," the real opportunity for public comment was much earlier in the process, particularly last fall when they first published the "interactive map," and even earlier when local governments were first making project applications. It's really rubber-stamping at this point.

New Concepts and Surveys out for Riverfront Park and Streetscape Plans

Both the Riverfront Park and Downtown Streetscape planning processes have released new concepts and new surveys this past week.

In one key way, they are exactly backwards!

The Riverfront Park concepts show enhanced crosswalk treatments, while the Streetscape plans are essentially silent on downtown crosswalks.

In central ways, the Riverfront Park project team appears to understand that external connections, principally connections across streets or across units of analysis, are as important an internal connections, the sidewalks and paths within the block or unit of analysis.

This seems backwards because, you know, the park plan's about a park, and the streetscape plan is about streets.

So we're back to one of the primary criticisms of the Streetscape Plan: By omitting analysis of the streets themselves, it's hamstrung and hobbled from the start.

Conversely, the Riverfront Park Plan appears to get that both structural and decorative elements are important.

Silence on Downtown Crosswalks

You might think a slide titled "Knit Downtown Together" would have more on the knots and loops and ligaments between blocks and other connections. Like crosswalks!

But it does not.

Instead if focuses on trees, clear zones for walking, and consistent styling with street furniture or other decorative elements.

Missing an important element of "knitting"

On wayfinding and art, there are a couple of crosswalks (they appear to be the north part of the crosswalk on Front at Court), but the focus is on a horizontal view and what a person sees above the ground, at eye-level, and not so much on the ground.

City Council, February 26th - Secret Goat Trails and the Policy Agenda

Council meets on Monday, and there's some secret neighborhood lore on the agenda!

Croisan Scenic Trail and the "Cemetery Trail"
(north of Sprague High School)

The City is considering purchasing some land, about 4.25 acres, and a secret goat path that connects with the Croisan Scenic Trail, an extension of Croisan Scenic Way, which has been formalized, but yet might also be secret neighborhood lore for many.

On December 4, 2017, City Council approved a motion by Councilor Cook regarding the transportation system in the area of the Croisan Scenic Trail. The motion directed staff to evaluate how existing City plans protect access to the Croisan Creek Trail (also referred to as the Croisan Scenic Trail) in light of future development...

Per the Salem Comprehensive Parks System Master Plan, the Croisan Scenic Trail is an Interim Connector Trail located along a combination of existing rights-of-way and adjoining undeveloped park property....The Salem Transportation System Plan (see Map 3-8) includes plans for Croisan Scenic Way S extension to serve as a north-south minor arterial street connecting River Road S to Kuebler Boulevard S. When the extension of Croisan Scenic Way S is constructed, it will include sidewalks and bike lanes that will replace the current trail and enhance the bicycle and pedestrian connectivity in this area. The Croisan Scenic Way S extension will also meet ADA requirements, improving accessibility. With the exception of ADA accessibility, the current Croisan Scenic Trail provides pedestrian connectivity and will continue to do so until the street improvement is constructed....

In addition to the Croisan Scenic Trail, there is an informal trail connecting Dogwood Drive S to Croisan Scenic Trail. This trail is commonly referred to as the “Cemetery Trail”....This trail crosses over private property and is not included in adopted City plans. The City is negotiating possible purchase of a portion of two tax lots that are traversed by this informal trail (see Attachment 3). In addition to crossing through these tax lots, this trail traverses two additional private properties before joining with the Croisan Scenic Trail. To formalize the Cemetery Trail, Council would need to include it in the Salem Transportation System Plan or the Comprehensive Parks System Master Plan or both. [italics added]

The agenda item is listed as "information," not an action item, and in the materials there is only a "letter of intent to negotiate." There is no "purchase and sale agreement." So the decision is not formally at Council for approval yet. Curiously, the letter of intent contains a deadline of February 26th for a purchase and sale agreement, so maybe this item will shift over the weekend to become an action item.

Geer Park Benefit, Congestion Task Force Meet Friday; Also, Cherriots Notes

Tomorrow, Thursday the 23rd, there's an important benefit for the bike facility at Geer Park and a meeting of the Council Congestion Relief Task Force. Cherriots Board met last night and there might be a few things to note also.

Salem Area Trail Alliance Benefit

Green! Geer Bike Park in January - via SATA

If you've been following the bike park at all, you'll have noticed the earth moving last summer, the installation of irrigation equipment and landscaping, and now the beginnings of the transition from brown to green!

Brown: Aerial composite of Geer Bike Park last summer- via SATA

It's a donated facility, not something primarily funded by City capital or operating parks funds, and Salem Area Trails Alliance is holding a benefit tomorrow night. They'll be raffling off a nice new bike, among other things.

Access and Connectivity: Riverfront Park Open House 2 and Union St Bikeway at DAB

The Riverfront Park Plan has its second Open House and the Downtown Advisory Board meets tomorrow, Thursday the 22nd. Union Street figures in both of them, with the Riverfront process working with access across the railroad and Front Street, and with DAB considering funding and design for the second phase of the Union Street Bikeway.

Riverfront Park Plan Open House

The second Open House for the Riverfront Park planning process, "Community Meeting #2," is tomorrow at 6pm.

The City has published the summary from the first Open House, and it might be worth a few passing comments. First, though, from here anyway, there's a real contrast with the Downtown Streetscape project. Reading through the comments and tentative summary conclusions on the park report, everything seemed so reasonable. It seemed like the process was going to land on a reasonable compromise, one in which most people would find some things they liked, some things they didn't like so much, but something broadly very nice. Maybe not magnificent or visionary, but solid.

By contrast, the Streetscape project is already hamstrung, already hobbled and defective.

Maybe you know of some fatal compromise or defect already baked into the Riverfront Park process, and maybe the difference is merely a consequence of the fact that this is a transportation blog, not a parks blog, and so we're much more picky about sidewalks and streets than about parks. But on the whole, the Park process looks reasonable and promising.

Here are a few observations - including a few details to pick at! Most of them are about transportation and connections, naturally.

When will the path between Mirror Pond
and the Park be done?!

It was great to see that one of the most consistent questions and interests was "when will that darn path between Mirror Pond and the park be done?" That's a central matter for the City and for the Park, and it has been neglected in the sequencing and staging of the whole Boise project.

"Turn 3.8 acres into parking lot" but "don't overfill the park"

But in aggregate, people may not have a consistent sense for what they want in the park. There are reasons to worry a little about coherence:

• At one station, "Most people visiting this station ranked attending a public event at the park as very important, while attending a private event was not important...most people were less than satisfied with existing event amenities and event space."
• But at another station, "Perhaps the biggest area of agreement at the active recreation station focused on kayak launching and river access. Many participants were concerned with overcrowding of facilities in the park."
• And on one comment card, a person wanted lots more parking, for the entire new Boise park parcel to be parking lot, but fretted about "overfilling" the park and asked that the band shell be removable for the view. Somehow the view of a vast parking lot was not objectionable, less so anyway than the architectural form of a band shell and stage.

The Parking and Access Station was of great interest. People applied colored dots to mark important sites or actions on the map. This confirmed the centrality of the State Street entry.

Take Sneckdown Pictures Tonight and Post to Social Media!

With the snowstorm coming, it's a great time to think about documenting "sneckdowns" around town.

As you're out and about (but not while driving!), or if you have a view from above, look for intersections and lanes with intact zones of snow that tires and car heat haven't driven off. Those are "sneckdowns," temporary curb extensions and lane narrowings caused by the snow. They are evidence of surplus lane width, and of other unused or unnecessary area in the roadway.

The zones with snow could become bike lanes, wider sidewalks, pedestrian medians or other road space reallocated for users other than those in cars. They are evidence for ways we have overengineered and overdesigned roadways for car travel and for too-high speeds.

Here are two from December 2016:

Court and High from Courthouse square - via Twitter

South Commercial just north of Madrona - SJ video clip

The Commercial-Vista Corridor study already plans buffered bike lanes and narrower auto travel lanes on this part of Commercial.

The snow lines show why these were not only possible but were good ideas.

Many other streets might be good candidates also, and imagery from snowy periods could be presented to City Council in support of requests for reallocating carspace to support safety and to create more usable space for people walking and biking.

UGM Shelter Site, Parking at CANDO; 20 is Plenty at NEN

CANDO

The downtown neighborhood association, CANDO, meets tonight and they've got a couple of interesting items on the agenda.

For context, from the minutes of the meeting last month:

Business owners...expressed concerns about the size (300 beds, 54,000 SF) and potential negative impact of the shelter that UGM is proposing to build at Division and Commercial on community liveability and underutilized Riverfront property values. They said that with four shelters [UGM (men’s), HOST (transitional age youth), HOME (day, minors) HOAP (day, adult) and ARCHES (day, adult, currently not open)], CANDO has “more than its share” of homeless residents already, and suggested the board should take a position. The matter was deferred to the February meeting to allow notice and time to gather more information. (Note: The current site of the UGM Men’s Mission at Center and Commercial formerly had overflow capacity to about 300, but in 2016, the Fire Marshal cut capacity to about 185, where it has been since.)

Also:

City Traffic Engineer Kevin Hottman said he had been asked to convert the 12 or so on-street parking spaces on the west side of Cottage in front of the Willamette Valley Communication Center (595 Cottage St) into employee-only parking spaces, and wanted to know if CANDO had any objection. SPD Communications Director Mark Bucholtz explained that the Center has sufficient employee parking, that generally the spaces under discussion were empty (except Sunday mornings), and that it was for security reasons only that SPD was making the request. The matter was deferred to the February agenda to allow notice.

On this month's agenda in direct response, two motions:

• "Move that CANDO take a position opposing the request to convert the twelve or so spaces on-street parking spaces on the west side of Cottage in front of the Willamette Valley Communication Center (595 Cottage St) into employee-only parking spaces?"
• "Move that CANDO take a position opposing the Union Gospel Mission's application for a Conditional Use Permit to allow the relocation of the Men's Mission (Non-Profit Shelter) with expanded capacity to serve approximately 300 persons to the 700 to 800 blockof Commercial Street NE?"

CANDO meets Tuesday the 20th, at 6:00 p.m. at First Christian Church on 685 Marion Street NE.

NEN

The Englewood area neighborhood assocation, NEN, also meets. There is no item on the agenda of great interest here, but in the minutes from last month is a very nice note about increasing traction for a partial "twenty is plenty" campaign! From the "Pedestrian Safety Report":

1.  [T]o email Peter Fernandez to ask why zone Speed on 17th south State St. is 25 where there are multiple lanes and on 17th North of Market which is narrower the speed zone is 30 mph.
2. Look at the 20 is Plenty campaign. Report that Salem was taken out of the legislation that allows Portland to implement this rule.
3. Sidewalks are not ADA compliant. There is an issue of people walking in the street due to the dangerous conditions . Go to Budget Hearing Meetings. City is obligated to fix sidewalks. Advocate for funds. Use a group of people with a strategy to testify. Make front and center.
4. Enforcement of Cross walk violations is only done when city gets grant money. They will monitor school zones but not crosswalks. Work on changing this perception .

This is all good stuff!

Council has opposed a limited "20 is plenty" since at least 2011

A caveat, however: Back in 2011, which I think was the first attempt by Portland to pass a "twenty is plenty" for local neighborhood streets, the City formally opposed it, and with each iteration at the Legislature Salem did not alter its position. It's not that Salem was somehow "left out" or "taken out" in an accidental omission. Salem never wanted in.

This past session a bill was finally passed and signed into law for Portland, and it is great to see rumblings now in Salem about a change of heart and getting on board with it. Staff may still not favor it, but if neighborhoods lobby for it, and enough Councilors see merit, a top-down and bottom-up pincer movement will overwhelm staff's resistance.

The law doesn't change road design, just signage and enforcement possibilities. But it's a message and hopefully it spurs the start of shifting cultural norms for urban speeds.

NEN meets Tuesday the 20th, at 6:30pm in the Salem First Church of the Nazarene, 1550 Market Street NE. 

Council Legislative Committee to Consider Clean Energy Jobs Bill; DAB Next Budget

Council's Legislative Committee meets on Friday the 16th, and they'll be talking about the Clean Energy Jobs bills! They passed out of committee yesterday, and it looks like there's some momentum behind them. It would be great for the City formally to add their support to that. (Mayor Bennett, Councilors Andersen, McCoid, and Nanke sit on the committee.)

Strong endorsement this year by the paper

They also look to be talking about using photo radar for speed enforcement and about changing the way Cherriots' Board is selected.

Agenda and short packet

The Downtown Advisory Board meets today, Thursday the 15th, and they'll be talking about the 2018-2019 Urban Renewal budget.

New Safe Routes to School Hire Announced for Salem and Eugene

Today the Safe Routes to School National Partnership announced the new Policy Manager for the Salem and Eugene area.

It is interesting that they didn't hire someone who currently lives in Eugene or in Salem, the primary cities in the area of responsibility. That's not necessarily a problem of course. The announcement notes that Becky Gilliam worked at the Legislature, and counts as something of an insider, ready for the lobbying side of things. (Also likely related to former State Legislator Vic Gilliam of Silverton, so maybe more than a little bit of an insider.)

But there might be local knowledge about the schools, neighborhoods, and politics of Salem and Eugene she will need to learn. Still, those are just details. The big picture is that there will be a consistent presence here now advocating and organizing for children and better ways to walk, bike, and roll to school.

From the announcement:

Becky serves as a Pacific Northwest Regional Policy Manager, working to strengthen the regional network in the Pacific Northwest, with a particular focus in Salem-Keizer and Central Lane areas. In this role, she works to increase funding and improve policies that result in improved infrastructure and programs to support safe walking and bicycling for children and families, with focused work and technical assistance in lower-income communities.

Prior to joining the National Partnership, Becky worked for over 4 years in Oregon's State Capitol. As senior legislative staff, she conducted policy research and coordinated introduction of new legislation relating to elder abuse prevention, increased protections for immigrants, and other issues. Becky also has experience lobbying in Salem, where she advocated for client interests in both the legislative and regulatory arenas. Through her time spent working with the Oregon Legislature and state agencies, Becky has established lasting relationships with key decision-makers.

Becky received her BA in Applied Linguistics, as well as Certification in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from Portland State University. During her time at PSU, she designed and implemented community-based ESL programs for refugee and immigrant populations in Portland.

Becky lives in Silverton, where she and her husband recently completed a DIY home building project, which they now happily call home. Becky enjoys growing food and flowers, traveling, and going on adventures with her hound dog.

At the MPO: Starting Work on the next Regional Transportation System Plan

The Technical Advisory Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets early this afternoon today. There is no important action item on the agenda, but some things to note in passing are a little interesting. Work on the SRC continues despite Council's lack of interest, and there's a new cycle for the Regional Transportation System Plan just kicking off.

In the minutes from last month there is this on the work plan and SRC:

Bob Cortright was present, provided a handout, and spoke re: the River Crossing EIS being ‘on hold’ due to land use appeal and the 2018 deliverable of a Final EIS is not possible at this time. He asked that the language in the UPWP [the work plan] accurately reflect the status of the Salem River Crossing with regard to the land use appeal, and the unlikely completion of the EIS. He also mentioned that the city Salem appointed a task force to consider alternatives to bridge congestion. TAC discussion included how/if the task force should it be reflected in the UPWP and the status and anticipated completion of the EIS. Julie Warncke explained that the task force has started and probably will be done during Summer 2018. It is probably okay to include info re: task force as background, but it will be finished by start of UPWP. The RTSP will likely reflect suggestions that come from the task force work as part of the regional transportation solutions. Angela Carnahan suggested adding language to include mention of the appeal and its possible affect on the schedule – and that its not under the control of SKATS. Dan Fricke indicated that ODOT is working on the EIS but technically not able to publish it until the land use issues are decided. Mike will update the language regarding the deliverables in the UPWP. [italics added]

Here's some latest draft of language from the Work Plan:

Still saying the SRC final EIS will be done this year

I guess on a technicality it says "work...should be concluded in 2018" and does not say the final EIS will be published in 2018. This still seems dodgy and disingenuous.

Downtown Streetscape and Cherriots both hold Open Houses Tomorrow

The second Open House for the Downtown Streetscape project starts tomorrow, Tuesday the 13th, at 5:30pm.

The project team hasn't published any new materials, so there's not much to say yet - other than to continue to push the City for changes to carspace. Until we grapple with the disproportion and zoominess of carspace downtown, our fiddling with the sidewalks will be cosmetic, principally rearranging the deck chairs. This may yield incremental improvement, but it will not yield the enduring, structural change we need.

(See previous notes on the first Open House here and here.)

The Open House will be in the Senator Hearing Room/Courthouse Square, 555 Court St. NE from 5:30pm to 7pm.

Cherriots Service Expansion

At the same time, in a nice bit of concurrent scheduling, Cherriots has scheduled their first Open House for what they are calling "A Better Cherriots." They'll be next door at the Downtown Transit Center in the Customer Service area from 6pm to 8pm on Tuesday the 13th. That's just around the corner at 220 High Street NE. It makes great sense to double-up and hit both of them. (Facebook event here.)

They've got a series of other Open Houses and less formal tabling scheduled all around the city through the rest of the month in into March. You can see the full list here.

(See previous notes on the Needs Analysis here.)

Systems Development Charges

Urban Growth Management (UGM) Plan - Background
City of Salem memo, 1990

Related to the Creekside and Lone Oak Reimbursement District conversations (see also Salem Weekly this issue), a reader sent in some material from old debates about paying for new growth. One of the memos is from 1990, background on an "Urban Growth Management (UGM) Plan" (this is not published to the City website as far as I know):

City Makes Final Loss of Use Payment to Willamette Queen

Not for sale - yet

Buried in the front-page feature on the Willamette Queen is news that the City has made the final payment on the $250,000 "loss of use" agreement with the Willamette Queen over navigating the slough and the loss of use caused by the Minto Bridge.

The city of Salem worked with the Chesbroughs when construction of the Peter Courtney Minto Island Pedestrian Bridge restricted use of the Willamette Slough and put a crimp in business.

The city agreed to pay them $50,000 a year for five years to make up for lost revenue. The Chesbroughs, who pay $350 a month to the city for moorage at Riverfront Park, received the final payment in January.

That's good news, but the tone's not quite right. Here's what the Willamette Queen said in their letter of August 2011 supporting the agreement and the permit application process (here is the 2014 amended agreement):

This is a letter in support of the application by the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Salem for a permit to construct a low-span bridge across the Minto Island Slough...Although the low-span bridge will limit access to the Willamette River Slough...we will be able to continue to operate...and understand the benefit the bridge will provide to the community....the bridge will provide an important link in Salem's bike and pedestrian trail system ...[and] will open up Salem's riverfront area, an underutilized amenity in Salem, making it more accessible to the public. We support the Agency's application, and urge you to approve it without delay.

It's not at all clear the bridge put a "crimp" on business. If anything, the bridge increases foot traffic by the boat and increases visibility for the boat. The "loss of use" payments were to compensate for any loss of use, and were fairly negotiated. Because of the framework of 19th century river navigation law, the Queen had enormous leverage over the City of Salem and its desire for the Minto Bridge. There is no reason to think the City underpaid for the loss of use, and there are instead many reasons to think that the City actually overpaid in order to secure an agreement and to be able to move forward in a timely way. An article that makes a claim about a "crimp" should document it, and not merely accept the statement uncritically.

More generally, instead of a feature the article could have been a more deeply researched news piece on how the Queen functions in the full context of the park and what its future might be.

City Council, February 12th - Low-Income Housing

Council meets on Monday, and there's a cluster of items involving low-income housing.

But is Fisher Road Walkable Really?

The Urban Renewal Agency proposes to buy a building for low-income housing on Fisher Road. (They also propose to enlarge the nearby Urban Renewal Zone around Portland Road with an exquisite gerrymander in order to secure additional funding.)

4107 Fisher Road NE

From the Staff report it looks like the property's developer was distressed and unable to finance completion:

The Salem Housing Authority (SHA) has identified a 19,336 square foot multi-family building located at 4107 Fisher Road NE (constructed 2014) and adjacent 0.58 acre parcel of vacant land located at 4075 Fisher Road NE (Property) (Attachment 1) as an affordable site to acquire for housing using. Using a “housing first” model, the building will house and offer comprehensive services to residents....The building was built to house a senior citizen population in 19 suites on three floors in addition to a full commercial kitchen and first floor flex space, but was never occupied. The Property is within a mile of education, grocery, and medical facilities, and within walking distance to bus lines via walking and bicycle paths along major roadways.

The building is 80% complete, with the second and third floors in roughed-in condition and ready for finish work. The elevator shaft is in place, but requires installation of the elevator car and mechanicals. SHA plans to complete the finish work and convert the building to 38 single-room occupancy units with one restroom for every two units. SHA will seek resources from Oregon Housing and Community Services to finish the building and pursue a land banking tool for acquisition of the vacant land.

"walking paths"? - via Streetview

Give Margaret Jewett Bailey her #MeToo Moment: Ruth Rover and The Grains is Justified Rage

Original 1854 title page
via Wikipedia/Oregon Encyclopedia

(Stuff happens and sometimes it's necessary to revisit things.)

The headlines of this past week have brought back to mind that we have an account of harassment and abuse at Jason Lee's Methodist Mission and in early Oregon we still haven't properly honored and absorbed into our official histories, The Grains, or Passages in the Life of Ruth Rover with Occasional Pictures of Oregon.

Wednesday: Pervasive and enduring

Thursday: Defiant

Friday: Resigns, but still defiant

After her time at Jason Lee's Methodist Mission and other activity in the Oregon Territory, in 1854 Margaret Jewett Bailey published a hard-to-classify book, Ruth Rover. The blurb for OSU's modern edition is typical and subtly discounts it, stressing it as "a novel" and using the lightly condescending rhetoric of "unique and provocative":

This autobiographical novel, first published in 1854, is generally considered the first novel written and published in the Pacific Northwest. Bailey provides a unique and provocative view of many prominent figures in early Oregon history.

It's not just "unique and provocative" like she was stirring the pot and making trouble. That's how we dismiss claims by "difficult" women. The books' claims are likely very true. In this last year of #metoo, it is increasingly clear that we should look past the "fiction" tag of Ruth Rover and believe it as essentially true. The accent should be on autobiography and the default assumption should be that it is true. We should believe Margaret Jewett Bailey. It is unfair not to.

SW Corner of State and Commercial Heating Up Again?

You might remember from a few years back a concept to redevelop the nearly quarter block lot on the southwest corner of State and Commercial.

Project concept, apparently discarded now,
 for State and Commercial
via Nathan Good Architects

Nothing has been said publicly about it, but it looks like that's off the table now.

A reader sent in an Oregon Business article from a few days ago that discusses a completely different concept:

Cathy Reines of Koz Development...whose Snohomish, Wash.-based company specializes in student housing and what are known as micro-housing units, zeroed in on an empty lot in Salem’s historic downtown for a 140-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail....

The location, at the corner of State and Commercial streets in downtown Salem, was ideal for Reines, who looks for places where there are large student populations or hospital workers, with access to outdoor amenities. Salem Hospital and Willamette University both fit her parameters, along with a walkable riverfront that gives people access to outdoor recreation....

Reines’ partner, Josh Scott, says that infill construction in a historic neighborhood has special considerations, including meeting the city’s design guidelines. Salem, unsurprisingly, didn’t want a flashy or modern “look-at-me” building as infill, Scott says.

His work started at street level, making sure there was a consistent main-floor height with other downtown buildings. Adjacent buildings and those across the street can offer good cues, he says.

“There’s a fine line you walk not trying to imitate, not trying to create that false historic feeling, using proportions and general forms that are found in historic neighborhoods, and letting the modern building be what they are,” says Scott. [link added]

The City doesn't show any new permits or land use applications for 260 State Street, which is the address previous projects have used, so perhaps this is still only in the "talk" stage and not yet a formal project. Maybe it's developer "vaporware"!

In any case, it's something now to watch. It would be great to have something built at this corner, especially housing.

Addendum

Oh yeah, some history...Here's the building that used to be on the corner:

Griswold-Murphy block, 1940 (Salem Library Historic Photos)

Same site today - streetview

And Harry Scott's first bike shop was around the corner and on the alley, on State Street.

Winter-Maple Family-Friendly Bikeway at Planning Commission Tuesday

Winter St alignment, May 18th, 1899

The Plan for the Winter-Maple Bikeway goes before the Planning Commission tomorrow evening, and the City will be asking for an endorsement. (Agenda and Staff Report.)

It's an idea that's been around since at least 1899, and maybe finally it'll have some juice behind it.

Staff recommends approval and endorsement

You may recall the tepid reponse that Bike & Walk Salem got last time a substantial bike plan went before the Commission. In 2011-12, it took three meetings, in December, January, and March before the Commission sent it to Council with a recommendation for adoption.

Back in 2011 the Planning Commission was lukewarm at best

Lots of citizens showed up in support, but the testimony somehow wasn't enough for a speedy and enthusiastic endorsement. Something was lacking. (It certainly wasn't that there were elements that needed further vetting.)

New Book on Salem Clique needs more on Slavery

Matthew Deady, c1859
Oregon Historical Society
OrHi 63119

In the last couple of years the University of Oregon conducted a thorough reassessment of the legacy of Mathew Deady. Students had called for renaming historic Deady Hall on campus. In announcing the final decision not to rename Deady Hall, University President Michael Schill wrote:

Deady was...a deeply flawed man. He held racist views which I find abhorrent and contrary to the principles of our university. His support of slavery prior to the Civil War cannot be excused....Although Deady’s racist views did not abate after the Civil War, he fully embraced the new constitutional order....Deady supported the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which guarantee to all equal protection under the US Constitution....Deady does not represent an example of an egregious case justifying overturning the presumption against denaming...[and] I will not recommend that the Board of Trustees dename Deady Hall.

In the same decision, Schill ruled that Frederic Dunn, an Exalted Cyclops in the second KKK of the 1920s, and who had taught at Willamette University between 1895-1898 previous to his time at the University of Oregon, was in fact an example of such "an egregious case." His name was removed from his namesake building, and it has been renamed Unthank Hall.

Matthew Deady was at the center of the "Salem Clique," the name of a small Democratic party machine mostly headed by Asahel Bush during the run up to Statehood in the 1850s, opposed first to a Whig coalition headed by Thomas Dryer of the Oregonian in Portland, to the Know-Nothing party, and then to the early Republican Party in the later 1850s.

Asahel Bush was almost certainly more racist than Matthew Deady, and it does not appear his views evolved the way Deady's changed. We know, for example, about his scorn for the efforts of Rev. Obed Dickinson and his wife Charlotte later in the 1850s and 60s.

Time to think more about Asahel Bush

A reassessment of the legacy of Asahel Bush is overdue. (We also need to know more about his real estate, investing, and banking activities later in the 19th century! He is such a key Salem figure, but hardly known in detail.)

In her new book, The Salem Clique: Oregon's Founding Brothers, Barbara Mahoney leans away from such a reassessment, and without denying the way race and slavery was implicated in our Territorial government and then the debate and drive to Statehood, she may not center it enough. Of Bush in 1862 she writes:

Writing in the third person...[he said] he was "in favor of maintaining the Government at every hazard and to the last extremity. He wouldn't destroy the Government either to enslave or liberate [yes, that word*]; he believes it to be a Government of white men, and if the liberties of that race can be preserved, he regards it of comparatively little consequence what fate betides [the same word]."

Rather than providing the central thesis and focus, this is an ancillary moment.

It seems instead like the machinations of the Salem Clique, starting with sending out Bush to organize the Democratic party from the very start, have at their basis the perpetuation of slavery in the South as supported by the Democratic party of the time, and arranging in Oregon a "Government of white men." Race and slavery are absolutely central here, both in our local politics and in the national political wrangling involved in admitting a new state to the Union.

Slavery isn't backstory or side story, it's absolutely central to the main story, and may indeed be the essence of the main story. (You might recall "Oregon Was Founded As a Racist Utopia," a Gizmodo piece from a few years back that pushes this argument.)