Editorial: A list of Trammart News articles that round out the top five stories of the past year
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024
Goodbye 2023. This past year will be one I remember for this reason: The financial chickens came home to roost in Indy. Should this catch us by surprise? Nope.
Seven years ago, Independence's outside auditor expressed concern over the growing municipal debt, right around the time a couple of civil engineers issued warnings about the town’s infrastructure needs, from street deterioration to outdated pipes.
Ditto for aging buildings in CSD 13J School District, which this past year prompted far higher property-tax money from residents than homeowners expected, under a rarely used clause in the law that many found shocking.
The chair of the school board, Donn Wahl, issued a public apology. But what about the city, and its own revenue crisis?
The mayor, John McArdle, and City Manager, Kenna West, took quite a different approach to the city’s tax-dollar drain. The city manager made two trips to my former newspaper to try to get me quashed from covering Independence; The mayor opted for silence, refraining from comment in meetings when reminded that all that past spending occurred on his watch. This observation came from none other than one of the newer council members, Sarah Jobe, who requested an apology that never came.
Councilor Jobe, allow me to salute your bravura in trying to bring to the forefront the financial backstory that brought us to this point. Now for the next troubling question: What lies ahead? Cost cuts? Rate hikes? Reduced services? Or a combination of these?
So, if you want to know the top story of 2023, in my own view, it’s that Independence is in a big fiscal pickle. Meanwhile, CSD 13J is now putting its money woes front and center – possibly to foster more public empathy in preparation for another bond rollout down the road?
We don’t yet know how all of this will shake out. We’ll all have a better idea this time next year. In the meantime, here’s my opinion of the top five stories of 2023, based on my personal impressions of residential reactions in the past 12 months.
1) The wavering financial status of the city-plus-school-district is this year’s top story.
City Manager West may think so, too – she is embarking on a quest to gain support for changing a couple of long-standing propositions that have ruled our tax code, in a role assigned to her by the League of Oregon Cities. It looks like a long shot to get Measures 5 and 50 altered, but good luck with tax-code revisions to bring in more money!
How is the school board handling their monetary squeeze? By wisely backing off from advocating for a new bond. Good thinking, board members. But now what? The needs initially identified by the bond committee for that funding still exist.
For those of you who saw grocery and gas prices go up while spending power went down, I’m going to keep following the monetary needs of the city and schools.
And I’m hopeful that City Manager West will quit trying to shut down my news coverage, but it’s not looking good. So far, she and the city’s communications coordinator have been ignoring all my media inquiries.
2) The worst nightmare at the Independence State Airport came true: a fatal crash.
It came almost a year after my best friend, Amy Jackson and her husband, Denny, died in an out-of-town private plane accident. In the interest of accuracy, I would like to point out that Amy was everyone’s best friend, not just mine.
I never expected anyone outside of Indy to appreciate the airport the way I do. But a few years ago, when I attended a statewide city-planning meeting in Bend, I asked a bunch of city planners what they thought of the growth in Independence. They drew a blank on the hotel, but not the airport – or the river.
Those are high-value aspects for the town, they said. A third is being so close to Salem.
I couldn’t imagine that the quaint downtown and postcard-pretty Riverview Park weren’t getting more buzz. I mentioned the Cooper Building and the way Ash Creek meanders through the park. But it was the river, the airport and Salem proximity that constitute our crown jewels, according to this group. All are enviable “fixed assets,” they explained.
Soon, I will write an article about the recent crash of three pilots seeking a better life in America who miscalculated their landing in the fog at our airport. But I’m not yet ready to do so objectively. When I see the cross by a trio of bouquets on Hoffman Road, my cardiac organ misfires right along with my ocular orbits.
My working title for the upcoming article: Sadness Visible.
3) The trolley made a spectacular difference.
The red, vintage-style buses enabled an easy and enjoyable ride from Monmouth to Independence, and vice versa.
Except for a few disgruntled dog owners who discovered canines can’t be passengers (assist dogs are approved), the trolley has proven to be both popular and iconic, a source of pride as well as a practical means of transportation between the two cities for folk of all ages.
4) The city’s industrial zone began transforming.
Marquis Spa largely moved out; Western Interlock got the greenlight for moving in. All happened in the industrial area along Stryker Road.
Big changes are afoot on the swath of land that’s there – land that is now not much more than open field. I hope to be able to track it all, from start to finish. (I have even set aside a hard hat for construction site visits.) Hopefully, good relationship-building will ensue since any development in the Stryker corridor will have immediate impact on a large neighborhood there.
5) Development took some nose dives.
This might not sound like a big story to you, but let’s put it all together. Dalke Construction feels thwarted by newly increased building charges and other imposed costs at Brandy Meadows in Southwest Independence – the city expects a traffic light at 7th and Monmouth Street to be paid by the developer, with the promise of future incremental reimbursement for the estimated million-dollar cost.
Also languishing is the unfinished downtown building known colloquially as Stonehenge – officially Station 203 – and it’s on the market again. This skeletal structure has changed hands more times than a square-dance partner since breaking ground in 2005.
And, the Elks Club is now suing the realtor-turned-developer Aaron Young for failing to build on a lot that was sold by the city at a whoppingly low price, as a site for the organization’s new lodge.
All three of these major projects seem stymied. Do they represent a trend? Time will tell.
This is why you need a news outlet. To keep abreast, to learn what’s transpiring. So, here is a reminder to City Manager West and all others who find bad news so downright irritating.
Nobody should feel compelled to express anything but dislike about the person named Anne Scheck – and if you want to shout disparaging phrases about me from the rooftops, that is your right under the First Amendment. And you should feel free to exercise that right.
But trying to stop the wheel of local journalism is different. Take a look at George Washington, who was verbally crucified by some news reports – and so was Abe Lincoln. Yet both presidents wanted those presses to keep rolling, to continue to provide an important part of American democracy, freedom of speech. So do I.
Good luck in the year ahead. Trammart News will do its very best to keep you informed. ▪
(Trammart News welcomes all editorial commentary that is not specifically targeted at a resident or business. For a guest editorial, simply email Scheck2Oregon@aol.com.)
Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton says DA work takes an out-of-office team effort
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024
The coat that Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton wore to deliver a year-end update to the county commissioners represents the expansive role of the DA’s office, he said.
It’s a sherpa jacket, designed for outdoor use – in the field and out of the courtroom – at sites where he and his staff often need to be.
“The bread-and-butter things go on in the office,” he explained. From crime scenes to car crashes, “we often go into situations” that could be described as tragic events, he said. At such sites, he and his staff are easily identifiable as a “public safety partner.”
The term refers to the tack being taken by Polk County, which focuses on working tightly and collaboratively with law enforcement and behavioral health. It differs substantially from the way things were done when he started 25 years ago, Felton observed.
It’s a strategy that means more streamlined processing. There’s more immediate access to alternative treatment plans, a faster track to probation and quick action on uncomplicated cases, known as “contemporaneous” judgments, Felton said.
With 50-100 cases at any one time in his office, he credited a team in other parts of the system that has helped him with such “a big lift.”
Felton singled out two key people: Judge Norman Hill, who is managing a “rapid resolution docket” and Jodi Merritt, who has instituted a “lunch and learn” program for cross-coordination. Merritt is director of the county’s community correction service programs, juvenile department.
“All of the various professions (and) roles within the criminal justice system come with a variety of rules and responsibilities that are complex and, at times, misunderstood,” Merritt explained. “These meetings provided an opportunity to discuss, ask questions, develop relationships and solutions that will assist both agencies in the future.”
The topics so far have ranged from what constitutes “Intake” – supervision conditions, expectations of supervision, assessments and case planning – to the differences between probation, post-prison supervision and parole.
As one observer pointed out, “this is the anti-silo approach.”
Felton said the “lunch and learn” program is likely to become even more inclusive. He expects to continue to report on its impact in 2024. ▪
(This is part of an ongoing effort to report on the county judicial system, a series begun during covid.)
Endearing deer are making Independence home-sweet-home but need to be treated like wildlife
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024
They leave paw prints on garden pathways and nose around yards, dining on azalea and rhododendron plants.
They’re deer, and they are being seen a lot this year -- by the railroad tracks on A Street, near the sidewalks of Riverview Park and on the taxiways by the Independence State Airport.
It is hard to pin down whether there are more deer now than ever before or simply more deer who are unafraid to venture into city limits, due to becoming familiar with friendly humans who don’t shoo them out of flower beds and, in some cases, provide food and water at special tree-covered stations.
“We don’t track population numbers at the town level but it’s not surprising that more deer are seen in Independence or other developed areas,” said Beth Quillian, North Coast, North and South Willamette Watersheds Communications Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
A small town like Independence, flanked by open fields, often provides shelter and a variety of food sources safe from predators, she explained.
“Well-intentioned people often feed deer, elk and other wildlife without realizing the problems feeding can create,” she said, noting that this can interfere with the animals’ natural way of life. “Once wildlife associate people with giving them food, they come to expect it,” she added.
So it may be that deer are anticipating a warm welcome in winter by the Independence residential community.
If so, that makes it “a great time to get a head start on reminding people to leave young wildlife alone,” Quillian cautioned. Oregon's deer give birth from May through July. It’s natural for mother animals to leave their young alone and hidden for extended periods of time while they go off to feed,” she said. “So never assume a young animal is orphaned when you see it alone,” Quillian stressed. In fact, deer may park their fawns in seemingly odd places, like tall grass waiting for a lawn mower. ▪
(Trammart News periodically examines wildlife of the region. Next up: Where have all the nutria gone?)
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024
Goodbye 2023. This past year will be one I remember for this reason: The financial chickens came home to roost in Indy. Should this catch us by surprise? Nope.
Seven years ago, Independence's outside auditor expressed concern over the growing municipal debt, right around the time a couple of civil engineers issued warnings about the town’s infrastructure needs, from street deterioration to outdated pipes.
Ditto for aging buildings in CSD 13J School District, which this past year prompted far higher property-tax money from residents than homeowners expected, under a rarely used clause in the law that many found shocking.
The chair of the school board, Donn Wahl, issued a public apology. But what about the city, and its own revenue crisis?
The mayor, John McArdle, and City Manager, Kenna West, took quite a different approach to the city’s tax-dollar drain. The city manager made two trips to my former newspaper to try to get me quashed from covering Independence; The mayor opted for silence, refraining from comment in meetings when reminded that all that past spending occurred on his watch. This observation came from none other than one of the newer council members, Sarah Jobe, who requested an apology that never came.
Councilor Jobe, allow me to salute your bravura in trying to bring to the forefront the financial backstory that brought us to this point. Now for the next troubling question: What lies ahead? Cost cuts? Rate hikes? Reduced services? Or a combination of these?
So, if you want to know the top story of 2023, in my own view, it’s that Independence is in a big fiscal pickle. Meanwhile, CSD 13J is now putting its money woes front and center – possibly to foster more public empathy in preparation for another bond rollout down the road?
We don’t yet know how all of this will shake out. We’ll all have a better idea this time next year. In the meantime, here’s my opinion of the top five stories of 2023, based on my personal impressions of residential reactions in the past 12 months.
1) The wavering financial status of the city-plus-school-district is this year’s top story.
City Manager West may think so, too – she is embarking on a quest to gain support for changing a couple of long-standing propositions that have ruled our tax code, in a role assigned to her by the League of Oregon Cities. It looks like a long shot to get Measures 5 and 50 altered, but good luck with tax-code revisions to bring in more money!
How is the school board handling their monetary squeeze? By wisely backing off from advocating for a new bond. Good thinking, board members. But now what? The needs initially identified by the bond committee for that funding still exist.
For those of you who saw grocery and gas prices go up while spending power went down, I’m going to keep following the monetary needs of the city and schools.
And I’m hopeful that City Manager West will quit trying to shut down my news coverage, but it’s not looking good. So far, she and the city’s communications coordinator have been ignoring all my media inquiries.
2) The worst nightmare at the Independence State Airport came true: a fatal crash.
It came almost a year after my best friend, Amy Jackson and her husband, Denny, died in an out-of-town private plane accident. In the interest of accuracy, I would like to point out that Amy was everyone’s best friend, not just mine.
I never expected anyone outside of Indy to appreciate the airport the way I do. But a few years ago, when I attended a statewide city-planning meeting in Bend, I asked a bunch of city planners what they thought of the growth in Independence. They drew a blank on the hotel, but not the airport – or the river.
Those are high-value aspects for the town, they said. A third is being so close to Salem.
I couldn’t imagine that the quaint downtown and postcard-pretty Riverview Park weren’t getting more buzz. I mentioned the Cooper Building and the way Ash Creek meanders through the park. But it was the river, the airport and Salem proximity that constitute our crown jewels, according to this group. All are enviable “fixed assets,” they explained.
Soon, I will write an article about the recent crash of three pilots seeking a better life in America who miscalculated their landing in the fog at our airport. But I’m not yet ready to do so objectively. When I see the cross by a trio of bouquets on Hoffman Road, my cardiac organ misfires right along with my ocular orbits.
My working title for the upcoming article: Sadness Visible.
3) The trolley made a spectacular difference.
The red, vintage-style buses enabled an easy and enjoyable ride from Monmouth to Independence, and vice versa.
Except for a few disgruntled dog owners who discovered canines can’t be passengers (assist dogs are approved), the trolley has proven to be both popular and iconic, a source of pride as well as a practical means of transportation between the two cities for folk of all ages.
4) The city’s industrial zone began transforming.
Marquis Spa largely moved out; Western Interlock got the greenlight for moving in. All happened in the industrial area along Stryker Road.
Big changes are afoot on the swath of land that’s there – land that is now not much more than open field. I hope to be able to track it all, from start to finish. (I have even set aside a hard hat for construction site visits.) Hopefully, good relationship-building will ensue since any development in the Stryker corridor will have immediate impact on a large neighborhood there.
5) Development took some nose dives.
This might not sound like a big story to you, but let’s put it all together. Dalke Construction feels thwarted by newly increased building charges and other imposed costs at Brandy Meadows in Southwest Independence – the city expects a traffic light at 7th and Monmouth Street to be paid by the developer, with the promise of future incremental reimbursement for the estimated million-dollar cost.
Also languishing is the unfinished downtown building known colloquially as Stonehenge – officially Station 203 – and it’s on the market again. This skeletal structure has changed hands more times than a square-dance partner since breaking ground in 2005.
And, the Elks Club is now suing the realtor-turned-developer Aaron Young for failing to build on a lot that was sold by the city at a whoppingly low price, as a site for the organization’s new lodge.
All three of these major projects seem stymied. Do they represent a trend? Time will tell.
This is why you need a news outlet. To keep abreast, to learn what’s transpiring. So, here is a reminder to City Manager West and all others who find bad news so downright irritating.
Nobody should feel compelled to express anything but dislike about the person named Anne Scheck – and if you want to shout disparaging phrases about me from the rooftops, that is your right under the First Amendment. And you should feel free to exercise that right.
But trying to stop the wheel of local journalism is different. Take a look at George Washington, who was verbally crucified by some news reports – and so was Abe Lincoln. Yet both presidents wanted those presses to keep rolling, to continue to provide an important part of American democracy, freedom of speech. So do I.
Good luck in the year ahead. Trammart News will do its very best to keep you informed. ▪
(Trammart News welcomes all editorial commentary that is not specifically targeted at a resident or business. For a guest editorial, simply email Scheck2Oregon@aol.com.)
Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton says DA work takes an out-of-office team effort
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024
The coat that Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton wore to deliver a year-end update to the county commissioners represents the expansive role of the DA’s office, he said.
It’s a sherpa jacket, designed for outdoor use – in the field and out of the courtroom – at sites where he and his staff often need to be.
“The bread-and-butter things go on in the office,” he explained. From crime scenes to car crashes, “we often go into situations” that could be described as tragic events, he said. At such sites, he and his staff are easily identifiable as a “public safety partner.”
The term refers to the tack being taken by Polk County, which focuses on working tightly and collaboratively with law enforcement and behavioral health. It differs substantially from the way things were done when he started 25 years ago, Felton observed.
It’s a strategy that means more streamlined processing. There’s more immediate access to alternative treatment plans, a faster track to probation and quick action on uncomplicated cases, known as “contemporaneous” judgments, Felton said.
With 50-100 cases at any one time in his office, he credited a team in other parts of the system that has helped him with such “a big lift.”
Felton singled out two key people: Judge Norman Hill, who is managing a “rapid resolution docket” and Jodi Merritt, who has instituted a “lunch and learn” program for cross-coordination. Merritt is director of the county’s community correction service programs, juvenile department.
“All of the various professions (and) roles within the criminal justice system come with a variety of rules and responsibilities that are complex and, at times, misunderstood,” Merritt explained. “These meetings provided an opportunity to discuss, ask questions, develop relationships and solutions that will assist both agencies in the future.”
The topics so far have ranged from what constitutes “Intake” – supervision conditions, expectations of supervision, assessments and case planning – to the differences between probation, post-prison supervision and parole.
As one observer pointed out, “this is the anti-silo approach.”
Felton said the “lunch and learn” program is likely to become even more inclusive. He expects to continue to report on its impact in 2024. ▪
(This is part of an ongoing effort to report on the county judicial system, a series begun during covid.)
Endearing deer are making Independence home-sweet-home but need to be treated like wildlife
By Anne Scheck
Trammart News Service, January 5, 2024
They leave paw prints on garden pathways and nose around yards, dining on azalea and rhododendron plants.
They’re deer, and they are being seen a lot this year -- by the railroad tracks on A Street, near the sidewalks of Riverview Park and on the taxiways by the Independence State Airport.
It is hard to pin down whether there are more deer now than ever before or simply more deer who are unafraid to venture into city limits, due to becoming familiar with friendly humans who don’t shoo them out of flower beds and, in some cases, provide food and water at special tree-covered stations.
“We don’t track population numbers at the town level but it’s not surprising that more deer are seen in Independence or other developed areas,” said Beth Quillian, North Coast, North and South Willamette Watersheds Communications Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
A small town like Independence, flanked by open fields, often provides shelter and a variety of food sources safe from predators, she explained.
“Well-intentioned people often feed deer, elk and other wildlife without realizing the problems feeding can create,” she said, noting that this can interfere with the animals’ natural way of life. “Once wildlife associate people with giving them food, they come to expect it,” she added.
So it may be that deer are anticipating a warm welcome in winter by the Independence residential community.
If so, that makes it “a great time to get a head start on reminding people to leave young wildlife alone,” Quillian cautioned. Oregon's deer give birth from May through July. It’s natural for mother animals to leave their young alone and hidden for extended periods of time while they go off to feed,” she said. “So never assume a young animal is orphaned when you see it alone,” Quillian stressed. In fact, deer may park their fawns in seemingly odd places, like tall grass waiting for a lawn mower. ▪
(Trammart News periodically examines wildlife of the region. Next up: Where have all the nutria gone?)
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