Today on Newsmakers at Noon, we welcomed Salem City Councilor Shane Matthews, representing Ward 3, for a conversation about city finances, affordable housing and what Salem should—and shouldn’t—do with valuable city-owned property.
Councilor Matthews discussed his proposal to consider an alternative to liquidating city property to fund affordable housing, arguing that Salem should carefully consider the long-term consequences before selling public assets to address a current funding need. He encouraged Salem residents to make their voices heard by emailing the City Council at citycouncil@cityofsalem.net.
That conversation fits into Salem’s much larger financial challenge. The city reportedly needs roughly $11 million more every year just to keep its streets from deteriorating further, while projections show the transportation fund potentially falling below zero by 2029. Among the ideas being considered: fuel taxes, street fees and other new revenue sources. The obvious question for taxpayers is how much more they can reasonably be expected to pay—and whether the city is making the right spending choices with the money it already collects.
And because it’s Wednesday, we took our usual trip through the calendar and history. August 19 marks World Photography Day, National Aviation Day and National Potato Day—plus the considerably less successful Talk Like Jar Jar Binks Day. Yeah…there’s probably a reason that one never caught on like Talk Like a Pirate Day.
On this date, we looked back at the 1692 Salem witch trials, “Old Ironsides” earning her famous nickname in 1812, the first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Beatles launching their 1964 American tour, Gerald Ford’s 1976 GOP nomination, the failed 1991 Soviet coup against Mikhail Gorbachev and Google’s 2004 IPO at just $85 a share.
Politics made the mix, too, with Jane Fonda endorsing Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, while reports that COVID activity is once again growing in Oregon prompted the inevitable question: Here we go again?
And we ended up in the lighter corners of the internet with Portland apparently making it into GTA—probably fake, but funny—and the very real and equally amusing “Donald-flops.” Sometimes the internet still delivers.
Links from Today’s Show
Salem transportation funding discussion — Facebook
Read Councilor Matthew’s proposal here
