Salem Political Snark

City Councilor Warren Bednarz hit with ethics complaints

Warren Bednarz, a Salem city councilor seeking re-election this year (his opponent is Sally Cook), has been hit with two complaints filed with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. 

Both relate to Bednarz' failure to declare a conflict of interest when he voted on motions before the City Council that would financially benefit members of his family. 

After a preliminary review of the first complaint, it was considered serious enough by Commission staff to warrant an investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Here is the last page of the staff analysis. I've deleted the name of the person who filed the complaint, at this person's request.

The staff analysis says:

"Information available appears to be sufficient to constitute a substantial, objective basis to believe that Mr. Bednarz may have violated the conflict of interest provisions of Oregon government ethics law and an investigation is warranted."

Here's the first ethics complaint. 
Download Warren Bednarz Ethics Complaint 1

These excerpts summarize the alleged conflict of interest violations. 

The first violation occurred on June 24, 2013 at a Salem City Council meeting. The Salem City Council was deliberating on the preferred alternative for the Salem River Crossing, a proposed bridge from North Salem to West Salem. At that meeting Councilor Bednarz participated in the deliberations and voted to approve the preferred alternative, called "The Salem Alternative," and did not declare that he had a potential conflict of interest because of family property holdings in the right-of-way of "The Salem Alternative."

...A second failure by Councilor Bednarz to declare a potential conflict of interest occurred on December 17, 2015, at a meeting of the Police Facility Council Subcommittee of which Councilor Bednarz is a member along with Salem's mayor and two other councilors. At this meeting the Subcommittee was deliberating on potential sites for a new Salem Police Department headquarters facility.

...One of the sites that was selected for further consideration and possible purchase was "Site 2", also known as the Commercial and Leslie block, that is located just south of the Salem Civic Center campus (see Exhibit 3 attached). Site 2 contains 16 tax lots, half of which are owned by the Bednarz family (Starbuck Properties LLC and Bednarz Holdings, Inc.).

...Because selection of Site 2 as the site for a new Salem Police Department headquarters facility would require the City of Salem to purchase the site from the property owners, including the Bednarz family, Councilor Bednarz had a potential conflict of interest that he failed to declare at the December 17, 2015, Council Subcommittee meeting.

However, for some reason the staff recommendation to pursue an investigation was turned down by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission -- which is viewed by many as a "toothless" body reluctant to look into potential ethics violations. 

The second ethics complaint is still under review.
Download Warren Bednarz Ethics Complaint 2

It seems more serious than the first complaint, since it involved the Bednarz family actually getting money from the City of Salem, $13,000 for property needed to construct street improvements at the Commercial and Kuebler intersection. Excerpts:

The Bednarz family has substantial real estate holdings within the City of Salem. At the September 14, 2015, meeting of the Salem City Council Councilor Bednarz did not declare an actual conflict of interest and voted in support of a motion to acquire through condemnation property owned by his family. His family was subsequently paid $13,000 by the City of Salem to acquire the property.

...The Council minutes for the September 14, 2014 [sic, actually 2015], meeting show that when the item was pulled from the Consent Calendar it was titled item 5(b) (see Exhibit 2, pp. 11-13).  Councilor Bednarz both seconded the motion and voted in favor, without declaring an actual conflict of interest.

The City of Salem staff report mentions Bednarz Holdings by name, so in this case Councilor Bednarz can't claim that he was unsure whether his family owned the property in question, which was what Bednarz said in response to the first ethics complaint involving the "Leslie block" property. 

File No. 24, owner Bednarz Holdings, Inc. -The negotiations have been progressing slowly, and staff is still hopeful of reaching final agreement on all construction related and compensation issues; however, in the event that a final agreement cannot be reached with all security interest holders, it is necessary to authorize the initiation of condemnation.

There's no doubt that Warren Bednarz' family got $13,000 as a result of the vote that he failed to declare a conflict of interest on. Here's the receipt!

For many reasons, including the ethics complaints described in this post, I see Sally Cook as a much better choice for Ward 7 city councilor than Warren Bednarz. This woman isn't going to be using her position to buy property owned by her family. 

(Her daughters don't look like real estate tycoons... though this could be in their future.)

 

Oregon legislature wolf bill confirmed as howling lie

I plan to focus on being snarky about local politicians here in Salem, but when state officials do outrageous stuff, like confirm a howling lie, hey, I'm happy to cast a Snark in their direction.


Today the AP is reporting what was obvious to wildlife lovers and environmentalists who opposed HB 4040, the bill recently passed by the Oregon legislature and signed by supposedly progressive Governor Kate Brown. 

"AG Rosenblum: Wolf delisting bill likely moots case" says:
Download Oregon AG: Wolf delisting bill likely moots case - Washington Times

Two weeks after the signing of new legislation that upholds in state law the delisting of the gray wolf as endangered, Oregon’s top attorney has now launched an effort to end wolf advocates’ lawsuit once and for all.

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a notice with the state appellate court on Monday, using an attached copy of the new law, House Bill 4040, as justification for why wolf advocates’ complaint against the state is likely no longer relevant.

This is what conservative lawmakers hoped to accomplish with HB 4040 - among the most contentious bills of the year - and what environmentalists had feared. In December environmentalists sued state wildlife officials over their decision to remove the gray wolf from the state’s Endangered Species Act list, saying the decision was premature.

...That’s where HB 4040 - backed by the Oregon Cattleman’s Association and others concerned with wolves’ attacks on livestock - comes into play.

HB 4040 essentially says the commission did everything it was supposed to do by law in reaching its final decision to delist. That’s the very thing wolf advocates want re-examined, but with the Legislature’s seal of approval now established in state law, their “challenge is likely moot,” Rosenblum wrote in Monday’s court filing.

Rosenblum’s filing - submitted about a week after the wildlife commission began revising its wolf management plan - stands in contrast to the way HB 4040 was initially portrayed at the Legislature in early February.

In hearings, GOP lawmakers in the Oregon House repeatedly denied claims that the intent was to end the lawsuit.

“Does this basically prevent litigation? … and the answer that I have come up with, or the answer that I could find was, no it doesn’t,” Rep. Greg Baretto, a Republican who helped sponsor HB 4040, said during a Feb. 12 House floor session when the bill was up for vote.

“They can still have their day in court. But what this does is it’ll allow the Legislature to affirm or agree with this commission, this Fish and Wildlife Commission, that has basically approved delisting, and that is what this bill does.”

Rep. Chris Gorsek, a Democrat, was among the first vocal critics, who followed Baretto’s comments during that February floor session by saying, “I’m concerned that the Legislature is being asked to step in a process that could involve any endangered species … it’s not about the wolf, it’s about due process.”

So legislators lied about the intent of HB 4040 and what it would do. Namely, allow the Oregon legislature to cut off judicial review of the scientific facts backing up a decision to delist wolves as an endangered species. 

This is the kind of crap right-wing anti-environment politicians in Congress like to do.

So it was deeply disturbing to a progressive like me to see Democratic Governor Kate Brown and Dem state legislators going along with the Oregon Cattlemen's Association dream to make every wolf in this state a dead wolf.

I took Brown to task about this in "Open letter to Oregon's Governor from a pissed-off wolf advocate." Now I'm even more pissed.

So now the Oregon Cattlemen's Association, which considers that the only good wolf is a dead wolf (I know this, because my wife has testified at numerous legislative hearings where ignorant ranchers in cowboy hats have said as much), is thrilled with your signing HB 4040, while environmentalists like me are outraged.

Well, Ms. Brown, I hope your campaign for another four years as a Democratic governor of this state gets lots of money from the Oregon Cattlemen's Association and their Republican friends, because I don't feel like giving you a dime.

When you signed HB 4040, this was an insult to sound science, transparency in public policy-making, your progressive supporters, and this state's environmental community.

You chose political expediency over doing the right thing. Sure, I understand this is the way governing works, but I don't have to like it, or approve of it.

City of Salem officials acting stupid on earthquake safety

Gosh, maybe this is too radical an idea for Salem's Mayor and City Council, but it sure seems like a "Public Safety" bond voters will be asked to approve in the November election should actually keep the public safe -- rather than being a massive waste of taxpayer money to build an overpriced Police Palace.

A few years ago our sometimes-wise City officials recognized a scary truth: City Hall and the Library are almost surely going to collapse when the next massive Cascadia subduction zone earthquake, a.k.a. the Big One, strikes. 

Children at the Library's Storytime would be crushed under tons of rubble. City staff who should be available to help Salem recover from what will be the biggest disaster in the history of North America will be dead or seriously injured. 

Linda Norris, the City Manager at the time, said this about City Hall in a 2013 Statesman Journal story:

"The way it is, right now, city employees wouldn't even be able to get out of the building alive, much less use the building.”

As reported by Salem Community Vision in a must-read position paper, "Salem's New Police Facility: The Best Way to Achieve It," in 2013 City officials were all set to spend about $20 million on essential seismic upgrades to City Hall (and probably also the Library) as part of an $80 million Public Safety bond that included about $60 million for a new 75,000 square foot police facility with underground parking on the Civic Center campus.

But community resistance to this plan led to some Chicago consultants being hired. Unfortunately, their supersized plan doubled the size of the police facility to 150,000 square feet, so $80 million would only pay for it alone.

So now the previous plan to make City Hall and the Library earthquake-ready to save lives has been sacrificed in order to construct empty space in a supersized police facility that might possibly be needed 30 years from now by the Police Department -- though this is by no means certain, as hardly anything in life is.

What is certain is this: the Big One earthquake is a matter of when, not if.

Yet currently the only "plan" (using that word loosely) City officials have to fund seismic upgrades to City Hall and the Library is to use fantasized cost savings from a $80 million police facility bond to pay for them.

Yeah, right.

The dream of Mayor Peterson and some equally clueless city councilors is that a competitive bidding process to construct an $80 million police facility will result in a 25% cost under-run that magically leaves $20 million to be spent on making the Civic Center earthquake-ready.

Over on my other blog I've ranted about the craziness of not making the seismic upgrades:

"Why a new police facility could cost many lives"
"Earthquake readiness: will the Salem City Council choose to save lives?"
"A Moral Must: make Salem's Library and City Hall earthquake ready"

Eugene is acting a lot smarter. Plans are being laid to build a new City Hall to the highest possible seismic standard even though this will cost more. 
Download Stronger and Spendier Register Guard story

With the changes, Bohman said, “City Hall is becoming safer, greener, more welcoming and a better long-term investment for the community as a result of this extra time and work.”

An apparent driver of the anticipated cost increase is the work to strengthen the building to a standard reserved for buildings deemed essential in an emergency, including fire and police stations and hospitals, so they are immediately operable after a major earthquake or other disaster.

...Richard Rogers, the state’s chief building official, said such a building should ride out a major earthquake with only minimal damage, but it may need minor repairs before it can be operable again.

“It’s not falling down,” he said. “There should be no loss of life.”

Yet here in Salem, City officials are even balking at retrofitting City Hall and the Library to a lesser earthquake standard, "Life and Safety," while Eugene is heading toward building a City Hall to an "Immediate Occupancy" standard.

This is shameful. Lives are at stake.

Yet Salem's Mayor and City Council appear to be willing to let children and other visitors to the Civic Center die so a Police Palace can be built that is twice the size of the police facility City officials said was just fine a few years ago.

If you're as upset about this as I am, email the Mayor and City Council at [email protected]

They're having a work session next Monday, April 4, to discuss plans for the new police facility. Tell them they have to restore money in a Public Safety bond for making the Library and City Hall earthquake-safe. 

Otherwise voters should make sure in November that this bond is as dead as the people who will die at the Civic Center if the seismic upgrades don't happen.

Chuck Bennett's shameful role in U.S. Bank tree killings

Chuck Bennett is running for Mayor of Salem. I'm sharing an email about Bennett that voters should read before they choose between him and Carole Smith, the other candidate for Mayor. 

The email shows that Chuck Bennett was complicit in a shameful moment -- the needless killing in 2013 of the five large, beautiful, healthy Japanese Zelkova trees on downtown's State Street. At the time, as now, Bennett represented Ward 1, which includes the Historic District.

Yet Bennett not only did nothing to save the U.S. Bank trees from being cut down for no good reason, he actively participated in an unethical backroom deal between Peter Fernandez, the City of Salem Public Works Director, and Ryan Allbritton, the U.S. Bank president.

The whole story is in my tell-all 2014 report, "Outrage: Salem's U.S. Bank tree killings."

Download Outrage - Salem's U.S. Bank tree killings

Subtitle: The true story of how City officials and the bank president cut down five large, healthy, beautiful downtown trees for no good reason, and misled citizens about why they did it.

Remember the U.S. Bank trees? If you've lived in Salem for more than a few years, almost certainly you do. They were striking. The public records documents I paid $726.61 for included letters from out-of-state people pleading that the trees be saved, because they loved to see them when they came to Salem.

This was my favorite tree. The one closest to Commercial Street. I felt really close to that tree. This is how I ended the "Outrage" report.

On a personal note… I took this photo of the beautiful Japanese Zelkova at the corner of Commercial and State Streets after telling the tree, “I promise that I will do everything I can to save your life.”

I kept that promise. Yet the tree still was killed. I’m deeply sorry for that. Call me crazy — I’ve been called worse — but I felt a strong connection with that tree. I still do. It was a friend of mine. I know this, because I’ve got tears in my eyes as I write these final words, and I don’t cry very often. Usually just when someone or something I love touches me.
         
        — Brian Hines

Memorial for a dead U.S. Bank tree

So, yeah, the needless destruction of the U.S. Bank trees was personal to me. I still feel sick every time I walk or drive by that part of State Street and see the small spindly replacement trees. Downtown Salem was much diminished when the mature Japanese Zelkovas were turned into stumps.

Partly because of Chuck Bennett. This is why I decided he deserved the "honor" of being the subject of the first Salem Political Snark post. What he did in 2013 should matter to voters in 2016. 

Below is a February 18, 2013 email sent by U.S. Bank president Allbritton to Public Works Director Fernandez.

Keep in mind that (1) Fernandez' order to cut down the trees was issued three weeks later on March 12, 2013; (2) the Shade Tree Advisory Committee which, at that time, made expert recommendations to Fernandez about street tree removals, had already said twice that the five U.S. Bank trees should be pruned, not removed, and (3) Fernandez tells Allbritton in his reply that supposedly he has "not yet made a final decision."

Download Allbritton email to Fernandez highlighted

click to enlarge

I've highlighted the most outrageous parts of Ryan Allbritton's email to Peter Fernandez. 

Lobbying behind the scenes. I spoke with several City Council members. Sure, we know this goes on at all levels of government. But City staff, such as Urban Forester Jan Staszewski, were telling me and others who were trying to save the Japanese Zelkovas that a decision to remove street trees was akin to approving an electrical permit: cut and dried, all aboveboard, nothing to see here.

Well, I've never heard of City Council members lobbying public officials to approve an electrical permit.

U.S. Bank made its formal pitch to the Shade Tree Advisory Committee to have the trees removed. Twice the committee said "prune, don't remove." After all, the trees weren't causing any problems that couldn't be fixed by pruning/trimming.

But the email I got from my public records request shows that City Council members -- including Warren Bednarz, who is running for re-election this year against Sally Cook -- had jumped into the tree removal process to lobby Fernandez to approve the bank's removal request. This should tick off the people who played by the rules and testified before the Shade Tree Advisory Commitee, figuring (correctly) this was how the City's tree ordinance said the process should go.

Bennett was even sneakier in his lobbying to have the trees removed. Chuck Bennett is a professional lobbyist. So this could explain why he told Allbritton that he didn't want to email Public Works Director Fernandez and City Manager Norris about his support for having the U.S. Bank trees removed. Paper trail!

(Of course, if Bennett had been really smart, he also would have told Allbritton not to write in an email about Bennett's desire to personally speak with Fernandez and Norris.)

Lots of people who lived and worked in Ward 1, the downtown area, were hugely upset that the trees might be killed. But instead of trying to save them, Bennett supported their removal, even indicating to bank president Allbritton that their removal was a "done deal." 

Wow. No wonder citizens lose faith in City government.

As noted above, they play by the rules. They go to hearings of committees that are supposed to help decide street tree removal decisions. They present expert testimony. They expect that what they say will be seriously considered by public officials. 

Yet Bennett tells Allbritton that three weeks before Fernandez has made a final decision about the trees, their removal is a "done deal." Sadly, Bennett was right. Bennett knew that behind the scenes, outside of public view, City officials had already decided that the trees were dead and gone.

Bennett and other city councilors knew about the backroom deal. Read my "Outrage" report to learn the details of the unethical deal Fernandez and Allbritton made to have the State Street trees removed three years before U.S. Bank applied for a permit to have them cut down. 

Allbritton speaks of this deal, saying he made sure to let Bennett and other city councilors "know of the agreement our company verbally made with city staff three years ago." Verbally. So no paper trail. Not the way things are supposed to work at the Salem City Hall.

(But I bet this kind of crap happens a lot, especially in the Public Works Department.)

Amazingly, neither City Councilor Nanke, nor Clem, nor Clausen, nor Bednarz, nor Bennett had any misgivings about City staff (a.k.a. Peter Fernandez) making a backroom deal to have the U.S. Bank trees removed three freaking years before the bank went through the formal application process for this to happen.

By New Jersey standards, this sort of sleaze would be viewed as business-as-usual, just the way things are done. Here in Oregon, though, hopefully we have higher standards. 

Picketers protesting removal of U.S. Bank trees

Voters have to decide how they feel about Chuck Bennett working to have the U.S. Bank trees cut down from behind the scenes, while many of his Ward 1 constituents were trying hard to save the trees through what they thought was a fair, open public process.

Salem Political Snark just tells it like it is. Salem citizens can take it from there.

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