I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the following email from the Keep Salem Safe campaign, which is backing the poorly-planned, way-over-priced $82 million police facility bond measure on the November ballot.
Turns out my eyes were OK, because the Statesman Journal endorsed Measure 24-399 was a falsehood.
I know, because the Statesman Journal editorial page editor, Dick Hughes, told me yesterday that the newspaper hasn't made any endorsements yet. I've told Hughes and the rest of the editorial board that I and others involved with the Salem Can Do Better campaign look forward to meeting with the board to present our arguments for a NO vote.
It bothers me, as it should bother everybody in Salem, that the Keep Salem Safe folks, along with the Chamber of Commerce's Build Jobs PAC backing them, would say something that isn't true.
And this couldn't have been an innocent mistake -- claiming that they had "exciting news" about the Statesman Journal endorsing Measure 24-399 -- because anybody who read the editorial that the link circled in red above leads to would know otherwise.
The editorial, "Salem police deserve better than lowest common denominator," didn't urge a yes vote on the bond measure. Also, it only talked about earthquake preparedness, and did this in a very confusing way, failing to make clear that the issue is whether the lives of everybody who works at or visits City Hall and the Library should be saved when the Big One earthquake hits, not just the lives of Police Department employees.
Here's a video I made that explains this:
Along with others supporting the Salem Can Do Better campaign that's urging a NO vote on Measure 24-399, I'll keep fact-checking dubious statements put out by the proponents of this $82 million boondoggle.
Political campaigns -- whether local, state, or national -- should use sound facts and reasoning to make arguments for their side.
When a campaign resorts to falsehoods, as Keep Salem Safe did when they wrongly claimed that the Statesman Journal had endorsed Measure 24-399, this is an indication that facts support the other side.
For five good reasons to vote NO on the $82 million police facility bond measure, head to the Salem Can Do Better site. Or click on the image below.
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