Residents of Ward 7 in south Salem will have a clear choice in the May 2020 primary election, when they'll vote on who should be their city councilor following the resignation of Sally Cook.
Vanessa Nordyke, a progressive like Cook, was appointed recently by the City Council to serve as the Ward 7 councilor for the rest of Cook's term, which runs until December 31, 2020. She will be on the May 2020 ballot.
Reid Sund, a conservative, has announced that he also is running to be the Ward 7 councilor.
Since Ward 7 went for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a 50 to 36 margin in the 2016 presidential election, Sund is facing an uphill battle to win hearts and minds in this progressive-leaning part of town.
Here's some information gleaned from Sund's Facebook feed and other sources that shows how right-wing and voting-apathetic he is.
Sund doesn't vote regularly.
Since 2016, Reid Sund has only bothered to vote four times. He did not vote in the Ward 7 City Councilor race in May, 2016, the position he now wants to hold.
He did not bother to vote on Ballot Measure 101 in January 2018 that funded Medicaid expansion even though he worked at Salem Health. He did not bother to vote in the bond election to fund a seismic upgrade of the Salem Public Library. He did not bother to vote in the most recent Salem-Keizer School Board election.
He voted in these elections:
November 6, 2016 General Election (President, Congress, State)
May 6, 2017 District Election (School Board, Police Station Bond)
May 15, 2018 Primary Election (County Commissioner, School Bond)
November 6, 2018 General Election (Governor, State, County Commissioner, Measures)
He did not vote in these elections:
May 17, 2016 Primary Election (City Council, County Commissioner, Primary)
November 7, 2017 Special Election (Library Bond Measure)
January 23, 2018 Statewide Election (Assessment to Fund Health Care)
May 21, 2019 Special District Election (School Board)
Sund doesn't want Salem to reduce carbon poilution via a Climate Action Plan.The context for the following Facebook post is that the City Budget Committee Sund served on debated funding for a Climate Action Plan (it ultimately was funded for $50,000 thanks to Councilor Tom Andersen).
There was never a suggestion that the funding be taken from the Salem Police Department, so Sund talked nonsense when he claimed the choice was between funding police or climate action.
Sund favored the unsuccessful 2019 effort to recall Governor Kate Brown. The recall attempt was based on Brown's support of legislation that Republicans didn't like, not on any wrongdoing by Brown.
Sund supported the 2019 walkout of Republicans in the state Senate. The Republicans staged the walkout to block passage of legislation aimed at increasing clean energy jobs in Oregon, and reducing carbon pollution.
Sund was against more money for Oregon schools.
Sund supported the controversial relocation of Costco. The Costco development was opposed by the South Gateway Neighborhood Association and most members of the City Council.
On a lighter note... Reid Sund does take his Facebook middle name seriously. Or at least, seriously enough to wear a way-cool halfway-husked corn outfit.
Thank you for laying out all of the reasons to Vote for Sund.
I hadn't really paid that much attention but you made it pretty clear:
Sund, all the way!!
Posted by: Skyline | November 10, 2019 at 06:44 PM