Cara Kaser won't seek reelection to her Ward 1 City Council seat

Big breaking local political news today from the Salem Reporter's Troy Brynelson: "Kaser won't seek second term on Salem City Council."

Citing major changes with both her family and her career, Councilor Cara Kaser told Salem Reporter on Saturday morning she won’t seek a second term as one of the city’s nine policymakers. Her term expires Dec. 31, 2020.

“Serving my community these past three years as a city councilor has been both one of the most important duties I have ever taken on and one of the most important honors I have ever been afforded,” she said. “Additionally, it is one of the most demanding and rewarding volunteer positions I have ever encountered.”

Her decision means there will be at least three new councilors elected next year. Brad Nanke, 60, won’t seek re-election after nearly two decades representing southeast Salem. Meanwhile, Vanessa Nordyke represents southwest Salem on an interim basis after Sally Cook resigned in September.

Prospective councilors have until March 10 to collect signatures and file to run for office. The primary is slated for May 19.

...Kaser plans to endorse Virginia Stapleton to replace her. Kaser said Stapleton would help steer the city on issues related to homelessness, fixing sidewalks, planning for a third bridge and planning for climate change.

I suspect that Kaser's decision not to seek a second term will encourage the Chamber of Commerce and others who detest the current 6-3 progressive majority on the City Council to put more effort and money into the races for the three open positions.

(Though Nordyke is currently a council member, she was appointed by the council after Cook resigned, so she hasn't been elected yet.)

Some Googling revealed that Virginia Stapleton, who Kaser is endorsing to replace her, is a member of the Budget Committee for the Salem-Keizer School District. Otherwise, I don't know anything about her background. Almost certainly she shares Kaser's views on key local policies.

Kaser, along with Cook and Nanke, deserve a lot of thanks for their service on the City Council -- especially since the Mayor and eight councilors aren't paid for the large amount of time they put in.

While this would be controversial, it's past time for the council to seriously consider budgeting money for a monthly stipend that would enable more people to run for Mayor or a council seat. Last year Councilor Tom Andersen proposed this, as noted in another Salem Reporter story, "Councilor proposes paying Salem's elected officials monthly stipend."

Many other Oregon cities pay elected officials a stipend, but not Salem. Councilor Tom Andersen believes that could be a problem.

Andersen last week filed a motion to give eight councilors and the mayor a monthly stipend as demands grow for Salem’s elected officials. The amounts and how they would be paid are up for discussion, but the motion does suggest councilors should not be paid more than $2,000 per month, and the mayor $2,500 per month.

...“The only people you have on council are either retired, independently wealthy, working for government agencies … or people who are self-employed, like myself,” said Andersen, noting government agencies offer flexible hours.

Andersen, a self-employed employment lawyer, said the city is hampered in getting a more representative council.

Comments

[Kurt]

The real estate industry and the Chamber will blame the "liberals" for the 3rd bridge fiasco (not their fault) and the PacWest fiasco (not their fault) as part of their strategy to convince an uninformed public to allow them to recover the power that they have recently lost.
Unless the humanists put their money and their efforts where their ideals are, the experienced politicos will create a storyline that will go essentially unchallenged. Salem Weekly is no more.
Life in the trenches can be quite brutal. The loss of Cook and Kaser is troubling.
Hopefully, in the future, there will be "liberals" on Council that don't have to have the determination and stamina of lawyers to survive.
I am not optimistic. When Council direction changed in 2001, the left just rolled over and watched as everything they worked for was taken away. Not a peep. So polite.

[Jim Scheppke]

Because part of Councilor Kaser's ward is in West Salem ("the flats") she was beat up pretty badly by the pro-3rd Bridge advocates led by the Evans brothers. They said she "betrayed" her constituents in West Salem with her opposition to the bridge. In fact she was standing up for her constituents, particularly in the Highland neighborhood on the east side of the river and in the Edgewater district on the westside. The "Salem River Crossing" plans indicated that approximately 100 homes and businesses, mostly in those locations, would be "displaced" by the project. That's a polite term for "bulldozed." The project would have also done great harm to Wallace Marine Park. Kaser's constituents owe her a great debt of gratitude for helping to prevent this terrible destruction of their neighborhoods and their park.