I'm either mellowing out politically in my increasingly old age or have a brain tumor that's preventing me from being my usual fanatically pro-Democrat, pro-progressive self when it comes to local races here in Salem for Mayor and City Council. Heck, let's throw in Salem-Keizer school board elections also.
Since I seem to be normal in other regards, leaving aside the difficulty of defining "normal," I'm going to go with the mellowing out option rather than the brain tumor option.
What led me to say this?
Well, it was looking over the Salem Reporter story by Rachel Alexander and Abbey McDonald, "Here's who qualified for the Salem city ballot." The mayor gets elected every two years, and the eight city councilors have four-year terms, so that means five races -- mayor and four councilors -- are on the ballot every two years.
This coming May is when most races are decided on Oregon's primary date. If a candidate gets 50% plus one vote, bingo, they're elected. If no candidate hits that mark, a runoff happens in November.
This year three city councilors aren't running for election, so a newcomer will fill those seats. Here's the names of those who will be on the ballot.
Mayor: Chris Hoy, incumbent, and Councilor Julie Hoy (unrelated to each other)
Ward 1: Celine Coleman and Paul Tigan (Virginia Stapleton isn't seeking reelection)
Ward 3: Shane Matthews and Nathan Soltz (Trevor Phillips isn't seeking reelection)
Ward 5: Michael Hoselton and Irvin Brown (Jose Gonzalez isn't seeking reelection)
Ward 7: Vanessa Nordyke (seeking reelection and has no opponent)
Now, I'm a member of Progressive Salem, which has endorsed five candidates: Chris Hoy, Paul Tigan, Nathan Soltz, Irvin Brown, and Vanessa Nordyke. I'd like them to win, being part of my political "tribe." They're also well qualified.
Usually the Salem Chamber of Commerce, through its Build Jobs PAC, endorses candidates other than those supported by Progressive Salem. Given our divisive politics these days, that's the way things usually work: progressives battle conservatives, even though the Mayor and City Council races are nominally nonpartisan.
What struck me, though, looking through the names and backgrounds of the candidates in the Salem Reporter story, is that I'm not familiar with six of the nine candidates. Chris Hoy, Julie Hoy, and Vanessa Nordyke -- yes, I'm acquainted with them and their politics.
But the other six are new to me. I've met Nathan Soltz, and he seemed like a great guy. I just don't know much about him.
That seemed refreshing to me, how I wasn't able to categorize them as conservative or progressive without looking at the Progressive Salem endorsements. This is the way most local races used to be, way back when, before national politics trickled down into every level of elections, even for city councils.
After all, most of the issues facing the mayor and city councilors aren't inherently political.
They have to do with zoning, land use approvals, funding city programs, and such. Sure, major issues like Salem's Climate Action Plan and the ill-fated employee payroll tax proposal have political overtones, since progressives love reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conservatives love low taxes.
It just would be nice if my possibly impossible dream could come true: we reach a point where what matters isn't whether a candidate for mayor or city council is progressive or conservative, but what their qualifications are.
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