Salem Political Snark

Councilor Warren Bednarz voted himself a 30% irrigation rate reduction. Twice.

Here's another twist in the Creekside Golf Course water rate reduction scandal: City Councilor Warren Bednarz, a member of the City of Salem Water-Wastewater Task Force, repeatedly voted to give himself a 30% reduction on his irrigation bill.

Now, if you're thinking, Aren't elected officials supposed to recuse themselves from votes that would give them a private financial benefit?, congratulations. That's the correct thought. 

But someone who listened to recordings of the Water-Wastewater Task Force meetings has learned that not once, but twice, Bednarz admitted that he owned commercial irrigated property which would benefit from the 30% rate reduction he voted "Yes" on.

At the July 14 meeting, Councilor Bednarz admitted that he had a conflict of interest:

First off, before the meeting began I mentioned that I have two meters that are “irrigation only” so I am least a little privy to the five months, four months, three months a year, turn it off.

Yet later in that meeting Bednarz voted for a recommendation that would reduce the water rate for all irrigators by about 30%. Amazingly, apparently no one else on the Task Force thought it was unseemly for Councilor Bednarz to be voting for a water rate reduction that would personally benefit him.

Well, more than unseemly, since state law requires that a public official declare a conflict of interest on an issue that would give the official a "private pecuniary [monetary] benefit." Then the official isn't supposed to vote on that issue.

But Bednarz didn't declare a conflict of interest, and he did vote to recommend the 30% irrigator rate reduction. 

At the Task Force's next meeting on July 28, Bednarz again spoke about how he is one of 670 irrigators, as is the Creekside Golf Club. Referring to Peter Fernandez, the City of Salem Public Works Director, Bednarz said:

Peter, I am two of those 670 meters. I have two of them. I’m not looking for a rate reduction. There’s no reason. Two or three hundred a month isn’t going to kill me. So I still think that a classification based on something is a way that we can get around this policy-wise.

Once again, Bednarz didn't declare a conflict of interest. This time he voted against the irrigator rate reduction.

A few weeks later, though, on August 11, my source tells me that Councilor Bednarz seemingly voted with all of the other members of the Task Force (except Councilor Brad Nanke, who voted "no")  to support the 30% rate reduction for irrigators. This is what the audiotape of the August 11 shows; no written minutes of the meeting are available yet.

Earlier this year Bednarz was hit with two ethics complaints for the very same thing: failing to declare a conflict of interest on issues that would benefit members of his family. So it appears that Councilor Bednarz still feels that he is above the law in this regard.

Fortunately for the citizens of Salem, last May Bednarz was soundly defeated by challenger Sally Cook in his City Council re-election bid. 

Here's my previous posts about the sleazy Creekside Golf Course goings-on:

Crony capitalism on display in Creekside Golf Course water rate giveaway

Follow the money: Creekside Golf Course "IrriGate" scandal

More disturbing revelations about Creekside Golf Course water scandal

Water rate giveaway to Creekside Golf Course affirmed by City of Salem committee

Progressive candidates win Salem City Council races. The Oligarchy weeps.

"The oligarchy is dead," a friend said to me tonight at Shotski's Woodfired Pizza as we applauded Sally Cook's decisive Ward 7 victory over current City Councilor Warren Bednarz -- who was endorsed by the Salem Chamber of Commerce and other special interests. 

The Marion County Democrats put on a Primary Election Night party. Even though the races for Salem Mayor and four City Council seats are nominally non-partisan, everyone knew that the battle for the contested seats was between the Progressives and the Establishment, a.k.a. the Oligarchy.

With most of the votes in, it looks like the Oligarchy lost 3-1. 

Chuck Bennett, the Chamber of Commerce's pick for Mayor, beat progressive Carole Smith. But each of the City Council candidates backed by Progressive Salem came away winners: Cara Kaser beat Jan Kailuweit in Ward 1; Matt Ausec is beating Tiffany Partridge in Ward 5; Sally Cook beat Warren Bednarz in Ward 7.

I'm really happy that three out of the four creative, innovative, forward-looking candidates appear to have won. Here's Cara Kaser celebrating her victory. She's going to be a hugely better representative of the citizens in Ward 1, which includes Salem's downtown, than Chuck Bennett.

Bennett, who vastly outspent his opponent owing to his support from special interest PACs (political action committees), faces an interesting two year term as Mayor. 

He got the Chamber of Commerce endorsement because he repeated the "jobs, jobs, jobs" mantra that the Salem Oligarchy likes.

And he favors the unneeded billion dollar Third Bridge that promises to enrich developers and construction companies while taking big bucks out of the pockets of ordinary citizens (get ready for a $1.50 toll each way on the current bridges and new bridge if Bennett gets his way; plus a property tax and gas tax also will be levied to pay for this boondoggle). 

Yet Bennett will have to deal with four progressives on the nine-member Salem City Council: newly-elected Kaser, Ausec, and Cook, plus current councilor Tom Andersen. Also, I've heard progressives say that they think Bennett will show his liberal side once he becomes Mayor.

So Chuck Bennett is going to have to tread a delicate line between irritating the Chamber/Oligarchy types who supplied the big bucks to get him elected, and the Progressive types who obviously are on the upswing in Salem -- given the outcome of the three contested City Council races: wins for Kaser, Ausec, and Cook.

(As I write this at 10 pm on election night, Matt Ausec is only leading Tiffany Partridge by 94 votes, with one precinct in his ward not reporting; but since that precinct probably has about 250 votes total, it's unlikely that Partridge can beat him. Here's a photo of Ausec, on the left, outside Shotski's, listening to Progressive Salem leader Tina Calos and others discussing the first batch of election results that had him ahead.)

The defeat of Councilor Warren Bednarz by Sally Cook is especially satisfying for me and other progressives. And, I'd expect, especially disturbing for the Salem Oligarchy. Bednarz not only was an incumbent, he had the backing of the Chamber of Commerce and other special interests. 

And Bednarz didn't only lose. He was crushed.

With six of the seven precincts in Ward 7 reporting (see p. 22), Cook is leading 61% to 39%. This is a sign that progressives are on the march in Salem. People Power won over Money Power in this election, as it hopefully will in 2018 and beyond. 

I'll end with an observation about turnout. 

With 84% of the precincts reporting in the city-wide Mayor's race, it looks like the final voter participation rate will be around 43%. Bennett is winning over Smith 61% to 38%. Thus he is the choice of 61% of 43% or so of the registered voters, which means about 26% of potential voters are electing Bennett. 

The best way to reassure citizens that elections truly reflect the voice of the people is to have almost everybody vote. Voting rates vary widely in different parts of Salem. In North Salem's Ward 5, the Ausec-Patridge race, it looks like only about 30% of registered voters are going to cast a ballot. 

Sure, I'm happy that it looks like Progressive Salem candidate Ausec is going to win.

But I'd be even happier if he was elected by more than 16% or so of the registered voters in his ward (53% of 30%, or thereabouts). There's got to be a way to get people in the lower-income areas of Salem more engaged in local politics and elections. 

If the Chamber of Commerce really wanted to show that it is more than a special interest lobbying group, it would join forces with Progressive Salem and other civic organizations in an Everybody Counts in Salem movement -- an effort to bring people currently being left out of this town's political life into the citizen participation mainstream.

There was buzz among the liberals at tonight's Marion County Democrats election party when Dan Clem, CEO of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, showed up at Shotski's. Not at a table reserved for party participants (there was a $10 donation requested), but at a table elevated above the main floor.

Kind of fitting for a leading member of the Salem Oligarchy. But today's election reduced the power of the Oligarchy considerably, which is highly positive for ordinary people in this town.

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.)