The entire Keizer City Council met on Nov. 6 to put forth a series of proclamations this month as well as discuss and vote on a series of resolutions involving the peer court, the Keizer police, the various volunteer committees as well as joining a lawsuit against large cable franchises.
The night began with a proclamation honoring members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians and making November Native American Heritage Month.
The council also honored civil rights icon Ruby Bridges with a “walk to school” day on Nov. 14, where families, the Keizer police and the community will walk together to school to commemorate the walk Bridges made to school during a time of virulent, institiontional racism.
The last proclamation established Nov. 25 as Small Business Saturday in an effort to acknowledge and highlight the town’s support for small businesses in the community.
The first order of business involved a series of positions that were unanimously approved for two town committees. Matthew Stalheim captured position #1 on the Budget Committee and Clayton Rushton, David Louden and Bob Shackelford attained positions # 4, 5 and 6 on the Parks Advisory Board respectively.
Two public comments were made by residents in regards to having flashing speed signs placed on Alder Dr. NE. The speed signs were noted to have been discussed by the council with a decision to place them coming at the next meeting on Nov. 20.
Another comment about an event at the Keizer Heritage Center was made, highlighting that renowned Native story-teller Ed Edmo would performing on Nov 17, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. on the 17 and 18 and 2:30 p.m. on the 19.
The council discussed and voted on whether to award interim Peer Court Coordinator Emily Carter the position she was filling, removing the competitive bidding aspect for the position.
Councilor Soraida Cross questioned Assistant City Manger Tim Wood about the position, its tenure as a well as the pool of applicants. She requested more information on the matter to aid in making better decisions and noted how important having relevant information about something is before ruling on it. The resolution was passed unanimously.
The next resolution dealt with the Keizer Police’s request to purchase a Thermo Scientific Trunarc Handheld Narcotics analyzer for $26,768.26. With an annual warranty cost of $1,890, the device would decrease the amount of time testing illicit drugs takes for law enforcement.
The funding comes from the police’s asset forfeiture fund which is specifically for law enforcement to help deal with drug-related crime.
Councilor Laura Reid asked about a training component and software updates for the device. Chief Copeland responded that the device was user-friendly and directions could be found in the manual and on the social networking site