Salem in 1996

World Events

• Iraq's known biological warfare resources are destroyed as part of the UNSCOM supervision, but many sites are not opened for inspection.
• Palestinian and Israeli governments recognize the existence of each.
• President Bill Clinton signs the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban at the UN and the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments.
• After 35 people are killed in Port Arthur, Australia, the government bans private possession of automatic and semi-automatic rifles, offering a buy-back program. ( No Australian mass killing for 20+ years.)
• In Montana, the "Unabomber" who engaged in mail bombing for nearly 20 years, killing three people and injuring 23 others, is arrested.  At Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, a bombing kills 1 and injures 111.
• An E Coli strain of infection kills 6,000 people in Japan.
• Amber Hagerman, 9 -year old murder victim, becomes the namesake of the Amber Alert System. 6-year old JonBenet Ramsay is found murdered: a case that remains unsolved.
• In Chicago, after a 3 year-old boy falls into a deep gorilla enclosure, a female gorilla, Binti Jua, sits with the injured boy until his rescue.
• "Toy Story" is first computer animated, feature film. Academy Awards:"The English Patient" (US) "Kolya" (Czech Republic). Prize-winning Books: Ship Fever and Other Stories, Andrea Barrett and Independence Day, Richard Ford.

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In Salem
This year the residents adopted a new Charter. The charter establishes a form of city government and functions much like the Constitution. The Territorial Legislature of Oregon granted Salem's first charter in 1957 and the Oregon State Legislature granted the city's charter under statehood in 1860, after a three-year political struggle. One of the most vocal opponents was Asahel Bush, publisher of the Salem's Oregon Statesman newspaper. The Legislative charter was amended many times over the next 136 years. Meanwhile, the citizens adopted the "Home Rule" amendment to the state constitution, making it possible for local voters to charter their own city.amen to state made it possible for a city to obtain a Home Rule Charter that could be adopted by the voters of the community. Salem finally adopted a Home Rule charter in 1996. The charter, however, did not fundamentally alter the city's form of government. The elected Mayor and Council, who serve without pay, appoint the City Manager. The City Manager hires (and can discharge) the other salaried staff members.
Our city government meets in the Council Chamber of the Civic Center, seen above. The large screen, which can be rolled up, is used for Power Point presentations by speakers who stand at the podium to the left foreground (or one out of sight to the right). In the front of the chamber are three seats. From left: the City Attorney, to make sure the legal provisions of the Charter are followed; the Mayor who conducts the meeting, is a Council member-at-large; and the City Manager who is responsible for carrying out the decisions of the Council. To each side sit the Councilors, the legislators, one from each of our eight Wards. The row of seats in the foreground of the photograph is for those Department staff representatives present to give information on an item being considered. During the Budget Sessions, those 9 committee members sit here. Where the photographer is standing there is a podium for the Recorder, who keeps an electronic tape of the proceedings, and spaces for media representatives. Seats along each side are for residents and visitors.

When you visit
One of the interesting features of the Chamber is the wall of proclamations, testimonials and gifts to the city. The Chamber meetings are always open to the public and residents are invited to attend. If one wishes to speak on a subject being discussed, there is a sign-up sheet by each entrance and copies of the agenda. Testimony is limited to three minutes, but councilors may ask questions, giving an opportunity to extend the conversation as needed. The meetings are conducted in a friendly, congenial manner and everyone is welcome. They are held at 6:30 on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. The meetings are also broadcast on CCTV.

Other events

• Mike Swaim is elected as Mayor and will hold the office until 2002. Asked about his goals for Salem, he replied: "What would I wish for our community, if I can motivate both the people and our elected representatives? It would be nothing less than what drew me, and probably you, to Salem to begin with: a community where open space is in abundance; where there is plenty of clean water for both people and industry; where history is valued; where crime is managed within tolerable limits; where the quality of life in each of our neighborhoods is elevated above expediency; where youth are supported; and where every member in the community is valued on the basis of the content of their character."
• A flood this year brought the Willamette River to a height of 35.9 feet, causing water damage to structures along the shoreline, and especially to residences in Keizer. Previous high water measurements were in 1964 (37.7'), 1880 (43.3'), 1890 (45.1') and both 1891 and 1861 (47.') High water in Mill Creek created major erosion n the North Santiam River that affected Salem's water supply for several months. Volunteers saved the new West Salem Branch Library by hastily boxing up books and equipment, and loading them into two large moving vans that moved to higher ground. The flood waters temporarily reached as much as three feet above the floor level of the library.
• The first phase of Riverfront Park opened on 23 acres in the Riverfront Downtown Urban Renewal Area along the east side of the Willamette River (not during the flood, fortunately). This was former industrial property owned by Boise Cascade.
• Salem's roots in the lumber and textile industries gradually gave way to high technology. In 1989, Siltec, a computer chip manufacturer, established a facility. By 1996, the facility had grown to more than one million square feet of manufacturing and had been renamed Mitsubishi Silicon America.
• Salem residents had their first opportunity to vote-by-mail for federal elections.
• During the 1996-97 school year a second courtyard at Waldo Middle School continued an earlier transformation in landscaping. Wes Niemela and a group of students and staff had worked for two years to collect plants from the forests around Salem and from Mr. Niemela’s garden. The courtyard garden is still a centerpiece of the school. This year, science teacher Mike Weddle and the Roots and Shoots/Leo Club are responsible for creating a second native Oregon species courtyard complete with a pond, waterfall, native Oregon trees, plants, and animals.

Salem in 1982

World Events

• Canada's Constitution Act severs political ties to Great Britain and establishes a Bill of Rights.
• British territory, the Falklands islands, is invaded by Argentina. Two months later, the Argentines surrender to British forces.
• The Vietnam Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. The eye-level, marble panels list names of 58,000 Americans who died or are MIA in combat that ended in 1975.
• An Air Florida flight crashes into Washington, DC 14th Street Bridge, killing 78. The same day, a Washington Metro train derails and 3 passengers die.
• Princess Grace dies in Monaco when the car she is driving summersaults over a cliff.
• Three deaths near Chicago are traced to poison inserted in Tylenol capsules, criminal never identified.  Tamper-proof, sealed tops now protect consumers of foods and medicines.
• The Commodore 64 8-bit home computer is released, becoming the best-selling computer model. The first computer virus is found, infecting Apple II via floppy disk.  Sony launches first CD player.
• "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" is released in movie theaters.  The Academy Awards: "Gandhi"(US), "To Begin Again" (Spain). Prize-winning Book: Rabbit is Rich, John Updike.

In Salem
Keizer is incorporated as a city in this year. Many times the City of Salem tried to annex the growing community adjacent to its city limits. Beginning in 1964, a number of Keizer residents tried to convince the others that it would be cheaper and better to form their own city. It was not until November 2, 1982, when, with the support of the nearby Clear Lake, residents voted to make Keizer a city.

The original settlement was at Keizer Bottom, near the banks of the Willamette River. The community was named after Thomas Dove Keizur, one of its first settlers. Somewhere in the translation of donation land claim records, his name was misspelled. The settlement suffered in the flood of 1861, and the inhabitants rebuilt their homes on higher ground. Other early settlers of the area were the John Zieber family, whose home was on Clear Lake, St. Paul Road. Zieber bought rights to the property in 1854 and completed the claim. Part of the house was originally a log cabin built in the late 1840s. He was the maternal grandfather of A.N. Bush, who used to stay there as a boy. Stuart Bush demolished the house in the late 1940s to replace it with a modern dwelling.

When you visit
The annual Iris Festival takes place in May and showcases Keizer's iris-growing industry. The festival was founded by Schreiner's Iris Gardens, one of the country's largest retail iris growers, and has been facilitated by the Keizer Chamber of Commerce since 1987. Events include a carnival, a beer garden, craft and food vendors, a 5k walk/run, a vintage car show, and a parade.
The Keizer Heritage Museum is inside the Keizer Heritage Community Center (above), which was formerly the 1916 Keizer School. The original location was the northwest corner of North River and Chemewa Roads, now Schoolhouse Square, a shopping mall. With city support through urban renewal funds and generous contributions of volunteer time and money, the building was moved between 1996-9. It has been completely restored and is the only public historic building in Keizer. Other tenants of the building include the Keizer Community Library, the Keizer Art Association and gallery, and the Keizer Chamber of Commerce.

Other events

• Susan Miller, our first female mayor, is elected. In an interview for Salemhistory website, she attributed her successful campaign to the incredible commitment of hundreds of campaign volunteers and the campaign’s ability to excite Salem citizens about the community’s future. Her accomplishments as mayor included her efforts to acquire 22 acres of waterfront property on the Willamette River, known today as Riverfront Park. On an international level, sister-city relations were established with Simferopol in the then Soviet Union and with Kawagoe in Japan.
• Governor Atiyeh dedicates the new pagoda/bandstand in Willson Park. This new structure is similar to the original bandstand given by Joseph H. Albert. His home was on Winter Street, just across Court Street from the park.

Former First National Bank

• The imposing First National Bank at Chemeketa and Liberty Streets, designed by Pietro Belluschi, becomes the First Interstate Bank. This institution closed in 1996 and it has remained empty. The owners, wishing to demolish this prominent building in the Salem Historic Downtown Historic District, obtained permission from the Historic Landmarks Commission. The architects presented plans for new mixed-use development that would include the lot to east where the former City Hall stood. By 2014, the project had not begun.

• After 1982, housing developments took over most of the land in south Salem formerly used for prune orchards. Salem's involvement with prunes was chiefly with Italian, or "purple plum," prunes. In the depression of the 1930's, these canned prunes were the cheapest fruit one could buy, but in later years the market swung to pears and peaches, and fewer prunes were canned in Salem depressing the value of the orchards. Many residential homesteads in the Morningside neighborhood contain at least one old tree to recall the orchard that thrived there.
• The YWCA receives the Salem Human Rights Award for its work with Southeast Asian refugees.
• Mission Mill Museum Association and Salem Art Association enter an agreement to turn the mill into a center for research and development of textiles known as Northwest Textile Center.
• As enrollment grew at Chemeketa Community College, so did the number of programs offered. In the eight years between 1974 and 1982, the campus added six new buildings to house the growing enrollment and the new programs. To better serve the district's population, the Dallas, Santiam, McMinnville and Woodburn campuses were established.
• Waldo Middle School, in the Lansing neighborhood, was selected to pilot computer assisted instruction at the middle school level, receiving four Apple II+ computers, the first in the district. Apple distributed many computers to schools across the nation at this time, fostering a loyalty among teachers that continues thirty years later.
• The Statesman Journal records that Ernest Clark, Sr., Salem's oldest native-born son, rode as Grand Marshall in the city's celebration of the 125th anniversary of its founding by Methodist missionaries.