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Silverton City Hall opening ceremony

Open house: Ceremony held to celebrate new City Hall in Silverton

By James Day On a warm Friday night a crowd of more than 100 people gathered to participate in a ceremony noting the new Silverton City Hall. The $19.5 million project replaces the City Hall about a half mile down Water Street. The old building is no longer big enough to accommodate city staff and it is seismically unsafe. A […]

The nearly completed Silverton City Hall. The city has scheduled an opening celebration for 6 p.m. on Friday, June 7. James Day

City Hall debut: Silverton civic building open for June 7 event

By James Day An opening celebration has been set for 6 p.m. Friday, June 7 for the new Silverton City Hall. The $19 million project is replacing the old City Hall about a half mile south on Water Street. The city has run out of room in the old building and it is seismically unsafe. The new structure will house […]

Parks presentation at Silverton Senior Center. Stephen Floyd

Park priorities – Silverton residents assess park plans, give feedback

By Stephen Floyd Trails, gathering spaces and family amenities were among priorities chosen by residents during a recent open house on proposed updates to Silverton’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Held Dec. 5 at the Silverton Senior Center, the event allowed residents to express the priorities they believe should guide the planning and funding of city parks in the coming […]

City of Silverton

Finalists: Three tour Silverton as council prepares to select new city manager

By James Day The Silverton City Council is in the home stretch in its effort to hire a new city manager. The council is seeking to replace Ron Chandler, who retired and moved to Utah in May. Councilors, who started with a batch of 27 applicants, have reduced that list to three, with the finalists introduced to the public on […]

First Citizen – Dana Smith honored for broad community commitment

By James Day With someone like Dana Smith you have to look below the surface and keep in mind the layers of community commitment. Yes, Smith has served in elected positions such as the Silver Falls School district board and her recent eight years on the Silverton City Council. But in the nomination form that elevated her to Silverton’s First […]

New to the team – Matt Gaitan joins Silverton City Council

By James Day Just like that, the Silverton City Council was whole again. New councilors Marie Traeger, April Newton and Eric Hammond were voted in on Nov. 8 to replace outgoing members Jim Sears, Dana Smith and Crystal Neideigh, with Jason Freilinger winning election as mayor, replacing Kyle Palmer. However, Freilinger’s ascension to the mayor’s post left his council seat […]

Silverton First Citizen event set for Feb. 25

By James Day Silverton’s First Citizen Gala is set for Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Oregon Garden’s J. Frank Schmidt Pavilion. This will be the 52nd time the Silverton Chamber of Commerce has honored the community’s top achievers in business, education, volunteering and community affairs. The event starts at 6 p.m. with social time, with the program itself starting at […]

New role, new faces – Mayor Freilinger, four new Silverton councilors

By James Day Silverton installed a new mayor and four new councilors on Monday, Jan. 9, signaling the beginning of a new political era in town. Jason Freilinger, who had served as council president, was sworn in as mayor, replacing Kyle Palmer, whose elected office experience dates to 2004. In addition, outgoing councilors Jim Sears, Dana Smith and Crystal Neideigh […]

Costs rising – Silverton council agrees on new spending for civic center

By James Day The City of Silverton has agreed to spend an additional $350,000 on “contract administration” costs for the civic center project. The Dec. 19 City Council session included a Zoom meeting with project/design consultants from Mackenzie and Compass Project Solutions. The consultants have spent just more than $250,000 in contract administration costs to date and recognized that they […]

Election 2022: New councilors – Hammond, Newton, Traeger cite communication challenges

By James Day Silverton will have four new councilors beginning in January. Eric Hammond, April Newton and Marie Traeger were elected to four-year terms in a seven-candidate field on Nov. 8 to replace retiring councilors Jim Sears, Dana Smith and Crystal Neideigh. In addition, current council president Jason Freilinger was elected to a two-year term as mayor, and one of […]

Mayor: Freilinger – Traeger, Newton, Hammond headed to Silverton council

By James Day Jason Freilinger, a 10-year city council veteran, has been elected Silverton mayor. Freilinger will replace Kyle Palmer, who has served as both a councilor and mayor since 2004. Palmer chose not to seek reelection. Although results have not been certified, Freilinger leads with 56.88% of the vote to 43.12% for planning commissioner Morry Jones.  Jones already has […]

Election 2022: Freilinger elected mayor; Traeger, Newton, Hammond lead for council

By James Day Ten-year Silverton City Council member Jason Freilinger appears to be on his way to being elected the town’s mayor.  Freilinger, a financial services officer and this term’s council president, was leading corporate executive Morry Jones by nearly 450 votes, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night by Marion County. Freilinger had 1,896 votes (56.66%), with Jones at […]

Slew of candidates – Seven contend for City Council seats in Silverton

By James Day There will be a distinct changing of the guard for the Silverton City Council come next term. That’s because there will be three and perhaps four new councilors when the session begins in January. Incumbent councilors Jim Sears, Dana Smith and Crystal Neideigh all chose not to seek re-election to new four-year terms. In addition, Council President […]

Voters to decide – Candidate forum set for Silverton council, mayor races

By James Day The Silverton Chamber of Commerce is hosting an election forum on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at the Oregon Garden. The noon luncheon event ($15 for chamber members and $20 for non-members) will take place at the education building, which is just across from the visitor center entry gate. Go to https://business.silvertonchamber.org/events/details/silverton-candidate-forum-20009 to register. Invited to participate will be […]

Detectable – Silverton wastewater data on COVID-19 presence open to public

By Brenna Wiegand In some ways more telling than tracked test results, the prevalence of COVID-19 in a community may be seen in its wastewater. Though Silverton has been taking samples and sending them to Oregon State University’s School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering twice a week for about a year, only lately have the ongoing results been made […]

Race takes shape – Silverton leadership set for changes

By James Day Silverton government will present a slightly different face in 2023. Mayor Kyle Palmer, a Silverton political fixture since 2004, is not running for re-election. Veteran councilor Jason Freilinger and local businessman Morry Jones have filed for the race to replace Palmer. Meanwhile, the six-person City Council will see at least one change and perhaps more. Two-term councilor […]

Four key posts on Silverton ballot in November

Candidate packets are now available for municipal positions in Silverton that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. Voters will cast ballots for mayor, with Kyle Palmer already having announced he will not seek a new two-year term, and three councilor seats. The four-year Silverton City Council seats currently held by Dana Smith, Jim Sears and Crystal Neideigh also will […]

Decision 2014: Silverton council candidates

Our Town asked candidates five questions focused on the challenges the Silverton City Council will face over the next four years. The questions, below, are each identified by a key word. 1. FUNDING: How will we fund needed construction, reconstruction and major repairs to our infrastructure?  Most of the city’s facilities are aging and in urgent need of replacement or […]

Reasons to run: Silverton candidates put demeanor, fiscal issues at top of list

Editor’s note: Our Town reporter Don Murtha interviewed the seven candidates competing on the Nov. 6 ballot for three seats on the Silverton City Council. This contains more information than the Oct. 15 print edition. By Don Murtha Ron Butcher  If elected, Ron Butcher said he would address citizens’ concerns including establishing a balanced budget, keeping the swimming pool open and […]