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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
