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City of Silverton

Former Mayor Palmer joins Silverton council race

By James Day Two sitting Silverton councilors will be joined by a long-time city political figure in this fall’s election. Incumbent Council President Elvi Cuellar Sutton and Matt Gaitan, who was appointed to a seat by the council after the 2022 election, have been joined in the 2024 race by Kyle Palmer, whose history as an elected official goes back […]

PFLAG Silverton

Picnic helps launch new PFLAG chapter

By Stephen Floyd A local chapter of national LGBTQ+ advocacy group PFLAG has opened in Silverton, with a Pride Family Picnic scheduled for June 22 at Coolidge McClaine Park to help kick off the group. In a May 15 press release, local organizers said the goal was to promote PFLAG’s work of “creating a caring, just, and affirming world for […]

The new Silverton Civic Center will not open until early next year, city officials reported at Aug. 7 City Council meeting. James Day

Delayed completion – Silverton Civic Center opening pushed into 2024

By James Day The new Silverton Civic Center likely will not be fully occupied until January 2024 after some unexpected complications hit the project. The $19.5 million facility, which will hold most city staff as well as the police department, originally was scheduled for completion in July 2023. Aug. 7 the Silverton City Council was told that substantial completion of […]

Closing time – Silverton’s Palace Theatre shuts down (again)

By James Day The iconic Palace Theatre (spelled “Theater” in recent years) in Silverton has shut down and its future is up in the air. Erik and Rachelle Gonterman, who have operated the theater since 2020, are engaged in an acrimonious dispute with the landlord, Marjorie Eng, and when their contractual obligation to show Avatar: The Way of Water ended […]

Silverton Mayor’s Ball returns Oct. 22

Silverton Mayor Kyle Palmer is reviving the Mayors Ball fundraiser on Oct. 22. It is believed that this will be the first time the event has been held in a decade. The Portland-based oldies band Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts, long-time musical performers for the ball, will be on hand for the show, which runs from 7 to 11 p.m. […]

Silverton residents will vote on renewing pool levy

By James Day Silverton voters will once again be asked to decide on a local option tax levy to support the Silverton Community Swimming Pool. Voters first approved a ten-year obligation bond for major pool renovations and improvements in 2002. Since then voters have passed a pair of five-year local option property tax levies that raise $275,000 annually for operations […]

Out of the running: Silverton Mayor Kyle Palmer won’t seek re-election

By James Day Kyle Palmer, who has been a fixture in Silverton community affairs for most of this century, is retiring from the political arena. Palmer, who is midway through his second full term as mayor, announced Jan. 30 via social media that he is retiring from elected office at the end of this term. Palmer also answered questions from […]

A letter to Stu – Former mayor led the way

Dear Stu, Well, you did it! Congratulations! You lived your life start to finish, front to back, side to side the way you saw fit. You were way ahead of your time. You knew it from day one. Your overall general intelligence far exceeded that of many of us. Surely, myself included.  What a book could be written about you […]

Stu for Silverton – Remembering former mayor, trailblazer Stu Rasmussen

By Silverton Mayor Kyle Palmer It is with sadness that I report that Mayor Stu Rasmussen passed away Wednesday [Nov. 17] around 11 a.m. after a number of weeks under home hospice care for metastatic prostate cancer. His longtime love Victoria noted that “he went bravely into the unknown on his own terms.” One of the few people around with […]

In Memoriam: Stewart Alan “Stu” Rasmussen (Sept. 9, 1948 – Nov. 17, 2021)

Stewart Alan “Stu” Rasmussen died Nov. 17, 2021 at the age of 73. Stu, the indefatigable engineer who became America’s first openly transgender mayor, was born in Silverton, Oregon on Sept. 9, 1948 as an only child to Albert and Nan Rasmussen. Stu, who used both he and she pronouns, was a self-described nerd from the start and thanks to a handful of local mentors […]

Rethink Eugene Field: Guest Opinion

Stu Rasmussen On Aug. 6 the Silverton City Council voted to spend over $700,000 of our taxpayer dollars to demolish the historic Eugene Field School to make way for a new City Hall with no plan how to pay for a new building. Here are my three minutes of comments to the council prior to their vote, and if you […]

Time travel: A cuckoo idea

By Brenna Wiegand If there’s any place a giant, unpredictable cuckoo clock might fly, it’s Mount Angel. Knowing it includes a facade renovation for the building deemed “the shabbiest in downtown Mount Angel” by its owner makes it all the better. Stu Rasmussen purchased Mount Angel Performing Arts Center in 1982. “The inside is gorgeous but the outside is still […]

Decision 2014: Silverton mayoral 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 […]

One-way streets: Mayor Stu Rasmussen says it’s time for a change

By Don Murtha After 40 years, it’s time to change Silverton’s one-way traffic system back to the two-way streets. Or so says Silverton Mayor Stu Rasmussen The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is discussing his proposal to change traffic flow in downtown Silverton. As rationale for changing the streets back to two-way, Rasmussen cites improved business vitality, pedestrian safety, visitor […]

Restricted funds: In city fee, funding decisions, not all dollars are equal

By Kristine Thomas  Silverton Mayor Stu Rasmussen and Silverton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stacy Palmer agree visitors play an important role in Silverton’s economy. They vastly differ on how money should be spent to attract them to town. At the July 1 Silverton City Council meeting, Palmer made a presentation on how the Silverton Visitor Center promotes tourism. “We […]

The Forum: Rasmussen recommends

By Stu Rassmussen I thought about sending out one of those ordinary election letters – you know the kind – “Vote for me because I’m the best whatever blah blah blah.” I’ve been in business in Silverton for over 40 years and I’ve spent 24 years in local government – as your city councilor, mayor and library board member – […]

Issues and answers: Silverton’s mayoral candidates share their views

Editor’s note: Our Town presented the four candidates running for Silverton mayor on the Nov. 6 ballot a series of questions and asked for written responses. These are the unabridged responses. What does urban renewal mean to Silverton and is it effective? Rasmussen: Urban Renewal was supposed to allow funding of renovation of privately owned ‘blighted’ areas to improve property […]