Facing unhealthy growth pressures as well as a financial crisis, Salem became the eighth U.S. city to have at least two Greens on its city council, electing Anna Braun in November, 2000. Braun joins Green Bill Smaldone, who was elected to the council in 1998.
Salem has projected $11 million in annual budget shortfalls over the next five years, and is already falling short on basic services, including parks and libraries. In response, Braun vowed to eliminate public subsidies that have promoted sprawl.
Her message was simple and direct - "it's the little things that really matter like sidewalks, libraries, parks, clean drinking water etc... and we can't pay for them because we subsidize sprawl." Braun seeks to restructure taxes to lower the burden on middle and lower income residents while requiring those who live outside the city to pay for city services they benefit from. "New development must be environmentally sensitive, neighborhood friendly and pay for its fair share for schools, parks and other city services."
In opposition to 'big box sprawl', Braun seeks to encourage vitality in the city's downtown - while retaining its character - by advocating an approach similar to Boulder, Colorado's Community Vitality Act, which distinguishes between local and 'formula' businesses or chains. To promote livability, she also favors more parks, public transit and library hours.
A professional land use planner and policy analyst, Braun has been active in community affairs for several years - as chair of her neighborhood organization and as a member of several city advisory committees and task forces, around issues of housing, land use, community development and livability.
Braun's opponent was a well-liked accountant put forward by the Chamber of Commerce together with the city's predominant pro-growth lobbyist (under the guise of several different PACs). Braun raised $8000 in mostly from $50 donations from Salem's progressive community (OR has a tax credit to help fundraising).
Among her endorsers and active supporters were the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, the city employees union, the firefighters, and the local anti-growth group, as well as the county Green Party. Braun's stance on greater public involvement also won her support among conservatives. She won with 56%.
Braun's election was part of a local sea change towards a first-time-ever 'slow-growth' majority - a 6 to 3 majority at that - in a city that consistently supports Republicans for state legislature and where developer and real estate interests have always controlled the city council.
Smaldone said residents should expect a less divisive, faster-acting council, along with a slew of groundbreaking policy proposals. "This is going to be a council more open to looking at new revenue, land use regulations and environmental protections." In Braun's first meeting, she voted to doom a Blockbuster video store by denying it two variances, sending joy to the neighborhood residents who had fought the project for a year. Braun was attracted to the Greens by their attempt to deal with issues in a systematic manner. "I'm concerned by the huge income disparities and lack of basic necessities for so many people. I see other national governments doing better on so many issues. We have a lot more resources and are doing worse. Then I see the Democrats afraid to say "universal health care", afraid to reduce our defense budget to fund basic services and unwilling to discuss the way we treat the poor , and I get impatient and upset. I see hope in the WTO protests, that there are a lot of people ready to work on these issues and who get the basic unfairness of our economic system.
