When Albany voters decide on a bond for new police and fire stations in November, they can be sure that approval of the bond will not benefit the downtown urban renewal district, CARA. Why would it, you might reasonably ask, even though we’ve covered this subject before. Well, money to repay the $20.3 million bond […]
At a work session on Monday, the city council in Albany talked at length about ways of encouraging greater public engagement in city issues and decisions. (The only agenda item was evaluating the city manager. The council praised Wes Hare for doing a great job and gave him a 3 percent raise, making his base salary […]
Albany is taking steps to make the town less appealing to unauthorized campers, street corner beggars and drunks who become intoxicated in public and won’t use a portable restroom if they can use a bush. The city council Wednesday (Aug. 14) plans to vote on ordinances aimed at giving the police more tools to deal with people who […]
About 75 acres of undeveloped land surrounding Albany’s Timber Ridge School is about to come into city ownership because the owners have made no payments on assessments for the street and utility lines there. Now it’s just a question of how the transaction is done, the city council was told. The land has been owned by the […]
Haven’t we had enough of studies of our health care system? At a work session on Monday (May 20), the Albany City Council will consider a request by a local group to show support for a bill pending in the legislature. That’s HB 3260-A, which has cleared one committee and has had a hearing in […]
For devoted fans of Albany City Council meetings, the one on Wednesday night must have been a disappointment. It took all of 35 minutes and produced no news to speak of. (The appointment of Mario Lattanzio as police chief had been announced before.) Its highlight was the appearance of Jim Clausen, who regularly addresses the […]
After lying low for about a year, Albany’s downtown urban renewal district will soon have to make a choice: Look for new projects and regain its momentum or return some of its money to other taxing districts. The advisory board of the Central Albany Revitalization Area started debating this Wednesday. The issue comes up because […]
A big question still hangs over the upcoming special election in Albany, according to the city council. But the council won’t seek to have it resolved until after the vote. As you remember, the city of Albany scheduled a special election for March 12 on two initiatives successfully sent to the voters by city resident […]
The Albany City Council said “not so fast” Wednesday to the idea of electronic message boards at schools and other institutions in residential zones. At their regular meeting Wednesday night, councilors voted unanimously to table — or postpone action on — an ordinance that would allow the signs. Councilor Floyd Collins was not there, and […]
Let the public listen and watch
It’s a mystery why the legislature and many Oregon governing boards still insist that the public can be kept in the dark when governments are considering spending money to buy real estate. The Albany City Council, for instance, has scheduled another executive session closed to the public for Wednesday night. The purpose: “To discuss […]
Tags: Albany council, executive sessions, public meetings law