Salem City Council censures councilors Julie Hoy and Deanna Gwyn: What it means

Salem City Council voted Tuesday to censure councilors Julie Hoy and Deanna Gwyn who were accused of violating the city charter by not recusing themselves in a land use hearing involving a major campaign donor.

The vote passed 6-to-2 with Gwyn and Julie Hoy voting no. Councilor Jose Gonzalez was absent.

Mayor Chris Hoy made a motion during Tuesday's Salem City Council meeting to publicly censure the two councilors.

In his motion, the mayor accused them of violating the city charter by voting during an appeal of sidewalk regulations for a south Salem development.

Julie Hoy is the mayor-elect and will take office in January after defeating Chris Hoy in the primary election in May. The two are not related.

Julie Hoy said she believes the motion for censure is another example of the bullying and attempts to silence her for her differing views on the council.

"I believe the reasonable people of Salem are not worrying about perceived conflicts of interest," she said Tuesday. "They are worrying about how they're going to pay for their rising utility bills. They are worrying if their kids are going to be safe at school. They are worrying if their small business can make payroll this month.

"The reasonable people of Salem want the city council laser focused on delivering real results for them, not wasting time on politically motivated grandstanding."

Section 62 of the charter requires councilors to disclose if a participant in a public hearing who donated more than $501 to a councilor would benefit financially from the councilor's actions. Councilors must recuse themselves from participating in a hearing if, in the mind of a reasonable person, their participation would create the appearance of bias or impropriety, according to the charter.

A censure is a public reprimand and condemnation of a member's actions. The council last censured a member in 2016 over Councilor Daniel Benjamin's social media posts that were decried as racist. Benjamin resigned when he received the censure.

Gwyn said a censure was a serious action and had only been used by the council once before.

"Given this precedent and our commitment to transparency, it's clear that this push for censure is not about accountability," she said. "Any reasonable person can see that this is an attempt to create division within our council rather than foster collaboration."

Even those who voted in favor of the censure noted the discord in council.

"This is the most divisive body that I've ever served on," Councilor Vanessa Nordyke said. "Over the last couple of years, but especially since payroll tax, I have watched my colleagues trading barbs at each other this entire time. I understand the need for accountability, but I also feel that this council has not been able to agree to disagree on a lot of fundamental issues that we face."

Salem city councilor Julie Hoy defends decision to vote on sidewalk regulations appeal

Julie Hoy told the Statesman Journal last week she stands by her decision to vote on the sidewalk regulations appeal and stressed she did not financially benefit from her vote.

"I think it's really important that our voices are heard and that we do what's in the best interest of the community," she said.

She said the call for a public censure was unfortunate and "sort of a show."

In his motion, Chris Hoy said elected officials have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and the City Charter.

"We do not get to pick and choose which of those laws we follow," he said. "Faith in our laws and institutions of government is paramount. The City Charter is the foundation of our city government and must be honored by its election officials."

The City Council held a public hearing on Oct. 14 in which the applicant and property owner was Creekside LLC, owned by local developer Larry Tokarski through his company Mountain West Investments.

Tokarski, a local businessman and co-founder of Salem Reporter, regularly donates to local campaigns.

Gwyn won the Ward 4 seat in 2022. Her campaign garnered $96,419 in contributions. Mountain West Investment gave $3,000 to her campaign.

Julie Hoy's campaign raised more than $300,777 in her bid against Chris Hoy in the May election, outraising him 5 to 1. Tokarski donated $20,000 personally to her campaign, and Mountain West gave a $19,104 in-kind contribution, according to Oregon Secretary of State records.

Officials representing Creekside said during the October hearing appealing the city's Planning Commission decision to require developers building an 11-lot residential development to add a sidewalk was unnecessary and would cost an additional $216,000.

Julie Hoy and Gwyn disclosed the involved party in the hearing had donated more than $501 to their campaigns. Both chose to proceed with voting on the development.

Julie Hoy said during the meeting Oregon law states campaign contributions do not create a conflict of interest and the Supreme Court found contributions were free speech protected by the First Amendment.

A motion to not require the sidewalk ultimately passed in a 6-to-2 vote, with councilors Trevor Phillips and Micki Varney voting against it.

Chris Hoy was not at the Oct. 14 meeting and did not vote on the decision.

The issue came up again at the next council meeting on Oct. 28.

"I wasn't comfortable with the councilors' decision to participate in the hearing once the topic of being related to money, basically, was implied or came up during deliberations," Varney said. "The reason was, is because each of us takes an oath of office to uphold the constitution, laws, our city charter... our council rules, and I respect each councilor's individual interpretation of those rules."

Councilor Virginia Stapleton also expressed her disappointment in Julie Hoy and Gwyn's decision to proceed with the vote, saying there was a big difference in a resident making a small donation and a person, business or PAC donating tens of thousands of dollars.

"I've been frustrated with Councilor Hoy's unwillingness to follow the rules time after time," she said. "I'm baffled by the brazen way in which she disregards the rules as if they don't apply to her. She frequently speaks about the need for transparency and trust, yet her actions repeatedly show that she has no interest in either of those when it comes to her and the people who support her."

Public comment split over censure for Salem city councilors Julie Hoy and Deanna Gwyn

In-person and written comment during Tuesday's meeting was split over the public censure.

Bill Riecke, a Salem business owner who also served on the city's revenue taskforce, said the call for censure seemed like bitter politics and questioned the point of it.

Resident and chair of the Marion County Democratic Party Mary Nikas said Julie Hoy's and Gwyn's actions were concerning, and citizens will have to stay vigilant going forward.

"Can we trust her to recuse herself from further votes and Mayoral actions that benefit her outsized contributors?" she said. "I think that we cannot.  I would like to remind councilors Hoy and Gwyn that government accountability is not just a campaign slogan to put on one’s website."

Resident Paige Barton said Julie Hoy will take office in less than two months and she is still waiting for her to rise to the occasion and act ethically.

"Councilors, your actions at the land use hearing appear to be pay for play," she said. "You had no business participating because of the donations you've taken. I'm here tonight to tell you that the motion didn't require your participation, and your judgment makes you seem, to a reasonable person, that you've been bought."

Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, called for council to defeat Mayor Chris Hoy's motion, saying it misunderstood the limitations of public officials under the city charter. Once a public official has acknowledged the contribution, he said, they still have an obligation to voters to vote on the matter.

"That is how we do business in the legislature and the same standard should apply to the Salem City Council," he said. "We already have a transparency requirement, but the city charter should not be construed so as to muffle the voting voice of an elected official.”

Julie Hoy said several lies were said about her during the last council meeting and urged the councilors continuing in 2025 to not vote in favor of the censure.

"We have an opportunity," she said. "I'm asking you to join me in rising above partisanship and petty politics and to focus on what really matters in our community. We can change this toxic culture to one that is respectful, robust yet civil in our disagreements and where we can achieve great things for our city."

Salem City Council votes on proposed utility rate increases

Salem residents can expect to see higher water bills in the coming years.

Council voted 7-to-1 to approve proposed fees and charges for water, wastewater and stormwater utility rates and the allocation of up to $400,000 for the Emergency Utility Assistance Program. The Water/Wastewater Task Force recommended a 4.5% rate increase for water, wastewater and stormwater starting Jan. 1 and another 4.5% increase on Jan. 1, 2026.

Salem City Council votes to give City Manager Keith Stahley raise

Council also voted 5-3 to give City Manager Keith Stahley a raise.

The vote stemmed from a motion from the mayor to adjust the salary range for the city manager position to ensure that range is at least 5% higher than the top step of the deputy city manager classification and adjust the city manager’s current salary by 7.27% to ensure it is higher than the highest paid job classification of the Executive Pay Plan.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem City Council votes to censure 2 city councilors