Contact Phone
971-446-8009
Campaign Phone (public)
971-446-8009
Town Where You Live
Salem
Your Experience/Qualifications
Irvin was raised in Louisiana and served as an NCO in the United States Navy before pursuing his education and attaining a doctorate degree in education. He has worked as a youth pastor, teacher, legislative director, and apprenticeship jobs coordinator. He is currently a policy advisor at the Oregon Department of Human Resources. He also serves as the Chair of Salem’s Citizen Budget Committee and Co-Chair of the Marion County Sheriff’s Advisory Board.
County
Marion
Term
Four years
Use the Revenue Task Force's recommendations to increase revenue streams.
Propose legislation offsetting costs from the Salem's General Fund. Currently, Salem collects less in property taxes than other similar cities because State land is exempt. This must change.
Fix Measures 5 and 50, which were passed in the 1990s. Those measures constrain the growth of Salem's General Fund by limiting increases in the taxable value of property and year-over-year growth in taxes. The result is that the funding the city receives from property taxes does not keep pace with inflation, population growth, or increased costs in providing city services.
Create a Budget Team within the CFO's office to apply for state and federal funding.
The main challenges facing the city are homelessness, the current revenue shortfall, and public safety. I will address public safety here.
Salem's first-response times is a top priority. The uptick in violence and shootings in Salem have doubled in the last five years. I propose the following solutions:
1) Utilize the Community Violence Reduction Initiative.
2) Monthly partnership meetings with Salem PD, Marion County Sheriff's Office, SKSD, the Marion County District Attorney's Office, and other community stakeholders.
3) Bring back the Salem PD's Gang Enforcement Team to gather and share gang intelligence.
4) Partner with the Department of Corrections to share data about high-risk individuals being released into the community.
One of my first tasks as a city councilor will be to implement a trauma-informed equity lens. Starting there, Salem must continue the trajectory we are currently on in building more affordable housing. We should also increase our warming facilities and micro-shelters to assist unsheltered people. We will also need to strengthen our partnerships with the Governor's Office, County Commissioners, Salem Housing Authority, state agencies, faith leaders, and community organizations to create or find as many solutions as are necessary to address the needs of our unsheltered neighbors and our community. Creating sustainable solutions will require partnership, and a non-partisan approach is the best available approach.
Town Where You Live
Salem
County
Marion
In 2019, the Revenue Task Force proposed 41 different types of new taxes or fees. The only one that was tried was the Payroll Tax, which voters rejected 82-18. This fiscal year, it will spend over $220,000, which could have paid for five librarians, trying to convince voters to pick one of those same 41 options. Democracy means respecting referenda results and supporting citizen priorities.
We have non-tax options. I am a major proponent of the Siletz Casino Project, which would build a four-star $100+ million resort in Ward 5 and share 25% of the profits with the City and State. I support the firefighters' plan to take over EMT services at a profit.
Our challenges are the budget crisis, the homelessness crisis, and the public safety crisis. Unfortunately, until we tackle the budget and untie how our record revenues have been handcuffed, we have very limited options on the other two.
For our homeless neighbors, we must partner with the County, the State, the federal government, and non-profits to do the work for us. We can't afford to do it ourselves, but they can't operate in the City without our cooperation.
For public safety, I support the Community Violence Reduction Initiative. It's a smart idea. We need to pair it with more officers and better policing. The violence is mostly focused in Wards 5 and 6, where there is the least opportunity.
The City, and the County's East Salem Special District (Hayesville and Four Corners) are building apartments at a tremendous rate. I bought my house at the last possible time for me, late 2020, and was only able to afford it thanks to a federal first time homebuyer's program. I am really worried I am part of the last generation that will be able to afford a back yard.
I support expanding the urban growth boundaries to expand the supply of single family homes. I support streamlining the land use process. I worry that market forces and political interests will ensure that housing prices never go down. So I support bringing more good paying jobs to Salem. Incomes are below state averages citywide, and that's especially true in Ward 5.
