TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Krishna Namburi, Interim City Manager
SUBJECT:
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Donation in support of the Safety and Livability Strategic Action Plan
Ward(s): All
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All
Result Area(s): Safe, Clean and Healthy Community, Salem
Strong and Diverse Economy, and Welcoming and Livable Community.
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SUMMARY:
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The City has been offered a donation to fund two police officer positions for the Homeless Services Team (HST) for six months, with the potential for an additional donation to fund the officers for another six months. The donation would help advance Salem’s initiative for a safe, clean and healthy Salem while also reducing the General Fund obligation for the pilot program. Since June 2025, the City has been engaged in conversation with businesses and residents regarding an actionable strategy for a safe, clean and healthy Salem. The City’s initial focus is on downtown and northeast Salem. These two areas of Salem experience higher volumes of requests for police support and emergency medical response, and concerns about cleanliness and unsanitary conditions.
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ISSUE:
Shall Council accept the donation to fund two police officers for the Homeless Services Team (HST) for six months, with the potential for an additional six months of funding?
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Accept the donation to fund two police officers for the HST for six months, with the potential for an additional six months of funding.
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FACTS AND FINDINGS:
Since June 2025, the City has been engaged in conversation with businesses and residents, and shared updates on current community-led and City-supported activities to improve safety, livability, and cleanliness in two areas of Salem experiencing higher volumes of requests for police support and emergency medical response: downtown and northeast Salem.
As the City’s Safety and Livability Strategic Action Plan advances, community members remain engaged in the dialogue. The proposed donation, from business leaders within the Salem Mainstreet Association and the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, proposes a donation up to $180,000 to pay for two additional police officers for the HST for six months. The offer indicates the business leaders will evaluate the effectiveness of the investment before committing to a donation for an additional six-month period (Attachment 1). Of the donors, one, Larry Tokarski through Mountain West Investments, has authorized the release of their name.
While the initial donation offer began with a proposal to fund two bike officers for the downtown area, the donors understand HST officers are integral to the Safety and Livability Strategic Action Plan, and the City’s preference to direct this donation toward that purpose. The City appreciates the partnership and generosity of the donors. The formal proposal from the Salem Chamber and Main Street organizations reflects this intent and identifies the positions as HST officers. Although the proposed donation references support for downtown, staff have confirmed with the donors that, if the City accepts the donation, the two additional officers would not be assigned exclusively to downtown. The HST will remain a citywide resource. While adding two HST officers will naturally enhance services in the downtown area, which generates a significant share of HST calls, the additional positions would allow the team to expand to seven-day-a-week operations, benefitting the entire community, including downtown.
Staff believes the proposal from the Salem Chamber and Main Street organizations aligns with the Safety and Livability Strategic Action Plan and is consistent with Council’s action on October 13th to add two HST officers to provide for seven day a week coverage and would provide a broad community benefit. HST is a citywide resource, in conjunction with the SOS team. Adding two HST officers would naturally increase services in downtown and assist the safety and Livability initiative there. The added capacity would also strengthen coverage throughout the city, including northeast Salem, by allowing more flexible deployment of existing resources, seven days a week.
At the October 13, 2025 City Council meeting, Council adopted a supplemental budget that added two HST officers, added resources to the SOS team and initiated a pilot program for an alternative behavior health model. This donation would support those initiatives and defray the cost of adding the two additional officers.
As stated in October 13, 2025 report, the two additional officers and associated supplies and material, projected to begin in November 2025, would cost approximately $275,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year. The $180,000 donation would cover a significant portion of that cost. Additionally, this donation reduces the General Fund liability for the Safety and Livability program by $180,000, lowering it from $626,000 to $446,000.
BACKGROUND:
Since June 2025, the City has been engaged in conversation with businesses and residents regarding Safety and Livability Strategic Action Plan. The City’s initial focus is on downtown and northeast Salem. These two areas of Salem experience higher volumes of requests for police support and emergency medical response, and concerns about cleanliness and unsanitary conditions.
Courtney Knox Busch
Chief Strategy Officer
Attachments:
1. Donation proposal from the Mainstreet Association and Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, October 2025.