If you’ve ever wanted to name an electric street sweeper, the city of Salem could help your dreams come true.  The city is seeking help from anyone with the “gift of puns” and holding a naming contest for its new electric street sweeper. City officials announced the contest Monday on Facebook and those hoping for a chance at glory can submit their name suggestions online until Oct. 11.  Trevor Smith, city spokesman, said the city hopes to get dozens of name suggestions for the new street sweeper so city councilors and staff have ample options to choose from before naming finalists.  Smith said he is keen on names like “Sweepy McSweepface,” but is open to others.    “We’re hoping people get creative and have a good time with the contest,” Smith said.  Allowing city leaders to choose finalists provides a check if people’s creativity runs awry with suggestions. “If there’s something inappropriate it’ll probably get weeded out,” Smith said. The new street sweeper, which was paid for with $337,000 awarded to the city by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, will be deployed this fall. The city paid 10% of the costs, or $37,494, from the city’s utility fund, Smith said. That money comes from people paying city utility bills. It’s a fully electric compact eSwingo 200+ capable of picking up leaves and debris even in narrow spaces like park trails, bike baths and narrow alleyways, the city said in a press release Monday. The vehicle puts out no carbon emissions and can operate for 10 hours before needing a charge.  Smith said the sweeper will be deployed primarily downtown where it will sweep alleyways, parking lots, sidewalks and bike lanes that are too narrow to fit bigger street sweepers. The new vehicle will also sweep certain park pathways and parking lots at Bush’s Pasture Park and Riverfront Park.  The new street sweeper is part of the city’s climate action plan which includes a push to eventually convert its entire vehicle fleet to electric vehicles.  Similar street sweeper naming contests in other cities in Oregon have yielded delightful results.  In Oregon City, a 7-year-old named Kennedy Gibb won her city’s street sweeper naming contest in March by naming the city’s vehicle “C-SweePO,” a play on C-3P0, the loquacious gold-colored android from the Star Wars movies. Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE – If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post “Sweepy McSweepface?” Salem taps community to name new electric street sweeper  appeared first on Salem Reporter.