At Salem Reporter, our most important job is to report on wrongdoing, misconduct and obscure processes that can keep the public’s business out of public view. Our journalists take that mission seriously. In both our daily work and in-depth projects, our duty is to hold decision-makers accountable, show the human cost of systemic problems and inform citizens and taxpayers how effectively their leaders are performing. Over the past year, our work ensured key state data on school performance was released to the public more quickly, tracked the cases of a choir teacher and a police sergeant accused of misconduct, and deeply examined one teen boy’s journey into gang life in Salem. Here is what we consider our best work in 2024. Conflict over spending on homeless services A rapid expansion in shelters and homeless service programs in recent years also means there’s more money flowing to local agencies – and more bureaucracy coming with it. Reporter Abbey McDonald peeled back the curtain on disagreements animating the budgeting process for the Mid-Valley Homeless Alliance, The agency, which coordinates local homeless services, sought a large expansion in its own staff. Her watchdog work explored how a routine budgeting process done with little public attention became a larger discussion about how services in Salem should be managed and how much overhead is needed. Fact-checking the mayor’s race The mayoral race between two unrelated east Salem residents, Julie Hoy and Chris Hoy, was expensive and vigorously contested. Julie Hoy raised significantly more money and used much of it to send out campaign fliers to local voters. Chris Hoy sent out a few as well. Reporter Abbey McDonald gathered the mailers going around and cut through spin, adding context to claims about both candidates, their records and their plans. Peeling back the curtain on teens and shootings Bobby Brown in downtown Bend (family photo) How does a high school student get into a daytime firefight with police on a city street? Over the course of nearly a year, reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian set out to answer that question, resulting in= a deep look at the life and death of Bobby Brown. He was a teenager who excelled in school, struggled from childhood with behavioral issues and ultimately became entangled in deadly violence playing out on Salem’s streets. The three-part series traced Bobby’s life from his foster care placement shortly after birth to his death at 16 in a shootout with Salem police officers, chronicling Bobby’s successes and challenges as he descended further into street life and efforts to help him were missed or failed. Ethics questions for Salem’s next mayor Councilor Julie Hoy at a budget committee meeting on April 24, 2024 (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) Mayor-elect Julie Hoy won election in May with backing from many local businesses and real estate interests. Her efforts to aid businesses from her seat on city council have at times stretched the city’s ethics code.  Salem Reporter twice brought into public view cases where Hoy acted to benefit a business – in one case, attempting to influence city contracting on behalf of a local tire shop, and in the other, voting with a majority of city councilors to approve a land use appeal benefitting donors to her campaign. A teacher accused of abuse Two McNary High School graduates last fall set off a wave of action when they sued the Salem-Keizer School District and their former choir teacher, Joshua Rist, alleging that he had groomed and abused them for years. Rist was swiftly placed on leave as new allegations surfaced, and the district’s new superintendent pledged she’d do her best to keep him out of the classroom as the legal process unfolded. Managing Editor Rachel Alexander stayed on the case, obtaining a copy of the settlement agreement with Rist and revealing he would continue to earn his regular pay through the end of the year – plus get a $30,000 payment for resigning. A police sergeant charged with DUI Tabrizian learned of this case from an anonymous tipster months before Salem Reporter published any story, but at the time he couldn’t establish corroborating information. After prosecutors charged a Salem police sergeant in December 2023 with driving under the influence, Tabrizian doggedly pursued reports to confirm whether the same sergeant was involved in a golf cart crash that left a woman seriously injured, reports which authorities declined to release. The sergeant, Dustin Wann, left the Salem Police Department as the case was unfolding. He was ultimately acquitted and his state certification remains inactive. Willamette University eliminates chaplain office Cone Chapel, housed in Willamette University’s historic Waller Hall, will remain available for events and student use following the university’s lay off of its chaplain in June 2024. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Willamette University leaders in June quietly eliminated the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, including the campus chaplain. They made no public or internal announcement, leaving many in Salem to find out through word-of-mouth or from the chaplain herself. Managing Editor Rachel Alexander spoke to people on and off campus about the impact of the decision and pressed university leaders for an explanation, bringing their decision into public view. City leadership struggles A draft report on the challenges of Salem City Manager Keith Stahley and his office would likely have sat quietly on a shelf for weeks or months as consultants revised it. Salem Reporter obtained a copy through a public records request, disclosing the problems outside consultants identified with Stahley’s leadership and failure to set clear priority as understaffed city departments continue trying to do everything with fewer resources. An established restaurant in disrepair The kitchen ceiling at the Salem RAM Restaurant & Brewery collapsed over the dish pit on March 25, 2023. An employee took this photo after the collapse. When the RAM Restaurant and Brewery abruptly closed its doors in June, owners were largely mum about the circumstances and flatly denied to reporter Joe Siess that the building’s structure contributed to the closure. Siess then spoke with former employees and pursued state and county inspection records to show that the company had been cited multiple times over the building’s condition, for issues including duct tape being used to fix a ceiling that had collapsed on workers. Jail overdoses prompt little action The Marion County Jail (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter) Several inmates at the Marion County Jail died of apparent drug overdoses in recent years, but  county officials had been slow to release information. They only made public statements about one death after Salem Reporter inquired. They couldn’t produce data on how frequently people overdosed in jail, either. Tabrizian took a deeper look at the county’s apparent inaction even as it was clear fentanyl was being trafficked in the jail. Delayed state test scores Charlene Williams, interim director of the Oregon Department of Education, visits a classroom at Chavez Elementary in Salem on the first day of school, Wednesday Sept. 6, 2023. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Every September, the Oregon Department of Education releases a bevy of state test score data showing how local schools performed. It’s one of the few opportunities the public has to assess school performance and compare it between schools and districts. This fall, the typical release date came and went without a peep from the state. Alexander asked around and found the state had quietly decided to delay the release without notifying the public, apparently because they needed more time to make graphs. Her story and discussions with other education reporters in Oregon prompted a group effort to push the state to release the data earlier than they had planned, ensuring transparency for Oregon students, parents, educators and the public. Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. 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 Salem Reporter’s best watchdog coverage in 2024 appeared first on Salem Reporter.