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Youth worker, business owners press Salem council for downtown safety team
Summary
A 15-year-old worker and multiple small-business owners told the Salem City Council Jan. 12 that street-level violence and visible encampments are driving customers and employees away, and urged a permanent downtown response team and other safety investments. City staff said pilot programs and code work are forthcoming.
Mila Moore, a 15-year-old Ward 4 resident who works in a downtown ice-cream shop, told the Salem City Council on Jan. 12 that she and co-workers avoid parts of downtown because they fear for their safety and asked the council to reestablish a downtown response team.
"We need to bring back the downtown response team," Mila said, asking for consistent security or police presence to deter harassment and make customers and workers feel safe. Her testimony followed accounts from business owners who described assaults and threats that they say have affected operations.
Victor Hernandez, a small-business owner who said he was recently attacked near a downtown Rite Aid, described being assaulted while moving a cart and said street safety problems have made it hard to keep employees and customers. "It's not acceptable those peoples in the street," he said, explaining the incident prompted concern for his staff and customers.
The session included multiple speakers who linked visible homelessness, substance use and public-safety concerns to downtown economic decline. Safe Sleep United program manager Lynelle Wilcox provided data on shelter usage in 2024 — saying the program served 216 unduplicated individuals (187 single women, 10 mothers and 19 children) and sheltered companion animals — and urged the council to balance enforcement with outreach and services.
City Manager Krista Nambury and other councilors said the city has begun pilot projects to address safety and clean-up, and that staff will bring code- and process-improvement proposals to the council. Nambury said leadership intends to focus more on education and outreach alongside enforcement and that more pilot programs are coming.
The council did not adopt a new downtown response program at the meeting; staff said proposals and updates would be presented in the coming weeks.
The testimony amplified business and resident calls for quicker permitting and clearer processes so merchants can invest in improvements, and it reinforced a request from the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce for the city to prioritize safety, cleanliness and predictability as part of a broader business-stability strategy.
