Linda Nishioka

Criminal Justice / Public Safety Public safety is one of the most important services a city provides. I support making sure that our emergency services have the staffing and resources they need to reduce response times and serve our growing community effectively. Now that the city manages ambulance service, we are able to better control the coordination of emergency responses and explore creative solutions like the crisis response pilot program. My priority is ensuring our city is able to provide the reliable, high-quality service Salem residents deserve. A strong, well-supported public safety system—police, fire, 911 call center, and mobile crisis—keeps our neighborhoods safe and fosters security and trust across our city. Criminal Justice / Public Safety Serving as City Council President through so many unprecedented circumstances means thinking about emergency preparedness more than usual. Linda is focused on priorities that ensure our city is prepared to handle emergencies, even while hoping they never happen. Infrastructure / Transportation Downtown is adapting to a new paid parking model, and many business owners are rightly questioning why the parking tax remains in place alongside metered parking. Linda is determined to find a balanced solution that supports local businesses, downtown residents, and visitors alike. She will closely track revenue from the new parking system and, based on results, may recommend refunding a portion of the 2025 parking tax paid by businesses. She also believes the City must explore better options to improve safety and security in the parkades while ensuring Salem’s parking system works fairly for everyone. Economy Councilor Nishioka has focused on building strong partnerships with local and regional businesses and non-profits—from arts and culture to housing, workforce, and environmental groups. She’ll keep advancing shared initiatives that strengthen our economy and quality of life, that make our community stronger together. Economy Growing our city’s economy will mean playing to our strengths: supporting our existing businesses and making our city attractive to live and work in. We must make investments in walkability, adaptive reuse of older properties, and focus on creating and enhancing public spaces to feel safe and welcoming. We have to incentivize building owners downtown to care for derelict buildings and look into grant opportunities for remodeling or refurbishing downtown properties.