SALEM — Salem City Council voted Wednesday night to remove Kyle Hedquist from two city bodies tied closely to public trust and discipline — the Community Police Review Board and the Civil Service Commission — reversing a December appointment that drew weeks of public backlash, emotional testimony, and threats toward elected officials.
Council first voted to reconsider its earlier decision, then voted to withdraw Hedquist’s appointments. Both motions passed 6-2, with Councilors Irvin Brown and Mai Vang voting no. Mayor Julie Hoy and Councilors Paul Tigan, Linda Nishioka, Shane Matthews, Deanna Gwyn and Vanessa Nordyke voted in favor. Councilor Micki Varney did not participate after leaving the meeting early.
The votes came after hours of public testimony that repeatedly returned to a central tension: whether rehabilitation and redemption can coexist with appointment to civic roles carrying moral authority and oversight over public safety.
Mayor Julie Hoy said the meeting reflected the depth of community concern and emphasized that her position had not shifted.
“Last night’s meeting reflected the level of concern many in our community feel about this issue. I want to be clear that my position has been consistent throughout,” Hoy said.
“My vote was based on process, governance, and public trust, not ideology or personalities. The committee charged with reviewing this appointment did its work, considered the information before it, and made a recommendation to the full council. Respecting that process matters, both for public confidence and for the city staff who support this work every day.
“We serve in a political environment, but city council does its best work when decisions are grounded in good governance, not politics.
“I appreciate the residents, staff, and stakeholders who have engaged thoughtfully on this issue. My focus remains on moving forward in a way that restores confidence in our processes and keeps our attention on the core work of the city.”
Nordyke: “I was wrong — and leaders have a responsibility to fix it”
Councilor Vanessa Nordyke, who brought forward the motion to withdraw the appointments, told colleagues she had changed her position since voting in December and framed the reversal as an act of leadership rather than political pressure.
“I know a lot of people who don’t like to admit when they’re wrong, but I do. I admit when I’m wrong, and I was wrong on this vote on December 8th,” Nordyke said.
“I feel that leaders have a heightened responsibility to admit when they’re wrong, and leaders have a heightened desire and need to fix it. That’s why I brought this motion — to fix it. And that’s also why I brought the motion to reverse or withdraw these appointments.”
Her remarks drew quiet nods from several colleagues and marked a shift from December, when the reappointment narrowly passed.
Testimony centers on victim, public trust, and council’s process
Public testimony stretched late into the night, with speakers alternating between grief, anger, forgiveness, and frustration. Several speakers focused not only on Hedquist himself, but on how the council handled the appointment after his background was known.
One resident told council the deeper issue was procedural.
“The bigger concern was that city council didn’t do their research into Kyle Hedquist after they knew he was a convicted murderer,” he said. “Once that information was clear, there should have been a pause. That didn’t happen.”
Others said the appointment undermined confidence in the police review process itself.
“This board exists to build trust,” another speaker said. “You can believe in second chances and still say this was the wrong role.”
Several speakers stressed that their opposition was not rooted in punishment, but in accountability.
“Clemency does not undo the act,” one woman said. “It does not restore what was taken.”
Remembering Nikki Thrasher
The most emotional testimony came from people who knew Nikki Ranee Thrasher, who was 19 years old when she was murdered in Douglas County in 1995 — the crime for which Hedquist was convicted and later sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
A childhood friend described Nikki as someone who “never got the chance to grow up,” saying the appointment reopened wounds that had never fully healed.
“It has been an emotional and confusing process,” she said. “To see the person responsible for her death elevated into a position of authority has been deeply painful.”
Councilor Deanna Gwyn read portions of a written message she received ahead of the meeting, which included a photograph of Thrasher taken when she was a teenager. Gwyn held up the photo during the meeting, pausing before speaking.
The letter, written by a woman identified as K.S., described Nikki as intelligent, compassionate, and deeply trusted by those around her. It recounted their childhood friendship and emphasized that Thrasher’s life was not a “chapter in someone else’s redemption arc.”
“Every opportunity Mr. Hedquist has today exists only because Nikki is dead,” the letter stated. “Please do not ask those of us who loved her to accept a world in which her life must fade so someone else’s future can be celebrated.”
In a follow-up email sent after the meeting, K.S. thanked Gwyn for raising Nikki’s photo and story during council deliberations.
“Nikki had a seat at the table and the final testimony,” she wrote. “She’s not forgotten. She was heard.”
Hedquist defends his service, acknowledges harm
Hedquist also addressed council, asking to remain in the roles and describing what he said was decades of effort to live responsibly since his release.
“I can never give enough, serve enough, or do enough to equal the life that I took,” he said. “That debt is unpayable.”
He said he believed his appointment had become symbolic in a broader public debate and said misinformation had shaped public perception. Supporters echoed that view, urging council not to define a person solely by their worst act.
One supporter said excluding formerly incarcerated people from civic life sends a chilling message.
“If we base our future only on someone’s past,” he said, “we deny the possibility of change.”
Council also moves to prevent a repeat
After withdrawing the appointments, council turned to the question many speakers raised repeatedly: how the city could prevent a similar controversy in the future.
Council adopted a motion directing staff to revise and clarify appointment procedures for boards and commissions, including those connected to public safety. The changes are intended to create a more consistent process for vetting applicants, improve disclosure requirements, and ensure councilors receive clearer background information before votes are taken.
Councilors said the goal was not to retroactively justify Wednesday’s decision, but to close gaps that allowed the December appointment to proceed without broader awareness of its implications.
Several members said the absence of clear guardrails placed both council and the public in an untenable position.
Additional policy changes approved
In addition to the procedural motion, council approved policy changes aimed specifically at boards tied to law enforcement and discipline.
The council voted to expand background checks for city boards and commissions and to disqualify applicants with violent felony convictions from serving on the Community Police Review Board and Civil Service Commission. Council also approved reserving a seat on the police review board for someone with lived experience as a victim of felony crime.
Supporters said the changes strike a balance between civic inclusion and the moral weight carried by oversight roles.
Opponents, including Vang, argued the new restrictions could foreclose meaningful civic participation for people who have served their sentences and rebuilt their lives.
Vang, who voted against both the withdrawal and the disqualification policy, said she feared the city was reacting to public pressure rather than developing principled standards.
Context from the clemency process
Hedquist was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Former Gov. Kate Brown granted him executive clemency in 2022, and he was released in April of that year.
During the clemency process, Douglas County District Attorney Richard Wesenberg submitted a letter opposing Hedquist’s release, which Salem Business Journal previously reported on. In that letter, Wesenberg cited disciplinary issues during incarceration and detailed the violence of the crime, arguing clemency was not warranted. (The full letter is available here)
That letter resurfaced during public testimony and in written correspondence to council, with several residents questioning whether its contents had been fully considered during the December appointment.
Closing the meeting
As the meeting drew to a close, councilors urged residents to lower the temperature of public discourse, noting that several members had received threats in recent weeks.
Gwyn said disagreement should never escalate into fear.
“As leaders, we have to make difficult decisions,” she said. “But we should be able to do that without threats or hatred.”
The two 6-2 votes mean Hedquist will no longer serve on the Community Police Review Board or the Civil Service Commission. City staff are expected to return with updated procedures reflecting the newly adopted safeguards.
