Well it looks like the public relations department of Bend’s pro-growth, pro-sprawl, pro-development community is at it again. What’s that? You didn’t know Bend’s good ‘ol boy network had a PR team? Sure ya did. You probably just know them by their other name: The Bend Bulletin.
So I was not surprised this morning to see the Bulletin carrying on… and on… and on about who should (and shouldn’t) be appointed to the open seat on the Bend City Council. You see, in this past election Bend’s developers, realtors and builders poured thousands and thousands of dollars into the campaigns of four council candidates.
Quick multiple choice question: These groups gave all this money because (a) they knew these four candidates shared their pro-development values and would vote accordingly, or (b) they knew these four candidates would always make impartial, well-reasoned decisions, ignoring who donated to their campaigns and why. If you guessed “b”, not only are you an idiot, you’re probably one of the people who just allowed the development community to effectively “buy” three council seats.
At this point you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, you just said the developers and builders gave to four candidates, but then you said they bought three seats.” That’s true. They missed one. They just couldn’t quite pull off the inside straight. So they got on the horn to their PR Department [see above], and bingo, you’ve got this morning’s editorial in the Bulletin, singing the praises of one Don Leonard, the 4th candidate. The guy who lost. See how it works?
So far only two people have filed to be considered for the open council seat, Jodie Barram and Don Leonard. While both may have recently lost their respective races, two points are worth mentioning. One, Jodie Barram received significantly more votes than did Leonard, and two, and far more important is the fact that if Dallas Nader, um, I mean Dallas Brown, hadn’t siphoned off nearly 4,000 votes that would have almost certainly gone to Barram, she would have won her race convincingly.
So whaddya say people? How about it? How about we all join together and tell those big mean developers and builders that, “Sure, you might control our daily newspaper, and okay, you’ve got more money and political influence than we do, and yes, you just bought three seats on our city council, but this is where it stops! It all ends here. You can’t have that 4th seat, no way, no how… unless, of course, you give us all season passes to Bachelor!”
After all, everyone and everything has a price. Especially a town that just sold its soul.
Dean Warner, Bend
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2008.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
I have lived in Bend for 7 years and figured it never had a soul since I moved here. It was perplexing to me. Its soul was sold a long long time ago my friend.
It never ceases to amuse me when people who have been here for a whole 7 years comment on Bend politics and happenings like you are a local. You are not a local and 9 times out of 10 you have no idea what you are talking about.
You cannot have a healthy community without a healthy
local economy.
I don’t think that 7 years makes me a local at all. I just think that Bend tries to act like a small town and markets itself as such but in reality it is a city that left its small town community brand far behind years ago. I would never admit to being a local here in Bendfornia, Bendover. It needs to just step up and live in its new reality. Who cares who is on the council as long as the person is hardworking and does what is best for the group…..
to “Z” – Do you really think that you have to be born and raised here to have a brain? This community compared to many others is way behind the 8 ball for its size. You should feel as a “local” that being open to other people’s comments is “part” of being a community. Never said I was a local, I just live here and pay taxes like you.