Letters to the Editor

As I have already told Jodie Barram, I am happy for her and I think she will do a good job in filling Bill Friedman's council position. I have worked on the Bend Planning Commission with Jodie for many years, and have found that she takes a cautious and reasoned approach to her decisions. I look forward to working with her in some capacity with the City in the future.

However, I want to address some "misrepresentations" of my positions in Eric Flowers' article "One Way or Another: After losing election, Barram wins council appointment." First, while I do disagree with the current vision of Juniper Ridge, I have never said that I want to dismantle the City's Juniper Ridge Economic Development Plan. I believe there should be more industrial land and less research park. It will be the industrial land that will help create family wage jobs for all segments of the population. I have stated publicly that it is time to let the Juniper Ridge Management Committee do its task of guiding the future of Juniper Ridge. I wouldn't stand in the way of that process.

This week's letter comes from former city councilor John Schubert who
asks a question that's been on a lot of people's minds lately: "What's
with the massive urban growth boundary expansion proposal?"
An
advocate of smart growth and alternative transportation planning,
Schubert questions whether the city's past subsidies to the building
community have led to the current fiscal crisis in Bend. Thanks for the
letter, John. You can claim your prize for this week's winning letter
at the Source headquarters, 704 NW Georgia.
I recently I flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Moscow and marveled at how
clearly the land use patterns unfolded below me. Compact town led to
open agricultural land led to forest land, and then the pattern
repeated, over and over, mile after mile. No rural sprawl as in
Deschutes County; no fuzzy boundary between city and farmland as in
Bend; no homes in the forest. Later in the trip I remarked on my flight
observations to a German acquaintance I met. I asked why he thought
this was so. Without a second hesitation, he said, "It is most
certainly because to do anything else is incredibly wasteful of
government money and natural resources."

Thank you for sending a reporter to our recent Town Hall event. We would like to add some clarity that would give your readers a more detailed picture of the purpose of Bend 2030 and of the highlights of the evening event.
The Bend 2030 Board is designed to be a public/private partnership that will foster support for and oversee implementation of the Bend 2030 Action Plans. Bend 2030 is a legal 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. We work with the City of Bend, a Lead Partner, but Bend 2030 is independent from the City of Bend.

In preparing a nation for war, imperial war leaders have to create a
visible and highly charged emotional sense of injustice and
righteousness to secure national cohesion. Their challenge is to
overcome the natural human opposition to early death and the
destruction of civilian life.
The need to invent a cause for war
is especially important with imperialist countries, because their
national territory is not under threat. There is no visible occupation
army oppressing the people in their everyday life nor does the "enemy"
disrupt normal life.
The task of imperial rulers is to fabricate
a world in which the enemy to be attacked is portrayed as an "invader"
or "aggressor." Since all US imperial wars are fought overseas - far
from any immediate threats, attacks or invasions - US imperial rulers
have the special task of making the reasons for war immediate, dramatic
and self-righteously defensive.

This week's letter of the week comes from Chris Moehl who reminds backcountry users that they need to get involved with the ongoing recreation planning efforts undertaken by the Forest Service along Century Drive if they want to preserve and protect their favorite backcountry spots. Thanks for the letter Chris. We hope that folks will make their voices heard on this important issue. In the meantime, you can make tracks to the Source to grab your prize for this week's letter, two smoothies at Maui Wowi.

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.

California, my birth state, was always out front, comprised of thinking, intelligent people. Homosexuality was seldom an issue.

Each day in the U.S.

I was very disappointed in the Veteran's Day Parade this past Saturday in Bend. It may be one of the biggest in Oregon, but it was lacking in the music department! Just three bands for the entire parade? Where are the local high school bands? Where are the Armed Forces bands? Where are some local bands (drum and bugle corps, for instance)? It was nice to see how many people participated in the parade, but musically it was too quiet.

This is a shout out to all the businesses and business owners in Bend. As many of you are now aware, the Bend Boys and Girls Club will be suspending operation due to lack of funding.