Local News

Can Bend 2030 Save Mirror PondPutting plastic baggies in public parks to deal with doggie land mines is arguably not an idea many people find important right now, but the Bend 2030 project, funded by $340,000 of city money over the last three years, lists it as one of its achievements on its website.
Created by the Bend City Council in 2006 as an effort to craft a long-range vision and planning framework for the community, Bend 2030, according to the organization, included input from 10,000 citizens who defined a vision for Bend's future long-term livability and quality of life. It's already resulted in the reduction of open burning with the expansion of the area's curbside yard waste program and includes action items like increasing the availability of quality childcare in the area, finding a long term solution to Mirror Pond sedimentation, improving access to health care, promoting key business sectors and working to expand public transportation throughout the city. (A detailed list of projects is available at www.Bend2030.org)
But it's also has been called a pet project by opponents who want civic leaders to focus on preserving core services like building inspections and street maintenance at a time when the city budget is falling faster than the Dow Jones. And as voters begin to cast their ballots, Bend 2030 is one of the "issues" that could determine the outcome of the next election, in which a block of so-called progressive councilors faces a slate of challengers funded by the local business community that wants the city to spend less time on city-driven projects like Juniper Ridge and Bend 2030 and more time on promoting economic growth with a limited government, free-market approach. If challengers like Jeff Eager, Kathie Eckman and Tom Greene, all of whom have the support of the powerful Bend Chamber and building and real estate industry lobby (Greene is president of the local board of realtors), it could mean a significant shift in city hall's support of long range planning and economic development projects like Juniper Ridge and Bend 2030 and more time spent removing perceived hurdles to development, like higher development fees.

The latest news on the BendFilm Festival plays almost like a rerun of
last year. The local film festival that's earning an increasingly
strong buzz within the film industry is again saddled with a vacancy at
the top of the non-profit organization. But this time around, there's
more changes written into the BendFilm script, with slumping ticket
sales and a board of directors saying they are looking at an
organizational restructuring.

In fall of 2007, Erik Jambor stepped
down as executive director after less than a year at the helm of
BendFilm and within days the organization's board had named former film
industry powerhouse Sandy Henderson to the vacated spot. But now,
Henderson has announced her resignation from a position she once called
her "dream job" just a little more than a week after the 2008 edition
of BendFilm wrapped up.
Jim Bailey, the president of BendFilm's board of directors says that Sandy's resignation wasn't necessarily a surprise.

Behind mountain biking and pushing babies around in thousand-dollar
jogging strollers, bitching about Mt. Bachelor is one of Bend's most
beloved pastimes. Bendites complain about ticket prices, parking,
grooming or staffing issues just like people in larger, more urban
cities bitch about the coaching decisions of their local sports teams.

While
this is certainly a storied pastime, last season the bitching went from
nit-picking static to fever pitched shouting as winter began with hiked
lift ticket prices and ended with reports of potentially dangerous
chair lift maintenance practices and an earlier than usual closing date.