Elections

There are two words that really stand out in the race for the parks board between incumbent Scott Wallace and newcomer Justin Gottlieb: goose poop. The fecal matter paving the paths and covering the lawns of our public parks is near the top (or perhaps at the top) of Gottlieb's agenda. He wants to hire a special “Goose Poop/Goose Population Manager” and cites the fact that Wallace sat on the parks board while more than 100 geese were euthanized last summer as a reason for the public to make a change on the board.
Wallace didn't spend much time discussing goose droppings during our meeting with him earlier this month, opting rather to hit on some of his key interests. One of his focuses is indoor recreation opportunities in the district, an area in which he feels the community is underserved. A youth baseball coach and an avid ice hockey player who organizes the local Steelheaders club team, Wallace recognizes that the current budgetary situation in the district doesn't provide many expansion opportunities. However, he would like to see the community get more mileage out of its existing facilities.

We love our parks here in Bend – like really love our parks. In fact, the only thing that we love more than our parks is probably our pets, or our Subarus. So it's probably no great surprise that our parks district isn't without its politics. However for the last few years, the politics of parks has been thankfully devoid of partisanship. We'd like to keep it that way with board members focused on maintaining the Bend Metro Park and Recreation District's (BMPRD) award-winning programs and responsible management of the park district's coffers. To date, that approach has allowed the district to largely meet the growing needs of the Bend community through land acquisition and park development while focusing on improving indoor and outdoor recreation opportunities for residents.

Did Chris Dudley try to evade Oregon income taxes? Did John Kitzhaber's girlfriend get a sweetheart deal on a state contract? Such have been the “issues” in what has turned out to be, by Oregon standards, an unusually rough-and-tumble battle for the governorship.
We don't know the answers to those questions, and frankly we don't give a damn. For us, the one overriding question is whether Kitzhaber or Dudley is better equipped to guide the state through what is likely to be a tough four years.

Former President Richard Nixon once famously announced that “you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore” after losing the California governor's race. Well Gene Whisnant could easily have uttered almost those same words about his relationship with this paper. Whisnant has served four terms in the state Legislature and has yet to earn the Source's endorsement. But to his credit, Gene shows up every two years and makes his case. Well this year, we're breaking tradition and offering our endorsement of Mr. Whisnant for state representative.

The race for Bend's House Seat has been a bruising one, to say the least. Incumbent Judy Stiegler faces a serious threat from her Republican challenger, Jason Conger, a real estate attorney and investor, who has marshaled an impressive campaign to unseat Stiegler, at least from a cash perspective. The bulk of Conger's media campaign has focused on tearing down Stiegler's record on taxes and the state budget.

The state treasurer's office is like your liver: When it's working well you don't even notice it. But the state treasurer has an important – even vital – job, overseeing more than $65 billion worth of state investments and $120 billion a year in state banking transactions, among other things.
Ted Wheeler was appointed by the governor to fill the treasurer's post in March after the death of Ben Westlund. He's now asking the voters to elect him to finish the rest of Westlund's term, which ends in January 2003. We think he's earned the job.

In the Deschutes County Commissioner race, looks can be deceiving. This office is one of those positions that, against all reason, is partisan. County Commissioners work on land use, public safety, or locking horns with constituents over waste mitigation… not exactly the kind of platform issues that define a (D) or an (R).

Joyce Segers isn't gong to be elected to Congress this year, or ever. And that's a good thing, because she may be one of the least prepared candidates we've ever seen for a seat as important as that of a United States congresswoman. But that's not going to stop us from endorsing her for the position. And that alone should tell you more than you would ever need to know about her opponent, Republican Greg Walden who has held the seat for 10 long years.
During that time Walden has amassed a record of nearly unmatched conservatism that solidified his place as an up and comer in the Republican Party Central Committee. But it's come at the expense of his constituents and in many instances defied common sense. But that's Walden for you, a man who has always been more about posturing than good public policy.

The decision in the U.S. Senate race in Oregon is as close to a no-brainer as it can get. Ron Wyden has given us 14 years of distinguished service in the Senate, and his opponent, Jim Huffman, has given us no reason that he should replace him.

The Deschutes County Clerk remains, thankfully, a non-partisan position in Deschutes County. That's as it should be, given the clerk's role in overseeing all local elections. While the local Republican Party has worked to push the candidate whose personal politics reflect its own, we're not going down that road. While we like Geri Hauser and believe she would make a fine clerk, we see no reason to pull Nancy Blankenship from her post simply because she is registered as a Republican.