Guest Opinion: Map C Fails Deschutes County’s Independent Majority
When Deschutes County voters consider Map C this November, they will be deciding the future of our new five-seat Board of Commissioners. Drafted by a seven-member advisory committee, the proposed boundaries simply do not meet basic standards of fair representation. As a retired political science professor, my assessment is straightforward: Map C sidelines the public and will make local government less accountable.
The biggest problem is how Map C treats non‑affiliated voters — the voters who aren’t registered as Democrats or Republicans. They’re not a fringe group; they’re actually the largest and fastest‑growing part of our electorate. More than 57,000 Deschutes County voters are non‑affiliated, outnumbering both major parties. These are people who want local government to be practical, not partisan.
But Map C doesn’t give them a fair shot. Instead of keeping communities together, it slices Bend into three pieces and packs most Bend voters into just two districts. That means tens of thousands of non‑affiliated voters get pushed into districts where their voices are overshadowed by artificially constructed majorities. Their ability to influence who represents them is weakened before a single vote is cast.
The committee’s approach to drawing these districts made things worse. In redistricting, the basic rule — the one taught in every political science textbook — is that districts must be drawn using total population, not registered voters. Elected officials represent everyone who lives in a district: kids, new residents, people who haven’t registered yet, and people who choose not to vote. But midway through the process, the committee started using voter‑registration numbers as a stand‑in for population. That’s a serious mistake.
Registration data leave out entire groups of people. Families with children aren’t counted. People who just moved here aren’t counted. When you draw districts using registered voters instead of actual population, you end up with districts that look equal on paper but aren’t equal in real life.
The Supreme Court made this point clearly in Evenwel v. Abbott, reaffirming that elected officials serve everyone in their district — not just registered voters. Political scientists have said the same thing for decades: representation is about people, not party registration. Using voter‑registration data to draw districts isn’t just unusual; it’s widely considered unreliable and unfair.
Deschutes County voters chose to expand the Board of Commissioners because they wanted more accountability and better local representation. Map C doesn’t deliver that. It fractures communities, sidelines non‑affiliated voters, and relies on a flawed method for deciding who counts in our democracy. Voters deserve a map that reflects real neighborhoods and real population — not one built on outdated numbers and exclusionary data.
For the sake of fair representation and the long‑term health of our county’s government, Map C should be rejected.
—Kent C Price is a retired political science professor and applied election researcher with over 40 years of experience studying voting behavior, democratic institutions, and local governance. He resides in Central Oregon.
Unsafe Library parking spaces
The beautiful new Central Library at Stevens Ranch contains a serious and readily correctable parking hazard.
Several parking spaces adjoin designated pedestrian crossings. A driver leaving an end space may reverse and steer in either direction. Although the space may not point directly at the crosswalk, the vehicle’s reversing swept path can enter it. Parked SUVs, landscaping and canopy structures can further restrict visibility. A child or baby in a stroller may remain below a driver’s rear sightline until it is too late.
During the recent Saturday opening event two vehicles backing from opposite sides of a library parking aisle collided near its center. Photographs and video show broken-light fragments remaining near the collision area after larger pieces were collected. No pedestrian was involved, but the event demonstrates how drivers can enter a shared blind-conflict zone despite an apparently spacious parking lot.
Metal striking metal caused property damage. The same geometry involving a pedestrian would mean metal striking flesh.
The Deschutes Public Library District should immediately close — with official cones or barricades — every parking space whose reversing swept path can enter an adjoining crosswalk. Those spaces should remain closed pending an independent, on-site traffic and pedestrian-safety review. Permanent correction might require wider buffers, removal or relocation of spaces, raised crossings, bollards, improved sightlines or revised circulation.
Waiting for an injury before correcting an observable hazard would be indefensible.
—Tim Lester
Get involved
My name is Flo and I am 11 years old.
I am writing for consideration of Bend’s planet well-being.
If you are a trucker and you are reading this, please consider switching to electric trucks instead of diesel, as diesel trucks pollute the air, making it unsafe to breathe.
As global warming and climate change arise, we need to help, look up for a brighter future and fight for what we believe in.
If you want public lands, you can write letters to save them!
If you want to stop a data center on Mount Hood, share about writing a letter or signing a petition with friends and family!
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There is so much you can do; even just thrifting can make the world a better place!
—Flo Cole-Baker
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Keep writing, Flo! And come on by for your gift card to Palate.
—Nicole Vulcan
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