May elections don't always attract as much fanfare as those that happen in November – and especially those Novembers when there's also a presidential election – but they certainly still matter. This season's elections include candidates for school boards, parks boards and library boards, as well as asking voters to weigh in on support for fire departments and more.
While the Source Weekly's editorial board did not issue an endorsement in every single race voters might find on their ballots, we opted to weigh in on many important races in Deschutes County where there were at least two candidates running. Our team researches candidates and then invites them in for an interview to learn about their ideas.
Below are recaps of the endorsements we've run in the past several issues of the Source Weekly.
Measure Endorsements
Measures 9-158 and 9-159: Five-Year Local Option Levies For Fire-Emergency Medical Services – YES
In 2014, voters in Bend and Deschutes County approved levies for the fire services in Bend and the rural county, which helped to reduce the time it took firefighters and emergency services to get to places where their help was needed. Taxpayers in Bend and rural Deschutes County have seen a levy of 20 cents per $1,000 of assessed value on their property tax bills since then – levies that are set to expire in 2024. When those expire, Bend Fire & Rescue and the Deschutes County Rural Fire Protection District are asking for a new, increased levy of 76 cents per $1,000 of assessed value – which amounts to roughly $19 per month for someone whose home is valued at $300,000 – the average taxable assessed value in the city. (Keep in mind that Oregon homes tend to be assessed at a far lower rate than the market value due to laws set in place in the 1990s.)
We think this is an investment worth paying for.
With a growing city and county come the need for more services – some of which fall, like it or not, on emergency responders. These crucial members of our community respond to medical emergencies and car crashes, help with water rescues and respond to not just structure fires, but wildland fires, too. They also respond to emergencies among the houseless community.
Two of Bend Fire's stations spend roughly 20% of their time responding to calls at either Hunnell Road or the area around the Lighthouse Navigation Center, Fire Chief Todd Riley told us. Right now, some of the positions that help maintain reasonable response times – six minutes in the city and nine minutes in the rural county – are funded through American Rescue Plan dollars – dollars that will go away in June 2024. Bend and Deschutes County, among the fastest-growing areas in the nation, need an increase in staff, not a reduction. So in addition to keeping staffing at the level it is now, these levies would help support the addition of 10 more staff. Now is not the time to see their numbers dwindle, but grow so that all of us can depend on fast responses in an emergency.
Candidate Endorsements
Deschutes Public Library District:
Cynthia Claridge
Zone 1
Marisa Chappell Hossick
Zone 4
Candidate Ray Miao told us during a recent endorsement interview that he believes we, the voters, didn't know what we were voting for when, in 2020, we voted in favor of designing and constructing a new Central Library location, along with building a new Redmond library and renovating the libraries in Sunriver, La Pine, Sisters and downtown Bend. We think voters are smarter than they're getting credit for.
To recap, the language of the last bond, in regard to a Central Library, read, "the bond funds would pay for the design and construction of a Central Library that would provide a discovery center for children to learn and play; substantial space for an expanded book and materials collection; flexible community and small-business spaces for learning, creativity and collaboration; space for larger programs and events; and an efficient book/material processing and distribution center to serve all of the libraries in Deschutes County..."
Over 63,000 people in Deschutes County voted in favor of that vision, but Miao, along with library board candidate Tony Oliver, have an alternative — an unfunded notion of community libraries; small libraries dotted around every corner of Central Oregon. The notion of community libraries that everyone can access on foot or by bike is a decent one on its face – but there are two major considerations to remember that make it not appropriate to this present circumstance: money, and the will of the people.
While they sound nice, this district does not have the funds to fulfill such a vision. Building a brick-and-mortar in every corner of every town is expensive – expensive both to build and expensive to maintain, and places that have done it are now closing down branches. The Deschutes Library Board of yore contemplated such a model and then did extensive research that revealed it was not the ideal model. The majority of that board voted in favor of a different model to put forward for the 2020 bond. This was after a period of six-plus years of community input and visioning.
During the May election, voters should support Marisa Chappell Hossick (Zone 4) and Cynthia Claridge (Zone 1) for Deschutes Public Library District. Both candidates support the vision already set forth, and thus respect the will of the majority.
Redmond School District 2J:
Amanda Page
Position 3
Brad Porterfield Position 4
Liz Goodrich
Position 5
For the Redmond School District, in the Position 3 race, our support goes to Amanda Page. Page is a flight paramedic and program development manager with a bachelor's in business management. Her experience on the Education Committee for The Klamath Tribes will be beneficial on the school board. Page believes that access to age-appropriate books should not be limited based on a small minority of parents' objections. Rather, she believes in parents' rights to opt out individually for their children. Likewise, she believes in parents' ability to opt out of sex ed, but not in banning it outright in schools. She does not support an opt-out for core curriculum, including history. In a political landscape where "parents' rights" are being used to whip up a base of aggrieved culture warriors, we are looking for those who seek to rise above that, like Page.
In the Position 4 race, the topic of "parental rights" has become a tell these days for a group of right-leaning people who believe in preventing other people's children from learning about the diversity of the human experience. This is a key talking point in Keri Lopez's campaign. While it's fair and appropriate to allow parents to decide what's best for their own children, we draw the line at allowing one person's reservations about teaching accurate history, sex ed or gender issues in schools to impact every student in a public school. Lopez should be replaced with someone less interested in the culture wars.
In Brad Porterfield we see someone who's committed to finding common ground and serving all students – not working to invite wedge issues into a school board campaign. Porterfield has classroom teaching experience and now serves on a number of boards committed to the health of the community, including East Cascades Works, Central Oregon Health Council and as chair of the Redmond Parks Committee.
In the Position 5 race, both John Campbell and Liz Goodrich have experience in the classroom; Campbell as a former science teacher, Goodrich as a former English teacher. This is valuable experience for a school board member who's tasked with supervising the superintendent, overseeing budgets and crafting policy for the district. Still, a few key points tip our support for Goodrich. Campbell is focused on "the basics" of encouraging more skills in math and reading — certainly important facets of education, but in Goodrich we see a leader more philosophically realistic about the many and complex needs of learners.
Bend-La Pine Schools – Administrative School District 1
Cameron Fischer
Zone 3
Amy Tatom
Zone 5
Melissa Barnes Dholakia Zone 6
Kina Chadwick Zone 7
In the race for Zone 3, we see a clear frontrunner who is ready to lead. Cameron Fischer is not only a parent of two teens who grew up in the Bend-La Pine Schools district, but she's also an educator who's taught special ed and now teaches at Oregon State University. Her master's in Education and doctorate in Educational Leadership certainly prepares her well to make sound policy decisions on the board, and her focus on equity in her doctorate, as well as her participation on the City of Bend's Human Rights and Equity Commission and the community Restorative Justice and Equity group demonstrate a knowledge and willingness to advocate for kids from a wide range of backgrounds.
Fischer has a clear set of priorities for her tenure on the school board, including fostering engagement across the school community and seeking out school-community partnerships that can help to enhance the offerings public schools can provide. With her background as both parent and educator, Fischer appears well-qualified and ready to lead.
In the case of the three open seats on the Bend-La Pine school board that include incumbents, we're advocating for the return of the person currently in each seat. Part of a conversation with Amy Tatom, running for Zone 5, struck us as poignant: She said that her first term on the board had barely begun when the pandemic hit, and that she'd like a chance to continue and to pursue the goals she'd set forth when she initially ran. We see the logic there.
Tatom, a family nurse practitioner, has been a solid advocate for student and staff mental health, bringing valuable insight and care to the board.
Melissa Barnes Dholakia, the current board chair running in the Zone 6 At Large spot, has a raft of education-related experience in her background that makes her opponent — who's been absent from most public forums where voters can get to know him — pale in comparison.
In the Zone 7 At Large race we find four experienced and qualified candidates. Elizabeth Justema has recent and extensive teaching experience. During our interview, she offered valuable and actionable critiques of the district and some of its recent actions, which signal a candidate ready to lead and improve upon what we have already. Her focus on teacher and staff support is absolutely on point. Rod Hanson and Nicole Fitch also have extensive teaching experience that would be valuable on the board. Kina Chadwick (they/them), the recently appointed incumbent, doesn't possess the educational background of the others, but they offer insight as a parent of young children and lived experience in LGBTQ issues, as well as a background in organizational leadership that are the reasons the existing board selected them in the first place. While voters would be well represented by any of the candidates running in Zone 7, we don't find a good enough reason to unseat the incumbent at this time.
Redmond Area Park & Recreation District
Zachary Harmon
Position 4
Lena Berry
Position 5
With the passage of the bond measure that will usher in a new recreation center for Redmond, residents in the Hub City have a lot to look forward to. That said, the fact that the same set of voters didn't support the levy that would have covered operating costs of said rec center mean the Redmond Area Park & Recreation District has some challenges on its hands. For the two open races, we think Position 4 incumbent Zachary Harmon, a certified public accountant, has the skills necessary to work through these issues and should be re-elected.
In the Position 5 race, Lena Berry offered some valuable ideas about seeking out community and business partnerships to make the upcoming recreation center financially viable. That's the type of creativity this board is going to need. While she'll have some work to do to learn the ins and outs, Berry appears enthusiastic and ready to get to work.
Election Day Deadlines
May 11 – Last day for absentee or replacement ballots to be mailed to voters
May 16 – Ballots must be in drop boxes by 8 pm. Mailed ballots must have a postmark of May 16 (or before) to be counted.
Ballot Drop Box locations – open until 8pm on May 16
