Abernethy describes the last 15months as “low-grade” burn outMayor Bruce Abernethy steps down this week after an eight-year run on the Bend city council that has spanned four city managers and just about every major issue that’s worth recalling, from the Bill Healy Bridge to an equal rights ordinance for the LGBT community, to Juniper Ridge and the current urban growth boundary imbroglio.
A Harvard management school grad, Abernethy ran almost a decade ago for city council on a slow growth platform, but has carved out a legacy for himself as a principled moderate who could work with all councilors on both sides of the aisle. In the process he alienated some of his ardent supporters on the Left but earned a reputation as an accessible and reasoned politician. We sat down with Abernethy to survey where the city has come during his tenure and what his plans are for the near and not so near future.
You came onto the council at another time of wholesale turnover and controversy…
One of the first things we did was we let Larry Patterson go. In retrospect, I think that was a terrible mistake. I’ve talked to Tom Greene and Jeff Eager as new councilors coming in and said, ‘You know there is a big difference between running as a candidate and being a council member.’
I would put forth that you will be exposed to the other side of issues, because I generally find for the most part that when you’re running as a candidate you’re surrounded by people who think the same and you think that must be the mainstream viewpoint and anyone outside of that is fringe. Well, I think clearly I ran on a campaign thinking that Bend is growing faster than is good for the overall community and held staff responsible. And that’s why we did what we did with Larry Patterson. In retrospect, I think that was a mistake… There were forces significantly larger than Larry Patterson’s doing or not. And that was probably one of the biggest mistakes, and one of the learning lessons. I ended up apologizing to Larry Patterson six to nine months after it was too late.
That soon?
I might have been closer to a year or so, but I definitely did.
You come in with a particular mindset or perception and the extent to which you are willing to listen to other ideas and get additional information; you change your opinions on some of them… Ironically, I like to think of myself as moving to the middle and I’m sure that pissed off a lot of people on the far Left who thought I was ideologically pure and it pleasantly surprised some people who were more conservative… If I were to look back, I tried to be very accessible; I tried to listen. I didn’t always agree with what people said but I tried to make myself available…
When I got elected in 2000, I thought the demographics of Bend had changed drastically. I thought it was much more liberal than it turned out to be. But from my perspective, the election of 2000 turned out to be an anomaly…It’s important for me to push the envelope, but you really can’t afford to push too far or you’ll fall out, and like John Schubert you’re not going to get re-elected. I totally understand and am willing to acknowledge if I have disappointed people on the far Left. But one of the things I’ve realized is that you really don’t want me to go that far or I’m not going to be around.
Did you actually change your own political views around this or was this a matter of political practicality?
I think I actually changed my underlying assumptions. I came in with an anti-staff mentality and I’ve come away feeling they basically do a pretty good job. I think I also came in with-I don’t want to say an anti-business mentality-but I didn’t appreciate the role that businesses play in the community in terms of obviously the jobs they provide, but also the way that their support allows a lot of the non-profits to exist and events to take place. I think that was an evolution in my thinking.
How did your shift play with your supporters?
I’m not going to name names, but some of my biggest supporters threatened to recall me. I would say that I clearly pissed off/disappointed a lot of people who supported me. What happens is you have people who come with an ideological perspective, which is fine and good… I think the extent that you’re really willing to try to govern you will tend to gravitate more toward the middle.
It seems there were a lot of hot issues at the time, but I’ve seen a lot of apathy in recent years. Do you sense a difference in civic involvement?
Let me go at this from a slightly different perspective. Growth has been a big issue for the community for as long as I’ve been here. And roughly a third of the people say Bend has gotten too big. It’s not the small town charm that I wanted. Other people said ‘it’s about right’ and other people, ‘It’s almost there, but it’s not quite right. It doesn’t have enough diversity or amenities.’ – so about a third, a third, a third.
Are their winners and losers, absolutely? In a capitalist society there are winners and losers no matter what. I’d say that’s one of the things that I have learned, and I’m speaking from my own perspective. One reason I’m trying to have a bigger UGB than you or other people want is that I think a constrained UGB has drastically driven up the cost of housing and the cost of industrial land.
The irony is that growth was much more of lightning rod in 2000 and 2002 than it was in 2004 when we were growing much faster. In 2004 I was unopposed. I think Jim Clinton was virtually unopposed…One of the things I tell people is I ran as a slow-growth candidate and did an absolutely crappy job of that. (laughs)
What I learned is that the council clearly has influence on things, but a lot of this is really beyond our control. We could impose certain things… if the council really wanted to slow the rate of growth it would send housing costs through the roof, and for me that was a trade off I was willing to make…I think a lot of good was accomplished in 2008. Yeah, there were things we missed and trends we didn’t see happening, but on the whole I think we kept Bend a very livable place. It seems the community didn’t like what the current council had come to represent and there seems to be a much more back-to-basics approach. And by basics I mean: you pay for police; you pay for fire; you pay for streets; you pay for water; and anything beyond that is a pet project or a frill. I don’t subscribe to that.
If affordable housing, economic development, accessibility and transit are pet projects, fine. I’m guilty as charged… We need to move beyond the basics. This is not your average city, this is really a spectacular community and as a result it should be having those services. I think one of the challenges for the incoming council to figure out are the ways that we can keep some of those other services going and viable by either finding new sources of funding or finding ways of having the community step forward to pick them up. I don’t think Bend would be what it is now if all we did was focus on the basics.
What are some of the achievements you are most proud of?
Depending on how far you go back, I’d say the equal rights ordinance was a substantial area where we stuck our neck out. We clearly did not have the support of the (Bend) Chamber at that time, but I’m clearly proud about that. I’m proud of how we moved the city and the community in the sustainability front. I signed the mayor’s climate protection agreement – sort of the local Kyoto protocol. The city partnered with the Bend Chamber on a Blue Sky Community challenge – EPA named us a green power community. We have the fourth-highest percentage of renewable energy, I think, in the country.
I would say affordable housing. That is one of the areas that I’ve worked on a lot. We were able to pass over the opposition of the Chamber and the COBA an affordable housing fee that provides a unique separate source of funding that we can use as matching funds. So we’re now in a better position than most communities in the state to get federal funding down the road.
Any redo’s? Things you wished you had done differently?
I think in retrospect I really like the vision we have for Juniper Ridge, but I think the council took too long to recognize it wasn’t being supported by the community. And I think that there was too much risk associated with the way we had originally envisioned it. But we hadn’t had a slowdown in 12 years. And in retrospect, we could have come back and done a little better due diligence on the buses. I think the image of the bad buses is something we were never able to get rid of and that’s really a shame. And as much as we accomplished in transit and I would put that as a highlight, I’m getting e-mails saying ‘you guys are morons, you started this transit system, you wasted all this money when you didn’t even have a long-range plan in plan.’ My response would be, ‘You’re right. Do you really think the voters are going to vote for a full-blown system when there is no track record? No way.’
What led you to decide against running for re-election?
A couple of factors. One of them was I sort of made a deal with my wife and I’m keeping my end of the deal…I think also it’s time for a break. I’ve been on a low-grade burnout for about 15 months. Not only the council, but I have a full-time job with the school district. I’m board president and chair of Bend’s Community Center, co-founder of the meth action coalition, I’m on the board of a foundation back in New York, and I’m back there four times a year. Kulongoski appointed me to the health services commission that meets six times a year, so I’m pretty actively involved. So I’m looking forward to a break. I will absolutely miss it. I’ll go through some withdrawal. I like being at the decision-making table. I’m not someone who is going to pound my fist and say, ‘this is the way it has to be,’ but I like being able to say what I want, say what I feel and see whether you’re persuasive or not. Then decisions are made and you go on.
If you ask me right now, I will definitely want to run at some point in the future. But right now, it’s time for a break.
One of the changes we’ve seen is the role of money in local politics. What are your thoughts on the influence of cash in local elections?
Bottom line: I don’t think it’s a good thing. For the most part, political advertising is crap. I’m just not impressed. It’s overwhelmingly negative, it’s at a real low common denominator, it’s just not very inspiring; it’s misleading. So I’m not a fan of political advertising.
There’s been some belt tightening around city hall, some significant lay-offs. Have you lost any sleep over that?
I definitely did the first couple – and this is going to sound like I’m callous – but I kind of got used to it. In the third round it was sort of here we go again. One of the things I’ve found, more so as being mayor than as a councilor, is you feel more responsible, rightly or wrongly, and that has both highs and lows associated with that. No, it’s been really tough. It’s not fun to think that this happened “on my watch.” Do I think I caused this? No, I don’t, but this is not the two years that I had hoped would happen. I remember coming in and thinking we have to get past this used buses thing and we just never ever could quite turn that corner and then Juniper Ridge started going sideways and then the UGB started going sideways. And you do the best you can.
Are you worried about the new council’s direction given their ties to the building industry?
The irony is that a lot of the criticisms that were lobbed at Linda, Jim and Peter probably were a lot more valid about a year ago. I really think council made a lot of adjustments over the course of 2008 to bring it in alignment with where the community wanted to go. From my perspective, I don’t see any major changes from where this current council wanted to go…Bottom line: the budget is going to trump everything. I really think the parameters are pretty narrow.
The Mailbox
One of the fringe benefits besides the $200 per month salary (pre-taxes) of being a city councilor is the ability to learn exactly what folks think of you. People tend to drop all pretense of decorum when they write to their local elected officials. The advent of electronic communication has done little to raise the level of discourse. Here’s a couple of recent missives sent to Bruce Abernethy’s city email address from disgruntled residents. (EJF)
“Well I guess this was just too much to ask. So pleased to see your days on the City Council are coming to an end. I can’t think of one constructive contribution you have made to the City of Bend. Rather, you ahve (sic)been a hindrance to progress. Hopefully this new City Council wil have some professionals rather than amateurs.”
“Dear Mayor, Why is it so hard for the city to clean our streets after they gravel them. The city is a mess with flying dust for this new stuff your using and it is not being cleaned up, because you guy’s are broke!!! Why are you guy’s broke, becasue youhave been miss managing (sic) the city resources by making one after another poor decisions that have left you broke.”
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2009.
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When Bruce Abernethy was voted by his councilor peers to be Mayor a couple of years back, The Source wrote an article then. In response to that article, a Source reader asked a question that went roughly like this, “Who would vote for this man?” It was a good question then and it remains a good question now. Sadly, if he runs again we’ll find out just how many people can be fooled all of the time. There were a couple of really talented people who lost their Council bids, chief among them Mr. Gramlich. But for Bruce’s departure, Bend government will be the better.
“Not only the council, but I have a full-time job with the school district. Iâ ™m board president and chair of Bendâ ™s Community Center, co-founder of the meth action coalition, Iâ ™m on the board of a foundation back in New York, and Iâ ™m back there four times a year. Kulongoski appointed me to the health services commission that meets six times a year, so Iâ ™m pretty actively involved.”
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Only a school district employee (or other government worker protected by their union) could slack off on their job for so long. Glad to see that you are getting back to what the school district pays you to do.
I really think the past eight years of greed and careless spending speak for Mr. Abernathy’s tenure as mayor of Bend. He seems to be a man who claims to have reached across both aisles… as a result we now have have no clear direction of where we are or where we are going. The decisions made in the past were made to please all people…but in the end please no one.
Bruce sites Bend’s growth has been one of the reasons people are unhappy… the issue is the type of growth that occurred catered to the wealthy elite, whose primary goal was to change Bend into their personal playground and line their pockets.
I realize that the Bend “old timers” seem to pick on these “special people” quite a bit…but it is evident that Bruce and his cohorts worked hard to provide their exclusive westside homes the ambiance of beautiful parks, landscaped tree lined streets,with an artist inspired roundabout every half mile (we wouldn’t want to back up the MB ski traffic). Let’s not forget the Bill Healy Memorial bridge,park and trails on west Reed Market…it gave them a much needed place to run,walk,ride bikes and walk their dogs.
Mean while over on the eastside of town the soon to be”slums” were gaining a multitude of “affordable” housing on cramped lots for the working class folks.Their ambiance is to wait in gridlock traffic at stop lights every other block (where are the roundabouts when ya need em ????)with a few scrawny trees down the middle of a cement barrier on 27th. And lets not forget our scenic “death corridor” Reed Market Rd. where you get to sit and wait 20 minutes for freight trains at rush hour and watch graffiti on the box cars.
A distinct cast system has formed in Bend between the elite high income residents and the common middle to low income residents in the past eight years. The once quaint downtown has become exclusive dining,boutique shops and art galleries. Residents that have lived in Bend most of their lives no longer bother to shop downtown because it caters to the wealthy. I think we all know why this is,downtown Bend was prostituted… sold to the highest bidder.
Bruce did throw the low income working class a bone and got a much needed transit system… but with used broken down buses that needed repair. I can’t help but think the reason was the upper class did not want their beautiful streets littered with rundown pollution emitting “junkers” even though they complained it was raising their taxes.
Having said all this I will sum up my “rant” by saying our past city councilors had a role in all this, Mr. Abernathy is not the sole culprit in this farce. I do hope our new Mayor and councilors will learn from our past city administration…not to compromise but represent all the residents of Bend not just the “chosen ones”
” Bruce and his cohorts worked hard to provide their exclusive westside homes the ambiance of beautiful parks, landscaped tree lined streets,with an artist inspired roundabout …Let’s not forget the Bill Healy Memorial bridge,park and trails on west Reed Market”
I agree with you Mr. Native, but the eastside is not as enlighted as you. When the Bill Healy bridge went up for a vote, the whole eastside voted in favor of that westside boondoggle.
To me that is Mr. Abernathy’s graetest failure. Good riddance, and may we not see such incompetence again.
Seldom if ever have I met a more arrogant and rude person than Bruce Abernathy. Even at the most elitist Democratic Party events and meetings (before my “intervention”), he spoke ONLY to those within his clique. I cannot image his getting elected to anything by intelligent voters. His agenda, like most of Deschutes County politicians of either party affiliation, has always been….Bruce.
I’m not the only one in town who feels a knot in his stomach thinking about all the opportunities this town missed in the past 10 years. The most staggering f-ups that local Bend government has ever known have been committed when Bruce Abernethy, Jim Clinton and the rest were on City Council. But Abernethy seems pretty pleased with himself overall.
I know these guys are well-meaning, but good intentions are no substitute for competence. Isn’t it hilarious, for example, that so much City time and resources were wasted on the “affordable housing” boondoggle, when just about everyone knew that we were in the midst of a housing bubble just waiting to pop? Plenty of affordable housing now! Of course, nobody wants to actually buy a house nowadays, but in any case that particular problem resolved itself as many of us knew it would.
And the understatement of the year is Bruce’s “in retrospect, we could have come back and done a little better due diligence on the buses.” Ya think? Man oh man.
I know that Bruce & Co. meant well when they did what they did. But because they didn’t go about it in a competent way, they actually damaged each of the causes they championed.
Hopefully some of the current Council members will prove to be practically minded, get-‘er-done people with lots of organizational smarts, patience for detail and follow-through (rather than pie-in-the-sky, brainstorming, lazy middle-class intellectuals).