An End-of-Year Opinion Lightning Round

The end of a year is typically a good time to take stock, review what’s working and what still needs to change. In this week’s Opinion, we’re doing just that — taking a look at some of the issues we, and our readers, care about. To spare you some precious time, let’s do this in a “good-bad-ugly” lightning round, shall we?

Good: Three years ago at this time, the city of Bend was still standing up a winter warming shelter wherever it could find the space. Now, thanks to city, state and federal investment, Bend has a space for people to shelter every day of the year, and more pathways to move up and out of temporary shelters and into more stable housing. The work is ongoing, and seeing a massive camp at Hunnell Road cleared this year was heartbreaking — but the city has come a long way, and that progress continued in 2023.

Bad: Seeing one of the lawmakers who engaged in a historically long walkout in the Oregon legislature now ask his colleagues for a special session to address one issue. It’s nice that Sen. Brian Boquist wants to address the lopsided taxation of heavy trucks that he says is leading to higher prices on consumer goods, but couldn’t they have done that during the regular session? Showing up to work means you can get stuff done.

Good: Deschutes County finally getting on board and playing a part in addressing houselessness in Central Oregon. The City of Bend has led; it’s good now to see the County playing along and working on code changes, managed camps and other efforts to address this great humanitarian need.

Bad: Rep. Cliff Bentz playing the foil in the effort to protect the Owyhee. Ranchers, tribes and other stakeholders have come to terms that give each of the various entities something they want out of the deal. But seeing eastern Oregon’s House rep refuse to participate just stinks of partisan stalling tactics.

Good: The state has struggled to adequately implement Measure 110, the citizen-led drug decriminalization and treatment bill that passed in 2020 – but lawmakers and policymakers are showing resolve in not tossing it out entirely, and instead working to improve on its promise. We’re not declaring victory on this one by a long shot – but it’s good to see leaders trying to make it work, and thereby honoring the will of the people. Getting more people into treatment is a good thing. Fingers crossed on this one.

Good: New York City opting to ban solitary confinement in prisons. Let’s hope it sets a precedent for prisons across the nation.

Bad: Your neighbors on NextDoor, feeling like it’s OK to post photos of underage people who commit grievous sins like ding-dong-ditching a house. In any year, posting photos of other people’s kids engaging in annoying-but-not-dangerous behavior is not cool and places these teens in harm’s way. Be the adult.

Ugly: Juniper Ridge. If you’ve been following the story of Juniper Ridge since the early 2000s, then you already know that it’s been a saga that thus far has only resulted in fallow land. At some point or another it’s been planned to be a university, a performing arts center, a business center, a managed homeless camp and more. The City of Bend recently announced that it’s aiming to sell the land to a developer once again, which, given the history, could be good or bad – but the lingering vibe right now leans to ugly.

This article appears in Source Weekly December 28, 2023.