Bend’s identity crisis
Bend’s identity crisis is self evident when it cannot complete a tree preservation code. Trees are vital to carbon sequestration and cool cities of concrete. Bend spouts it needs housing but then stalls the housing to build a second windowless big box Costco on a site with extraordinary mountain views now scraped of indigenous junipers that needed no irrigation water. Bend would do well to get all water meters updated this year instead of taking 7 more years to get caught up.
—Nunzie Gould
Bend tree code
Bend’s proposed Tree Code is going to pass despite containing numerous issues. It’s disheartening to see environmentally conscious individuals inadvertently undermine their goals by prioritizing political victories over the community’s and world’s wellbeing. For starters the average tree sequesters approximately 70 pounds of CO2 annually, equivalent to someone commuting by car from Redmond twice. Every unit of housing prevented by tree preservation within the Urban Growth Boundary exponentially increases the carbon footprint of Central Oregonians.
While I consider myself an ardent environmentalist, I also ascribe to the belief that “a society grows great when the elderly plant trees whose shade they shall never sit in.” If we truly care about the planet, we should encourage housing development near employment hubs, reducing costs and our reliance on long-distance commuting. This approach lowers the carbon footprint and alleviates the financial and psychological burdens on those forced to commute from Redmond, Prineville, La Pine and Madras.
Since this is inevitable I only ask that they include a Sunset Provision of one year that has to be voted on for renewal every year. Then maybe after everyone has calmed down and realized what a huge mistake this has been it can be thrown in the closet with all the other politically motivated bad ideas.
—John Heylin
$10.6 Million Tax Exemption for Jackstraw Development
Thank you to M. Rindfleisch (RE: Voters Say “No” To School Measures News. 5/30, 6/6) for pointing out the possibility that the voters of Bend saying “no” to the Bend-La Pine school bond is also letting the City of Bend know how appalled some of us are at the tax exemption made for Jackstraw’s development next to the Box Factory. That development is an eyesore. It’s yet another taller building that is taking away the feel of our city and taking away our views as we drive around town.
Schools and our children’s education should be a top priority. Let’s keep that in mind as added fees and tax exemptions are allowed.
—Mary Verbeck
RE: M. WUERKER Cartoon, 5/30
Your cartoon this week, which is embarrassingly propagandistic (not to mention unfunny) for a self-styled independent newspaper, prompted the following letter:
Have you ever wondered why the establishment media tries so hard to vilify RFK Jr? Here are several hints: he is the only candidate talking about the corporate capture of government. As an environmental lawyer, he is the only candidate who has taken on self-serving corporations for their treatment of people and the natural world. He is the only candidate who has opposed the U.S. military industrial complex, including 30 days in prison in 2001 for protesting Naval bombing exercises on the island of Vieques. He is the only candidate advocating for regenerative agriculture, a practice protective of topsoil and the climate but inimical to big agriculture. In other words, he is anti-establishment, and the establishment owns, operates and advertises in the so-called mainstream media. If you search out some of his recent interviews, relegated mainly to alternative media and his own podcast, you will have a hard time matching the man to the version served by “trusted” sources. If you have been sufficiently savvy or curious to understand how the mainstream media operates, then the dissonance should come as no surprise. If you have not, then may it serve as a kernel of awakening. Noam Chomsky has said that the mainstream media presents such a distorted view of reality that speaking simple truths is enough to make someone seem crazy. RFK Jr may not be perfect, but Chomsky’s words come to mind with each imbalanced assault on his integrity as a candidate — especially in light of the alternatives on offer.
—Matthew Orr
RE: Restoring a River. Feature, 5/30
I just finished with great enthusiasm your second article in the series on Klamath River renewal post drawdowns. Thanks for telling the story from the personal perspectives of the Tribes and adjacent landowners. I’m a retired tribal staff person who worked on similar projects intended to protect and restore tribal treaty rights and the necessary natural resources condition required for meaningful exercise of those rights. And as part of this special honor I had to do this work, I had the pleasure to get to know Klamath, Yurok and other tribal leaders and members. Thanks for your excellent work.
—Rick George, board member, Pacific Rivers
Letter of
the Week:
In the churn of the news cycle and the doom and gloom that tends to follow us around, newspaper editors have to absorb their little dots of light where they can. Thus, offer a genuine compliment to the editor, get Letter of the Week! Thanks for your note, Rick. Come on by for your gift card to Palate.
—Nicole Vulcan
This article appears in Source Weekly June 13, 2024.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
