A SLIPPER for Whisnant, a BOOT for Telfer

Posted inOpinion

A SLIPPER for Whisnant, a BOOT for Telfer

Mike Bookey

A decent roof over your head is something everybody needs in the
best of times. For low-income people in these worst of times, it can be
a matter of simple survival.
That's why HB 2436 - the Housing Opportunity Bill - was a good thing, and why we're glad the Oregon Legislature has passed it.
HB
2436 raises the state fee for recording the first page of real estate
title documents to $26 from $11. That $15 increase doesn't look like
much, but it's expected to add up to more than $19 million over the
next biennium.
The money will go to the Oregon Department of
Housing and Community Services, which will use it to help provide
affordable housing options. The bulk of the money will go toward
building and repairing rental housing for low-income working families,
seniors and people with disabilities. Another 14% will go for
homeownership and foreclosure prevention counseling, and 10% for
efforts to prevent and decrease homelessness by helping people meet
their rent or mortgage payments.

Posted inOpinion

Cat Bongs and Secret Tapes: The ACLU vs the CIA, Blago’s book deal, and more!

Mike Bookey

Tapes? Oh, Those Tapes!
Hearkening back to the good old days
of Nixon, the Bush Administration is quickly learning that tapes cannot
simply disappear. What the CIA and Bush/Cheney Junta once declared as a
total of only two videotapes and one audiotape of interrogation (=
torture) sessions of suspected terrorists, new (court-ordered)
disclosures by the CIA put the number of recordings at much higher: At
least 92 tapes. Don't expect these to hit YouTube anytime soon; the CIA
destroyed all of these tapes, and any accounts of their contents may be
classified to protect the names of the CIA personnel that viewed them.
Interesting… This is like the time you found dad's porn collection and
called all your buddies - But you somehow can't get busted because you
and all your buddies are in a special club - Which always works,
especially when dad walks in and finds you and your buddies watching
his porn. Anyway, the ACLU sued to obtain information on torture and
any possible evidence, and an official said that this disclosure
"confirms that the CIA engaged in a systemic attempt to hide evidence
of their own illegal conduct." Meanwhile, a CIA spokesman (unnamed, of
course) said, "The CIA intends to produce all of the information
requested to the court and to produce as much information as possible
on the public record to the plaintiffs." Wow! I feel a whole lot
better, don't you? We can totally trust those clandestine boys and
their club now.

Posted inOpinion

One Size Doesn’t Fit All In South County

Mike Bookey

Tuesday, March 10, voters in Deschutes County must sort through the
emotions, the opinions and the science that comprise the many faces of
Ordinance 2008-012, the "Local Rule." The emotions are the easiest to
understand, as the residents of South County are impacted by the
financial burden of up-grading their existing septic systems, while the
opinions expressed in the many letters to the editor, phone calls and
conversations have muddied our understanding of the issues with the
minutiae concerning the science. Not many of us possess the analytical
skills to truly evaluate the accuracy of the science that went into the
modeling in the original USGS study, any more than we have the
potential to offer helpful alternatives to the otherwise expensive
treatment of the nitrates that are at the core of the problem. We have
to trust the informed reports of others who have participated in the
entire process, and herein lay the rub.

Posted inOpinion

Put a Hat on ‘Em

Mike Bookey

This week's letter comes from the Viking Mama who reminds - no,
implores - parents to bundle up their youngsters as they themselves
bundle. I like it if for no other reason than she reminds me of me own
mum who never met a scarf she didn't like. Thanks for the letter Viking
Mama. You can pick up your spoils, a pound of Strictly Organic coffee
at our office, 704 NW Georgia.
It is not yet summer here in Central
Oregon and one might feel that as one goes back inside to get one's
hat. Well, get one for your kid as well!
As a mom with two
small children it aches in my bones when I see these little beings in
thin cotton pants with their bare legs showing as they are hanging in
swings, in BabyBjorns or on the back of baby-carriers. In the old
country they would say that when the mother is cold, the child is
wearing a turtleneck. Well not here, not at the boat park, not at
lighting of the Christmas tree downtown, not at WinterFest.

Posted inOpinion

Keep Local Rule Local

Mike Bookey

Is it just me or does it somehow seem patently
unfair for Deschutes County to seek approval of ballot measure 9-70
from all voters when it specifically affects only homeowners on septic
systems in South County? This appears to be an effort to stack the deck
against those owners who could potentially have to replace their septic
systems at substantial cost to themselves.

I think this is much more about the cost and having government rammed down your throat, than it is about water quality.
Let the people who are going to have to pay, one way or the other, decide the matter.
Sincerely,
Dave Stalker

Posted inOpinion

Drop the Rents, Already

Mike Bookey

Yes, there are exceptions. I also understand that you want to have
some kind of stopgap so as not to have undesirables proliferating. But
isn't it time for the people owning/leasing the commercial real estate,
especially on the westside/downtown area of Bend, to take the cold
shower of reality?

Take a look at the rates these people are
still shooting for in the offices and stores, especially in the
downtown area of Bend. If your property is not in the top couple
percent of desirability you need to drop your initial asking prices
dramatically. The proliferation of 'For Lease' signs is exploding and
for good reason.

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