In a joint letter sent to Bend City Council earlier today, community visioning group Bend 2030 and the Central Oregon Builders’ Association ask Council to consider street funding options beyond a gas tax. At the August 5 Council meeting, four City Councilors voted in support of putting a gas tax on the March ballot and […]
gas tax
Posted inOpinion
Letters 8/4-8/11
IN REPLY TO “POUNDING THE PAVEMENT” (8/5) That’s great. Former “mayor” moves on to represent petroleum companies. And we’re supposed to take what this jackass says seriously? I’m so tired of these dimwits claiming “poor me.” These are the same voices that scream to slash funding every budget cycle (except for the development lobby, of […]
Posted inNews
Running on Empty?
Opponents: Council vote threatens to stall transportation funding
“We have a historical funding problem with street maintenance,” explained Mayor Jim Clinton at the City Council meeting on August 5. “The only solution I see is to ask voters if they want to use a fuel tax to solve that structural problem.” Over the past several weeks, the idea to implement a gas tax […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters 7/29-8/4
A PLAN FOR TROY FIELD Yes, there was a reason for the City to buy Troy Field. I was on the school steering committee, which recommended to the school board that they save Troy Field for part of a civic center, which was already in the planning stage. It was precluded by the recession but […]
Posted inNews
Pounding the Pavement
City considers a gas tax to fund transportation improvements
Driving across Bend is a little like playing Minesweeper, only the potholes don’t explode. So it’s not surprising that, in a recent survey by DHM Research, 61 percent of respondents described road conditions in Bend as “poor” or “very poor.” And data backs up that gut feeling. Because road damage has outpaced funding for repairs, […]
Posted inOpinion
Full of Gas
Last week, like most weeks during the summer in Bend, thousands of tourists poured into town. There were the Phish shows; two nights that pulled thousands of fans from across the Northwest to Les Schwab Amphitheater. And, there was the Cascade Cycling Classic, a five-stage road bike race that attracted a different crowd; hundreds of […]
Posted inNews
Side Notes 7/1-7/8
City Council talks transportation funding
A local gas tax is creeping closer to the November ballot. At a special meeting of Bend City Council on Monday, councilors discussed the results of a survey by DHM Research that found 63 percent of respondents support a 10-cent gas tax. It’s no secret that Bend’s roads are in bad shape. Survey respondents confirmed […]
Posted inOpinion
Robbing the Prince to Pay the Pauper
In our recent endorsement interview for Bend Park & Recreation District (BPRD) Board Position 1, we spent a good amount of time discussing “system development charges” (SDCs), a fee that housing developers pay toward Park District (and City) projects. Why so much attention to this topic? Because the City wants BPRD to join in offering […]