Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

We want to thank the 173 registered voters within Sisters who signed the petition to place Measure 9-40 on the ballot. This measure, if passed, will allow every voter in our town to voice his individual preference on any land annexation. Currently, the five members of the city council have that exclusive privilege of deciding for the rest of us, rarely if ever canvassing for our opinions.

The two of us have each served a couple of times on both Sisters' governmental bodies. We know that expanding the city limits with all the legal, financial, economic and sociological implications is a mighty heavy decision that we prefer not to make by ourselves along with only four other people.

Corvallis, Philomath and Newberg, although much larger than Sisters, have all learned that voter privilege is the way to go, and have amended their charters. Isn't it wise sometimes to learn from others who have been there, done that?

We urge you to vote yes on Measure 9-40 which amends city charter to require voter approval of all annexations.

Respectfully,

Bob and Peggy Lutz

To the Editor:

Blair Osterlund's letter to the Editor October 16 was exactly right; I've been exposed.

Those white walls of the proposed PMR Development are fertile ground to hang my clocks on, but that is not the limit of my vision. Those same white walls represent a painter who feeds his wife and children. Sheet rockers, framers, finish carpenters, cabinetmakers, plumbers, electricians, general contractors, excavators, interior designers, architects, landscapers -- all who feed their families.

Realtors, title companies, mortgage companies, lumber yards, hardware stores -- call us all self-serving; we have to be able to pay your Social Security.

When Congress bailed out Social Security, they did it on the backs of the next generation -- so it's to your own self-interest to see to it that we succeed just as it serves our self-interest that the youth succeed. I hope you get the big picture here.

Sisters is a great place to live and people will continue to move here with or without the PMR Development. They will continue to do just as they have for the last 20 years moving into Crossroads, Tollgate, Cascade Meadows, Sage Meadows, Indian Ford, The Ridge, Aspen Lakes, Cloverdale, Plainview, Ponderosa Cascades, Sun Mountain, and so on. All of which draw police from the city but pay no taxes to the city.

The no-growthers have been like a tag team, blasting Barbara Warren, city administrator, for a tax-and spending-imbalance all the while fighting development.

There are only two ways to take in more revenue: increase the tax or expand the base. If you want to stop the growth then you better get used to paying more taxes to support the city services. You won't stop the growth by stopping the PMR Development. Nothing stays the same--it either grows or it dies.

I think it's sad for professional obstructionists to retire to Sisters after making their money in more lucrative markets like Lake Oswego, then try to shut down growth and development which equals jobs and prosperity for those of us who still need to work. I want to know who is going to save Sisters from the "Save Sisters Committee."

Sincerely,

Ed Beacham

To the Editor:

Concerned about overcrowded schools and who should pay?

Crowding results from new housing and new residents. Developers should pay for that expansion as part of the SDCs (Systems Development Charges). But the 1993 Republican legislature yielded to developer and Realtor lobbies and blocked communities from charging for school (and some other) charges (ORS 223.299).

Rep. Luke has a key position on the education committee but he did nothing -- he gets support from the home builders organization.

Bob Pickard has promised that he will fight to change the law and permit communities to collect systems development charges. By next spring, with such leadership, Sisters might be able to collect from developers the impact costs of school expansion.

The amount per house is over $10,000. Currently the public is subsidizing developers through school bonds. Or if they are not passed, students "subsidize" through overcrowded classes.

A development of 200 houses, such as some being proposed, would impose $2,000,000 costs on the local taxpayer. Who we send to the legislature is important to parents, other taxpayers and the local school board.

Wm. Boyer

Sisters

To the Editor:

The voters who are writing to editors urging the election of Bev Clarno as state treasurer because they believe she will defend Central and Eastern Oregon against interests from the other side of the mountains should think again, because she didn't defend residents of the Sisters area from predators.

Crown Pacific, a major timberland owner based in Portland, and Hap Taylor Co. of Bend (not in Rep. Clarno's house district) successfully steamrolled an application to open a new gravel pit about three miles west of Sisters off the Old McKenzie Highway.

Right past Deschutes County planners, hearings officers, and commissioners without a hitch, despite a great amount of formal opposition from the residents, schools, city government, and businesses of the Sisters area.

When asked for assistance by her constituents, Ms. Clarno not only ignored our pleas, she co- sponsored a bill that would have prohibited appeal of local land use decisions to the Land Use Board of Appeals. Governor Kitzhaber vetoed it.

This Republican intends to vote for the incumbent state treasurer.

Respectfully,

Barney Howard

To the Editor:

The Nugget called it "a dirty little piece of campaign literature from the state teacher's union." By now we are all aware of the source of these ads. What we can not forget is this: While many candidates across Oregon have disavowed these independent expenditures, Bob Pickard has clearly embraced this one.

He is quoted in the Bulletin as saying: "I'm not going to reject this kind of support." Mr. Pickard would like us to believe that he is a hard working candidate, running "a low-cost campaign." Bob, we must question how hard you're working when you have only raised $1,944 on your own and when you've admitted that you were recruited to run for this office by the state teachers' union.

Please don't insult our intelligence, the facts speak for themselves. Join me in electing the only real choice; vote for Ben Westlund.

Beth McCurdy

Bend

To the Editor:

For the first time, your editorial endorsement has shocked and outraged me. You have made a very serious choice of who you will vote for based on a slanderous piece of campaign literature not even generated by said campaign.

You are every advertiser's and marketer's dream. How can you make any kind of informed judgment based on campaign propaganda, negative or positive? The doors are now open for all types of malcontents that might be tricky enough to issue this type of junk mail just to elicit your type of response. (I know you remember Nixon and his upstanding campaign cohorts).

We the citizens of Oregon owe it to each other to elect the best qualified candidate for the task, someone to represent us with intelligence, conviction, and vigor. In my mind, campaign literature, if it is not addressing the issues and in-depth policies of the candidate is good for one thing, the recycling bin.

Please let good judgment prevail; reconsider the basis for your endorsement. Oregon voters are renowned for standing firm against the influences of "dirty little pieces of campaign literature." Let's keep the candidate and the issues at the forefront of the political dialogue, and not submerge ourselves in the murky waters of innuendo, hearsay, and mean-spirited name calling that has sadly plagued our electoral process for generations.

Susanne Redfield

Editor's response: The way to stop such tactics is to show that they do not work. In this case, even the teacher's union must have believed they had more to gain with an inquisition into Mr. Westlund's weaknesses than promotion of Mr. Pickard's strengths. With such a choice, we thought greater good would come from voting against a type of politics that chases more capable candidates away.

That said, new information was available to us on Monday, October 21, regarding Mr. Westlund's driving record. He has, apparently, 15 traffic convictions in the last 20 years, including nine speeding tickets and one for reckless driving. That shows a continuing lack of judgment. He told the Bulletin that he hadn't had any contact with the law other than "a couple of speeding tickets" since 1982. That was not true. He has had eight since that date, four in the last 10 years, two in one day in 1993.

This tips the balance, for us, away from voting for Westlund. We will probably vote for Pickard in November -- despite the teacher's union mudslinging, not because of it.

To the Editor:

Tom DeWolf would make an excellent county commissioner. He has proven his dedication to this county and our community through his extensive involvement in the 18-plus years he has lived here.

Currently serving on the Bend City Council, he is highly aware of the needs of our growing area and is ready to take on the challenges as a county commissioner. Along with the explosive growth of our region comes the need to make sure all residents are represented in a fair and equitable way.

Tom DeWolf is a committed and highly capable person to help lead our county through this process of inevitable change. Vote for Tom DeWolf, Deschutes County Commissioner.

Sincerely,

Barbara Smiley Howe

To the Editor:

I feel that I know a good deal when one comes along. I want to share the best deal in Deschutes County with you. We should all consider ourselves fortunate to be able to reap the rewards of this one.

We will all get more from our vote if we invest in Tom DeWolf. I have become aware of the benefits of this package. He's loaded with sincere commitment, enthusiasm, initiative, progressiveness and true leadership. Plain and simple, he's the best deal for Deschutes County Commissioner.

P.S. Tom, Thanks for helping my son to register to vote!

Laurel Variel

To the Editor:

Maybe I'm not thinking clearly about this so please set me straight. I'm not a smoker and I realize the young people who were issued cigarettes in the '20s and '30s by the government, are on Medicare now with major health problems, but is it really fair to overtax them?

Will this open up taxation to higher levels? I like to drink pop and wear shoes. Do I need to stop enjoying them now?

Please tell me -- do you think taxation on these things will get as high? I'm trying to prepare for my November voting. Please advise me.

Ruth Nalle

To the Editor:

As I was driving home from Bend last Wednesday, October 16, my car developed a problem which required me to pull off to the side of the road. This occurred at approximately 4:55 p.m. (still daylight) about 1-1/2 miles from town.

Even with my hazard lights on, I guess a mom with two young children looked a little too threatening or perhaps all those cars that whizzed by me for 30 minutes were all just too busy to stop and at least ask if they could make a call for me.

After 30 minutes a "gentleman" whose name I did not get (who drove an older model blue Chevy pickup) did stop and offered assistance. I would like to say thanks again for your assistance and concern to stop.

For the rest of you, what's that saying? What goes around comes around.

Kim Renwick

To the Editor:

A couple of Sundays ago, the local church I attend showed a video illustrating the persecution of Christians around the world. Until then, I had no idea how far the persecution had spread and to what extent.

And, eerily, I couldn't help but flash to the Holocaust and how the local communities turned their heads in ignorance. Yet our media and the government have remained silent about these daily abuses that should be brought to light for public condemnation.

America is a great power and has great influence over other countries. Religious freedom should be enjoyed in every country just as it is here in America. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to religious freedom. Numerous countries which signed that declaration continue to persecute Christians.

Please accept the challenge and encouragement I give you today: Keep us informed of these persecutions so that we might be moved to insist on reform. Meanwhile, World Evangelical Fellowship; P.O. Box WEF; Wheaton, IL 60189, gladly offers more information on this human rights issue for those interested.

Cindy Ogle

To the Editor:

Since the community of Sisters is well known for its wonderful Outdoor Quilt Show in July, it seemed appropriate to make a quilt to help raise funds for the new Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.

The Casual Quilters of Sisters took on this project and made a quilt, titled "Houses for Humanity" to raffle during the summer season. Tickets sales went very well and $3,204 was raised to help with construction of the store on Main Avenue.

The quilters would like to thank all the community for their support.

A special thank you to Jean Wells Keenan of the Stitchin' Post for donating all the fabric for the quilt and to her employees for selling tickets all summer long at the store. Kim Renwick and the Chamber of Commerce supported our efforts by allowing us a space to sell tickets at the three Saturday Markets and the Harvest Faire. Rose Slavkovsky drew the winning ticket from the container. The Slavkovsky family owns the first Habitat home built in Sisters.

The winner was a Habitat for Humanity supporter from the small Northern California town of Cottonwood.

We are all proud of this community effort.

Sincerely,

Norma Funai,

Casual Quilters of Sisters

To the Editor:

I want to thank the kind people -- Murrays and other folks -- who helped my daughter Sharon who was involved in a deer accident east of Sisters, Sunday, October 13. Many thanks.

Sincerely,

Alton Jones

To the Editor:

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful people in Sisters for their part in making the second annual sisters Dance Team Fashion Show a smashing success.

First of all, our local contributors and merchants both in Sisters and in Bend. Next the friends and families who came out to support the team. In this day our dance team has 100 percent parental backing. I know this makes the girls very happy.

Last of all thank you to all dressers and escorts, Janice Comfort, Michael Voss, Sandy Tartaglia and the stage crew led by Adam Rozencrans.

Julie Voss

Sisters Dance Team Coach