News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Local land use activist Bill Boyer didn't get the apology he was looking for from City Planner Neil Thompson at the Sisters City Council meeting Thursday, July 9.
Boyer, the chairman of Alliance for Responsible Land Use in Deschutes County, took exception to remarks Thomson made at a dedication ceremony for the Hood Avenue extension across Pine Meadow Ranch on June 11.
Thompson criticisized opponents of the PMR development.
In a prepared speech, Thompson said, "there are people who have borrowed the honorable title 'land use watchdog' and corrupted its purpose. They have taken on the mantle of 1,000 Friends of Oregon, bringing dishonor to that organization, making a mockery of its mission."
ARLU DeCo. is affiliated with 1,000 Friends of Oregon and has received legal assistance from that organization's attorneys in challenging the residential portion of the proposed Pine Meadow Ranch development.
Although Thompson did not mention ARLU DeCo. by name, Boyer wrote the city demanding "at least an explanation and probably an apology." According to Boyer, he received no reply from the city. Boyer appeared at the city council meeting to ask the city council to support or refute Thompson's statements.
The council declined to act on Boyer's request, noting that Thompson had not singled out Boyer's organization.
"This was a way of kind of legally weaseling out of it," Boyer said. "But I'm not bringing it up as a legal issue anyway, but as an ethical issue."
Council President Gordon Petrie wanted the council to address the issue further.
"I look on Bill Boyer's letter and comments tonight as a serious matter," Petrie said.
Petrie wanted to schedule a meeting to address Thompson's comments and to develop a policy regarding what city employees can and cannot say while representing the city.
The council voted 3-2 to let the matter drop.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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