Letters to the Editor 03/30/2005

To the Editor:

According to what we read in The Nugget and The Oregonian and The Bend Bulletin (March 26 edition), Sisters’ large building boom since the sewers were installed is going to come to a rapid end.

The Bulletin states the sewer system will reach capacity by 2007.

The power capacity is already in crisis and no solution appears in sight, so I guess it behooves the city councilors, the mayor and the planning director to pay attention to how many building permits are issued.

Certainly the situation requires due diligence on the part of our “City Fathers” or the entire population of the City of Sisters will be “paying the price” in more ways than one.

Diana Raske Lovgren

s s s

To the Editor:

The Sister School Board election is upon us. In many ways choosing the right people for this great responsibility is as important as choosing a president. Elected members have a profound responsibility in helping to shape the quality and direction of our school system.

I have known Rob Corrigan for more than a year now and I strongly endorse his candidacy for the Sisters School Board. Voters could not make a better choice. Smart, articulate, yet soft-spoken, Rob brings to the job an intellect honed by years of experience working for some of the most famous companies in Silicon Valley.

I have found that Rob is full of creative ideas that would serve the school system in Sisters well. As important, he is a consensus builder who can fuse many good ideas into workable policies that would receive broad support from the entire community. No small feat, considering how many chiefs and how few Indians there are to be found in this town.

A school system helps shape the character of a community. “Great schools” and all that this means — committed and competent teachers, students eager to learn and administrators providing the necessary leadership — are a source of civic pride and higher property values.

School board members are an additional source of energy and wisdom that contribute to great schools.

For this reason, please vote for Rob Corrigan for Sisters School board.

Sincerely,

John Berry

s s s

To the Editor:

So, we now have a “conservative” and a “liberal” running for the only contested seat on the Sister’s School District Board.

How disturbing that we’ve sunk so low as to begin tagging our school board candidates with political labels. Aren’t we all a bit weary of the partisan obstructionism going on in our State Legislature and U.S. Congress?

We should be addressing the real needs of our community and children. Let’s leave the political name-calling to the “brain vacuum” in Salem and Washington, D. C.

Our children are our most valuable resource and must be given the very best education possible.

This must be the top priority, not only of the school board but of the whole community. What’s good for our children is also good for our community. The better educated our citizenry today, the better able we will be to compete in the global economy tomorrow.

It’s our obligation as members of this community to elect qualified people to our school board that share these same priorities and I believe Rob Corrigan has those qualifications.

I have known Rob for several years and have worked with him as a homeowners association board member. He is fiscally astute and very knowledgeable in budgetary matters.

He has demonstrated a common sense and pragmatic approach to problem solving. He has been very active and involved in school district and community affairs.

This experience has given him much valuable insight into the real needs and issues of the school district and ourchildren.

Until Jeff Haken can be more specific as to how his “views” differ from those of Rob Corrigan and presents himself as a more qualified candidate for the Sisters School Board, my vote stays with Rob Corrigan.

Bill Zilk