Letters to the Editor 06/17/2009

To the Editor:

In response to Ed Protas' comments in last week's Nugget: "Credit for the quick end-to-end process goes entirely to the staff of the Sisters planning department."

It is incorrect to say that a single party, department or committee was entirely responsible for a quick end-to-end process.

Long before the planning commission or planning department became involved, and before the three-and-half-week waiting period for the planning commission to meet and even consider approving us operating a restaurant in the Hitchin' Post building, there were many very dedicated people that worked extremely hard to ensure that our business landed in Sisters and not Redmond or Bend.

Very early on, when initial contact was made with property owners the City of Sisters, the city "process" appeared complicated and very expensive. After our initial investigation into starting a business in Sisters we had all but ruled it out and were looking seriously at Redmond and Bend, which I might add were offering some very attractive things to encourage opening businesses.

After our initial disappointments, members of SBART (Sisters Business Attraction and Retention Team) and the city council, including Patty Vandiver, Lon Kellstrom and Jerry Bogart, took a very active hands-on role in encouraging us to stay here in Sisters. There were several meetings, an enormous amount of information covered about the future possibilities here in Sisters. They met with the planning department, covered details, and spent many hours working on our behalf.

I also want to single out for my sincere thanks and appreciation, Eric Porter and his staff for the diligence, attention to detail, knowledge and willingness to work through a process that we all know was difficult but ultimately turned out very positive.

I want to thank (again) SBART, the city council, the planning department and planning commission for helping us start our new restaurant, Slick's Que Co. in downtown Sisters.

Roy Slicker

s s s

To the Editor:

Thanks rodeo fans ... nary a hitch pin or a snuff can alongside Cloverdale Road after rodeo weekend!

Adopt-a-Road, Vernon Smith & Judith Bull

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To the Editor:

Lorenzo Ghiglieri has donated a large bronze horse to the city of Sisters and the state of Oregon as part of the Sesquicentennial Celebration. The work was installed just in time for Sisters Rodeo Weekend. Its installation also parallels the seniors graduating from Sisters High School. The school has a similar horse image for its Outlaw mascot.

Besides Lorenzo's horse reminding us of our rodeo, schools and our Western-themed town, the style of the piece harks back to the time of the Greeks. Its classical look is reminiscent of the dynamic horses found in the marble frieze from the Parthenon. His handling of the anatomy, the flowing energy of the work, the intelligent look in the horse's face and it's proportion, all tell of this classical influence.

The piece sits on a colored concrete base that's been beautifully textured and landscaped by the city under the guidance of Brad Grimm. The scale of the horse fits perfectly with its' placement.

The bronze horse donation had to be approved by the city planning commission. It needed to fit code, engineering and safety requirements. The donation also came at a time when a Public Arts Policy was being adopted by the City of Sisters.

This policy was created under the guidance of Cate O'Hagan from Bend's Art Central as well as input from a variety of Sisters residents and the Sisters Public Arts (SPA) committee. The goal of this effort is to help place art in public spaces around Sisters. Such an undertaking is not only a way to celebrate our quality of life and promote the arts, but also to acknowledge the arts as one of the economic engines that bring people to our community, to visit or stay.

Paul Bennett