Letters to the Editor 11/11/09

To the Editor:

In regard to the proposed construction of the assisted-care center here in Sisters I have a view to offer that may reach some readers who can identify with this softer approach. How many here in the community have family members in assisted-care facilities around the country?

Wouldn't it be grand to have them a little closer to home in their golden years. How much time, effort and funds are spent traveling and communicating? Not to mention the obvious issue like disruption of families' daily lives to care for the elderly.

We live here because we enjoy the sweet air, the sky that's a little bluer and the breathtaking scenery. I'd sure like to have these amenities in my closing years. As observed in previous publications, it's apparent that the project would spur activity in several fields here in Sisters. It undoubtedly would give the local economy a shot in the arm that it deserves. The beauty of it is that the tradesmen and women in the community are craftsmen. They have the ability to construct a facility through a unilateral effort that many would take pride in.

My confidence level is high that the community can come together and "pull on the same end of the rope " so to speak and move forward with a project that could keep good folks from having to walk away from their dream of living in this fine area.

Wayne Cornick

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To the Editor

I have been reading the paper about the possible annexation of McKenzie Meadows for quite some time. It is hard to believe there are any objections to the project. The voters approved the annexation many years ago; if not the "hold up" at city hall, the project would have gone forward as proposed.

The construction phase alone for the senior living center would create many family wage jobs immediately and, once completed, would generate many permanent jobs. Giving a boost to the overall Sisters economy should be our primary concern in these trying times - keeping people from leaving the area, not having their homes repossessed, and/or drawing unemployment.

Look at all the successful projects that have made a positive impact on our community: Buck Run, Coyote Springs, FivePine, The Pines, Rolling Horse, Timber Creek, Spring Meadow, Edge of the Pines, Sisters Industrial Park, Mountain View Industrial Park, Tamarack Village, Pine Meadow, Three Wind Shopping Center, and many others. The property tax revenue of any one project alone far exceeds the additional expense created. So, to say that "growth never pays for itself" is shortsighted.

It is true that there are many available lands within the current city limits, but either the current owners are not willing or financially able to do a project of this magnitude with current stipulations, or parcels are not large enough to accommodate such a facility.

As an ag­ing baby boomer, I fully support the idea of having a Senior Living Center in our community. Being realistic and sooner than I may wish, I love the idea of being able to stay in Sisters and not having to move to a Bend facility when I need it. Let's get this started so that we can start seeing employment benefits throughout the city when we most need it, not years later.

Gary D. Frazee

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To the Editor:

As the daughter of a 90-year-old mother living here in Sisters, I would like extend my strong support of the proposed senior retirement center on the McKenzie Meadows property.

When I first heard of this facility last summer and saw the beautiful architectural drawings, I was ecstatic that there would be a quality, local solution for our mom. She loves Sisters, our family is in Sisters and it's where she wants to live. Being forced to move to Redmond or Bend would not only break her heart, but make her feel isolated from the family.

The fact that the property is outside the hustle and bustle of the downtown tourist area is even more appealing to our family, but the property is still close enough to schools, churches, Bi-Mart and Ray's.

A senior facility is long, long overdue for our town and I think the current economic climate is offering a very small window of opportunity to purchase a quality piece of land that is finally affordable enough to make retirement living financially feasible to seniors in our town.

If there is other land available within the city limits that equals the quality and affordability of this piece of property, then I encourage the owners to come forth quickly and make it known.

Our seniors deserve a local option for retirement, and in our situation, time is truly of the essence. Our family needs a solution, as do many others in our community; and time is running out.

I strongly encourage the council to consider the many benefits of this project and the solution it provides for local family members and their beloved parents.

Debbie Bucher

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To the Editor:

In regards to the McKenzie Meadows Project, it surely will not make an instant impact to the economic health of our community. It will probably be years before the single-family lots are built upon. What it will do is provide a need for our community with a retirement/assisted living center. Many of our friends have to travel to Bend or Redmond to visit their elderly parents, who had lived their final independent years in our community. Wouldn't it be nice for these folks to have their parents local where they want to be, and be able to stop by frequently for a quick visit or outing?

This project will also provide many

long-term jobs once it is completed.

The people who are spearheading this project are trying to provide a quality service for this community while making a living.

This is the perfect time to plan and shape McKenzie Meadows into a desirable retirement center with an attractive surrounding neighborhood. These folks have already done some extensive research and market analysis. The time is now to annex this property so that the city and developers can work together toward a common goal benefiting our community; providing a quality local home for our elderly community members, and providing a long-term employment base.

Brad Simundson

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To the Editor:

My only problem with the McKenzie Meadows annexation was addressed in the week before my letter was published, so I am in full support of the project now.

Curt Kallberg needs to tone down his rhetoric a bit so he doesn't sabotage Bill Reed's vision for this property.

I want my parents to be able to spend their last years here, if they so choose. We tend to ghettoize our seniors away from society, so I think that right next to the high school is the perfect place.

I see no need to put this up to a vote of the people. Let's git-r done.

Bruce Berryhill

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To the Editor:

We are writing to express our support for the Sisters Charter Academy of Fine arts and our sincere hope that the school will find support from the Sisters School Board to weather the current enrollment difficulties.

We are new to the school, having learned of the program in a recent article in The Nugget. We visited the school to speak with teachers and staff and were greatly impressed with what we found. The philosophy behind the program and the flexibility and sensitivity toward our concerns that we encountered won us over. We couldn't have designed a program that better meets our needs.

Prior to finding SCAFA, we planned to homeschool both our kids, and homeschooling would be our recourse if SCAFA were to close. Having said this, the opportunity for our child to learn and grow in this setting with all of the social interaction of the classroom means a great deal to us. Our son is thrilled with the arrangement and we are excited for him.

As residents of the community who were wholly ignorant of this extraordinary school until very recently, we have to suspect that there are others, similarly ignorant, who would be well served by SCAFA if only they knew about it.

The availability of choice in our children's education means a lot to us and strikes us as an invaluable amenity in this small town.

We'll do what we can to help get the word out about SCAFA, and we ask the Sisters School Board for its support while the school works to stabilize enrollment in these challenging times.

To allow SCAFA to succumb would be a great misfortune for educational choice in Sisters, a great waste of hard work and resources that have gone into the making of this fine program, and a disservice to the community.

We all understand that charter schools are required to meet an enrollment quota. But to close SCAFA, given that it is currently funded through this school year, without allowing the program the chance to address its enrollment challenges, would smack of using the

enrollment quota as a mere pretext.

Let's put students and families first.

Greg Black, DVM

Keri McDowell, DVM

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To the Editor:

A reader in last week's Nugget mentioned that the 62-acre Forest Service property in Sisters is likely to be back up for sale next year, and he threw open the question of further public discussion about what might be done with the land, including building a swimming facility on part of it.

I'm just dreaming here - but I've thought this location would be a great site for a live performance park, with two or three audience venues of various sizes where the kinds of performers we occasionally see in Sisters (for the folk festival, Starry Nights, etc.) could come more often.

One or two of the venues could be open-air, and another one or two could be enclosed, together allowing for nightly shows on all our beautiful summer evenings under the stars, as well as matinee and evening shows every weekend of the year.

It would be a little like Ashland, and a little like Branson, but on a more intimate scale, and with a wider array of performing artists, everything from folk and rock to classical and country, as well as drama, dance, comedy and more.

And by being just a brief stroll from town, the crowds before and after the performances would spill out into all our shops and restaurants. Such a place could give folks throughout the West yet another reason to come here and stay a while.

Thomas Womack

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To the Editor:

Current and past generations have been asked to preserve and protect the notion of "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". It is inevitable that future generations will be called upon as well. They will do so with conviction.

To honor those that have sacrificed, isolate the phrase

"...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Allow this phrase to rise alone. Embrace it, unencumbered by its familiarity; understanding that it may very well be the single greatest succinct phrase ever written describing basic instinctual desires of every human being.

First, grasp the impact of this phrase on its own, and then marry it with your deserved gratitude of yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's veterans for maintaining its reality.

Rod Morris

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To the Editor:

Big kudos to Ken Birkes, who was out this morning picking up trash along the entrance to Tollgate.

For all of those litterbugs who throw their trash out of the car windows both along the entrance to Tollgate and all along the sides of the highway from Tollgate into town, don't be so lazy. Respect the place you live or the beautiful place you get to visit and put trash in the right place; it's not that hard!

Things like the lipstick-covered Pall Mall cigarettes and boxes are not only litter but a potential fire hazard; they do not belong on the roadside.

And for the biggest offenders of all, those who dump things like batteries, freezers, TVs and CO2 canisters out in the National Forest (the beauty of the wild lands - why we live here) a fine is not enough for you. That is some bad karma you are building!

Marilyn Cornelius

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To the Editor:

On November 7, the House of Representative finally passed a health initiative. It was long overdue and historic for this country (although it is standard for most of the developed world).

Unfortunately for Oregon, our Representative Walden is constrained by his peers, his party and his association with monies flowing from big corporations, in this case, the insurance companies.

It's time for Representative Walden to stand up and proclaim having a brain that is actually capable of making decisions on its own. The state of Oregon elected an official to go to Washington to carefully consider each issue and each vote. We did not elect a puppet to sit in that esteemed chair and do as told by others that have no interest except their own.

Pay attention Representative Walden: this country is in desperate need of good health care and we are falling behind other countries in the world. If Representative Walden will vote against this important issue, he will vote against other important issues such as research and gun laws.

We can't afford Representative Walden - the lobbyists can easily afford him.

Bunny Thompson