Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

I am writing in support of Chuck Humphrey's reinstatement to the Sisters Planning Commission.

While I've known Chuck for many years due to school activities and mutual interests in biking and local trail development, only recently have I had the opportunity to work with him directly on contentious community issues like the development code.

It is not surprising that he and I occasionally came to different conclusions about property regulation and policy due to our different philosophical and geographical starting points (Cultured East vs. Wild West for

example).

And yet, we engaged in highly productive dialogue because he was an excellent listener, tolerant of differences of opinion, and a critical but creative thinker. It is a healthy, if not exhausting, exercise to engage people like Chuck who can apply solid reasoning and supportive evidence in deliberations, even if we end up disagreeing on the conclusion.

At the same time, I've found Chuck to be pragmatic in recognizing the value of public compromise. I am also most appreciative of his complete lack of hesitation to acknowledge or challenge nebulous interpretations and consistency flaws in regulatory language.

If one has the fortitude, Chuck can be an excellent sparring partner on issues of public planning and land use. Although Chuck's involvement on the planning commission will probably make many of my future efforts at code reform more difficult, the important thing is that I know for a fact he will put a lot of high-quality thinking into the issues faced by the planning commission, and the bar will be raised accordingly.

Respectfully,

Kris Calvin

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To the Editor:

With all the more important and critical issues of the day, this seems very trivial. But bear with me.

Coming into town on Wednesday, passing the intersection of Camp Polk Road and Main Avenue where all the road and sidewalk work is going on, I glanced to the right and, horrors, the beautiful little flowering crab apple tree wasn't there.

I stopped so suddenly, I was almost rear-ended. It had been cut down to put in the sidewalk. That little tree was there when the grade school was there, it was saved during the construction and building of our city hall.

If the powers that be knew about the future installation of sidewalks, why didn't they move it further back onto the property in early spring? Most nursery and landscape companies have the equipment to move something that size without damage or loss at that time of year. I suppose it was just another "expendable" tree, like so many others in our downtown area, a victim of progress.

Mickey Duehren

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To the Editor:

Congratulations to the Sisters High School Class of 2010 graduates and their families. High school graduation is a wonderful milestone. We would like to thank the Sisters High School staff, the parents and families of the graduates and our terrific community of Sisters for your endless support and generous donation toward the all-night graduation party at Mavericks of Sunriver.

Barb Hjelmstad; Suz Mutchler; Jeri Buckmann

Senior Grad Night Co-Chairs

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To the Editor:

I paid my first visit to the McKenzie Canyon area since the piping project had begun. I congratulate those who made this wonderful advancement possible.

No expense was spared in maximizing the ecological damage and ugliness to this formerly pristine area. Habitat for untold animals was destroyed, all shade trees were ground up and left to die, and a mud and rock gash remains where there was once a babbling brook.

I know there was precious water conservation at stake. But what I saw at McKenzie Canyon rivals natural disasters like the BP oil spill in that it was purposeful and absolutely no measures are being taken to remediate the situation. McKenzie Canyon has been ripped asunder and those responsible appear to be doing nothing to mend the damage.

Sometimes the answer to building and infrastructure projects in the name of "progress," "efficiencies," and even "employment" must be "Hell No!"

Paul Dacus

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To the Editor:

Sisters Rodeo Association wants to thank the Sisters Country community for the great support for our 70th anniversary rodeo that had standing-room-only ticket sales.  The community support, including our sponsors and advertisers, helped us produce a rodeo that saw three arena records broken on a weekend that rewarded us with exceptional weather. 

We are grateful to the City of Sisters for assistance during the parade, and especially the people of Sisters who continue to share in the fun. 

We mostly want to thank our hundreds of volunteers. There aren't many rodeos left that are run by an all-volunteer crew.  Our rodeo friends can't figure out how we do this.  They don't know Sisters. 

It is because of this that we are able to render a great deal of support to our community, and return year after year with a rodeo that draws fans and world champions from across the U.S. and Canada. 

We're looking forward to seeing all of you next year.

Sisters Rodeo Committee

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To the Editor:

We just got a call from a relay operator stating a guy wants to ship us his car from  Arkansas to do his brakes. He is moving here supposedly. So we charge his credit card $2,200. We keep $500 for down payment on the repairs and send the tow truck driver, up front, via Western Union the other money, $1,700.

Now how dumb do people have to be to fall for this scam? Of course the credit card is bogus, of course by Western Union the money can't be traced and just why does the driver need to be paid first and why can't he pay him himself?

Suzi Sheward