Letters to the Editor 07/14/2010

To the Editor:

Last fall the board of the Sisters Park & Recreation District made a strategic mistake.

Faced with a budget shortfall, the board  decided to cut expenses (programs) rather than raise the necessary revenue to balance the budget despite the fact that six SPRD members volunteered to conduct a fundraising campaign. 

Cutting expenses means cutting programs.  The board decided to cut any program that was not breaking even and only to work with programs which could reasonably be expected to break even, the result of which was that valuable "latchkey" programs which support community families were cancelled, usually in favor of more sports programming.

The rationale to cut programs (expenses) is flawed. SPRD receives $100,000 from local taxpayers through district taxes. These funds are available to cover administrative overhead and could be used to cover reasonable unmet budget needs of latchkey programs and other programs which support local families. Sports programming should cover both the hard costs of running the programs as well as the soft costs of administrative overhead. District funds should be used to subsidize those programs which support community families, not just more athletic programs.

A recent Nugget Newspaper article ("Park district marks strong turnaround," June 30, page 1) states, "The district eliminated 'latchkey' programs that had to be subsidized and focused solely on programs that can pay their own way."

If the programs pay their own way, why do local taxpayers need to provide a $100,000 tax subsidy to SPRD? Any tax subsidy should be used to benefit local families, not just programs that "pay their own way." Anything less is a misuse of tax dollars and calls into question the entire mission of the Sisters Park & Recreation District.

Bill Kemp

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To the Editor:

The average compensation for teachers in the Sisters School District is about right. That said, the best teachers don't make nearly enough and the worst make way too much.

Governor Kulongoski recently concluded that teacher pay must be tied to performance; good teachers should earn more, not-so-good, less. Public education must embrace merit.

Good teachers are critical to improving public education, but they're constrained because under the current contract all teachers are treated the same. They get paid the same based on education and time in service. Given that, how can excellence rise to the surface? There is no incentive whatsoever for working harder or smarter to increase quality and productivity; there is absolutely nothing to gain by being better than average.

All teachers want to be treated professionally, but to be truly professional they need to either reject union membership, or demand it embrace merit, on-line and self-paced learning, equal funding for charter schools, and eventually vouchers that will put choice and competition into the system.

The Oregon Education Association attacked the governor's position.

It should be clear to all parents that the union agenda is not consistent with what's best for their kids. Is it reasonable for parents to expect more from public education if teachers are motivated to be no better than average?

Mike Morgan

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To the Editor:

Crooked Horseshoe road is about a mile north of Sisters, on the left about a half-mile past the airport. We love our neighborhood and, like our homeowner's association board, want our roads to be safe and sound for all. Outside of the urban growth boundary, and not maintained by Deschutes County, our HOA is responsible for maintaining our roads. Frankly, we think the roads are in pretty good shape right now. Like many roads in Sisters, ours need maintenance, but not a massive overhaul.

Over the past couple of years our association has improved both entry points to Crooked Horseshoe so that winter ice does not cause cars to slide out onto Camp Polk Road. And, through a combination of volunteers and a grant, we've cleaned up the shoulders all around the neighborhood.

But our HOA board wants more. They want "pretty roads" to try to make our neighborhood comparable to Sage Meadow. Their agenda is to pass a special road assessment on July 29 of approximately $6,053 per household to have Knife River lay down an asphalt road. And this in the middle of the "Great Recession!"

Our HOA voted in March 2010 on the special road assessment. The vote passed. In April the board realized that the vote was invalid, stating "It has been brought to our attention that we may not have completely complied with Article 4, section 5 of the CHHA By-Laws and Declaration which requires giving a 30-day notice of the meeting date to vote. Thus, it has been decided by the board that we need to take a re-vote of our road project."

A re-vote was completed and the special assessment failed to pass by the required 2/3 majority of votes.

So the board, having their agenda thwarted, has decided to try to change the rules! In a letter dated June 28, 2010 from the board to all residents, the board stated "The current 2/3 majority requirement has caused our attempts to pass a road improvement special assessment to fail, and the last time by only one vote. The 11 members who voted 'no' controlled the 21 who voted 'yes.'"

The letter also states "It is common with Oregon planned communities and other associations that a simple majority vote is used. In order to continue to comply with the State of Oregon Mandate to care for our roadways and to allow the majority of the members to control the matters of the Association, it is the Board's intent to conduct a vote of the membership to amend the by-laws' voting requirement from 2/3 to a simple majority (more than 50 percent) to pass any special assessment." This by-law vote takes place on July 14.

Should this vote pass, the THIRD vote this year on the special road assessment which is scheduled to take place on July 29, has a much better chance of passing. If only nine households show up to vote, and five vote "yes," the assessment will pass and households will be on the hook for $6,053 - during a time when "for sale" signs are everywhere and unemployment still hovers around 16 percent in Central Oregon.

Clearly, our board does not see that people are struggling. All they want are "pretty roads" to improve their own property values.

How about your HOA? Does your board truly represent the needs and desires of your residents? Better get involved before you find out, after the fact, that the desires of a few are determining your neighborhood's future.

Kim & Frank Gaudette, Karen & David Bowker, Bill & Jan Mintiens, Pinky & John Pagano, Meghan & Jon Wimer

Crooked Horseshoe Road

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To the Editor:

Saturday, July 17 marks the sixth anniversary of the Tour des Chutes. Created by brain cancer survivor Gary Bonacker, the Tour des Chutes has helped raise awareness and provide support to cancer survivors in Central Oregon.

The Tour des Chutes was inspired when Bonacker had the opportunity to ride in Lance Armstrong's "Ride For The Roses" charity ride in 2004. Moved by the support shown, Bonacker created the Tour des Chutes.

The first Tour des Chutes started in 2005, just a couple of years after Bonacker was diagnosed with and had surgery for brain cancer. The initial ride brought over 700 cyclists from around the region to ride in support of cancer survivors and to remember the ones that have been lost. Since the ride's inception, it has raised over $300,000, which has been shared between the Cancer Survivorship Program at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Last year alone, the ride raised $87,000.

The Tour des Chutes has meant a lot to this writer as I am a two-time cancer survivor.

I rode 63 miles in the initial Tour des Chutes in 2005, five months after surgery to remove my cancerous large colon.

This was my second surgery after having been diagnosed with colon cancer in 1998.

The ride was my inspiration to get healthy and to show the world that I, and others as cancer survivors, was here, and wasn't planning on going anywhere.

The outpouring of support for the ride continues to grow, as survivors, family members of survivors, and those of us who have lost loved ones to the disease ride in support of the foundations that further cancer research and help to provide advocacy and support for anyone who has had an experience with cancer.

Six years later, I and hundreds of others are going to ride anywhere from seven to 90 miles to bring awareness of, and show once again that we can survive cancer, can live active, productive lives, and to LIVE STRONG in the time we have remaining. I urge all of you who have lived through the grief and the pain of this hideous disease to come down, get on your bike, and ride, just ride.

The Tour des Chutes starts and ends at High Lakes Elementary School in Bend. Start time for the 90-mile ride is at 7 a.m., and every hour after until the short seven-mile ride starts at 9:20 a.m. For more information go to http://tourdeschutes.org or drop by Sunnyside Sports.

Jim Williams