Letters to the Editor 10/20/2010

To the Editor:

I was disappointed that Sharlene Weed's quoted statement intimating that the cost to the city for membership with EDCO, and other economic development, went up from $750 per year to $57,000 per year ran without trying to verify her figures before printing the article!

Even I was shocked, as I'm sure everyone was, to read that and believing that it was not true, decided to try to verify those huge numbers. The city did decide to join the executive board of EDCO, instead of being just a general member, which increased the dues to $7,500 per year.

That has made quite a difference to Sisters because the executive board is the group initially contacted by potential companies interested in moving into the area. The executive director of EDCO, Roger Lee, is Sisters' contact at EDCO, attends all our SBART meetings and is available to help us with business attraction and retention and help us translate all the local, state and federal incentive programs. EDCO was an essential partner in both getting Sisters an enterprise zone and assisting Sisters in its application for potential businesses.

The city (both the council and the budget committee) also had approved the $30,000 for hiring an economic developer for Sisters, The $30,000 is made up of $22,500 in salary for the person EDCO selected for Sisters ($2,500 a month for nine months), and the other $7,500 for potential traveling or other expenses, such as hosting a potential business contact in Sisters.

There had been an additional $10,000 also approved by the council and budget committees last year for economic development but there are still no current plans to spend any of it. All the above expenses, except for the EDCO dues, were one-time expenses to help Sisters maintain our existing businesses, and attracting additional jobs for our citizens. This all means that the City of Sisters has actually committed to spend $37,500 this year and no further commitment except the $7,500 per year for our EDCO membership.

Sharlene also failed to mention that we had applied for and have received an $89,000 grant from the State of Oregon. This grant is for micro enterprise facilitation for our small cities in Central Oregon, such as Sisters, to attract companies. In addition, COCC will be facilitating the training for small businesses so their owners can be more successful.

The more I learned, the more excited I became that this could all come to a very successful, and continuing, conclusion for Sisters.

Virginia Lindsey

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To the Editor:

Having seen Sisters blanketed with political signs promising "jobs" and "jobs today," I only wish it were that easy. The city council rarely, if ever, is presented with a vote that is for or against "jobs."

A councilor that sees everything with a developers mindset will miss what really counts. What is important is keeping the Sisters magic alive. We can't offer prospective businesses huge incentives, cheap property, access to easy transportation, or proximity to a large population base.

The biggest draw for new businesses or homeowners is the Sisters unique brand: sensible size, great location, competent government, and a disinclination to develop into another boring cookie-cutter Oregon small town.

Those are the reasons I chose to move here.

Wendy Holzman has the broad understanding of what it takes to make Sisters a wonderful place to live and work. Plus, she is one of the hardest working persons I have ever known. She can steer Sisters to sustainable growth and jobs, and avoid the boom/bust cycle of over-development. Sharlene Weed's record on the city council makes it clear that she also sees the importance of keeping Sisters a special place that offers unique reasons for business to establish here.

Jacki Sheperdson brings a fresh perspective and a great work ethic to the council. Let's look past all those fancy signs and choose some councilors that have more than a single goal in mind.

Bruce V. Mason

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To the Editor:

I have the pleasure of knowing three of the candidates running for city council.

I met Jacki Shepardson nine years ago during my tenure as a Head Start Family Coordinator here in Sisters. Jacki was an incredible advocate for her autistic son. She was well read and researched any new therapy/learning techniques that would help him succeed. The fruits of her efforts are apparent today as her son continues to thrive in the public school environment.

When NeighborImpact needed someone in Sisters to help run the Brown Bag program, providing food to those in need, Jacki was a natural choice. She is organized and committed, and she continues to manage this program today.

I have had the pleasure of working with Sharlene Weed at Sisters Habitat for the last eight years. She strives to make our affiliate the best. She has a can-do spirit second to none; nothing is impossible for Sharlene. She researches and commands good work from her employees which makes Sisters Habitat one of the best rural affiliates in the country. She brings the same preparedness and work ethic to her position on city council. As a councilor, Sharlene bases her decisions on research and what is best for the town as a whole.

I have never seen such tenacity as exists with Wendy Holzman. Since the visioning process a few years ago, she has thrown herself into community involvement. Wendy is an active participant in anything that involves the City of Sisters. She is currently the chairperson for the Committee for Citizens Involvement and attends every city council meeting. She is well informed, loves her community and would be an intelligent voice as a councilor.

I am honored to ask you to vote for these three independent, intelligent, and committed women.

Marie Clasen

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To the Editor:

Outdoor recreation - hiking, skiing, hunting, fishing, camping, golf, cycling - and the arts and culture are the engines that drive Sisters' economy. People come here to visit, and sometimes to live, to take advantage of those assets and our good schools, not because Sisters is or ever will be a hub of industry. Some of those who settle here because of what Sisters has to offer bring jobs with them.

The real estate and construction industry are important parts of our community, too, but they have always gone through boom and bust cycles. The current bust will turn around eventually, providing needed jobs, but those jobs are necessarily ancillary to the jobs that sustain our community.

Promises of industrial development and "jobs today" may resonate with some, but such promises are unrealistic. Our city council needs to focus its energies on maintaining the livability of the city and its downtown core, not on chasing unrealistic goals.

Candidates Weed, Holzman and Shepardson understand what makes our community vital and sustainable. Each has worked tirelessly to put community before self. Sisters needs their leadership and they deserve your vote.

Doug Hancock

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To the Editor:

When a candidate for public office, be it local or federal, claims "I'm a fiscal conservative," they don't always keep that promise once elected.

Some local examples for the City of Sisters come to mind. Handing out our tax dollars to banks, builders and bureaucrats under some theory of stimulating the economy.

Remember the $2,500 refund on fees paid out to that bank that financed the Timber Creek development bridge? Remember the $5,000 of permitting fees waived for that land developer builder? Oh, and this just in, $54,000 in increased spending for economic development which will somehow magically translate to jobs for Sisters.

Thankful I am that City Councilor Sharlene Weed was in office, and consistently voted "No"! Sadly, her lone vote did not stop these taxpayer giveaways. She stood alone in her fiscally conservative views for our local decision making.

Weed is running for re-election and I will be voting for her.

And thankful I am that this time around there are two additional candidates for city council seats who share Weed's fiscally conservative philosophy of governance.

Wendy Holzman and Jacki Shepardson share Weed's sense of governance and a desire for our city council to be balanced more to the fiscally conservative side.

Weed, Holzman and Shepardson need your vote to achieve a new balance so that our taxes do not continue to go to banks, builders and bureaucrats. The federal government does enough of that already. That's not what we need for Sisters.

Susan Lester

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To the Editor:

I attended my first city council meeting on October 14. We received the finance report, which was seriously woeful, and included the budget report but conspicuously lacked the profit/loss or income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. Further, the finance director apologized for the lack of documentation. This is her primary responsibility to prepare accurate and timely information upon which council members, representing the tax base, can make well-informed decisions. Based on the documents received, I could not make a well-grounded decision for future expenditures of taxpayer money.

I would hope that future councils would pledge themselves to independent thinking and require the city's financial director be independent and report to the entire council and not to the city manager. Additionally, there is a well-established development block on the council. I would hope that future councils would be limited to one person representing an industry to dilute block voting and further diverse thinking.

W.A. MacPhee,

Ph.D. Finance University of Illinois, retired

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To the Editor:

They say that many people pass your way in a lifetime, but finding a true friend is as rare as finding a black pearl.

Dave Asson is my true friend.

It has been nearly 50 years since we first met as newly hired employees of the small Portland office of a national CPA firm. As the lowest-ranked members of the hierarchy at work, we became friends. He was married to Carolyn, with a kid or two. The kids would crawl all over me. I was single. I helped him paint his house. He helped me move whenever my apartment got too dirty, loading all my possessions into his station wagon for a trip or two. They had a couple more kids. When I got married, Dave and Carolyn flew down to join us at the Heart of Reno Wedding Chapel.

Eventually our careers moved in different directions, but we frequently get together. We played golf. We discussed life and what we would do if we ever grew up. We still do. We had some good times. We still do. It has always been a joy for me to get together with Dave.

Dave is not perfect. While I am one of those tax-and-spend bleeding heart, welfare-loving liberal socialist peaceniks, he is more of a rednecked, gun-loving warmongering anarchist who thinks all problems can be solved by tax cuts. I am sure it is rare for us to vote the same way in an election.

But sometimes we engage in somewhat civil discussions about issues and, despite our ideological differences, we frequently find ourselves in substantial agreement. I do not believe this is remarkable. Good and sensible people should be able to agree on good and sensible decisions, if they will only eschew the prevailing tactic of slander and distortion.

Dave Asson is a good and sensible person. If the voters of Sisters elect him to their city council, they will be well served.

Dick Stone

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To the Editor:

As business owners of Garden of Eden and part owners of Haken Cosmetics, my wife and I have the utmost respect for the military service to our country by city council candidates Jerry Bogart, Virginia Lindsey, and David Asson.

I know their minds for business will serve our city well. Jerry Bogart also employs five persons with living wages in this community and understands the week-to-week challenges of meeting payroll and expenses in a difficult economy.

Jerry supports the best opportunity for retirement living in the Sisters area, McKenzie Meadows. I would ask why Sharlene Weed and previous councils delayed or were against annexation after the majority of voters approved annexation. Economically this is the best opportunity and I believe the best location for seniors and their active involvement with our community and schools.

The city had $85,000 surplus per year in net profit from the garbage service, but a previous council including Weed sold the garbage service without numerous bids. I believe High Country Disposal (HCD) received a wonderful guarantee of profit for a low purchase price, which was not good for Sisters. HCD Sisters area customers received an increase in fees. If the city would have maintained the service, the lost profits would have paid to keep the recycle center open at all hours and keep the station from possible closure, even with Deschutes County cutbacks.

As a long-term Sisters area resident and now an actual Sisters resident, I know these votes and decisions were a big frustration to the community. A change was made in the last election due to these type of poor decisions. I believe it is now time to vote for Bogart, Lindsey, Asson so that they may run our city effectively and efficiently with both citizens and residents like me in mind.

Jeff Haken

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To the Editor:

I'm writing this letter to endorse Jerry Bogart for the Sisters City Council. Jerry has an insight as to what economic activity and development is necessary for Sisters to grow in a positive manner. His efforts for the EDCO and the McKenzie Meadows projects to proceed will provide positive, long-term benefits for Sisters.

Recent comments in The Nugget indicate Jerry's opponents are "naysayers" for these worthwhile projects. Jerry is a "doer," not a "naysayer."

David V. Douthit