Letters to the Editor 5/24/2023

Thank you, voters

To the Editor:

To the voters of Sisters Country — thank you. Thank You. Thank You.

We, the board of Sisters Park & Recreation District, can’t thank you enough for your vote of confidence in last Tuesday’s election. Nearly 80 percent of you voted to renew the SPRD local option levy — Measure 9-160. This was the highest level of support for any local option levy up for renewal in all of Deschutes County in this election, and a dramatic increase from the less than 60 percent of voters supporting the original levy back in 2018.

We also want to thank the SPRD staff, led by Executive Director Jennifer Holland, who are the ones who provide the services and opportunities that Sisters Country voters know and value. While we all had to retrench to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, SPRD not only survived but took on new challenges that involved developing closer working relationships with our Sisters public partners.

First and foremost is repurposing the current elementary school in cooperation with the Sister School District. By the time this new five-year extension of the levy expires, Sisters should have a brand-new community center. SPRD is also working with the City of Sisters to bring more programming to our city parks, including a summer drop-in program for school-age kids. This work, and more like it, will continue with the passage of the local option levy.

As we observe SPRD’s 25 anniversary, the District is committed to continuing to innovate and develop new partnerships to meet the needs of our growing community while assuring that programs remain affordable for all.

Bob Keefer, Heath Foote, Jeff Tryens, Molly Baumann & Peggy Tehan

Elephant in the room

To the Editor:

Thank you, sir, for the front-page, in-your-face, above-the-fold headline with color photo in the May 17 edition, and for the follow-up piece on page 2.

Fires in the forests, whether for cooking, warmth, or ambience, are a potential “time bomb” that the people of Sisters will probably experience before summer 2023 is over. I’m told that many forest dwellers have substance abuse problems which, while lacking in common sense, tends a forest dweller to be less than observant and compliant with USFS fire regulations.

This, frankly, scares the hell out of me. You mentioned in your page 2 column that a new Sisters Ranger District law enforcement officer is due here in June. I hope that he or she will get busy with this elephant in the room that no one else seems to want to deal with.

Jim Cline

Fire threat

To the Editor:

We recently lost our home insurance due to being in the wildfire overlay.

Yet, forest dwellers threaten a potential wildfire.

Carrie Buchanan