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Wednesday, July 22, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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I N I O
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Editorial…
Housing has to be a priority for Sisters
If Sisters is to continue to be a vibrant
community, a mix of housing types and price
ranges has to be a priority in local planning.
If Sisters schools are to recover the enroll-
ment they need to be healthy over the long
haul, young families with children have to
be able to move here. That means they need
housing they can afford — and not just hous-
ing for purchase. Central Oregon’s rental
market has grown exceedingly tight, mak-
ing it difficult for folks to establish them-
selves here and eventually enter the housing
market.
Recently surveyed business owners note
that lack of workforce housing has a negative
impact on employee hiring and retention. If
the people who work in Sisters can’t find a
place to rent in Sisters or can’t afford to live
here, they’re going to look for employment
closer to home and lose the commute.
The City of Sisters has a limited toolkit to
provide incentives to build affordable hous-
ing, but they are looking at ways to deploy
reductions in fees, zoning changes and loos-
ened code restrictions to jump-start afford-
able-housing efforts.
One thing the City can definitely do
is to tread carefully in allowing develop-
ers to change plans that are already in place
that could provide more affordable housing
options.
Last week, representatives of Hayden
Homes floated the possibility of modifying
their master plan for the remaining phases of
their development at the west end of Sisters.
The development plan approved by the City
of Sisters in 2010 called for 273 total dwell-
ing units, including 164 apartments and 109
townhouses. Hayden Homes’ development
model and area of expertise is in construction
of single-family residences.
There’s no harm in talking about mak-
ing changes. Hayden Homes is to be com-
mended for seeking public input in a work-
shop before making a proposal, and the
Sisters Planning Commission should be will-
ing to consider alternatives. However, the
burden must be on the developer to demon-
strate why changing an agreement that has
been in place for five years is a good deal for
Sisters.
It may be true, as many folks believe, that
single-family homes are a better “fit” for
Sisters. But a single-family home may not be
in reach for many folks who work in Sisters
or for a young family that wants to get a start
here and send their kids to Sisters schools.
The town needs rental units and financially
accessible homes. The City and developers
should work together to find ways to make
that an economically viable proposition —
and do it quickly. The need is great.
Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be
no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.
To the Editor:
Some very well-written and thoughtful let-
ters written in support of the proposed trail
between Black Butte Ranch and Sisters, and
glad to see them.
I had guests from out of state and we went
for a couple of rides from Tollgate — one
south on Highway 20 to Sisters and up across
McKenzie Pass on Highway 242 (a wonder-
ful experience), and a second to Indian Ford
Road and back to Sisters to visit the Quilt
Show exhibits.
See letterS on page 18
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Rachel
Marsden
American Voices
PARIS — The five per-
manent members of the
United Nations Security
Council plus Germany have
struck a deal with Iran to lift
economic sanctions and open
the country back up for busi-
ness in exchange for limita-
tions on Iran’s nuclear pro-
gram. While skepticism may
remain about Iran’s will-
ingness to follow through
on the agreement, Western
nations nevertheless must
quickly and decisively shift
from a conventional-security
mindset to one of economic
security.
Economic security is syn-
onymous with national secu-
rity — more so now than
ever before in this era of per-
petual fiscal crisis.
The Iranian situation is
unique. Try to recall the last
time that a significant nation-
state economy opened up to
the West for business. The
first one that comes to mind
is the Soviet Union follow-
ing its dissolution in 1991.
Remember how Russians
were going to fall in love
with Hollywood and Levis
and become overnight
entrepreneurs?
Ye a h , w e l l , s o m e
Russians became entre-
preneurs, all right. They’re
called “oligarchs.” The
Kremlin divided up the peo-
ple’s assets, handed them
out to a few cronies (some
of whom soon went over-
seas to live the good life),
and we in the West cheered
that Russia had embraced
capitalism.
As long as Russia was
no longer seen as a military
threat, the West didn’t seem
to care that this version of
capitalism was nothing more
than lip service.
Cereal boxes have more
detailed instructions for
their enclosed toys than the
Russians were ever given
for their newfound capital-
ism. Nearly 24 years later,
Russian President Vladimir
Putin is still trying to steer
Russia’s fledgling version
of capitalism off the rumble
strips.
That’s the mistake the
West is in danger of making
with Iran, as it has made with
so many other post-conflict
economies.
The nuclear deal with Iran
represents a window for the
West to export capitalism—
not the crony capitalism of
Wall Street, please, but true
capitalism. Western govern-
ments should make it as easy
as possible for entrepreneurs
to gain access to the Iranian
market, but those govern-
ments should also help instill
security through measurable
economic engagement and
profit. That means opening
up Iran not just to big cor-
porations and their lobbyists,
but to the individual capi-
talist who wants to venture
out into the new frontier in
search of opportunities, Gold
Rush-style.
The West has been oper-
ating on a hot-conflict foot-
ing for so long, it’s way
overdue for a massive shift
in focus away from conven-
tional (and often redundant)
security and toward stability
through foreign economic
engagement.
Consider the recent exam-
ples of Iraq, Afghanistan and
Libya. We have gone into
these countries on a military
basis and have failed to tran-
sition to economic stability
after investing billions of
dollars in warfare.
In the post-9/11 era,
scores of “counterterrorism”
and “security” experts have
come out of the woodwork
and flooded the private sec-
tor. This period has produced
far fewer experts analyz-
ing post-conflict or emerg-
ing markets for economic
opportunity, regulatory har-
monization and strategic
partnerships.
Part of this can be blamed
on the system itself, whereby
nation-states’ development
funding is largely laundered
through bloated bureaucra-
cies and world governing
bodies, virtually ensur-
ing that by the time these
funds trickle down to the
people who are rolling up
their sleeves and doing the
groundwork, there isn’t
much left.
Imagine if most of the
time and effort being spent
on what has thus far been an
unsuccessful fight against
overseas terrorism were
applied to concocting ways
to engage emerging post-
conflict economies.
Maybe one of the many
candidates running for the
U.S. presidency and prom-
ising economic growth can
figure out how to lead this
change of direction in short
order.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.