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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2020)
Wednesday, September 30, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 7 Chang seeks seat on Deschutes County Board of Commissioners By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Phil Chang is bringing the experience of a career in public service to a seat on the Deschutes Board of County Commissioners. He is challenging incumbent Phil Henderson for Position #2. Chang spent nine years at the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC), and helped create the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project. He also served as Senator Jeff Merkley9s Central Oregon Field Representative and man- aged Oregon9s Federal Forest Restoration Program. He believes that his back- ground working collabora- tively with wide-ranging and sometimes opposed interest groups provides the right experience for leading Deschutes County through challenges posed by growth, the coronavirus pandemic and the threat of wildfire. HOUSING & GROWTH <The broad challenge across Deschutes County is how do we add thousands of new homes and have afford- ability and keep traffic under control and not gobble up too much of the landscape,= Chang said. He noted that the City of Sisters has nearly tripled in population since 2000 and that the county will play a major role in helping the City shape future growth through its comprehensive-plan update, currently in its begin- ning stages. He thinks that by diversifying the Sisters econ- omy, Sisters can avoid becom- ing a bedroom community for the greater Central Oregon region, with the loss of iden- tity and traffic that that entails. Chang opposes converting marginal rural lands into zon- ing that would allow for more residential construction. <I believe in orderly UGB (urban growth boundary) expansions,= he said. <I would really encourage the community of Sisters to use land efficiently,< he said. That could mean more townhomes and condomini- ums, which have lower land costs. <That is how we drive the cost of housing down,= he said, while acknowledging that such housing may be <a different pattern than people are used to.= LAW ENFORCEMENT <I was really glad to see that the sheriff9s office was reorganizing its coverage of Sisters,= Chang said. Having its own cadre of deputies, Chang believes, will enhance relationships and those are <an important part of improving law enforcement for the people of Deschutes County.= Chang does not support the nationwide call to <defund the police.= <I don9t think that9s a very helpful slogan or, taken at a surface level, a helpful con- cept,= he said. He does, however, believe that initiatives that are already underway in Deschutes County can relieve the bur- den of law enforcement to respond to mental-health calls. He cites the Mobile Crisis Assessment Team as a good step in that direction, where mental-health profes- sionals can respond to some calls. He believes that can result in better outcomes. Chang said he does not advocate cuts in law enforce- ment personnel, but he thinks that additional mental-health services could slow the need for more law enforcement hiring. He also cites the opening of a Stabilization Center for those in mental-health crisis as <a huge benefit to public safety in the region.= Chang is, however, critical of the current commissioners9 level of funding support for the Stabilization Center and for behavioral-health services generally. He asserts that the commissioners made advo- cates for the Stabilization Center <go out with their tin cup= to seek funding, which, he argues, delayed its open- ing, and he criticizes what he identifies as an approximately 6 percent reduction in fund- ing for county health services, with the biggest hit to behav- ioral health. <That9s not the way to pri- oritize a critical county ser- vice,= he said. Chang believes that the Sisters Dental WE ARE HERE FOR YOU! Trevor Frideres, D . M . D . Greg Everson, D . M . D . 541-549-2011 491 E. Main Ave. • Sisters www.sistersdental.com Hours: Mon., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tues.-Thurs., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. County should be providing <foundational funding= for such programs. He considers such finding critical for long- range planning, hiring for key positions. That doesn9t mean he thinks the County should not be seeking grants. <We need those external funds,= he said. <There9s no way that from the general fund we could replace all those federal and state funds.= However, he says, <foun- dational funding= is necessary to leverage those grants. <We9re starving our com- munity of critical services that could really improve people9s lives, and could save us money in the long run,= he said. WILDFIRE Chang9s background gives him a keen interest in county policy and action in the field of wildfire prevention. He believes that significant fed- eral funding is required to treat landscapes with mow- ing, thinning and prescribed fire on a massive scale. <A County Commissioner is in a unique place to advo- cate for that kind of funding,= he said. Other factors are impor- tant, too, he asserts. <One of the things that the County is grappling with right now is building code changes,= he said. Stricter building code requirements could help <harden= homes against wild- fire, but there is always a con- cern about cost and impacts on affordability. Change believes that the County needs to take a hard look at real data on the question 4 especially in the wake of the catastrophic fires that destroyed whole commu- nities west of the Cascades. <It would be good to take another look at that informa- tion,= he said. <We need to look at that with a more sober eye.= He notes that many build- ers are already using more fire-resistant siding and that enhancing codes might not be as burdensome as some believe. He also thinks it may be worth considering advo- cating for a statewide fire code, with variations based on regional conditions, to enforce a higher standard of fire resistance. COVID-19 Chang argues that, while the County staff has done a very good job in managing COVID-19 issues, he feels the commissioners have <not led,= especially in advocating for responsible public behav- ior to stem the spread of the coronavirus. <I would want to do a bet- ter job with that,= he said. The pandemic has not had the dire effect on budgets that was initially anticipated. The budgetary wildcard will be property tax collections. <COVID has really uneven impacts,= Chang noted. Some people are doing fine, while other have lost jobs or had their income slashed, which could have a knock-on effect on ability to pay taxes. That raises questions for the general fund and on the avail- ability of state and federal funding going forward. But Chang anticipates that Central Oregon9s growth means that the general fund budget of the county will con- tinue to grow as well. The pandemic has had an effect on county staff. Chang notes that the county9s envi- ronmental-health specialists are not only tasked with doing restaurant inspections, they9re also acting as de facto consul- tants, helping both restaurant owners and patrons determine how to remain safe in the face of COVID-19. <They9re maxed out,= he said. <They9re extremely over-extended. We don9t invest in those services and we don9t allow Environmental Health to charge adequate fees so they can staff up and do a better job.= LANDFILL Chang highlighted the potential need for Deschutes County to provide a new land- fill in 2029, at an estimated cost of $14 million. PHOTO PROVIDED Noting that approximately 25 percent of the waste that hits the landfill is food, he believes that aggressive waste diversion efforts 4 encourag- ing composting, etc. 4 could delay the need for a new landfill. He doesn9t think the current commission has done enough to develop waste diversion. GO NON-PARTISAN Chang told The Nugget that one of his priorities as a County Commissioner would be to convince his colleagues to send to the voters a measure to make the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners a non-partisan position. <This is an incredibly moderate, pragmatic and cen- trist community,= he said. He believes that partisan- ship creates <barriers to entry= for candidates, as <the most partisan voters put forward candidates in primaries.= By making the position non-partisan, Chang believes, the election timeline would be compressed, making it less expensive to run for the office. Eliminating the need to court party support or raise exten- sive funding would widen the field, the candidate believes. <You just need to be a good candidate,= he said. Chang believes what makes him a good candidate is a track record of working with diverse groups to get things done and a vision for investing in services, argu- ing that, <This is a good time to be growing services to meet the needs of a growing community.=