Wednesday, October 14, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
BALLOTS:
October 27 is last day
recommended to mail
Candidate has background in sustainability
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Continued from page 1
Gary Ross; Elizabeth Fisher;
incumbent Andrea Blum;
Susan Cobb; and Jennifer
Letz. The Nugget profiles
each of the candidates in this
issue, starting on page 8.
Sheriff Shane Nelson
is running for reelection,
challenged by Bend Police
Officer Scott Schaier. A story
on that race will appear in
next week9s Nugget.
Deschutes County com-
mission candidates Phil
Henderson and Phil Chang
were profiled in the October
7 edition of The Nugget.
In addition, local vot-
ers will decide on whether
to allow additional mari-
juana-growing operations in
unincorporated areas of the
county, and vote on bonds to
renovate, upgrade, construct
and equip library facilities.
The last day recommended
to mail ballots to the County
Clerk is October 27. Election
Day is November 3, and all
ballots must be received by 8
p.m. on Election Day in order
to be counted. Postmarks do
not count. There is a secure
ballot drop at Sisters City
Hall, 520 E. Cascade Ave.
Jennifer Letz is no stranger
to issues of importance to
Central Oregon in general,
and specifically to Sisters.
Her work as a sustainabil-
ity specialist with the U.S.
Forest Service has heightened
her interest in and knowl-
edge of creatively manag-
ing growth while enhancing
sustainability.
Letz believes that running
for public office is a good
way to give back to the com-
munity where she lives. She
said she would bring to City
Council a wide variety of skill
sets, including experience in
sustainability, urban planning,
and water management. She
also understands the govern-
ment vernacular.
One of Letz9s areas of
expertise is photovoltaic
design and installation (solar
energy). Earlier in her career
she served as a backcoun-
try park ranger in the Grand
Canyon and as a wildland
firefighter for the National
Park Service.
She moved to Bend with
her family in 1983, graduat-
ing from Bend High School.
She received her Bachelor
of Arts degree in Film
and Media Studies from
Willamette University and her
Master of Arts in Sustainable
Management from Prescott
College.
Letz and her husband and
now 6-year-old son moved
from Bend to Sisters a year-
and-a-half ago. She watched
as Bend experienced the rapid
growth of short-term rent-
als and the impact they had
on the city. She is glad to see
that Sisters has taken steps to
regulate STRs.
With her background in
wildland firefighting, Letz
believes Sisters must be
aggressive in its wildfire
preparedness efforts. She
warned, that with climate
change creating stressed veg-
etation, wind from the wrong
direction could easily put
Sisters in the path of a wild-
fire. She would like to see a
community-wide effort to
educate everyone on wild-
fire preparedness and mitiga-
tion efforts. She knows there
may need to be some changes
to the Development Code
regarding fire-wise building
requirements. Given the role
tourism plays in the economy
of Sisters, she would like to
find a way to educate tourists
about fire safety as well.
Letz indicated she is a
good listener who <likes to
gather a variety of view-
points but also knows when
it9s time to make a decision.=
She has prior governmental
experience serving on the
Street Maintenance Funding
Commission for the City of
Bend and on the Planning
Commission for the City of
Prineville.
She acknowledges, <There
is little to do to stop growth
but there is a lot we can do to
mitigate for it.=
A goal for her would be <to
maintain the small-town char-
acter and charm= of Sisters. A
part of that would be to work
on transportation manage-
ment, including increasing
pedestrian and bicycle routes
for residents and tourists.
<No one likes change,
but we can steer our growth
while planning for the future,=
Letz said. She sees zoning as
one tool to be used for that
purpose.
She believes her travel
within the U.S., as well as
Western Europe and Nepal,
have allowed her to see how
other areas have creatively
handled growth and devel-
opment. Her hope is to see
Sisters become even more, and
remain, an accessible, com-
fortable place to live and visit.
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Letz would like to add her
relative youth to the Council
and represent the interests
and perspectives of young
families.
For fun, Letz enjoys
outdoor activities such as
mountain and road biking,
cross-country and downhill
skiing, snowboarding, and
snowshoeing.
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