The SpokeSman • TueSday, may 10, 2022 A3
Opinion
Write to us: news@redmondspokesman.com
OUR VIEW
YOUR VIEWS
All votes matter, have an impact
Outrage over vandalism
at parks
right.
Ballot security and the counts are
taken seriously. There is a separate
locked room and camera for the the
machine which takes an image of the
signatures on the ballots, the machines
that slice open the ballot envelopes and
the scanners that read the ballots.
County staff verify signatures on ev-
ery ballot, comparing them with what
the clerk’s office has on file. If a signa-
ture can’t be verified, the voter is sent a
letter and told how the dispute can be
cleared up.
Temporary elections employees are
the ones who actually remove the bal-
lots from envelopes and prepare them
to be counted. They are members of
a mix of parties. Removing ballots is
done in an open room.
The clerk’s office does go back and
do audits of its counts as an additional
check on the integrity of the system.
Dennison said he will receive a notice
from the Oregon secretary to of state to
do a hand recount of, say, a certain pre-
cincts votes on a few different races. He
says the county’s record is solid.
County makes every effort
to ensure the count is right
Spokesman editorial Board
Two votes. If you think your vote
doesn’t matter, just a few years ago
an election in a Republican primary
for state representative in Deschutes
County was decided by two votes.
Jack Zika won and went on to be-
come a state representative, represent-
ing Redmond and areas nearby.
If you think vote counts are suspi-
cious, the hand recount in that race got
exactly the same result. Two votes. The
Republican candidates praised the local
election officials for their transparency
and integrity.
That recount is a point of pride for
Steve Dennison. He is the Deschutes
County clerk. That makes him the
top election official in the county. He
wasn’t clerk at that time but he was
working in the office ensuring that
count was right. He told us Tuesday
his top priority this election and every
election is just that, getting the count
Several checks are in place to en-
sure dead people or people who have
moved away don’t get to vote. His staff
reads The Bulletin and other local
newspapers to check the obituaries.
Voter rolls are checked with DMV re-
cords, Post Office change of address
notices, records from Oregon and
other states and more.
The biggest question his office is
getting right now is from people frus-
trated that they don’t get to vote in the
party primaries. Oregon has a closed
primary. Only Democrats get to vote in
the Democratic primary. Only Repub-
licans get to vote in the Republican pri-
mary. After a person gets their ballot,
it’s too late to switch party affiliation
from non-affiliated or something else
to one of the two major parties to vote
in a party primary.
If you have questions or concerns
about how elections work in the
county, the best source of information
is not to dive down rabbit holes with
web searches or research posts on Twit-
ter. Call the clerk’s office, 541-388-6547.
They are the ones who know.
I am just outraged at the stu-
pidity and lack of responsibility
those folks who broke toilets,
wash basins, etc. in the Redmond
parks.
If they ever had to live where
you had to use a toilet outside
a ways from the house without
benefit of running water, heat or
lights, you would never ever think
of destroying a toilet/bathroom
again.
Those perpetrators, if ever
caught, should be made to clean
inside toilets every day for a
year to learn to appreciate inside
LETTERS AND COLUMNS
Join in on the topics we’re cover-
ing. The Spokesman welcomes
letters to the editor and guest col-
umnists.
Submissions may be edited or re-
jected for clarity, taste, libel and
space. They must be signed and in-
clude an address and a telephone
plumbing and what it costs to re-
place or repair those broken ones.
— Diana Raske, Sisters
Stand up and help those
who need it
Unbelievable, The Bulletin re-
cently has a full-page article on a
homeless single mother. And on
the second page Redmond hopes
to gain monetary support and
rescue for families wishing to
leave Afghanistan.
Both are tragic! However, it
sure would be nice to help the
homeless mother of four!
How about it Eagle Crest?
— Janice Ruiter, Bend
number where the writer can be
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mation, call 541-633-2166.
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Submissions can also be mailed to:
p.o. Box 6020, Bend, oR 97708
Even in the digital age, personal banking can still be personal
BY TIM DIZNEY
Selco Community Credit union
different direction.
The experience of walking into a
branch, taking care of our banking
needs face-to-face, and taking a few ex-
tra minutes to get to know the person
on the other side of the counter has the
ability to transform what would oth-
erwise be an ordinary transaction into
a meaningful interaction. After all, in
a community like Redmond, these are
the very same people we cross paths
with at the grocery store, dog park, or
our kids’ soccer games.
There’s no question that digital
banking has firmly rooted itself in
society, particularly following the
pandemic when in-person services
were not always available. Like many
other businesses, financial institu-
In an increasingly digital age, it’s
refreshing to see aspects of our lives
where the convenience of technology
and the personal nature of human in-
teraction can still co-exist. And when
it comes to being personal, there ar-
en’t many things more personal than
our financial affairs.
But a trend toward brick-and-
mortar branch consolidations and
closures, and increased pressure for
consumers to go digital-only, risks
minimizing the personal touch in
personal banking. Many of us, myself
included, still have a need and some-
times even a preference for conduct-
ing business in person, even as some
financial institutions are going in a
tions have an obligation to keep up
with evolving behaviors and demand,
and so these digital options remain
not only convenient for some, they
are often necessary.
The ability to deposit a paycheck
or transfer funds from our phones
24/7 is a convenience we can all ap-
preciate. But there are some things,
ranging from simple everyday trans-
actions to more complex matters, like
deciding whether a cash-out refi or
HELOC makes more sense or getting
a teen started with their first debit
card, that many still like to handle in
person, regardless of their ability to
do so digitally.
For those occasions and more, it’s
nice to know you can still walk into
a branch to take care of your bank-
ing needs, trading notes on the Red-
mond-Ridgeview football game in
the process. And that some financial
institutions, including local, mem-
ber-owned community credit unions,
still prioritize people over profit,
keeping their focus where it should be
— on strengthening the community.
After all, there are more important
ways to gauge success than the bot-
tom line, whether through awarding
college scholarships to local seniors,
sponsoring and volunteering with
area nonprofits, supporting the local
4-H club, or making financial edu-
cation more interesting (and maybe
even fun) for students and young
adults. And while a community’s
trust doesn’t show up on a balance
sheet or in an earnings report, for
some that’s the ultimate bottom line.
Banking digitally versus in person
doesn’t have to be an either-or prop-
osition. We can have the best of both
worlds when it comes to choosing
when, where, and how we interact
with our financial institution. And
it’s reassuring to know that personal
banking — whether in person or on-
line — is still personal to some. In that
regard, there’s no question that com-
munity banking is not only surviving
but thriving right here in Redmond.
— Tim Dizney is the branch man-
ager of SELCO Community Credit
Union’s North Redmond branch,
which opened May 9.
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needs a facility that works as well and as hard as they do.
Redmond’s current police station is not large enough to support the full staff and give
victims the privacy they need. Now is the time to show Redmond Law Enforcement our
support by funding a new Public Safety Facility that meets our city’s growth.
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