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Tuesday, August 16, 2022 • Redmond, Oregon • $1
redmondspokesman.com
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Fitch files for mayor;
Clark-Endicott says
she will not run for
re-election
BY TIM TRAINOR
Redmond Spokesman
Two Redmond city councilors made campaign
announcements this week.
On Monday, August 8 councilor Ed Fitch offi-
cially announced his candidacy
for mayor.
“I am confident my previous
experience as mayor, coupled
with my current role as a city
councilor as well as 40 years in
private business, will provide
Fitch
the leadership needed to help
the next city council move for-
ward together,” he said in a release.
He said that his experience in city government
will be an asset with so many new faces expected
on the board.
“The next council will be comprised of a team
where a majority of the council will have two years
or less experience,” he said. “Having a veteran
elected official such as myself will be important as
we navigate the issues that lie ahead.
Fitch said his goals as mayor will be to increase
transparency, ease traffic congestion, add side-
walks, and “minimize the negative effects of in-
creased density mandates from the state.”
He said he would also work to promote diversity,
pursue solutions to homeless issue, work to support
a downtown family activity center and more.
The day after Fitch made his announcement,
councilor Krisanna Clark-Endi-
cott announced that she will not
run for re-election in November.
Councilor Clark-Endicott has
served on the Redmond City
Council since January 2019.
Prior to becoming a city coun-
Clark-Endicott cilor, she served on the Red-
mond Planning Commission.
“It has been a privilege to successfully cham-
pion, with the support of the mayor and council,
the campaign promises that I made to provide
an active-duty military recognition program
and community gardens in our great city,” said
Clark-Endicott in a release.
See Council / A6
PHOTOS
Rein in
Students train wild mustangs from
Warm Springs at Safe Acres Ranch. A10
Architectural rendering
Concept art of a possible design for the expanded Redmond Airport.
Redmond Airport sets
its sights on expansion
As region grows, the area’s only major commercial airport at a critical stage of development
BY NICK ROSENBERGER
Redmond Spokesman
P
assengers at the Redmond Airport
often catch a glimpse of the snow-
capped Cascades that surround it, as
well as a facility filled to capacity.
As the region swells with new residents,
businesses and tourists, the only major
commercial airport in Central Oregon
finds itself, again, at a critical stage of devel-
opment.
The current terminal was heavily ex-
panded in 2009, when the airport saw
about 460,000 passengers file through its
gates. A dozen years later, that number had
more than doubled. In 2022, more than a
million passengers flew in and out of Red-
mond Airport, which has led to congestion
in everything from security lines to waiting
areas.
A master plan written in 2016 projected
that the airport wouldn’t hit a million an-
nual passengers until 2026.
“We just at some point can’t put more
people in a building,” said Zachary Bass, di-
rector of the Redmond Airport. “We need a
bigger terminal.”
Bass has a plan — and significant finan-
cial assets — to build a bigger, better termi-
nal. Plans are already underway for a mas-
sive expansion of Redmond Airport that
could top out at a cost of $200 million.
See Airport / A6
Crowd packs meeting after controversial fire map pulled
BY LEO BAUDHUIN
Redmond Spokesman
More than 150 people showed up Wednes-
day, August 10 at the Deschutes County Fair-
grounds to hear why the Oregon Department
of Forestry withdrew its wildfire risk map after
public outcry.
The document assessed the wildfire burn
risk of the “wildland-urban interface” — areas
across the state that meet certain population
density criteria without being as tightly popu-
lated as a city.
Oregon State University researchers devel-
oped risk factors for these areas based on vari-
ables like building density, surrounding vegeta-
tion and historic wildfire patterns.
ODF released its map June 30 and was met
BUSINESS
“We have more than 2,000 phone calls and voicemails from you folks, and we took
that into consideration. A lot of our leadership and other legislators have heard you
and that’s why, if you haven’t heard, we’re redrawing the map.”
— Tim Hoffman, with ODF public affairs
with a whirlwind of citizen complaints. Home-
owners in areas that ODF marked as at high or
extreme risk of fires said the map’s findings put
them under a significant financial burden and
disputed a number of the map’s risk designa-
tions.
ODF removed the map Aug. 4, six days be-
fore the Redmond meeting.
“We’ve been hearing a lot of comments,” said
Tim Hoffman, who facilitated the meeting and
works with ODF public affairs. “We have more
than 2,000 phone calls and voicemails from you
folks, and we took that into consideration. A
lot of our leadership and other legislators have
heard you and that’s why, if you haven’t heard,
we’re redrawing the map.”
Beyond individual complaints and appeals,
one meeting attendee pointed out a couple of
clear flaws in the initial map.
See Map / A6
WEATHER FORECAST
WEDNESDAY
Sunny
97/59
Full forecast on A2
TODAY’S EDITION
Minnie mouser
Herringbone welcomes bookstore cat who
lounges on the job and picks books. A4
Calendar ...................... A2
Coffee Break ............... A9
Obituaries .................A11
Classifieds .................A12
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Volume 112, No. 50
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