THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2021 A7
“When you feel safe, you feel
healthier. You can focus on
things to improve and not
just survive day to day,.”
Veterans
Continued from A1
“You thought you may never
get to this day, so it’s incredibly
exciting to be a part of some-
thing like this,” Tobiason said
Thursday. “It’s kind of mind
blowing to have witnessed the
county and the city and the cit-
izens work on this project.”
The village will be the first
of its kind in Central Oregon,
and is largely possible thanks
to House Bill 4212, which
passed the state Legislature this
summer and allows local gov-
ernments to create emergency
shelters without having to go
through the regular land use
process, which can be costly,
takes a long time to review and
requires public comment pe-
riods.
The village is also possible
thanks to a mix of funding
that comes from Deschutes
County, the city of Bend and
individual donations, Tobi-
ason said. About half of the
project is funded so far, which
will be enough to build the 15
tiny homes in phases over the
course of three months.
The foundation still needs
funding for a 2,500-square-foot
community building, which
would have communal dining
and showering facilities, said
Tobiason.
It will take $300,000 a year
to operate, Tobiason said. His
vision is to have the city, the
county and private donations
pay each a third for it. So far,
the county has contributed
$100,000, and the city has es-
tablished a construction excise
tax, which will generate reve-
nue from commercial building
permits over time.
Central Oregon Veterans
Outreach will be the organi-
zation managing the housing,
— Kathy Skidmore, executive
officer of Central Oregon
Veterans Outreach
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Employees with York Bros. Excavation level an area of soil at the Central Oregon Veterans Village project currently under construction in Bend.
and helping residents connect
with services.
Kathy Skidmore, the execu-
tive officer of the organization,
said the nonprofit is looking
forward to the village coming
online, especially since she has
seen first hand this year how
housing-first programs for
homeless veterans are effective.
Due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic, Central Oregon Vet-
erans Outreach used special
state money to put vulnera-
Trump faces mounting
demands to leave office
or face impeachment
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Pres-
ident Donald Trump is fac-
ing mounting pressure for
his immediate ouster after he
incited Wednesday’s violent
siege at the Capitol — an in-
creasingly louder drumbeat
chastising his actions that
threatens not only to imperil
Trump’s waning tenure but
also potential legal jeopardy
once he leaves office.
In Congress, a growing
cadre of House Democrats
are pushing to rapidly im-
peach Trump a second time
before he is scheduled to
leave office on Jan. 20. They
are preparing to introduce
articles charging him with
inciting an insurrection and
having “gravely endangered
the security of the United
States” and its institutions.
Madras
Continued from A1
Jefferson County recently
bought the property from
ODOT for $205,629 with
the intent to sell or lease the
space for immediate devel-
opment.
Jeff Rasmussen, adminis-
trative officer for Jefferson
County, said the county is
open to a broad range of pos-
sibilities for the property, in-
cluding a retail, dining or of-
fice space.
A meeting is scheduled
Jan. 12 for interested parties,
and a suggested deadline for
proposals is Feb. 4. Proposals
can be submitted through the
project website.
The county hopes to select
a developer by March 24.
“If you have a great idea
that would make a project
work, we are interested,” Ras-
mussen said.
Nick Snead, Madras com-
munity development direc-
tor, said the city is working
closely with the county to
find the right developer for
the property.
Snead said the property is
suited for a restaurant, deli or
a mixed-use space for mul-
tiple businesses. But Snead
does not want to limit ideas.
“There may be some use
that we don’t know about that
In public, Trump has come
as close as he is likely to come
to admitting he has lost, ac-
knowledging there will be a
transfer of power and con-
firming Friday that he will
not attend President-elect
Joe Biden’s inauguration. But
in private, the president has
tried to rationalize his actions,
saying he wanted only to en-
courage a large protest that
garnered news coverage and
rattle members of Congress
— not for his supporters to
actually storm the Capitol in
the worst breach of its secu-
rity since the War of 1812.
Legal advisers to the pres-
ident and his allies expressed
increasing concern about
possible criminal liability in
the wake of Wednesday’s me-
lee, according to a person fa-
miliar with the conversations.
actually makes sense,” Snead
said.
No matter what the prop-
erty becomes, it is important
that it meets design standards
and is appealing as a gate-
way to the city, Snead said.
The city wants buildings that
don’t look industrial and have
creative elements, such as
covered entrances, he said.
“We want development
that reflects the way we think
about our great community,”
Snead said.
Jefferson County Commis-
sioner Wayne Fording, who
owns Madras Paint & Glass
just south of the “Y” prop-
erty, said he wondered what
ODOT would do with the
property and was pleased to
see the county take owner-
ship.
Before ODOT bought
the property, it was used as
an administration office for
the Crooked River National
Grassland, Fording said.
Fording is eager to find
out who wants to develop the
property.
“I will be really interested
to see what kind of interest
there is in it,” he said. “Hope-
fully we’ll find a nice project
that suits that end of town
and makes that gateway look
nice.”
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Reporter: 541-617-7820,
kspurr@bendbulletin.com
things to improve and not just
survive day to day,” Skidmore
said.
The project has been met
with objections, however. In
emails to the Bend City Coun-
cil sent in the fall, some res-
idents of the adjacent neigh-
borhood expressed concerns
about how homeless people
could affect their comfort and
safety.
In 2019, the Chestnut Park
neighborhood experienced
ble homeless veterans in hotel
rooms. Having more veterans
in a shelter enabled the non-
profit to find permanent hous-
ing for more veterans, Skid-
more said.
Central Oregon Veterans
Outreach was able to find per-
manent housing for 40% of the
57 veterans it housed in hotels,
Skidmore said — a rate that is
much higher than usual.
Part of it comes down to im-
proved communication, said
J.W. Terry, executive director of
the veterans organization. Many
homeless people don’t have
phones, or if they do they have
limited minutes, making regu-
lar communication about con-
necting with services difficult.
But even more than that,
giving someone regular shelter
strips away the chaos and stress
that comes with living without
shelter, Skidmore added.
“When you feel safe, you
feel healthier. You can focus on
Wyden
“People can have widely different political philosophies, but
will come together when they see a way to get a job done.”
Continued from A1
“We’re going to get $2,000
checks out to Americans as
soon as we can,” Wyden said.
“We’re going to get those $600
federal unemployment benefits
back. We’ve got folks who are
hurting desperately — they’re
not able to pay their rent, buy
their groceries, get medicine
for their kids.
Wyden said the political
change in Washington, D.C.,
will reveal the reality that
Wyden said Trump and Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McCo-
nnell, R-Kentucky, have tried
to hide: The COVID-19 crisis
is deep, hard and won’t be un-
der control for months, even
a year.
“These safety net issues are
so essential, they should not
depend on whim of one politi-
cal person,” Wyden said of Mc-
Connell. “There was a strategy
before not to admit how bad
things are.”
Congress is ready to help
Biden lift the fog of conflicting
policies and statements about
the pandemic that has killed
more than 367,000 Americans.
Democrats believe they will get
significant Republican support
for a major push to get vac-
cines created, transported and
into the arms of Americans as
swiftly as possible.
“Deployment without de-
lays,” Wyden said.
Because President Trump
at first dismissed, then down-
played the exploding spread of
the virus, Wyden said, Trump
could never get beyond what
the crisis meant to him person-
ally. The national response be-
came politicized. When Trump
himself was infected, he was
given emergency treatment us-
ing rare medicines that allow
for a swift recovery. Instead of
being chastened by his brush
with COVID, Trump told
Americans not to let it control
their lives, and he personally
rarely wore a mask.
— Sen. Ron. Wyden, D-Ore.
Even when the Trump-ini-
tiated Operation Warp Speed
helped scientists create two
vaccines in less than a year,
with more to come, Trump was
still holding parties and large
rallies with supporters who did
not wear masks, spreading the
infection.
“He didn’t want to do the
hard work needed,” Wyden
said of a national fight against
COVID-19.
One of the hardest changes
will be to level with Americans
that COVID-19 will kill more
people and cripple more busi-
nesses for much of 2021. In a
separate press call on Friday,
Oregon Health Authority Di-
rector Pat Allen said the lim-
ited amount of vaccine and the
priority list of who should get
the shot means that many in
the state will have to wait until
as late as autumn of this year
for their turn. Other estimates
have pushed the date into 2022.
“It is hard to turn away from
the reality,” Wyden said. “The
fact is we have a coronavi-
rus spike that is greater than
spring. We’re starting to get
projections of other mutations
of the virus.
Wyden said that’s why aid
programs need to be unteth-
ered to artificial end dates cre-
ated by guesses on how bad the
situation will be months or a
year down the road.
“You don’t want people con-
stantly worried about what is
next,” Wyden said.
Wyden said that on a practi-
cal level, that means federal aid
to people, businesses, cities and
states will be needed for as long
as it takes.
Wyden will mark 25 years
in the Senate in February. At
71 years old, he announced re-
cently his plan to seek another
six-year term in 2022. Wyden
said the reason is simple:
“There is so much to do.”
Other items on his personal
legislative agenda include re-
viving a bipartisan effort to
limit prescription drug prices
and making mental health care
easier to obtain, particularly
in rural areas like Central and
Eastern Oregon.
“People can have widely dif-
ferent political philosophies,
but will come together when
they see a way to get a job
done,” Wyden said.
Wyden also hopes to con-
tinue his efforts to ensure the
security and apolitical direc-
tion of the nation’s intelligence
agencies.
The Senate operates based
on seniority, and by running
again in 2022, he says a little
state can have a big presence
on Capitol Hill. He pointed to
his ability to get answers on the
allocation of COVID-19 vac-
cines.
“There have been questions
if Oregon is getting its fair
share,” he said.
Democrats’ ability to get
their objectives through Con-
gress and on to Biden’s desk
rely on fragile majorities in the
Senate and House.
With the twin victories of
Democrats Raphael Warnock
and Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s two
U.S. Senate races on Tuesday,
the Senate will have a 50-50
split between Democrats and
Republicans. The vice pres-
ident is the president of the
Senate and can cast a tie-break-
ing vote when necessary.
Democrats will become chairs
of the committees — Wyden
will lead the Senate Finance
Committee.
Enjoying good relationships
with Republicans means find-
ing common ground based
on shared principles — that
We are all banded together in the love for our residents and team members.
We are dedicated to their safety and security, especially in these unsure times.
We believe that everyone deserves a safe place to call home.
usually leads to better legisla-
tion, Wyden said. But it is not a
catch-all.
“It’s not just agree to agree.”
Wyden said he is ready to
work with the Oregon dele-
gation’s newest member, U.S.
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario.
Bentz joined a splinter group
of Republicans to challenge
some of the Electoral College
votes this week, the focus of the
riots at the Capitol.
Asked about Bentz’s posi-
tion and any linkage with the
Trump supporters’ rampage,
Wyden said that’s a private
matter.
“The Oregon delegation has
a history of not commenting
on members’ votes,” Wyden
said. “I have worked with Rep.
Bentz when he was in the Leg-
islature and talked with him
about crucial economic issues
facing Oregon. There are many
issues on which there can be
common ground, like energy
and natural resources.”
Wyden is well aware that
historically, the party of the
president loses seats in the
House during midterm elec-
tions. On the Senate side, 34 of
the 100 seats are on the ballot
in 2022. While the electoral
map gives Democrats a strong
chance to add to their majority,
any unexpected losses would
throw the Senate back to Re-
publicans.
While hoping voters’ re-
actions to the chaos under
Trump and McConnell will
help Democrats hold off any
losses, the reality is they have
two years to get their priorities
enacted before the elections
change the math.
There’s a simple rule, Wyden
said, to making the 21 months
until the next election as good
as they can be for Democrats
and, Wyden says, for his con-
stituents in Oregon.
“We need to stick to issues
that, in a straightforward way,
respond to needs of working
people,” Wyden said.
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louie@louiehoffman.com
Louie Hoffman, CCIM
Principal Broker, Licensed in Oregon
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist
541-312-9690
2920 NE Conners Ave.
Bend, OR 97701
www.whisperingwinds.com
Reporter: 541-633-2160,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com
“Catch My Drift”
Whispering Winds...we are all in this together.
Call today to
schedule a tour!
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541.480.8130
For almost 20 years Whispering Winds
Retirement community has stood strong.
Being local and family owned, we’ve
never waived on the values and dedication
it takes to make retirement living the
best it can be.
issues. It is next to the warm-
ing shelter that was held at the
county’s public safety campus,
said Annette Wilson Chris-
tensen, a resident of the neigh-
borhood.
“While all of us recognize
the tremendous need for the
warming shelter, the neigh-
borhood’s experience was neg-
ative: trash was left all along
Poe Sholes (Drive), people
knocked at the day care center
mistaking it as a place for food,
and garbage cans were (rifled)
throughout the entire neigh-
borhood over to Harvest Park,”
Christensen wrote in an email.
“The overflow of homeless
people had a real impact on our
livability and sense of safety.
How will the area outside of the
Village be patrolled?”
Bend City Councilor Barb
Campbell, who has been a pro-
ponent of the village project for
over four years, said she under-
stands people’s concerns.
Campbell said she believes
that when you give someone a
home and a community they
will want to take ownership
and take care of it, and in turn,
be motivated to be good neigh-
bors.
“I really do believe that most
of our homeless population are
folks who would like to be a
part of the community,” Camp-
bell said. “They don’t want to
feel like outcasts.”
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