A8 THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
A more dense city
is a challenge
for Bend’s parks
S
lowly and almost surely Bend is losing its parks. They aren’t
going away. They aren’t being bought up for development.
But as Bend’s population grows and becomes more dense
everyone’s public open space gets a bit less.
Is it noticeable? Perhaps not. But
if you think about what Shevlin Park
was like 10 or 15 years ago and how
parking can be gobbled there now,
there has been a change.
Bend is lucky, of course. It has
great parks and other nice facili-
ties. It has a river. And just outside
of Bend there is fantastic access to
public land. So there is hardly a cri-
sis. There is a gradual shift.
Housing density is loved, because
it protects Oregon from sprawl. It
lowers development costs for in-
frastructure. Roads, sewers, water
and more are cheaper to provide if
the population is close together. It
doesn’t help city parks. Land prices
go up. And although people can get
exercise in multistory indoor facili-
ties, it is not the same as being out-
side on the grass.
Planners for the Bend Park &
Recreation District can show the
numbers. The acres per thousand
people of parks are predicted to
decline in Bend over the next five
years. That’s true of neighborhood
parks. It’s true of big, regional parks,
such as Shevlin. And it’s true of city
trails. That depends on assumptions
about population growth measured
against the plans the park district
has over the next five years and also
other things it knows will be built.
The district also looks at acces-
sibility of parks and trails to ensure
they are spread out across the com-
munity. It would like to have parks
within a half mile easy walk for ev-
eryone in the district. It’s true for
less than half of district residents
now.
And the district is working on
more granular data. It is overlay-
ing census tract information on in-
come, minorities and more to see if
it is truly reaching out equitably. It
should make those maps available
to the public on its website when it
has them ready. That should provide
important information about where
parks and facilities may be needed.
The most difficult thing to mea-
sure may be along the lines of what
park district board member Jason
Kropf asked: What does it mean if
neighborhood park acreage slips
from 7.76 acres per thousand in
2019 to 7.67 acres per thousand in
2020? Probably not much. But if the
long-term trend continues down, it
does mean something. A crowded
park can make it much less attrac-
tive for people to go and get exercise
or just get outside.
The park district is looking for
answers. What can it do? It can work
with developers to ensure they in-
clude open space and trail access in
new housing projects. It can encour-
age apartment builders to include
gym space or perhaps even a pool.
The district may need support from
voters for a bond to make invest-
ments in additional facilities. And
it may need to think about ways to
make it easier for people to access
the ample public lands beyond the
district’s borders.
Legislative pay raise
really isn’t that crazy
I
t may not be the best time to
talk about a pay raise for state
legislators during a global pan-
demic. That’s what House Bill 3144
is about.
It would establish that the annual
salary of legislators be the average
of all the occupations in Oregon.
Legislators make about $31,000
a year now and get a per diem of
about $150 a day for food and lodg-
ing when the Legislature is in ses-
sion. If HB 3144 were to become
law, they would get more than a
$20,000 a year raise.
Maybe this bill will go nowhere
this session. A similar proposal died
in 2019. But there is more to it than
just an effort to get a raise. The Leg-
islature shouldn’t be a place where
only the wealthy can serve. And if
lobbyists get paid handsomely for
their work and legislators do not,
that could give lobbyists the edge
in the time and energy they can put
into influencing legislation.
Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Publisher Heidi Wright, Editor
Gerry O’Brien and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe.
My Nickel’s Worth
Help the people in need
Given the extreme partisan politics
displayed by Trump and McConnell
in the past four-plus years, it is amus-
ing to now hear Republicans com-
plain about the lack of bipartisanship
by President Joe Biden, Vice President
Kamala Harris and Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer.
But, let’s set right-wing hypocrisy
aside and focus on what really matters
to American people who are suffering
from Trump’s COVID malfeasance
and economic wreckage.
People desperately need and want
help. I don’t think they care if that
relief comes from a partisan vote in
Congress. They could care less if it is
the result of “reconciliation.” That’s
because the result will be bipartisan
relief for everyone — Democrats, Re-
publicans and independents.
Negotiating a compromise with
those who supported Trump’s ruin-
ous policies, practiced extreme parti-
san politics, and now want to provide
less help to suffering people is not the
solution. If Republicans in Congress
don’t want to help people in need,
that’s on them.
If Trump supporters are all that
concerned that Biden rejects compro-
mise, they are welcome to decline the
money, decline the unemployment
benefits, and decline everything else
that is in President Biden’s much-
needed COVID relief package.
— Michael Funke, Bend
Three questions for Bentz
After watching the Senate impeach-
ment trial of Donald Trump, I am
hoping that my newly elected Ore-
gon Republican congressman, Cliff
Bentz, has had second thoughts about
his Jan. 13 vote to exonerate Don-
ald Trump’s Jan. 6 actions to incite a
crowd to sack the Capitol and ignore
congresspersons’ pleas to call off the
rioters. Even Mitch McConnell has
acknowledged that Donald Trump’s
actions were inexcusable.
In remarks to the media, Bentz said
the Jan. 13 ‘rush-to-judgment’ im-
peachment would only divide the na-
tion more and undercut efforts to get
both parties working on key issues,
such as COVID-19.
“I voted against impeachment be-
cause our focus should be on unifying
our nation, ensuring a peaceful tran-
sition to the Biden administration,”
Bentz said.
Even though congressman Bentz
is a conservative Republican, I would
expect him to denounce a tyrannical
Republican president who acted to
overthrow American democracy.
My questions to Rep. Bentz now:
1. Do you believe the 2020 election
might actually have been stolen from
Donald Trump? If so, why?
2. Assuming time constraints
would not preclude a fair investiga-
tion and trial, and knowing what you
now know, would you still vote “no”
against Trump’s impeachment ?
3. Do you support Donald Trump
as a leader of the Republican Party?
— Brad Raffle, Bend
Control immigration
Three weeks ago, the Source
Weekly expressed admiration for the
Bend citizens who staged a demon-
stration against ICE officials who were
attempting to process two individuals
who were here illegally and had pend-
ing charges against them.
A newly released report from the
Department of Homeland Security
should make The Source and dem-
onstrators reconsider their actions.
Last year, 185,884 illegal immigrants
were deported and 64% had pending
charges, or criminal convictions.
This included 1,900 homicides,
3,800 robberies and 37,000 assaults;
4,276 were gang members.
I don’t want my children, grand-
children or the country subjected to
the illegal activities of criminal immi-
grants, which the Biden administra-
tion seems willing to do.
How many people know that over
10% of inmates in Oregon’s prisons
are in the U.S. illegally?
Yes, most immigrants are honest,
hardworking individuals, but how can
people believe it is OK for thousands
of immigrants to pour across the bor-
der illegally, ahead of many others
who are working hard to come here
legally?
— John Williams, Bend
Holding officials accountable
I wish to comment on the latest
attempt by the legislative branch of
these United States to address the will
of the people.
To my admittedly limited view-
point it is not about the history of
impeachment, it should not be about
retribution and ought not to be about
gamesmanship, but needs to be about
accountability.
If the impeachment process does
not work to address that, then how
else (besides the democratic election
process) do the citizens of the United
States hold their elected officials ac-
countable? And given that the demo-
cratic election process is held in such
contempt by such a large segment of
the population, what other avenue(s)
do the regular citizens of this country
have? And even though I am an eter-
nal optimist, in this I despair.
— Neil Erickson, Powell Butte
GUEST COLUMN
Dear movie fans: Step up and save your local theaters
BY DREW KAZA
F
or those who have been miss-
ing the opportunity to check out
first-run movie releases on the
local big screens, last week seemed to
portend some good news.
With Gov. Kate Brown’s
new guidance and the latest
revision of county risk levels,
Deschutes County dropped
out of the extreme risk cat-
egory. Movie theaters could
then, in theory, reopen again.
But for operators like us at
Kaza
Sisters Movie House, this
was, quite simply not an option. Like
Regal Cinemas in Bend, we have been
closed now for many months simply
to ensure our survival. To reopen now
under Oregon’s current state guide-
lines would guarantee we lose even
more money than we currently do,
while staying closed.
For starters, Oregon is currently the
only state in America where movie
theaters are not allowed to sell conces-
sions at any level of reopening. Since
the large percentage of every ticket
sold goes to movie distributors, con-
cessions are essential to our industry’s
survival.
This prohibition does not appear
to be grounded in science. The Na-
tional Association of Theater Owners
reviewed the scientific literature and
could find no peer reviewed
analysis tying a COVID-19
outbreak to movie theaters
anywhere in the world. To
the contrary, contact trac-
ing in South Korea showed
that out of 31.5 million the-
ater visits in the last year, 49
COVID-positive people at-
tended theaters, and there
were no outbreaks due to these visits.
Live performance venues, restau-
rants and bars can all sell food in Or-
egon, despite the fact that all of them
involve higher risk indoor behaviors
that are 1 to 3 orders of magnitude
more risky in terms of COVID-19
transmission, according to a peer re-
viewed journal article.
This letter is a cry for help from our
elected public officials.
Unlike a number of nonprofit ven-
ues and cultural institutions who re-
ceived assistance ($25 million worth)
from the state emergency board way
Bulletin file
Brey Kissler, 13, front center, takes in a showing at the Pine Theater in Prineville in 2007.
back in the summer of 2020, Oregon’s
movie theater businesses have re-
ceived next to zero assistance to date.
There are circa 600 movie screens
in Oregon in 118 different locations
spread across our fair state, with a
greater proportion of small indepen-
dents and “single screen” venues than
just about any other state in the coun-
try – and yet we have been wholly ig-
nored by the state’s bureaucracy.
Most of us have been ineligible
to receive loans like those that have
aided the restaurant industry (PPP
loans) and any emergency assistance
has been so small it can only register
as a blip of income. For theaters like
ours, that have now been continu-
ously shut for over 330 days, the losses
have been massive. Most cinemas (big
and small) in our state have seen rev-
enues drop by 90% or more between
2019 and 2020.
Compounding the problem, we
have no firm understanding when life
might “return to normal.”
Many movie theaters in Oregon are
on the brink of bankruptcy and/or
closing entirely. We are asking every
movie fan to reach out to local legis-
lators and to tell them how much we
mean to you.
Help make Salem aware that the lo-
cal movie theater is actually an endan-
gered species right now, and without
some assistance to make up for our
unjustified and crippling losses, many
will shutter for good.
In so many of Oregon’s smaller
towns and counties, the local movie
theater is the cultural life blood of the
community. We must act now if we
are going to save it.
e e
Drew Kaza is managing partner of quoin media
& entertainment LLC, which owns the Sisters
Movie House in Sisters. He lives in Redmond.