Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
TUESDAY • March 16, 2021
BRACKETS ARE BACK
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
• OREGON No. 6 seed (Alamo Region)
• OREGON STATE No. 8 seed (Hemisfair Region)
MEN’S TOURNAMENT: BEAVERS’ BID IS THEIR 2ND IN 31 YEARS
SALEM
A QUESTION OF
BASIC NEEDS
Bend homeless camp cleanups spark conversation
Legislative
logjam rolls
on toward
do-or-die
Friday
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
With a third of the session gone, the
Oregon Legislature has 4,000 bills on its
plate, with House Republicans using a
parliamentary slow-down to delay leg-
islation already running late because of
COVID-19.
About 90 committees are scheduled to
meet this week, and the House and Sen-
ate have each scheduled floor sessions. A
busy week, but also one that will push a
big portion of the logjam into the legisla-
tive abyss.
Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photos
Rebecca Hall holds her dog back as she eats a burrito that was donated to her at a homeless community on Hunnell Road in Bend on Thursday.
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
Friday is 8do-or-die9 deadline
The logjam will get looser this Friday
with the first “witching hour,” the Legisla-
ture’s self-imposed deadlines for most bills
to move or die. Most policy bills that are
not scheduled for a work session by Friday
go into the trash can for this year’s regular
session.
The deadline does not affect budget bills
or those in “safe harbor” committees such
as Rules or Ways & Means, which are ex-
empt from the time rules. The size of the
cull won’t be known until Monday when
the chief clerks of each chamber will have a
list of surviving bills.
More bills will fall away on April 13, the
deadline for those work sessions — where
committees amend and vote on bills.
See Legislature / A14
R
ejena Wenciker
has lived on
8GREATER IDAHO9
Hunnell Road
‘A million
questions, for
sure,’ about
moving border
in north Bend in her RV
for the past two years.
Before a few months ago,
tasks like taking care of trash
and finding a place to go to
the bathroom were a daily
struggle, she said.
But two recently added
amenities have made her life
just a little bit easier: a dump-
ster and a portable toilet.
“They make our lives a lot
better,” Wenciker said.
One of the most frequent
complaints public agencies
hear about when it comes to
local homeless camps is about
trash. Complaints about trash
often prompt cleanup or
camp-removal efforts, most
recently on land owned by
the Oregon Department of
Transportation. They cost
lots of time and resources: the
last one at the highway inter-
change at Revere Avenue cost
$18,000, according to ODOT.
For some advocates for
the homeless, who have been
making their case through
public comments over several
Bend City Council meetings,
the answer to this problem
seems simple: bring porta-
ble toilets and dumpsters to
camps.
The camp at Hunnell Road,
which has dozens of cars and
RVs parked along it, is un-
usual because it has both a
dumpster, provided by the
city of Bend, and a portable
toilet, provided by the non-
Jefferson County officials meet
over movement that would
redraw state boundaries
Danny Taylor with Little John’s Portable Toilets Inc. maintains the facilities at a homeless community on
Hunnell Road in Bend.
cleanup operations on Or-
egon Department of Trans-
portation properties last week
near Murphy Road and Re-
vere Avenue, have brought the
issue of homeless camps and
how they should be managed
to the forefront.
ODOT has argued the
cleanups are necessary, after
receiving numerous com-
plaints from neighbors con-
cerned about trash, crime and
fire risks that come with open
fires near neighborhoods.
The cleanups, which have
been occurring for months,
have energized homeless ad-
vocates, who argue such ac-
tions are ineffective and de-
stabilizing for those who live
in the camps.
But one common concern
public agencies and social ser-
vice providers have revolves
around management.
Kurt Axell and Jackie Capasso appreciate the amenities offered to
homeless people on Hunnell Road in Bend.
profit Community Shower
Truck. The two amenities
are intended to help address
trash concerns and provide
basic hygienic services to peo-
ple who find themselves with
few options for shelter in the
region.
But the city, ODOT and so-
cial service providers say the
solution is more complicated
than it appears.
Amenities help people
The situation at Hun-
nell Road, along with two
See Homeless / A14
BY PAT KRUIS
Oregon Capital Bureau
As voters demanded, Jefferson County
commissioners have explored the possibil-
ity of the county leaving Oregon and join-
ing Idaho, along with other Oregon coun-
ties east of the Cascades.
The county’s voters in November passed
a measure that requires commissioners to
discuss the issue twice a year.
“There’s a million questions, for sure,”
said Kelly Simmelink, Jefferson County
Commission chair.
Chris Taylor of the Move Oregon’s Bor-
der campaign argued why it’s worthwhile
to tackle those million questions. “Unfor-
tunately, the boundary between Oregon
and Idaho is really outdated because it
doesn’t match the cultural boundary be-
tween people who like Portland and Sa-
lem’s leadership and people who don’t.”
Despite any support or votes in Oregon
counties, the idea would need the approval
of the legislatures in Oregon and Idaho.
If a portion of California is included, that
legislature would have to approve the idea
too. Approval by Congress would also be
required.
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Mostly sunny
High 52, Low 28
Page A13
INDEX
Business A11, A13
Classifieds
A14
Comics
A9-10
Dear Abby
Editorial
Horoscope
A7
A8
A7
Kid Scoop
Local/State
Lottery
A12
A2-3
A6
Obituaries
Puzzles
Sports
A4
A10
A5-7
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
Vol. 119, No. 64, 14 pages, 1 section
We use
recycled
newsprint
DAILY
See Border / A4
U|xaIICGHy02329lz[