A8 The BulleTin • Thursday, March 25, 2021
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Support the Sisters
school bond that is
on the May ballot
T
he Sisters Elementary School is packed. And the district
is facing growth and not enough room to handle the
students.
The district needs a new elemen-
tary school. We urge Sisters voters to
support the $33.8 million bond on
the May ballot to build one.
The good news: It doesn’t look like
voters will be paying any additional
taxes because of the new bond. The
2001 bond is set to retire as the new
one would kick in. And the target
rate is 93 cents per $1,000 of assessed
value — same as the 2001 bond.
The money would go toward
building a new elementary school.
School Board Chair Jay Wilkins told
us that’s the priority. The district
wants to build it right and build it
to last.
Growth in Central Oregon isn’t
a surprise. In Sisters, the quality
of the schools, the setting and the
small town are key drivers. The dis-
trict has about 1,100 students now.
That’s predicted to grow by as much
as 30% over the next 10 years, the
district says. The elementary school
has about 350 students now. It’s K-4.
And it’s overcapacity, according to
the district.
The new school would house
K-5 students and have more ca-
pacity than the old one, giving the
district some room to grow. Mov-
ing the fifth graders to the elemen-
tary school will also free up some
space in the middle school. The new
school is estimated to be completed
for the 2023-2024 school year.
One of the big unanswered ques-
tions is: What happens to the ex-
isting elementary school? That has
not been decided. It could be repur-
posed for any number of things. Old
Oregon school districts don’t have
a lot of options when it comes to
building new schools or building
maintenance. In Oregon, state
school funding is intended to go
toward the classroom. If a school
district needs a new building or
more than routine maintenance,
it needs to ask voters.
schools have been transformed into
apartments and hotels. It could be a
community center. It could be senior
housing. If the bond passes, the dis-
trict says it will engage the community
to find out what residents want. Ob-
viously, not everyone may agree. That
question, though, is not on the ballot.
Oregon school districts don’t have
a lot of options when it comes to
building new schools or building
maintenance. In Oregon, state school
funding is intended to go toward the
classroom. If a school district needs
a new building or more than routine
maintenance, it needs to ask voters.
Sisters voters have generally been
very supportive of the school system.
The district is the envy of many oth-
ers because Sisters voters have even
stepped up to tax themselves to put
more money toward the classroom
with an operating levy.
Keep the schools strong in Sisters.
Vote for the school bond on the May
ballot.
Bill to raise alcohol
taxes has not moved
D
on’t say it’s over until the leg-
islative session is over, but the
bill to boost taxes on alcohol
in Oregon appears to be over.
House Bill 3296 would raise state
taxes on beer, wine, cider and dis-
tilled spirits. It could raise those
taxes by as much as 2,800%. It would
raise taxes on say a six-pack of beer
by $2 or more.
The idea behind the bill is to take
the revenue raised and put it to a
very worthy cause: fighting addic-
tion to alcohol and drugs with treat-
ment centers across the state. Oregon
could use more access to treatment.
But this is also a state with brew-
ing and distilling businesses that has
been hit hard by the pandemic. Does
it feel right to target them with a kick
in the gut when they are down? We
don’t think so. And legislators have
apparently agreed. The bill has sat
unmoving in committee since the
beginning of March. It is not even
scheduled for a hearing.
We are no experts in reading leg-
islative tea leaves, but if this was a bill
you were hoping would flounder, it’s
probably safe to start raising your
glass in a toast to its failure. But that
failure also means Oregon will still
not have an answer for people who
need access to care and can’t find it.
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
Signal in roundabouts
Since we have acquired so many
roundabouts in Central Oregon, and
people do not know how to exit using
their turn indicators, it would help a
lot of traffic issues if ODOT could put
up signs stating “Use right-turn in-
dicator when exiting” or something
similar. It is so frustrating to sit as you
are trying to enter the roundabout
with people exiting and not using
their turn indicators. After all, it is
the law to signal when turning right
or left.
— Barbara Russell, Redmond
Don’t eliminate off-street
parking requirements
The Bend City Council is about to
take up the issue of (continuing or
reducing) off-street parking require-
ments. I urge them to not eliminate
it! You will never get drivers to give
up their cars and start taking buses or
riding bikes to get where they need to
go. If more land is needed, expand the
UGB (urban growth boundary)!
Eliminating off-street parking for
businesses or leaving the choice to
(greedy) developers and their bottom
lines will not solve anything. It will
create chaos. I am a senior, and I can
guarantee you that I and others like
me, and even much younger people
who drive, will not change our stripes
just because the council tries to force
us to.
Is there some crazy idea out there
that people will get rid of their cars?
Does anyone think the majority of
people will walk or ride bikes in the
winter? Walkers will walk, busers will
ride, and drivers will always drive,
and never the twain shall meet. I am
incredulous such a plan is even being
considered. It is a totally inane and
very bad idea!
— Katy Sanchez, Bend
More density is no good
The city of Bend is destroying itself
from the inside out. The City Coun-
cil is destroying Bend in the hunt for
financial fees payable to the city. The
idea that building cookie-cutter, gar-
bage box houses on 4,000-foot-size
lots is ludicrous. Jamming people to-
gether will raise conflict and create
more police calls and trash is a given.
Want proof? Try to travel through
Third Street and Reed Market or
Brookswood and Reed Market at any
time between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. any
weekday. The city will have you be-
lieve that people want small lots, small
houses and mini roads between the
back of houses.
Baloney! If that was true then acre-
age would be super cheap! It’s not!
Acreage is at an all-time premium! It’s
all about the money.
— Marv Brophy, Bend
Bad plans by the Democrats
The Border Patrol recently reported
that the border “is not secure” as they
are overwhelmed with the number
of immigrants crossing illegally. The
immigrants are evidently responding
to the promise of amnesty given by
Democratic candidates during the last
election. Why would the Democrats
make such a promise when it was very
clear that this would encourage indi-
viduals from many nations to cross
our border illegally?
It is obvious that this is a blatant
power grab by the Democrats as they
know that about two-thirds of the
immigrants will vote Democrat once
they are given the vote. Think about
it. There are more than 12 million il-
legal immigrants now in the U.S. and
they are now coming over the border
by the thousands each year.
The Democrats also have intro-
duced legislation to offer amnesty to a
million farmworkers under the guise
of providing needed labor. Many of
these workers will not stay in farm-
ing long if they can find a better pay-
ing job, so the legislation will not help
farmers very long, but will increase
the size of the Democratic voting
base.
Finally, there will be an attempt to
eliminate the filibuster, which will
lessen the power of the minority
party. All the major Democrat lead-
ers are on record in the past as saying
they would not support this move.
Why now? This is an additional at-
tempt to increase power while collec-
tively making make it more difficult
for any party to compete against the
Democrats in the future.
Are we witnessing the end of the
two-party system?
— George Petersen, Redmond
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Sequestered in my retirement community, but liberation comes soon
BY MARGARET SULLIVAN
Special to The Washington Post
T
he needle jabbed my arm.
Second COVID-19 vaccina-
tion, done. Liberation in sight.
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, the audito-
rium in our continuing care retire-
ment community in Falls Church,
Virgina, buzzed with matter-of-fact
activity. Three weeks earlier, it had
been giddy. Not just for our initial
shots, but — wow — for the first time
in ages, perhaps 45 of us at a time were
coming and going in the same place,
chatting with neighbors we hadn’t
seen in weeks.
Such life-changing inoculations
bookend my life: as a baby in 1934, for
smallpox, and now, as an old woman,
for COVID-19. In between, I’ve seen
vaccines developed for polio, measles,
mumps, rubella, chickenpox and shin-
gles (I was part of that trial). Blessedly,
this latest one heralds a much-needed
return to sharing our lives with others.
A year ago, on March 13, 2020,
our campus of about 500 residents
— ranging in age from the late 60s to
103, mostly still physically and men-
tally active — was locked down for
our protection. We realize we’re vul-
nerable. My husband and I had cho-
sen to move here to make the most
of the years left to us, with care when
needed.
In the “before time,” the commu-
nity was welcoming, busy, social. We
visited our families, or they, us. Meals
were communal. Grandchildren in-
vaded on weekends. Residents volun-
teered in the neighborhood and orga-
nized events here. Our artists created.
Our singers made music. We checked
on people we hadn’t seen in a day or
two. When one of us died, we gath-
ered to mourn and remember.
We were closely connected with life
around us.
That January, news of the infectious
COVID-19 virus began circulating.
Then, “in an abundance of caution,”
the shared salt and pepper shakers
disappeared from our tables. The
frozen yogurt machine stopped dis-
pensing and wore a sign: “This ma-
chine is currently fasting. Hopefully
it will be back to a regular diet soon.”
Hand-sanitizer dispensers appeared.
Following the declaration of the
global pandemic, our management
issued a protocol mandating that res-
idents stay on campus, with masking
and social distancing. No one but staff
could enter.
Being sequestered wasn’t surpris-
ing. But the reality jolted: not just the
abrupt loss of in-person contact with
family, friends and events outside, but
also the diminished social interaction
and daily stimulation inside.
Communal dining ended — we eat
in our rooms. No more interesting
speakers or Saturday movies. Meet-
ings canceled — or, later, virtual. Days
blended: Is this Monday or Friday?
Living single meant one kind of lone-
liness; living double, another. Not be-
ing able to visit friends on the assisted
living floors added worry about their
isolation.
As our protocols evolved, family
visits stopped, then became possible if
the visitor had a negative test — then,
after the Thanksgiving COVID spike,
stopped again.
Even cloistered behind our gates,
we remained active in the world. Staff
and residents held a vigil on our lawn
in honor of George Floyd and for so-
cial justice. Although we couldn’t join
the peaceful marches downtown, our
signs shouted from our fence. Our
polling place — the auditorium —
was relocated; therefore, voting by
mail became urgent. A group of us
helped residents request ballots, pack-
age them for mailing and track them.
Far too many people, we know,
don’t have our options. Enormous
losses in some nursing homes makes
us grateful our community is care-
ful and reasonably safe, if not totally
unscathed. Fifty-two residents have
had COVID-19. Twelve of those, our
friends and neighbors, have died.
Eighty-one staff members have been
sick and, mercifully, recovered.
Our heartaches and losses are com-
plicated and multilayered. Many of
us mourn friends or family. We who
are also caregivers grieve as a spouse’s
diminishing cognition accelerates in
lockdown. We ache to be able to hug
grandchildren — or anyone.
Keeping on keeping on is exhaust-
ing. A COVID fog has settled in.
“How are you?” is as much commiser-
ation as greeting.
On the other hand, virtual life has
been sanity-saving. Social media
makes connections much easier than
even five years ago. Although my hus-
band and I haven’t been with our out-
of-town children in over a year, we
Zoom with them weekly. We “sat in”
as one defended his doctoral disserta-
tion. When we mourned my brother’s
death from the virus, the family gath-
ered in comforting warmth online.
Although our shots don’t bring
back this lost year, they are a greatly
appreciated step forward. With 98%
of the residents and 93% of the staff
vaccinated, we can begin to open.
We mask and distance. But plans are
afoot for eating together again. The
first visitors — family members — are
coming to our apartments. We will go
places and hug grandchildren. With
the weather warming, this overlong
year grinds toward the welcome fu-
ture.
e e
Margaret Sullivan, author of “Fragments From
a Mobile Life,” is a resident at Goodwin House
Bailey’s Crossroads in Falls Church, Virginia.