The BulleTin • Thursday, april 1, 2021 A13
Survey: 49 questions asked how COVID-19 could permanently change workplaces in Oregon
Continued from A1
Working from home misses check-
ing in with each other, developing a
sense of community and the dynamic
interaction of problem-solving, he
said. Virtual platforms just don’t cut it.
McCarthy’s views mirror about 601
people who were surveyed March 5 to
10 as part of the Oregon Values and
Voices project, a nonpartisan charita-
ble organization that partnered with
Pamplin Media Group, EO Media
Group, which owns The Bulletin, and
the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center.
The survey consisted of 49 ques-
tions sent to a random sample about
changes caused by COVID-19 that
will become permanent in Oregon.
This is the second such survey orches-
trated by the group on the effects of
COVID-19.
In one question, 47% of the people
who live in rural Oregon say they felt
working from home was only tem-
porary, compared to 37% in the Wil-
lamette Valley and tri-county area
around Portland who said it’s tempo-
rary. Since workers in urban and sub-
urban communities are more likely
affected by congestion, their com-
mute times are longer, making work-
ing from home more attractive, said
Adam Davis, Oregon Values and Be-
liefs Center co-founder.
“As a result of the coronavirus and
how it has affected life at home and
employment, a strong majority of Or-
egonians feel more of us in the future
will work from home,” Davis said.
“This feeling is shared across all pop-
ulation subgroups with many feeling
the change will be permanent.”
Oregon Values
and Beliefs Center
The Oregon Values and Beliefs Center is
committed to the highest level of pub-
lic opinion research. To obtain that, the
nonprofit is building the largest online
research panel of Oregonians in history
to ensure that all voices are represented
in discussions of public policy in a valid
and statistically reliable way.
Selected panelists earn points for their
participation, which can be redeemed
for cash or donated to a charity.
To learn more, visit oregonvbc.org
47%
of the people who live in rural Oregon
said in the survey that they felt
working remotely was only temporary,
compared to 37% in the Willamette
Valley and the Portland metro area.
TNS file photo
Cheri Rosenberg, Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce CEO, said
the small-town feel has created a tight
bond between employee and em-
ployer. The population of Pendleton,
according to U.S. Census Bureau’s
most current estimates, was 16,733.
“Because we tend to have a more
personal relationship between our
employers and employees, it’s a con-
Zoning
Continued from A1
The state land conservation and development
department essentially told the county there
was no way for the county to accomplish what it
wanted to with these redesignations under state
law, according to a county memo.
“Unfortunately ... there’s not a path that would
insulate Deschutes County if we went forward
from a (legal) appeal and, ultimately, a rejec-
tion at the courts,” Deschutes County Planning
Manager Peter Gutowsky told the commission
Monday.
The withdrawal is a win for environmental
groups like Central Oregon LandWatch and
1000 Friends of Oregon, which both testified
versation we are able to have,” Rosen-
berg said in an email. “For those who
are able and prefer to work from
home, those steps are being taken. For
those who are ready to get back into
the office, those steps are being taken
there as well.
“We’re able to have the best of both
worlds due to the ability to be very
open and candid with one another.”
against the amendments out of fear the redes-
ignations would become a precedent to “spot
zone” on lands zoned for farm and forestry
around the county.
“Although it unfortunately took a multi-year
drain of taxpayer resources to get here, Land-
Watch is pleased the County finally acknowl-
edges its proposal to rezone rural farm and
forest land for residential sprawl is contrary to
Oregon law,” Ben Gordon, the executive director
of Central Oregon LandWatch, wrote in a state-
ment.
The commission expressed disappointment
about having to withdraw the amendments,
with commission Chair Tony DeBone once
again calling for the state to have a larger conver-
sation about relooking at all aspects of the state’s
In the survey, 33% of those ages
45 to 64 said the ability to work from
home was temporary, compared
to 53% in the same age group that
thought working from home was
permanent. And 64% of those who
earned more than $100,000 a year
said they believed working from
home would become permanent,
compared to 28%, earning the same
land use system.
But the county learned from the state land
conservation and development department that
its board will not look into the issue of how to
redesignate land that may have been incorrectly
zoned any time in the near future.
This leaves the commission with few options.
“Clearly we learned on March 17 that un-
less we can get legislators to do something we
won’t be able to accomplish anything,” said
Commissioner Patti Adair, who referred to a
meeting the county had with the department
on March 17.
Moving forward, the commission will ex-
plore other ways to ease the burden of property
owners seeking to build in these six areas, Gu-
towsky said. County staff will recommend the
amount, who said it would be tem-
porary.
The survey’s margin of error, for
the full sample, ranges from 2.4% to
4% depending on how the response
category percentages are split for any
given question, according to the sur-
vey authors.
Katy Brooks, Bend Chamber of
Commerce CEO, said she’s seen the
data play out during this past year. But
Bend is a city with a high percentage
of remote workers given that Bend
has a low inventory of office space and
employees appear to like the flexibility
of working from home.
“There are plain savings in office
space, utilities if they function well
with a hybrid or remote format,”
Brooks said. “I’ve spoke to dozens of
companies in Bend who are consid-
ering a permanent hybrid model for
these reasons.”
e e
Reporter: 541-633-2117, sroig@bendbulletin.com
commission reduce conditional use permit fees
for nonfarm dwellings at these six subdivisions
by 30%.
Currently, this fee can be up to $3,600, plus
the additional cost it takes to hire experts to
prove that the soil quality is not high enough to
be farmed, Gutowsky said.
Gutowsky said another idea being consid-
ered is having one document that compiles all
the previous land use decisions that show how
a property owner was successful in getting to
build a house in one of these six areas. This
could be used by future applicants who wish to
build on land in one of these six areas.
These ideas will be considered by the com-
mission in May.
e e
Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com
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