A8 The BulleTin • Tuesday, april 13, 2021
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
What should new
city policy be for
homeless shelters?
T
he new Bend City Council wants to get serious about
helping the homeless. It’s going to look at changing city
codes to allow managed camps and shelters. It wants to
create housing to house 500 homeless individuals.
Those are topics to be discussed
Wednesday at a city of Bend com-
mittee meeting. The meeting will
be to recommend strategies for the
Bend City Council. This and the
committee’s other meetings will
be open to the public. It’s looking
to come up with new regulations
for consideration by councilors by
August.
The timeline is relatively quick.
The committee may meet twice in
April and May and then again later
to help implement or tweak any
changes. Its nine members includes
two city councilors, various repre-
sentatives from existing city com-
mittees and local people with exper-
tise in homelessness.
The first meeting is basically an
overview of the challenge. But what
sort of recommendations might
this committee make? It’s foolish to
guess, though there are some things
that have already been discussed.
One major issue: Where can shel-
ters and camps be? Should there be
any zoning designation in the city
where they are prohibited? Should
what’s allowed vary by zone?
Some neighbors don’t want
homeless camps and shelters any-
where near them. A shelter in
downtown Bend that helped keep
people from freezing to death in
the winter a few years ago also cre-
ated some concerns. It got pushback
from neighboring businesses and
residences. When the city proposed
a city-sanctioned camp at Juniper
Ridge, that got strong opposition
from neighbors. The city canceled
that plan. So where can camps or
shelters be?
At least two bills in the Legislature
will impact any decisions in Bend.
Both bills seem on track to become
law.
House Bill 2006 would require lo-
cal governments to allow an emer-
gency shelter — a building or cluster
of buildings to provide shelter for
people who lack housing — not-
withstanding land use laws and reg-
ulations. It includes areas in parking
lots for people to camp in vehicles
even if the vehicle is not designed for
camping.
House Bill 3261 states that a local
government must unconditionally
allow the conversion of a property
from a motel or hotel to an emer-
gency shelter.
Both of the bills have limitations
and conditions. For instance, both
have statements requiring that ad-
equate transportation must be
available in the area to medical and
commercial services. Any facility
must also be in compliance with ap-
propriate building codes. There are
more, such as limits on what sorts
of organizations that can run emer-
gency shelters described in the leg-
islation. Basically the combination
of bills would make it much easier
to site homeless shelters or camps.
They would have eliminated some
of the obstacles the city of Bend en-
countered when it was considering
purchasing a hotel on Third Street to
serve the homeless.
By the time this committee’s rec-
ommendations get to the Bend City
Council, whatever the committee
chooses will have a lot of momen-
tum. If you want to have an im-
pact on these decisions, you should
check out what it is doing now and
provide comment. There is more
information here: tinyurl.com/
soundingboardBend.
Collective impact could
have more significance
S
chools in Bend should not be
expected to tackle alone some
of the complex societal chal-
lenges they face. The same goes for
the city of Bend, the park district
and even the public library district.
This week the Bend-La Pine
School Board may take a step to
join forces. It will consider signing
on to a collaborative organization
with all those groups as partners.
The Central Oregon Intergovern-
mental Council will also be a part.
The new collaboration will be called
Collective Impact Bend. It will meet
monthly. The idea is to work to-
gether on problems or issues that
impact them all.
Guess what? There won’t be
miracles.
But working together could help.
One almost certain benefit may be
better understanding and relations
between the people who serve on
the boards of the respective orga-
nizations. Sometimes, the city and
the Bend Park & Recreation Dis-
trict have been at odds. The friction
between them over fee waivers for
affordable housing is just one ex-
ample. New school board members
also expressed surprise not so long
ago when they learned of changes to
school revenue because of city poli-
cies for the Bend Central District.
Collective Impact Bend won’t end
any friction. But the regular meet-
ings and working together on other
problems may better align them for
success.
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
Hovekamp for Bend parks
I cannot overemphasize the
essentiality of reelecting Nathan
Hovekamp, Ph.D., to another term
of service on the Bend Park & Rec-
reation District board of directors,
which he currently chairs.
As reflected in the Deschutes
County 2021 Special Election Vot-
er’s Pamphlet, this fine scientist and
educator — whom I have known for
over two decades —possesses the full
range of attributes and abilities essen-
tial to appreciating and acting on the
challenges involved in continued con-
structive administration and develop-
ment of Bend’s outstanding park and
recreation resources.
A veteran of public service in
elected positions, he has previously
proved his mettle with four years of
service on the Bend-La Pine School
Board and eight years of service on
the Bend Planning Commission, both
of which he chaired. He knows Bend
and its people, and he knows how to
work constructively and consistently
with others to meet their needs.
To return Nathan Hovekamp to
the Bend Park & Recreation District
board position in which he has served
so successfully since 2015 would con-
tinue his consistently great service to
our community.
— Les Joslin, Bend
Headline could mislead
An April 9 front-page headline in
The Bulletin announced, “17 residents
contract virus despite vaccination.”
While that fact is not in dispute, the
headline — which unfortunately is the
only thing some will remember and
repeat — is misleading. One could be
forgiven for thinking the headline is
bad news, or that it reflects poorly on
the efficacy of vaccines.
However, the opposite is true. The
article states that more than 700,000
Oregonians are fully vaccinated, and
of that number, 168 have received a
positive COVID-19 test. What that
means is that out of all the fully vac-
cinated Oregonians, a mere 0.025%
have contracted the virus (almost al-
ways with few or no symptoms), and
of that tiny number, only three have
died. At that rate of death, a fully vac-
cinated state would have suffered
deaths in the low double digits, rather
than the nearly 2,500 deaths to date.
In other words, the vaccines are
both safe and astonishingly effective.
We are in a race between rising in-
fection numbers and vaccine distri-
bution. Given that a not insignificant
number of Oregonians are skeptical
or hesitant to be vaccinated, public
messaging ought to tout the amazing
benefits of the vaccines. Spreading
misinformation — even uninten-
tionally, even when factually correct
— will only increase the chances that
fewer people on the fence will choose
to be vaccinated.
Here is an idea for a headline that
is both factual and true: “COVID-19
vaccines, proven to be over 99.9% ef-
fective, offers Oregon a return to nor-
mal life.”
— David Jacobsen, Bend
onto the www.recreation.gov site to
buy permits on April 6 at 7 a.m. in or-
der to buy “access to walk up to Green
Lakes or to camp in the Three Sisters
Wilderness”.
My take on this matter is that the
Deschutes National Forest is engag-
ing in tactics to prevent citizens form
accessing the Three Sisters Wilder-
ness though shoddy politics and bu-
reaucratic impedance versus enabling
access.
So, why is the DNF trying to make
wilderness areas in Oregon into a
Nanny State versus enabling access
with more parking and rangers to be
ambassadors of the wilderness?
The way that it is happening, the
DNF looks like it is putting a chain-
link fence around the wilderness to
keep folks out.
The DNF appears to be run by a
bunch of petty bureaucrats versus
leaders. Why not partner with non-
government organizations and busi-
nesses to help preserve the wilder-
ness through open access versus the
shameful tactics of the permit system?
What about expanding parking at
the trailheads? Citizens want to en-
joy the wilderness versus looking at it
through a fence.
— Mark Jewell, Eugene
Too slow on civics
Bad plan for Worrell
The Oregon Senate is backing a
bill for a civics requirement for Ore-
gon graduation. This has bipartisan
support. The law would take effect in
the 2025-26 school year. Why in the
world wait over 4 years for such a cru-
cial requirement? It should start this
fall 2021.
— Katy Sanchez, Bend
I was taken aback when I read
about the proposed plan for Worrell
Park. As I drive around Bend, looking
right and left, I wonder where it will
stop. Every patch of empty land falls,
one by one, to construction. This little
habitat in downtown Bend should be
preserved. When I read the article, it
was “parking” that jumped out at me.
In that area there is ample parking.
Worrell Park is unique. This little park
should be preserved and $2.5 million
spent elsewhere.
— Antonia Fenech, Bend
Limiting access to the
wilderness
With disappointment, I logged
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With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there is no over, only a pause
BY KATE COHEN
The Washington Post
M
y first COVID-19 shot felt
like the first burst of spring
in upstate New York: thrill-
ing and full of promise. At long last the
winter is over!
Or is it? As every upstater knows,
the moment you dare to put your
parka away up here you inevitably find
yourself scraping snow off your car. So
too, with COVID-19, as joy and hope
hit reality.
As I write, 29% of my county is fully
vaccinated; appointments are now
open to every New Yorker. The vac-
cines themselves are — let us pause to
note — incredible: practically perfect
and created at superhero speed. It’s as if
the scientists said, “Just stay put. We’ll
get you out of this,” and, after just one
season of “Ted Lasso” and two Taylor
Swift albums, they did.
But in Albany County, as in the
country as a whole, new cases are up,
the positivity rate is up, hospitalizations
are up. Our county transmission rate is
rated “high.” I drove by a highway sign
this morning that flashed “COVID IS
STILL A RISK.” So how are we sup-
posed to behave? Do we put away our
parkas yet?
I know: Obviously, we wait for our
second shot, then wait two weeks
more. But then am I free to behave as
before? Can I travel? The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention says
it’s safe but also that it’s not really safe.
When can I eat in restaurants again?
When can I have my friends over?
When can I plan for the future?
Oh, how I miss planning! I know
I’m supposed to have perfected the art
of living in the moment, but some-
times the moment is located midway
through a Zoom meeting about the
feasibility of setting up another, larger,
Zoom meeting, and at those times it
would be nice to have something to
look forward to.
The same week I got my first shot,
my daughter was accepted into a pro-
gram out of state for the fall semester.
That acceptance letter included a start
date — Aug. 28, 2021 — which I seized
upon as the first real, true, definite date
of our post-pandemic life.
But as soon as I let myself picture
packing, driving and saying goodbye, I
got nervous. I thought of all the events
— the high school graduation, the se-
nior recital, the milestone birthday, the
trip with friends — that evaporated
from our calendars last year; each date
marked now not with fond memories
and photographs but with the faint-
est ghostprint of loss. Could I really
start believing that what I plan for six
months from now will actually occur?
Federal officials are warning of a
possible fourth surge. Health experts
worry that fast-moving COVID-19
variants might outpace vaccine distri-
bution. France just entered lockdown
for the third time. That means two
times someone said, “C’est fini!” and
it wasn’t. Twice my son went through
dorm-room quarantine: first arriving
last fall to an “isn’t this fun?!” basket
brimming with junk food and next ar-
riving this spring to an “I guess we’re
still doing this” case of bottled water.
All signs indicate that next fall will
bring a return to campus as usual. I
can’t help noting, though — that’s what
we thought this time last year, too.
My local library closed, then opened,
then closed again. Now it’s open, but
when I tiptoed in for a book last week,
it looked less like my second home and
more like an art installation: “Proto-
cols” c. 2021, plexiglass on wood lam-
inate, A-frame signage, hand sanitizer.
Was it my imagination or were all the
chairs removed?
COVID-19 is still a risk. But as soon
as it’s not a risk to me — and I’m not a
risk to others — I’m heading out.
e e
Kate Cohen, a Washington Post contributing
columnist, is a writer from Albany, New York.