The BulleTin • Sunday, June 13, 2021 A7
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Should Deschutes
library system change
its expansion plans?
P
ick a place to go to in fierce pursuit of excitement and,
well, a meeting of the library board of the Deschutes
Public Library system is not a good choice.
Last week, it would have been. A
fight percolated over the future li-
brary expansion.
Bend City Councilor Anthony
Broadman showed up. Bend Park
& Recreation District Board mem-
ber Ariel Mendez showed up. Louis
Capozzi, board president of the
Council on Aging of Central Ore-
gon, showed up. Bill Gregoricus of
the Central Oregon Coalition for
Access showed up. And more.
That is not typical for a library
board meeting. Not at all.
The visitors want the library board
to change direction on its expansion
plans. Many people agree the library
needs to expand. Deschutes County
voters passed a bond to pay for that
expansion in the November election.
But some don’t like the concept the
board has been pursuing of a big,
new central library and regional li-
braries. The board’s plans for the cen-
tral library is to build on land it pur-
chased near the Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office off of U.S. Highway
20. Anne Ness, who won election
to the library board in May but has
not been sworn in, has called for a
more decentralized approach to the
expansion, arguing it would make it
easier for everyone to access library
resources.
The recording of Wednesday’s
meeting did not capture the pub-
lic comments. The library district,
though, did supply us with a copy of
the draft minutes.
Broadman, speaking for him-
self and not the council, urged the
library board to put the plan for
the new central library on pause.
He called on the board to invest in
a permanent location for the East
Bend library. Mendez, also speak-
ing for himself, made a similar point
and appealed for more emphasis on
neighborhood libraries.
Capozzi called on the board to
reconsider its plans. “I find it enor-
mously insulting that you are rolling
forward with this timeline, ignor-
ing serious concerns that are being
raised by community leaders,” he
wrote using the written chat during
the video meeting. We should note
Capozzi is an investor in The Bul-
letin. (He also submitted a related
guest column that we thought you
may want to read. It appears nearby
on this page, if you are reading the
print version of the newspaper.)
In response, library board mem-
ber Ray Miao, who had concerns
about the library bond, made a mo-
tion to keep the East Bend library
open after the central library was
built. Board member Ann Malkin
told him the visitor comment sec-
tion of the meeting was not the ap-
propriate place to make a motion.
She pointed out no decision has
been made to close the East Bend
library — it was just a recommenda-
tion from consultants. The library
has also announced it will renew the
lease on the East Bend library for the
next five years.
Don’t expect that meeting to
be the end of the debate. What
do people want the district to
do? Stick with the plan? More
decentralization? Would some
feel misled if the library changed
direction now because it would not
be the plan they thought they voted
for? You can tell board members
what you think by emailing them at
board@deschuteslibrary.org.
Changes coming for
Bend neighborhoods
D
uplexes and triplexes in Bend
could have no required off-
street parking. Quadplexes
could have as few as one required
off-street space. Requirements for
landscaping for duplexes and tri-
plexes could go away.
Those are just some of the pro-
posed changes coming before the
Bend Planning Commission on
Monday. It’s part of the city’s effort
to comply with state law, House Bill
2001, passed in 2019.
That law requires cities of Bend’s
size to allow more duplexes, tri-
plexes, quadplexes, townhomes and
cottage clusters in more places in the
city. It’s to increase housing choice
and supply.
Before you scream that plan goes
too far, Bend doesn’t have a lot of
choice. It’s the law or the city is
following state recommendations.
But if you want to learn more,
you can tune in and watch the
planning commission go through
the changes and even comment.
More information is available here:
www.bendoregon.gov/government/
committees/planning-commission.
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.
Library board should rework expansion
BY LOUIS CAPOZZI
A
n open letter to the Deschutes
Public Library system board:
On behalf of older adults in
Central Oregon, I am writing to urge
you to reconsider your plan for the
proposed new central library.
There are a number of concerns af-
fecting our aging population regard-
ing the location and the plan.
First, putting more than 60% of the
bond proceeds into one large facility
shortchanges the community libraries
across Deschutes County. Those local
libraries are critical resources for not
only older adults, but for children, the
disabled and the disadvantaged. We
strongly prefer that more resources be
put into expansion and enhancement
of our community libraries, where
your key audiences reside.
Second, the location you have
chosen puts the majority of the li-
brary’s resources well out of reach
for those same groups. Local librar-
ies that are accessible by walking,
public transit or short car rides are
far preferable to a facility out on a
highway, well out of practical reach
for many older residents.
How would an elderly person in La
Pine make the 60-mile round trip to
the location you have chosen?
Third, your extensive research on
the community’s needs was done be-
GUEST COLUMN
You are asking the residents of
Deschutes County to pay a 60%
increase in their library taxes. You
must use those funds responsibly
to serve the interests of people with
all levels of ability, not just those
who can drive to a remote facility
in a car.
fore the impact of the pandemic. We
are sure that outreach today would
not show the same appetite for large
meeting rooms and public spaces. We
urge you to conduct further outreach,
especially to older adults, parents, the
disabled and the disadvantaged.
It is especially concerning to me
that you are not planning to build
a new East Bend library, and that
you have made no commitments
to keeping the facility open past the
end of the lease. Just a few weeks ago,
the Bend City Council adopted the
Southeast Area Plan, which envisions
creating a “complete community” A
library would be an important asset
for the thousands of older adults who
will reside in this area.
You are asking the residents of De-
schutes County to pay a 60% increase
in their library taxes. You must use
those funds responsibly to serve the
interests of people with all levels of
ability, not just those who can drive
to a remote facility in a car. Please put
more of your resources into our local,
community libraries and reconsider
the location of your new “central li-
brary,” if we really need one, to a more
central and accessible area.
In the May election, your board
president, Martha Lawler, a strong ad-
vocate for the central library plan, was
rejected by the voters in South County
by 10 points.
Her opponent, Anne Ness, raised
serious questions about your plans
and advocates for more resources to
be devoted to our local libraries. On
Anne’s website she said: “The COVID
pandemic has dramatically demon-
strated how much we need commu-
nity connections. At a time when
social, technological and economic
forces threaten to isolate us, local li-
braries help to connect us.”
I urge you to slow down, take the
pulse of the post-COVID community,
and reconsider your plans.
e
Louis Capozzi is board president of the Council
on Aging of Central Oregon and an investor in
The Bulletin.
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I’m a woman who runs on rural roads, and the fear is always there
BY NATALIE RUTH JOYNTON
Special to The Washington Post
I
live in rural northern Michigan,
a region celebrated for its cherry
orchards, shoreline state parks
and small-town tourist attractions.
People travel from all over the United
States to experience what I do every
day on my regular morning run: the
mist rising off the water, the towering
beech trees, the rolling hills. Each day
running these dirt roads restores my
sense of wonder.
Mollie Tibbetts was also a rural
runner, a college student spending her
summer back in her tiny hometown
of Brooklyn, Iowa.
On July 18, 2018, she went for an
evening jog. At some point during
her run, according to police reports,
a man circled her several times in his
car. He later admitted to investigators
that he got out of his car and ran after
her, became angry when she threat-
ened to call the police — and then
blacked out, awakening and finding
Tibbetts’ body in the trunk of his car.
He drove to a nearby cornfield, police
said, and left her body covered with
corn stalks. She had been stabbed to
death.
Sydney Sutherland, 25, was run-
ning on a rural road in Arkansas last
year when she was abducted, raped
and murdered, police said. Attacks
can happen anywhere that a solitary
woman is jogging: Wendy Martinez,
35, stabbed to death on a District
of Columbia street in 2019; Karina
Vetrano, 30, sexually assaulted and
choked to death in a park near her
home in Queens in 2016; Vanessa
Marcotte, 27, found strangled in the
woods near a rural road in Massa-
chusetts where she had been running
in 2016. The list goes on and on. In
March, a 22-year-old woman jogging
near a Nashville park eluded two men
who tried to pull her into a minivan,
police said.
This is my greatest fear as a woman
who runs. Out here, it isn’t the black
bears or the rumored cougars or even
the occasional aggressive farm dog
(I’ve negotiated a few). It’s the mo-
ment a single truck I don’t know turns
down the dirt road where I’m run-
ning.
On May 28, the man arrested in
Tibbetts’ killing was found guilty of
first-degree murder. For many, his
brief trial was a reminder of a tragic
case from what seems like a lifetime
ago, well before the pandemic. But
I’ve been thinking of Mollie for three
years now. Long stretches of woods
and fields loll between the farmhouses
here, and any time a vehicle I don’t
recognize turns toward me, I think of
Mollie.
One time while I was running, a
truck slowed to a crawl right next to
me. I stopped and turned to face the
vehicle. It was a rusty red Ford, and I
remember immediately telling myself
to get ready to read the license plate.
A blond man of about 30 rolled down
his window. He smiled and hinted
that he wanted my number. He was
smoking; I watched his ash land near
my shoes.
Would he get out? And if so, what
then?
I run with my big dog and carry
pepper spray, and I’d like to believe
both would make a difference. In the
Sutherland case, police said the at-
tacker first hit her with his pickup
truck.
Each of the incidents above could
have sparked a national conversa-
tion about this brand of predation on
women, which includes not only le-
I am still waiting for that conversation about why simply seeking outdoor
exercise is a mortal danger for women. And I am still running these
dirt roads, because this is where I live — one of the most beautiful parts
of America — and I enjoy that morning run far too much to give it up.
Sometimes, when I come back from a run, my 7-year-old daughter is on
the porch, wearing her “fast shoes.” “Race me,” she says, and we do, all the
way down to the barn.
thal cases, but widespread nonlethal
harassment. But they didn’t. Mollie’s
murder, for one, occurred during the
Trump administration, and instead
the president focused on the immigra-
tion status of her killer — even though
immigrants who are in the country
illegally are far less likely to commit
crimes than U.S.-born citizens.
I am still waiting for that conversa-
tion about why simply seeking out-
door exercise is a mortal danger for
women. And I am still running these
dirt roads, because this is where I live
— one of the most beautiful parts of
America — and I enjoy that morning
run far too much to give it up.
Sometimes, when I come back
from a run, my 7-year-old daughter is
on the porch, wearing her “fast shoes.”
“Race me,” she says, and we do, all the
way down to the barn. My daughter
loves to run. Like me, she was born
with strong, short legs. Occasionally I
find her outside, hollering “Ready, set,
go!” to herself and sprinting off, fo-
cused and joyful.
Watching her makes me smile, but
it also makes me wonder when she’ll
discover the fear every woman who
runs — every woman, period — en-
dures on a daily basis. And how and
when to weigh it against doing the
things we love.
e
Natalie Ruth Joynton is the author of the memoir
“Welcome to Replica Dodge.”