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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2021)
The BulleTin • SaTurday, auguST 21, 2021 B5 EDITORIALS & OPINIONS AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER Heidi Wright Gerry O’Brien Richard Coe Publisher Editor Editorial Page Editor Listen hard to what St. Charles is saying I f a person gets in a car accident or has a heart attack in Central Oregon, they may not get the kind of care they usually would. That is what scares Dr. Jeff Absalon of St. Charles Health Systems the most. St. Charles is overwhelmed by COVID patients. “I can’t overstate this,” Absa- lon said Thursday during a news conference with Gov. Kate Brown. “What we are going through right now is unimaginable. …We are overwhelmed.” As of Thursday morning, St. Charles had 62 COVID-19 patients, the most it had at any time during the pandemic, said Absalon, the chief physician executive for St. Charles. And the surge driven by the more contagious delta variant is not over. We should all really take a mo- ment to reflect on what Absalon said. His words should be a warning and a guide. The hospital has roughly 200 open positions for nurses. And that is as demand for care has risen and the level of care required is more acute. “Just a few days ago I had the honor of stepping into our inten- sive care unit in Bend,” Absalon said. “Unfortunately it was just a few minutes after we lost a young COVID-19 patient. … Our nurses had tears in their eyes. And yet they had to get right back to work to care for patients that needed their ser- vices. And that’s what they did. And that’s what they do.” “We have also had family mem- bers that have had to say goodbye to patients through a glass door or through an iPad.” “We have also had patients come into our hospitals who don’t believe in COVID-19. … They are diag- nosed with the disease, but don’t be- lieve in it.” “There are those who didn’t believe in COVID-19 or didn’t believe in vaccinations until they were in our care gasping. … And became believers and encouraged their family members to get vaccinated and to take measures to prevent the spread of this disease. That’s what’s happening in our hospitals and health system.” — Dr. Jeff Absalon of St. Charles Health Systems “And then there are those who didn’t believe in COVID-19 or didn’t believe in vaccinations until they were in our care gasping. … And be- came believers and encouraged their family members to get vaccinated and to take measures to prevent the spread of this disease.” “That’s what’s happening in our hospitals and health system.” There is a clear path out of this. Get vaccinated, if you are not. It will help protect you and those you love. It will give the virus less chance to mutate further into new more contagious and virulent variants. Be extra careful with masking and social distancing. And when you are out and about exercising, working or working around the house, remember, if you get injured, St. Charles may not be able to give you the kind of care it would normally. Historical editorial: Where lies the shame? e Editor’s note: The following historical editorial originally appeared in what was then called The Bend Bulletin on Sept. 21, 1906. T he Prineville Review in speak- ing of the “shame of Oregon” due to the land fraud expo- sures says: “The public would never have known it was injured by any of the defendants except Puter had it not been for Hitchcock and the Oregonian.” “The public would never have known!” Does the Review mean to imply that the shame of a rascally deed consists only in being caught in the act? Is it honorable to steal as long as you are not found out and as long as the public does not know that it is being robbed? Wherein lies the real shame and dishonor of unlaw- ful deeds — in the deed itself or in being caught and exposed? Which would react ultimately to a state’s shame and dishonor: To have a horde of thieves holding her high of- fices and corrupting her citizenship, or to have the office-holding thieves and their accomplices exposed and punished. The silly ranting by some of Oregon’s papers against the govern- ment’s land fraud prosecutions is disgusting and in itself a cause for shame. It must be evident to anyone who followed the evidence in the most recent trials in Portland that the defendants were guilty, guilty of an elaborately laid conspiracy to rob the government — in other words to steal. Just ordinary, every day, “low- down” stealing. It would be more to honor Oregon’s honor for her citi- zens to unite in condemning such rank rascality, rather that to defend the accused and the attack the gov- ernment’s policy of prosecution. 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 Plan for Bend’s environment Bend is no longer a small lumber/ farming/ranching town. City Council needs to take the responsibility they were elected to do and plan for Bend’s future for the next 30 years. The lack of forward planning by previous councils is evident, so please don’t re- peat the shortfall. Large proposed projects are on the immediate horizon. City plan- ners need to evaluate these projects for potential environmental impacts such as air quality; greenhouse gas; surface water runoff quality; land use compatibility with area development; construction and operational noise; construction and operational traffic, including peak hour intersection level of service, traffic safety, and roadway capacity; 30-year water supply; waste- water treatment capacity; police and fire response times; school capacity; recycling; cumulative impacts, etc. These environmental issues should be addressed by the developers prior to any city approvals so the city coun- cil and Bend residents know the proj- ect impacts before being approved. If there are impacts, measures to reduce impacts to an acceptable level to the city and the residents should be con- ditions of approval. These upfront studies are vital to provide full disclosure of project im- pacts for everyone. Yes, the city needs additional housing to address the af- fordability issue. However, the city does not need to sacrifice quality de- velopment for additional housing. If a developer truly has the best interest of Bend at heart, providing important studies to determine the potential significant impacts of their project should be in their best inter- est too. Bend is a growing community and no longer a small lumber/farm- ing/ranching town. — Phil Martin, Bend A perfect storm We are besieged each day with om- inous warnings about climate change. It has become almost a cult religion and those who dissent are ostracized. Recently western governors attributed wild fires to climate change. This con- clusion cannot be accepted without careful consideration of actions by state and federal governments that may be the main driver. We know that there were massive fires consuming 4.4 million acres of California forest and shrub lands an- nually. And they occurred when the Earth was cooler than today. If this his- torical footnote is accurate, then what other factor is at work? Until the early ’90s, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and state for- estry departments allowed harvesting and concomitant replanting of our for- ests. As part of the timber operations, roads were built to permit access to the harvest sites. These roads created fire breaks and ground access to facilitate arrest of conflagrations. Massive fires were thus constrained and contained. What happened? Environmental- ists discovered the spotted owl and hooted that logging must stop. In Oregon harvesting was cut by three quarters. Fire breaks disappeared. The forest became overcrowded with both overstory and understory trees and brush. Bark beetles flourished. A per- fect fire storm was in the offing. Necessary but partial solution is to increase prescribed burns; enhance harvesting; and restore fire breaks. A return to 1980 management of our forests ought to reduce the magnitude of fire risk to our communities. And there is a bit of irony: environmental- ists who demanded that harvests be curtailed to leave the forest pristine are reaping what they sowed — destruc- tion of that sought to be preserved. — Thomas Triplett, Bend Don’t dry up our water I am writing to express serious con- cern about the developments that are being considered and are already in the approval stages in Bend and the surrounding area. I have been read- ing about how concerned everyone is about the water situation in Central Oregon. Rightly so. You read about farmers suing to get more water. Rightly so. Then you read about new developments — Stevenson and 27th come to mind. Where is the water going to come from to support a few thousand more people? I lived in San Luis Obispo, Cal- ifornia, and there was concern ex- pressed because the water table was being drained. Building slowed. They found a new source from the Lake Nacimiento water project. And like magic, development exploded. New shopping centers. New homes. Now California, like Oregon, is in a drought, again, and water concerns expressed. But I see no sign of con- struction slowing or even stopping. I try to do a few things to help. I turn off my irrigation when it’s rain- ing. I make sure my sprinklers aren’t watering the paved street. I eliminated 12 sprinkler heads by going to more efficient and less flooding ones. I take shorter showers. We can all do some- thing to help. If we keep kicking the can down the road, this will truly be a desert. — John Brower, Bend Letters policy Guest columns How to submit We welcome your letters. Letters should be limited to one issue, contain no more than 250 words and include the writer’s phone number and address for verifica- tion. We edit letters for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We reject poetry, personal attacks, form letters, letters sub- mitted elsewhere and those appropriate for other sections of The Bulletin. Writers are limited to one letter or guest column every 30 days. Your submissions should be between 550 and 650 words and must include the writer’s phone number and address for verification. We edit submissions for brevity, grammar, taste and legal reasons. We reject those submitted elsewhere. Lo- cally submitted columns alternate with national columnists and commentaries. Writers are limited to one letter or guest column every 30 days. Please address your submission to either My Nickel’s Worth or Guest Column and mail, fax or email it to The Bulletin. Email submissions are preferred. Email: letters@bendbulletin.com Write: My Nickel’s Worth/Guest Column P.O. Box 6020 Bend, OR 97708 Fax: 541-385-5804 Connecting park and rec staffing challenges and services BY DON HORTON T oday, the Bend Park & Recre- ation District has 50 staff po- sitions open. These positions are front-line positions that are critical to the services we provide our community. In the midst of a pandemic and preparing for a busy fall sea- son, our team is heads-down trying everything possible to find good people to fill these Horton positions. I’ve worked in parks and recreation for 35 years and I’ve never experienced anything quite like this current staffing challenge. It’s not unique to parks and recreation — all industries are facing critical shortages of employees. Restaurants, retailers, schools, construction, sales and government organizations like the Bend Park & Recreation District are facing unprec- edented crossroads in attracting and retaining employees. We’re putting our best foot forward to attract team members who want to be part of a great or- ganization doing important work for the community. Several of our long-time em- ployees and leaders started their careers as lifeguards, trail builders and camp coun- selors that grew into careers in the park and recreation industry that is increasingly a destina- tion rather than a stepping stone. We have increased pay rates, con- verted 20 part-time positions into full-time positions and offered great benefits for individuals and family dependents. We provide paid time off, medical, dental and vision health insurance plan options, a recreation GUEST COLUMN facility pass and discounts on many recreation programs for employees that also extend to family members. Employees at Bend Park & Recreation District take great pride in providing parks, trails and recreation services to the community. We believe in Play for Life and we are willing to train others who share our passion for serving the community. We’ve had some success with on- the-spot hiring events and have two more scheduled in the coming weeks. These hiring events have been a great way for candidates and hiring super- visors to connect to fit candidates into the right position. We’re adver- tising, incentivizing employees to refer friends and family and posting signs in facilities, parks and vehicles to We’ve weathered labor shortages in the past by stretching our resources a little thinner, but those options have been exhausted. reach out to potential employees. We’ve weathered labor shortages in the past by stretching our resources a little thinner and finding ways to do the work with less staff, but those op- tions have been exhausted. This time, we must fill the needed positions or service levels will be reduced. Without more lifeguards, the pool hours will decrease. Without youth recreation leaders, we can’t provide crucial child care to the working fam- ilies relying on it when school begins. Without custodians, some restrooms may be closed and trash may be col- lected less frequently. I need your help to prevent this from happening by helping us get the word out that your park and recre- ation district is at a critical juncture and needs staff in order to continue offering programs at the levels we’ve historically come to expect. My hope is that the tenacity of our recruitment efforts will bear fruit for the park district and for all other em- ployers who are also challenged in the current job market. We’re all counting on it. If you or someone you know is con- sidering a job, please encourage them to explore openings and join an orga- nization that lines up with values of our community. More information about our openings can be found at bendparksandrec.org/jobs. e Don Horton is executive director of the Bend Park & Recreation District.
