The BulleTin • Friday, January 21, 2022 A5
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
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Will new climate
policy create
bad incentives?
T
he story is that, in colonial India, the British
governor wanted to get rid of the cobras in Delhi. He
set a bounty. It was high enough that people started
farming cobras to make money.
It’s what people call the cobra
effect or perverse incentives. The
best plans motivated by the best of
intentions can go awry.
One of the best plans with the
best of intentions in Oregon is
arguably from Gov. Kate Brown.
If Oregon gets it right, the new cli-
mate friendly housing and trans-
portation policies for the state
ordered by Brown will lead to a
much changed state.
More dense housing. More
mixed-use development. Taller
buildings. More use of bikes,
walking and transit. Less parking.
More focus on looking at policies
through an equity lens.
State committees are writing the
rules and regulations to require
those kinds of changes right now.
That may not be the kind of
place you dream of living in. But
the motivation is to transform the
state into something that reduces
the impact on climate change,
is more equitable and is just a
smarter way for people to live and
get to and from where they need
to go.
A challenge the proposed
changes face is creating perverse
incentives. For instance, by com-
pelling larger communities in
Oregon, such as the greater Bend
area, to adhere to the new poli-
cies will it drive people, businesses
and development into areas that
don’t face the most demanding
requirements?
Think about an example. Larger
areas like Bend will under the pro-
posed rules be required to focus
development in what are called
climate friendly areas. That is
where 30% of needed housing will
need to be built. In Bend, maybe
that would be in the city’s core.
Requirements for housing might
become more dense than they are
now. Rules would discourage the
use of the car and encourage the
use of bikes, walking and transit.
If Bend wanted to expand its
urban growth boundary under
the proposed rules, it would need
to identify a new climate friendly
area within the city’s current lim-
its to meet half of the housing
needed. The other half would be
allowed in the expansion.
Will people want to live in more
concentrated development? Some
will. Others may look to move
where the limits don’t apply.
Developers may find it easier to
build where the requirements may
be less stringent. Businesses may
want to locate there, too. Smaller
communities in Oregon below
10,000 in population or 5,000 in
population where the rules will be
more flexible may see an influx of
growth. That wouldn’t exactly be
what Brown intended.
Maybe it will never happen like
that. But how will policymakers
design the rules to avoid it?
Bend’s equity map: A
powerful policy tool
Y
ou can already zero in on
a ity of Bend webpage and
get an idea of the power
of the city’s equity mapping tool.
Tune your browser to the follow-
ing link to see an example, tinyurl.
com/Bendequitymap.
It can be a powerful tool for
policymakers. By matching de-
mographic data with a map, you
can see where people who are dis-
abled, minorities, seniors, who
are below the poverty line or who
have limited English proficiency
are concentrated.
It’s already helped city officials
understand better how transpor-
tation decisions may impact vari-
ous communities. The Bend Park
& Recreation District has already
talked about using the tool to help
them make decisions about parks
and trails.
But Bend’s equity mapping is
still a work in progress. It can still
be improved. As Bend city coun-
cilors were briefed Wednesday
night, more work could be done
to talk to those communities and
get their input about how the
tool might and should be used.
Anna Allen, the city’s equity and
inclusion director, also wants to
look at the question of how the
tool may be used to perpetuate
inequity, instead of reduce in-
equity. Are there things the city
could do to avoid that?
If you have thoughts about
how the city should use the tool
or could improve it, Anna Allen’s
email is aallen@bendoregon.gov.
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.
What Martin Luther King Jr. Day
means to an immigrant American
GUEST COLUMN
BY NAHAD SADR-AZODI
I
lived, studied and worked in At-
lanta for several years. Atlanta is
also where my twins and dog were
born. I enjoyed my time there and some
of my fondest memories included vis-
iting the Martin Luther King, Jr., mu-
seum, which happened every time we
had an out-of-town visitor. Dr. King,
his life and what he stood for have been
meaningful and inspiring for someone
like me with Iranian heritage growing
up as an immigrant in this country. I
always thought of MLK as someone
who bridged our visible and invisible
differences. As I reflect on this week
and struggle with my conscience, I am
reminded of his quote, “There comes
a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor political, nor
popular, but he must take it because
conscience tells him it is right.”
Since I arrived in Bend in March
of 2020, my struggles at Deschutes
County Health Services are no secret
to most. Part of that story is what I
need to own in terms of my deficien-
cies to adapt to our county and or-
ganization. It has been an ongoing
challenge for me to find my voice and
leadership style within our established
values, beliefs and experiences. I also
believe that my experience is a reflec-
tion of the county’s and organization’s
struggles to adapt to me. When we
talk about diversity, equity and in-
clusion in our work settings, we are
not just talking about a check mark
on recruitment of a person of color.
We are also talking about celebrating
the differences that those candidates
bring to the organizational culture.
We cannot expect people of different
Submitted photo
Nahad Sadr-Azodi and children.
backgrounds, races, ethnicities, sexual
orientations, religions and genders to
fit into our mold and culture without
genuinely asking ourselves if we, as the
dominant culture, have first examined
our own biases, viewpoints and as-
sumptions.
In the course of the last 2 years, I
have heard many times, “we are so
different,” “we think differently,” “we
have different approaches” as though
this is a bad thing. It’s not. We can still
achieve results with integrity but in dif-
ferent ways. There is no “one way” of
doing things. No groups or races have
a monopoly on productivity or a path
toward it. It has taken me the last two
years to realize that my struggles are a
balance of my shortcomings and the or-
ganization’s vision of how someone like
me should act, be and communicate. I
share all this because I am not alone in
these feelings and experiences. There
are community members, colleagues,
friends, business people and others who
come with diverse views, backgrounds,
ethnicities, skin color, and experiences.
If we really want to translate diversity,
equity and inclusion into meaningful
action, we should start with examin-
ing how the predominant culture and
behaviors might make those who are
different from us feel left out, and how
our preset expectations might make
them feel inadequate or that they don’t
belong. Otherwise, in my view, we miss
out on an opportunity to progress and
enrich our relationships and ourselves.
As a person of color in a leadership
position in our county, I have come to a
realization that I am duty-bound to be
one of the voices for these experiences.
I don’t welcome the undue attention,
especially since most of my life I have
tried to blend in, fit in and to have a
sense of belonging to something mean-
ingful. I will continue to learn about
this county and my organization, and
I will continue to seek and create be-
longing wherever I can. I will also try to
be myself and avoid shying away from
being different. I have made a promise
that I will not view myself as a liabil-
ity, but rather that I, and other people
of color and of different backgrounds,
experiences and identities living and
working in our region are resilient, edu-
cated, productive assets to the future of
our county and region.
As Dr. King said, “We may have all
come on different ships, but we’re in the
same boat now.” It is my wish that we
make room for all of us in the boat.
e
Nahad Sadr-Azodi is public health director for
Deschutes County.
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To fix his presidency, Biden must track toward the practical
BY THE WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL BOARD
P
resident Joe Biden on Thursday closed
a mixed year of both successes and frus-
trated hopes. At a news conference, Biden
acknowledged “challenges” but also boasted of
“enormous progress” fighting the pandemic and
passing major legislation, saying that he would
“stay on this track.” In fact, despite his substan-
tial achievements, his presidency could use a
reset.
To be clear: Americans should be grateful ev-
ery day that Biden is in office rather than for-
mer president Donald Trump and the band of
incompetents who used to run the government.
One can only imagine how much worse off the
country would be if Trump were still dispensing
bizarre medical advice from the White House,
running a Russia-friendly foreign policy as the
Kremlin prepares to invade Ukraine or continu-
ing to deny climate change. Biden has also re-
stored integrity to the Oval Office, neither lying
nor abusing his authority the way Trump did.
And the president can claim some important ac-
complishments. Most Americans are vaccinated.
His COVID-19 aid bill alleviated child poverty
during the worst of the pandemic. The coun-
try is only beginning to see the benefits of the
$1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that will
fund massive investments in green energy, high-
ways, bridges and rail.
Yet in recent weeks, the omicron variant has
set records for new cases in the United States,
jobs numbers are volatile, inflation is up and the
Democrats’ $2 trillion Build Back Better plan
has stalled in the Senate.
This history shows that the president controls
only so much. He can do little about inflation
and even less about the viral genetic mutations
that lead to new coronavirus variants.
But that is not the whole story. Biden, who ran
as a longtime Senate veteran able to get the ex-
ecutive branch and Congress working again, has
committed several unforced errors.
Top on the list was his chaotic withdrawal
from Afghanistan, which resulted in the deaths
of 13 American service members and consigned
to Taliban rule a country into which the United
States had invested vast resources.
As Afghanistan unwound, Biden allowed
progressive expectations to outrun the real-
ity of what Democrats could accomplish with
their slim congressional majorities. Progressives
talked of passing a Build Back Better bill run-
ning to several trillion dollars or more, using
the Senate’s reconciliation procedure that allows
taxing and spending legislation to duck the fili-
buster’s 60-vote requirement. In fact, conserva-
tive Senate Democrats Joe Manchin, W.Va., and
Kyrsten Sinema, Ariz., would not support a bill
that surpassed $2 trillion. Once that reality sank
in, Biden should have persuaded Democrats to
prioritize a few programs to fund sustainably.
Instead, House Democrats refused to sacrifice
programs to save others, approving a bill con-
taining a large number of underfunded initia-
tives. When Manchin balked publicly, the White
House released a blistering statement that poi-
soned negotiations.
On voting rights, Biden and congressional
Democrats pushed for sweeping legislation that
would end partisan gerrymandering and man-
date voting-access measures, warning that failure
to do so could leave U.S. democracy in severe
danger. This time, Manchin and Sinema sup-
ported the bill but did not favor changing Senate
rules to pass it over a Republican filibuster.
Even on the omicron variant, the Biden ad-
ministration could have been better prepared. It
was foreseeable that the coronavirus would con-
tinue to mutate, perhaps in a way that made it
more infectious and enabled it to evade vaccines.
The White House should have built rapid PCR
testing infrastructure throughout the country in
case this occurred, which it did this winter.
In his second year, Biden must tack toward
the practical. Manchin had offered to support
a $1.8 trillion Build Back Better proposal last
month, which would have included hefty cli-
mate change provisions, before his talks with the
White House collapsed. The president should
have taken up Manchin then. Biden should say
yes to Manchin now, salvaging as much of that
proposal as he can in direct talks with the West
Virginia senator. Progress could happen soon:
Biden signaled Thursday that he would substan-
tially pare down the Build Back Better bill to
match Manchin’s preferences, with the climate
and energy provisions remaining at its core.
Meanwhile, the gravest threat to U.S. democ-
racy is not vote denial but that administrators or
elected officials will attempt to tamper with le-
gitimate vote counts based on lies about fraud.
The president should also encourage lawmak-
ers to keep working on reforming the Senate.
Though Manchin refused to upend the filibuster
to pass a voting rights bill, he has signaled open-
ness to altering the rules in more modest ways.
Biden’s first year was not as bleak as many
reports have portrayed. But he could have ac-
complished more. He might yet do so if he be-
haves more like the pragmatic former senator he
promised to be.