A4 The BulleTin • Sunday, FeBruary 13, 2022
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Would tax incentives
be worth it for areas
of downtown Bend?
A
tax incentive is like the government waving a flag
saying: Please, come here.
The quandary is always in de-
ciding when it is worth waving that
flag — what should the government
promote, if anything? Government
must also decide how high and hard
to wave the flag. A small incentive
and nobody will be interested. Too
large an incentive and people may
feel like the government is giving
away too much. And then the ques-
tion will be: Does it work?
The city of Bend is trying to make
those kinds of decisions about a few
different tax incentives that might
be put into place for some parts of
downtown and elsewhere. One is
called a multiple unit property tax
exemption or MUPTE.
Think about the Starbucks on
Third Street. We are using that as
an example not to pick on it. City
staff repeatedly referred to it as an
example.
If you remember, before the Star-
bucks was there at Third Street
and Northeast Lafayette Avenue, it
was the home of the Platypus Pub,
a brewpub built in an old church.
Some people didn’t like it much that
the building was being torn down.
Didn’t like it because the future
tenant would be Starbucks. Didn’t
like it because there would be a
drive-thru.
And they didn’t like it because it
would not be a multi-story, multi-
use building, instead. Multi-story,
multi-use was permitted under
the code. Bend planners and some
people in the community have a vi-
sion for that area that is multi-story
buildings with perhaps commer-
cial on the bottom and offices and
apartments above. They want it to
be a walkable, bikeable mixed-use
community. In a city with limits on
space, in a state with limits on how
much cities can grow, in a time when
people are worried about climate
change, you can see why they want
that — even if it’s not your chosen
brew.
So how does the city encourage
developers to get the type of growth
it wants? It could try a tax incentive.
A MUPTE.
For instance, the city could of-
fer a MUPTE for projects that fit its
desired multi-story vision. The city
would still collect taxes on the land,
just not on any building for 10 years.
That property tax exemption could
range right on up to 100%. Is it the
right thing to do? How much should
the exemption be? And would it
work?
We don’t know. City staff said a
MUPTE might work on the margins
to help the city achieve some other
goals. It might not be enough to get
some multi-story buildings. Those
other goals include things such as
affordable housing, greener build-
ing construction, better stormwater
management or electric car charging
stations.
“What we are hearing from de-
velopers is that this exemption pro-
gram, is not going to make or break
the difference between a single-story
commercial development to a five-
story, mixed-use building,” said Alli-
son Platt, the city’s core area project
manager. “The cost difference of
building those two types of devel-
opment is much higher than the ex-
emptions that we are considering at
this time.
But it could have a significant im-
pact on the types of public benefits
we are able to leverage from some
of these developments, whether a
higher percentage of their units are
dedicated to deed-restricted afford-
able housing or energy efficiency
upgrades than they would consider
if there were not an exemption in
place.”
The city is still developing what a
MUPTE might look like. It has some
other tax incentives it is working on,
as well. You can tell councilors what
you think the city should do at coun-
cil@bendoregon.gov.
Public should be able to see
business task force at work
G
ov. Kate Brown did not
achieve one of her top priori-
ties: She didn’t land Intel’s ex-
pansion for Oregon.
It went to Ohio. That’s $20 billion
in investment and 3,000 hired to
build two new, high-tech factories
going to Ohio, not Oregon.
In The Oregonian’s reporting, we
found this intriguing sentence about
what Brown did and didn’t do to
lure chip manufacturers: “While her
office suggested a number of mea-
sures to lure chipmakers, though
— including a ‘need to evaluate the
land use grand bargain’ — Brown
did not make any public propos-
als her staff suggested for the chip
industry.”
A newly formed task force of var-
ious political and business officials,
including the governor, Sen. Ron
Wyden and state Sen. Tim Knopp,
R-Bend, are going to be looking for
ways to ensure Oregon does not
miss out any more. It’s going to be
looking at land issues, workforce
development, tax incentives, regula-
tions and more.
Those discussions could be fas-
cinating and intriguing to the pub-
lic. Doesn’t the public deserve to see
how they come up with any ideas
that might translate into policies?
Will these discussions be open to
the public or behind closed doors?
We think the meetings should be
open.
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.
Eulogy for the once Grand Old Party
BY WILLIAM BARRON
T
he party of Lincoln, T. Roos-
evelt, Eisenhower, Regan, Bush,
Goldwater, and McCain has
now ceased to exist as they would
recognize. The party of the moral
majority has lost not only its moral
compass but also its moral fiber to
withstand internal radicalization. A
party which professes the legitimacy
of the Big Lie, promotes rioters as pa-
triots, and sponsors voter suppres-
sion rather than voter outreach as the
means to win elections. A party which
condemns independence of individ-
uals and solicits funds to help pay the
legal fees of the corrupt. And which
now, declares violence and vandalism
as “legitimate political discourse”. A
stance which will probably come back
to haunt them.
A party which now supports, con-
dones, and defends violence over di-
alog to resolve differences. A position
which might be the first steps in justi-
fying clashes and civil violence in the
future. A party which once proudly
proclaimed and encouraged more
voices leads to better policy and deci-
sion-making now censures indepen-
dent thought and supports the rule of
the mob. A party now firmly tethered,
like mindless puppets, to a master
who cares more about revenge and
retaliation than the wellbeing of the
country.
The party which once proudly
bore the banner of global leadership
and defense of democracy is now the
Party of isolation and censorship. The
party which once was the stalwart
against authoritarian communist gov-
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A party which now supports,
condones, and defends violence
over dialog to resolve differences.
A position which might be the first
steps in justifying clashes and
civil violence in the future. A party
which once proudly proclaimed
and encouraged more voices leads
to better policy and decision-
making now censures independent
thought and supports the rule
of the mob. A party now firmly
tethered, like mindless puppets, to
a master who cares more about
revenge and retaliation than the
wellbeing of the country.
ernments now supports them over
fledgling democracies. A party which
openly supports book banning, sup-
pression of ideas and free speech, and
whose members openly threaten local
elected officials and school boards.
It’s little wonder they call storming
the Capital a “legitimate political dis-
course.” Clearly if you out yell and
threaten people you are having le-
gitimate discourse. It is now a party
whose members cause losses to others
while deriving no gain, and even in-
cur losses, for themselves. A party dis-
connected from normal decorum and
reality, making history by being on
the wrong side of history.
The center pole of Regan’s ‘big tent’
has been kicked down and now the
party believes the only way to win
elections is to suppress voting rather
than have winning, long term policy
proposals. It is now a party controlled
by the ‘retro-gressives’, those far right
of ‘regressive’, who only want to sty-
mie progress and return to the sanc-
tity of their past. A party whose vocal
members have become intoxicated
by fear and anger and control by the
voice of the mob.
A party whose leaders were once
the best and brightest with bold ideas
and ideals now tremble and lack the
moral fortitude to standup for them-
selves and the historic principles of
the party. Trembling in fear of retribu-
tion and pandering to the mob to re-
tain their power rather than express-
ing what they know are truths. It is far
easier to continue to tell a lie rather
than face the wrath of those con-
sumed by the lie. These are the times
when a lie is not a lie if a person has
the audacity to keep asserting the lie is
true to a gullible audience.
And who am I? I’m a small gov-
ernment, fiscal conservative, social
moderate who had been a registered
Republican for 45 years. I now find
myself disenfranchised by radicals
from within and am witnessing the
agonizing death of the Republican
Party and earnestly hope it doesn’t
take the country down as well.
e
William Barron lives in Bend.
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Oregon needs climate action now to protect environment, economy
BY KURT SCHRADER
O
regonians saw millions of acres
of our forests go up in smoke
in 2020. In my district, the
Beachie Creek Fire engulfed 193,500
acres, destroying farms and homes
families had lived in for decades. The
skies were thick with black smoke for
weeks.
That was the worst summer I had
ever seen—until last year. Most of us
will never forget the devastating heat
waves that struck across our state, kill-
ing nearly a hundred Oregonians af-
ter temperatures topped 116 degrees,
the highest we have ever recorded.
Fires also raged for weeks, produc-
ing more smoke. We lost more loved
ones, and homes and livelihoods were
destroyed.
Oregonians are feeling these real
costs and consequences of climate
change every day. From 2010 to 2020,
our state experienced 12 extreme
weather events, costing us $5 billion
in damages. This proves we must
act and finally address this growing
threat.
Wildfire mitigation has long been
a priority for me. For instance, my
legislation, the Electricity Reliability
and Forest Protection Act, helped the
Forest Service and power companies
streamline the process to remove haz-
ardous trees to boost the electricity
grid’s reliability and help reduce the
threat of wildfires. I also worked with
Senator Wyden to allow responsi-
ble fuels thinning and facilitate pre-
scribed burns, and to increase the
GUEST COLUMN
funding for wildfire
response. And most
recently, I led the
charge in Congress
to pass the Biparti-
san Infrastructure
Law which makes
Schrader
important strides in
tackling the climate
crisis. This biparti-
san law makes historic investments in
transportation, water and broadband.
It also makes significant investments
in climate-caused catastrophic wild-
fire management and the largest-ever
contribution toward energy transmis-
sion and electric vehicle development.
This is the biggest investment in the
nation’s future in decades, and it will
create millions of good-paying, fami-
ly-wage jobs.
Climate action is vital to prevent-
ing extreme weather events and miti-
gating their effects. This is one of the
core reasons I supported the Build
Back Better Act, which is the largest
effort to combat climate change in
American history. It invests $555 bil-
lion in renewable and clean energy
initiatives, including electric vehicle
expansion, building new clean energy
transmission and creating more en-
ergy-efficient homes and businesses,
which will save the average family
$500 a year on their energy bills. Un-
fortunately, the Build Back Better
package is stalled in the Senate over
disagreements on individual pieces,
but I remain confident we can find a
solution that builds off the powerful
foundation the Bipartisan Infrastruc-
ture Law lays out. Together, we can
make America a global clean energy
leader, cut pollution fueling the cli-
mate crisis and avoid a growing disas-
ter, all while boosting our economy,
creating jobs and putting real money
back in Oregonians’ pockets.
Congress must come together to
deliver a transformational climate
bill in addition to the historic infra-
structure investments we’ve already
enacted to protect our environment
and our economy. I am committed to
being a leader in this fight because the
future of Oregon and our planet de-
pends on it.