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Chamber GAC turns “thumbs down” on
Measures 41, 48
After listening to
presentations from both supporters and opponents at last
Friday’s Bend Chamber Government Affairs Council
meeting, GAC members in attendance turned a “thumbs
down” to two ballot measures that are on the November 7
ballot – measures 41 and 48. Measure 41 would allow
Oregon taxpayers to claim a state personal income tax
deduction for exemptions claimed on federal tax returns.
Measure 48 would amend the Oregon Constitution to limit
the biennial percentage increase in legislative
appropriations to a percentage increase in state
population plus inflation. The GAC recommendations now
go to the Chamber Board of Directors, which will decide
whether to publicly oppose the measures, support them or
take no position. For anyone interested, the GAC on Oct.
13 will hold a special meeting in which candidates for
offices at all levels – with an emphasis on the Bend
City Council – will be invited to speak and answer
questions. If you’re not a regular GAC member and you’d
like to attend this session, please contact Jeff or
Lindi at the Chamber office, 382-3221.
In October we are also presenting a Chamber
Breakfast Forum featuring former Oregon State Senator
Neil Bryant offering insightful information on the
numerous ballot measures we will be asked to vote on in
November. Bryant’s concise overview of the measures will
enable attendees to make more informed decisions when
marking their ballots. Join us for this informative
breakfast presentation at Bend Golf & Country Club
beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 18. Members
$27.50, Non-members $35.
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Chambers, Commute Options
teaming up to push alternative transportation
From now until
December 15, the newly formed Central Oregon Chambers of
Commerce group and Commute Options, the non-profit
organization that promotes choices other than driving
alone, will hold a campaign with the goal of signing up
20 new Chamber members as Commute Options partners.
Commute Options will be meeting with representatives of
Chamber businesses with more than 25 employees
throughout Central Oregon to explain the benefits of
being a partner, such as how employees can save money on
transportation costs and companies can reduce employee
parking needs while preserving customer parking. To
schedule an appointment with Commute Options or for more
information: Call 330-2647 or go to
info@commuteoptions.org.
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Correction on City Hall
item last week
There was an error
in last week’s item about some City Hall functions
possibly being moved to the city’s public works and
police headquarters property south of Pilot Butte. The
motion passed by the Bend City Council on Sept. 6 was
“to retain administrative services at this site,” which
means the current City Hall location. According to Mayor
Bill Friedman this morning, though, any council decision
about whether to keep City Hall at its current location
or move it to the city-owned site at the corner of Olney
Avenue and Wall Street is probably several months away.
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Want a job? There are plenty of
openings out there
Last week’s survey
question was, “Does your company have job openings, and
if so, how many? Judging from the number of responses,
there are plenty of jobs waiting to be filled. Some
responses:
“We have three openings at $12 to $15 per hour.”
“I have two job openings for accountant and/or
licensed tax preparer.”
“We currently have four open positions.”
“Yes! We normally have 60 to 65 employees; we are
currently at an all-time low of only 47. As a
service-based business, we had to cut our services and
turn down most new business because of a lack of
staffing, which in turn reduced the number of open
positions. We currently have about five openings
available.”
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Bend in top 100 cities to retire,
Money magazine states
Three cities in
Oregon – Bend, Beaverton and Hillsboro – made Money
magazine’s “Best Places to Retire” top 100 list released
this morning. Medford, Salem, Springfield, Portland and
Eugene didn’t make the top 100. Bend was listed 86th,
Hillsboro 63rd .and Beaverton 79th. Some of the more
interesting stats from Money: Bend was listed as having
a 25 percent increase in population growth in residents
over the age of 50 in the past year, with Beaverton at
24.17 percent and Hillsboro at 40.2 percent. Bend’s
median household income was listed at $44,547, with
Beaverton $53,336 and Hillsboro $57,159. Bend had a 94.2
percent rate of days rated good in air quality;
Beaverton and Hillsboro both came in at 81.6 percent.
Interestingly, Bend, with a score of 132, was above the
national average of 100 in property crime risk, while
Hillsboro was at 72 and Beaverton at 98. All three
cities were below the national average of 100 for
personal crime risk, however, with Bend at 37, Beaverton
at 31 and Hillsboro at 30. One glaring hole in Bend’s
resume: It has one college, university or professional
school within 30 miles, while Beaverton has 21 and
Hillsboro 11. For more info, go to
www.money.cnn.com.
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This week’s survey question
Many publications
have touted Bend’s livability in various areas, but
what’s the one feature that Bend is missing? Please
e-mail your responses to:
jeff@bendchamber.org.
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