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Bend Chamber
Weekly
March 6, 2009
By Courtney Linville, Communications Coordinator
This Week's
Highlights
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County looks at present
and future
While looking at Deschutes County in the present and
future, Commissioner Tammy Baney reminded those in
attendance that everyone needs to work together and
support each other in these tough times.
Baney stressed her predecessors on the Board of County
Commissioners prepared for these hard economic times
and the County continues to maintain its current
service levels. “There were times where we were
flush with funds and could have put together new
programs, but we were conservative … we saved,” she
said.
Some of the challenges and concerns the County faces
today can be compared to those it faced in 1968.
This revolves around attracting businesses to the
area, the lack of family wage jobs, affordable
housing, the lack of daycare and more.
Baney says the County is looking at those issues and
2009 will prove to be a year of challenges. Some of
these items include the retention of current service
levels, jail population and expansion, Community
Development Department staff reductions, state
funding for Mental Health, Parole and Probation, and
the Courts, transportation, and road maintenance
funding.
Though there are many challenges on the road ahead, the
County also has some good news. Deschutes County 911
has a five year operating levy, there is a four year
extension on Timber Payments, and the County adopted
a balanced budget that grew reserves. The Local Rule
was approved by commissioners after a 10 year
process. The rule now sits before all registered
voters in Deschutes County and Baney reminded
everyone to vote.
The good news continues with the permanent tax base for
law enforcement. “That is unheard of,” Baney said.
“This not only speaks to the department, but also
the community and its support for the Deschutes
County Sheriff’s Office.” Baney also pointed out the
employees of the Sheriff’s Office said no to a cost of
living increase which saved them over
$500,000.
Baney kept attendees engaged throughout the entire
presentation testing their knowledge of what’s
happening in the County and even bringing a little
humor with the “Top 10 Signs You Know the County
Budget is Tight.”
Above all, Baney stressed everyone needs to work
together and remember their relationships. “We are
facing challenging times, we are being tested. Not
the fabric of who we are, but who we are as a
community,” she said. “Our businesses are important,
but our relationships will carry us through this."
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City of Bend Community
Development Department looks to adjust fees
The reality of increased fees from the City of
Bend’s Community Development Department is getting
closer. During a work session Wednesday evening, the
Bend City Council looked at possible fee adjustments
for some of the planning, building, and engineering
services.
The increased fees are designed to help recover the
actual cost of service provided during transactions.
However, even with these increases, the department
will still have to make some cuts. According to
Community Development Director Mel Oberst, the city
will have to cut its historic planning program,
reduce hours in the planning center, eliminate some
courtesy inspection services, and have delays for
all inspection services.
Oberst also pointed out, in budgeting for the 2009-2011
biennium, the department is not projecting any
growth for the next two years. “We expect to remain
pretty flat,” he said.
If the council decides not to adjust fees at all, more
staff reductions would have to take place to make up
the deficit. Oberst says then the department runs into the
problem that there will not be enough staff to cover
the work that is projected.
Councilors questioned if a fee could be assessed for
each time there was a courtesy inspection, like a
pre-form inspection. Oberst pointed out while this
is good in theory, many people might not be as
willing to call in for the inspection and take their
chances on passing final inspection.
The council was fairly open to a phased-in approach for
the full recovery of building fees. If the council
does approve a phased-in approach, planning and
engineering could see a fee increase April 1 and
building fees could see an increase May 1. The
balance of the fee recovery adjustments would take
place in the new fiscal year on July 1.
Councilor Jeff Eager urged Oberst to continue to talk
with various people within the community about the
fee adjustments. “People have been hit pretty hard
and we need to keep the lines of communication
open,” he said.
The council also discussed a Long Range Planning
surcharge of 14 percent. “As much as I hate to keep
increasing fees, I don’t see how we are going to
make it in Long Range Planning without these fees,”
Councilor Mark Capell said.
The surcharge would be used to fund Long Range
Planning, and hopefully start to decrease the need
of general fund money for this department. “I would
like to see the general fund be healthy,” said
Councilor Tom Greene. “We need to be ready when the
economy turns around too.”
Councilors agreed it is important to involve the budget
committee in this process. Before any changes to the
fees take place, the city council would have to
approve the adjustments.
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City Council
Highlights
Bus lawsuit dropped by Bend: On Wednesday
evening, the Bend City Council voted unanimously to
dismiss claims against Transit Sales International (TSI).
The city had accused the company of withholding
information about the buses’ history and other
complaints. The city purchased six buses from TSI in
2006. “The city has been in discussion with TSI over
the infamous BAT buses, and the settlement calls for
both parties to walk away from the matter…,” said
Councilor Jodie Barram. “If the city had proceeded
with the lawsuit and lost, it would have been
responsible for TSI’s attorney fees.” Barram
reported the city has spent about $65,000 in legal
fees on the case.
Council holds first reading for Economic Improvement
District ordinance: The Bend City Council had
its first reading of an ordinance that would
establish an Economic Improvement District (EID)
within Downtown Bend. Several people spoke during
the public hearing portion in favor and against the
ordinance. The EID is expected to raise at least
$115,000 per year, based on the assessment of $0.15
per square foot of commercial space. “It’s a
challenging time to renew the assessment, but I see
what happens if we do nothing,” said Chuck Arnold,
Executive Director for the Downtown Bend Business
Association.
Council debates appointment to Bend Planning
Commission: Current alternate to the Bend
Planning Commission, Dan Reesor, will fill the vacancy
left by Steve Miller on the Bend Planning
Commission. Though it was approved by the council to
have Reesor on the commission, several councilors
would like to see the appointment process changed.
“I would like at a future time to go through the
appointment process and look at how the planning
commission is different,” said Mayor Kathie Eckman.
“We need to have a more clear policy in place on how
we make those appointments and I plan to work on
that in the future.” Though councilors liked the
idea of having an alternate, they were concerned
that Reesor was approved by the previous council
only in December. Councilors Jodie Barram and Jim
Clinton stated the appointments to the planning
commission, including the alternate spot, were made
by the previous council in December because the
council at that time felt it was necessary to have a
full planning commission going into 2009. Barram
stated the council did not know a vacancy would come
up so quickly.
Council appoints new representative to Bend MPO:
Councilor Jim Clinton has decided to resign from the
Bend Metropolitan Planning Organization. The City
Council appointed Councilor Tom Greene to the vacant
position on Wednesday evening.
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Unemployment numbers
continue to rise
Unemployment rates across Central Oregon continued
to rise in January. Rates ranged from 12 percent in
Deschutes County to 14.9 percent in Crook County.
According to the State of Oregon Employment Department
release, Deschutes County’s rate is almost double
the rate of one year ago. “It is also the highest
rate since at least 1990, when the seasonally
adjusted series began,” the release stated.
In total 1,900 jobs were lost in January, but the
typical seasonal job loss is around 1,960. The
retail trade sector saw the largest losses due to
the seasonal layoffs after the holiday. Though no
industries saw gains in January, the financial sector
stayed fairly steady.
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Rachel Scdoris
Pledge-a-thon supports CORIL
Local Central Oregon hero Rachael Scdoris is teaming
once again with Central Oregon Resources for
Independent Living (CORIL) to raise money for people
with disabilities in our community to help them
realize their goals and dreams as she is doing.
For as little as a penny a mile donation ($11.00) for
her 1,100 mile quest through the Alaskan wilderness
from Anchorage to Nome, you can help inspire Rachael
and support her chosen charitable cause. Rachael
says, “people at CORIL complete their Iditarod
everyday!” The race begins on Saturday,
March 7.
Join KOHD, Ruff Wear and CORIL and go to
www.gorachaelgo.com and participate today!
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In the news
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office teams up with
SecureShred: Deschutes County residents will
have the opportunity to safely destroy their
personal documents and learn identity theft
prevention on March 14. The Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office and SecureShred are partnering to
offer on-site document destruction at no cost to the
public. “We want to make Deschutes County citizens
aware of the risks of improper document disposal and
of the related problems of identity theft,” said
Sheriff Larry Blanton. The event will take place
from noon to 4 p.m. at the Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office parking lot. The Sheriff’s Office
will also have a deputy available to collect
outdated or unwanted prescription medicine and
over-the-counter drugs. The event is intended only
for residential document shredding and drug
disposal, not for business and company disposal. For
more information on the events, call the Deschutes
County Sheriff’s Office at 388-6655.
Portland named Unhappiest City in America:
BusinessWeek recently rated Portland as America’s
Unhappiest City. The magazine ranked 50 of the
largest metro areas on a variety of factors
including divorce, crime, depression rates,
unemployment, and cloudy days. Some of the other
cities that made the Top 20 include Tucson,
Sacramento, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Atlanta,
Memphis, Detroit, and Seattle.
Changes in service hours for utility billing
department: The City of Bend utility billing
department will now be operating under different
customer service hours. The new office hours will be
from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Customers can still use the
drop boxes located on the inside east and west
entrances to City Hall as well as the drop box
located in the City Hall parking lot for noncash
payments. For more information, call 388-5515.
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Upcoming Events
March 10 - Professional Development Series –
Prioritizing What Matters Most in the Midst of
Change - As the global economy evolves,
following your passions in work and life is no
longer a luxury; it is necessary to compete in
today's work environment. During this session
Speaker Dusty Niles Founder of Enlightened Synergy,
will help you to learn how to identify who you are
and what you want in business and in life, how to
create and recreate your passion, and how/why this
affects everything you do. Please RSVP for this
event by no later than noon on Monday, March 9 at
www.bendchamber.org. Price is $10 in advance and
$15 at the door. If you have trouble signing up,
call 382-3221.
March 17 – Professional Development Series - Manage
Your Email Before it Manages You - Clearly, the
problem of email overload is taking a toll on our
time, productivity, and sanity! Managing the flood
of email messages that most of us need to interact
with on a daily basis is a growing challenge; no
one's volume is diminishing. Join Tracy Campbell,
founder of Simplicated, LLC, in this interactive
training and discover best practices that have
helped thousands of Fortune 500 professionals reduce
email processing time by 20 percent and information
management time by 35 percent or more. Learn how to
reduce clutter, establish order, write better
messages to colleagues and clients, reduce liability
and discover time-saving email tech tips. RSVP for
this event by Monday, March 16 at
www.bendchamber.org. Price is $35 in advance and
$45 at the door. If you have trouble signing up,
call 382-3221.
March 18 – Young Professionals Network – When
your living room just won't do, when you can't make
your favorite game, when you want that away-game
tailgate spot, RIVALS is the answer! An authentic
sports bar atmosphere featuring flat screen TV's, a
full bar, an enticing menu and POKER! Friendly
Tournaments nightly, cash games, classes and
leagues. Come check us out and GET YOUR GAME ON!!!
Join your fellow young professionals for a great
evening of networking and fun. Please RSVP for this
event by March 17 at
www.bendchamber.org. If you experience trouble
signing up, please call 382-3221. You can save money
now and pre-register as a full-year YPN member for
$40. This includes all events from March thru
November including the July Annual Social. Prices
for individual event advance registration are $7 for
members ($12 for non-members) and day of/at the door
is $10 for Chamber members ($15 for non-members).
March 19 – City Forecast Breakfast – Please
join us to hear City Manager Eric King and staff
discuss Bend’s 2008 accomplishments and what City
officials are planning for 2009 and beyond. The
member price is $30 ($50 for non-members) and
corporate table sponsorships are available for $395
(includes 8 seats). If you would like to attend this
event, please RSVP by noon on Wednesday, March 18 at
www.bendchamber.org.
March 20 – Community
Affairs Town Hall Breakfast – Q & A with the City of
Bend – Do you have questions for the local
government? Are you concerned about the City of
Bend’s upcoming budget cycle? Do you know where the
City will spend its stimulus money? Join fellow
Chamber members for this month’s Town Hall Forum to
get the answers to these questions and more. This
forum is designed to give members another chance to
ask their questions after the City Forecast
Breakfast (March 19). Talk with the people who are
working behind the scenes and those who are making
the decisions. If you would like to attend this
event, please RSVP by noon on Thursday, March 19 at
www.bendchamber.org.
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