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Vote for Jason Kropf

I totally concur with this portion of The Bulletin’s Oct. 3 editorial assessment of candidates for state House District 54: “Make no mistake. (Jason) Kropf, 49, has much to recommend him. His time as a deputy district attorney, public defender, member of the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Central Oregon board and as a member of the board of the Bend Park & Recreation District would make him a valuable asset for Bend in the Legislature.”

However, I vehemently disagree with your subsequent endorsement of Cheri Helt. Helt may crow that “she does not support Trump,” but her campaign ads certainly illustrate her willingness to disseminate nasty and inflammatory falsehoods. Helt’s printed and televised ads assert that a volunteer board member for an agency serving foster children, youth soccer coach, steward of Parks and Recreation programs and father of a young daughter in our community ignores sex trafficking and failed to defend a co-worker from charges of sexual harassment.

Helt has to know her first contention is ludicrous and that a third-party investigation of a hostile work environment claim by a former DA found one incidence of offensive behavior by a judicial assistant. Jason Kropf had no role in this, nor would he have been permitted to comment on a personnel matter.

I find Helt’s tactics offensive and disqualifying. Jason Kropf will receive my vote.

— Dave Calvert, Bend

Vora for conservation board

I respectfully request your vote to reelect me to the Deschutes Soil and Water Conservation District Board.

Previously, I led the development of a long-range plan that would eventually include programs related to soil stewardship, water quality and healthier river flows, weed control, wildlife and fish habitat, wildfire risk reduction, locally grown food and renewable energy. If reelected, I will continue to work with the board to secure funding for projects to implement these programs.

I would also continue to bring to the board 39 years of experience with three federal agencies in seven U.S. states along with short-term consultancies in five other countries. I have worked as a manager, forester, wildlife biologist and ecologist and have related master’s degrees.

I have lived in Bend for 19 years and have been active in many civic efforts, including city committees related to urban growth boundary expansion, central area plan, historic landmarks commission and transportation.

I served 10 years as board member of the Orchard District Neighborhood Association and am also involved with local nonprofits such as Deschutes Land Trust, East Cascades Audubon Society, Habitat for Humanity and Tower Theater.

I look forward to continuing to serve on the Deschutes Soil and Water Conservation District Board.

— Robin Vora, Bend

No vote for library

In response to the Sept. 27 editorial and several recent letters in support of the library bond, I would like to point out why I will not support this proposal.

Why would we want to build a new large library at the very north edge of the city, where every intended user would need to have a car or other transportation to use the facility? Currently, Bend and Redmond both have central libraries in convenient downtown locations.

The bond proposal includes a substantial expansion of the central Redmond library, but instead of expanding the central downtown library in Bend, a new large library would be built across U.S. Highway 20 from the Cascade Village shopping center.

This new library location would cause substantial additional traffic on already busy Highway 20 and the associated additional air pollution.

We are trying to curb vehicle traffic and emissions, not add to it.

Building new spaces for children’s learning and development centers, as well as meeting and performance spaces, might make sense in the center of Bend but not on the outskirts.

This location will be very inconvenient for many and inaccessible for a large section of the population.

As pointed out in the editorial, libraries are the hub and center of a city, and as such, that is where they should be located.

— Bill Lincoln, Bend

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