Put your trust in Tony DeBone and Patti Adair

In Dr. Aaron Askew’s recent guest column (Aug. 24), he seems to blame Deschutes County Commissioners Tony DeBone and Patti Adair for St. Charles Hospital’s dire economic straits. As is typical of political appeals, he implies the commissioners’ pandemic response was substandard and goes on to extol the management capabilities of commission candidate Oliver Tatom.

Dr. Askew knows that it was primarily the medical community’s responsibility, not the commissioners’, to deal with the unknown coronavirus. Hospital directors and managers, including Mr. Tatom, were caught ill-prepared; they alone are responsible for the hospital’s economic situation.

St. Charles had a $40 million operating loss through July of this year, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. A fiscal year 2021 financial report for the hospital showed an operating loss of $30 million.

Quoting Dr. Askew, “Oliver’s management experience gives him the knowledge to make much-needed changes to overcome the staffing shortages.” Ironically, it’s a St. Charles Health clinic, under Tatom’s management, that contributed to the diminished health services now available in Central Oregon.

Yes, there’s a local public health problem: 8,000-plus delayed surgeries, hundreds of medical providers wishing to leave or unionize, nurses considering a legal action. But it’s patently false for Dr. Askew to somehow link the hospital’s financial distress to some trivial vote by the commissioners mandating masking that the state had already mandated.

I fear the disbursements of county’s half billion-dollar budget would be improperly prioritized if someone with Tatom’s financial acumen, or Morgan Schmidt’s for that matter, were in charge. For that crucial task, I place my trust in the experience of Tony DeBone and the financial knowledge of accountant Patti Adair.

— Jared Black, Bend

 Limit mountain bikes on some trails

When one sets out on an average day hike in Central Oregon, endangering ourselves is not at the top of the list of concerns. Unfortunately, dangerous encounters with mountain bikes is not a joking matter. Recently, my wife, our dog and I were almost run down by a crazy mountain biker. And this is not the first time this has happened.

What makes this more irksome is that it was on a popular hiking trail (at least it was traditionally) close to town. The Skyliner trail, a mellow hike to Tumalo Falls, has for many years been one of our standard go-to hikes. In recent years, it seems like it has been taken over by mountain bikers. On the day in question, we saw more cyclists than hikers — sad. Most of the cyclists were polite, riding at reasonable speeds.

On the encounter in question, the kamikaze came bombarding down a steeper section on a blind curve almost colliding with us. Only by the grace of God did he not hit us nor did he crash! The rest of the hike was a bit tense anticipating another encounter. We’ve been there before with this type of incident! So what is the answer? Some would say it was an isolated incident. It wasn’t. Others would say that educating mountain bikers is the key. (There are some signs.) The tourists?

The mountain bike community certainly encourages proper trail etiquette. So what to do? I would suggest limiting mountain bike access to some trails. There are plenty of trails near town such as Phil’s Trail. We would never consider hiking there! There are plenty of alternatives to the trail in question! The upper Tumalo Creek Trail is mandatory “one-way” for good reason. E-bikes are banned on this section (thank God), and then (let’s not get into it), the fat tire crowd on the same trail in the winter! Sigh.

As the population grows and as Bend continues to maintain it’s Mecca status, these incidences will only increase. There is room out there for all of us. Let’s just make some separation!

— Robert P. Huberman, Bend

A partial fix for Bend’s permitting problems

One area of functionality that has been removed from the city of Bend’s online submission portal, is the ability to upload and “stage” your permits and documents. It is in the instructional video that is posted online, yet I was just informed by the city that this functionality has been removed. They must have a good reason for it but I am not aware, as I didn’t ask.

This lack of “staging” a permit (particularly a complex one with many documents such as new construction) forces people to submit an incomplete application and start working it while they complete the docs. This may give the impression that people are budging the line.

My suggestion:

1) Re-instate the staging functionality but don’t put that request in the queue until it’s complete. For example, give a temporary permit ID so staff know this isn’t ready for processing.

2) Create more transparency so that citizens/submitters get the sense that they’re not getting budged.

— Rich Nasser, Bend

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