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Santos doesn’t deserve to be kicked out?

In response to the column by Matthew Yglesias, “George Santos doesn’t deserve to be kicked out of Congress,” published in The Bulletin on Jan. 10: What?!

— Nancy Henderson, Bend

Follow the votes

I was pleased to see your editorial in Saturday’s Bulletin reporting recent votes on bills by our two area congressional representatives, Cliff Bentz and Lori Chavez-DeRemer. May I suggest making this a permanent feature? It is very difficult for the average citizen to find out the content of bills that may directly affect us here in Central Oregon, much less to learn how our representatives voted on them. I am particularly interested to learn how these individuals actually do vote on two issues certain to come up later this year. How will they vote on the bill to default on our national debt? How will they vote on the bill to criminalize abortion in all 50 states? It would be of great importance to learn how they voted, well before the next election.

— Robert Hedeen, Bend

Don’t get rid of all parking minimums

On Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Bend City Council will hold a public hearing on proposed parking code amendments. I urge the council to reconsider its plan to eliminate parking minimums and get parking reform right.

Bend has other more measured and sensible options for parking reform under Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) and has chosen the option that is easiest to implement, but the one with the greatest negative impacts to residents while in no way guaranteeing that the goals of CFEC will be met.

Allowing developers to “let the market” decide whether they will provide parking at all is a risky decision. At a time when Bend is building thousands of multifamily units, imagine if developers decided the market doesn’t demand even a single parking space per unit. Where are thousands of resident vehicles going to go? Answer: on the narrow streets of Bend making them less pedestrian-safe and less bicycle-friendly.

In a city like Bend that is car dependent without efficient public transportation, it’s unrealistic to believe that by eliminating parking mandates you will get people to give up their cars. The city should focus on measures to build out electric vehicle charging infrastructure since EVs will soon be replacing polluting gasoline-powered cars.

It’s also wishful thinking that eliminating parking minimums will result in developers building more affordable housing. Instead, why not incentivize developers to be able to reduce their parking minimums by requiring a certain percentage of units be affordable?

— Robert Silverman, Bend

The landfill’s future

Knott Landfill is reaching capacity. Recently the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC), appointed to advise the Deschutes County Commission, has identified 13 sites for the 100-year replacement of Knott Landfill. In March 2023, they will reduce this number further to 3-5 and make their final recommendation to the county commissioners in March 2024. Notably and remarkably, the top two-ranked sites of the 13 are directly adjacent to well-established (20 years plus) residential neighborhoods. One of these sites is north of Rickard Road, and the second is north of Bear Creek Road. Excuse me; to have either of these sites even considered is unconscionable. As a retired pulmonary physician, I know that landfills have documented pulmonary health risks to those living within 1 mile of them and pose a significant documented risk to air, water and light pollution. There are 100+ homes within less than a 1-mile radius of the Rickard site and additional homes near the Bear Creek site. As is already evident, Bend will continue to grow and primarily grow east. For the health and safety of current and future Bend residents, place the landfill away from residential areas. I ask the Deschutes County commissioners to save the taxpayers’ money and resources: Direct SWAC’s time and efforts now away from existing residential neighborhoods when making this critical landfill decision

Don’t propose a solution that creates a bigger problem.

— Keith W. Harless, Bend

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