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Goodrich backs herself, two others for school board

The country as a whole has been experiencing a new interest in local elections. Extreme groups have been infiltrating local government through every avenue possible. School board elections are not immune to this.

This year, the Redmond School Board has four of five seats up for election. Fortunately, three of the positions have candidates who are highly qualified, reasonable, champions of public education, and whose sole agenda is to ensure that students are advocated for and provided a safe, resource-heavy environment for learning.

Liz Goodrich (incumbent), Brad Porterfield and Amanda Page are committed to keeping politics out of our school boards.

We believe that school boards have a duty to ensure that our children are educated in a safe space with respect to a foundational principle of the freedom of citizens to have access to comprehensive factual information, varying perspectives and accurate history.

We believe that our kids have the right to academic freedom and teachers should be supported in educating our kids in alignment with the best practices in education. We believe that parents have the right to choose which books and potentially sensitive topics are appropriate for their own children, but that right does not supersede the rights of other parents.

A successful election will ensure that our board’s majority voice is that of reason and a true desire for the best interest of every student in the district.

This election matters. Please vote.

Liz Goodrich, Position 5; Brad Porterfield, Position 4; Amanda Page, Position 3

— Liz Goodrich, Redmond

Diane Berry for COCC board

We are writing this letter in full-fledged support of Diane Berry for member of the Central Oregon Community College board, District 5. We first met Diane Berry and her husband, Terry, five or six years ago, and have become good friends since, getting to know them well. We are truly impressed by Diane’s wide range of education and work experience. (See below).

We are even more impressed by her honesty and integrity, always seeking to live up to the standards she has taught in her post graduate ethics course.

In addition, she is not afraid to take on new challenges, and in fact seems to relish them!

Diane Berry, education:

Bachelor of Science, Juris Doctorate and Master of Social Work

Professional Experience:

Practicing law, working as assistant district attorney, child protective services, clinical social work, college instructor. Ran a small business for 12 years. Was a director of a mental health clinic. Has taught at four colleges.

As a member of the COCC board, Diane wants to:

1) Increase enrollment,

2) Remove barriers that keep students from accessing the education they seek.

3) Support COCC’s faculty and staff so that they can live and work in our community (housing in Bend is expensive)

We encourage all voters to vote for Diane Berry!

We know that you will be happy with the job she does!

— David and Michele Knowles, Bend

Questions about taking down Snake River dams

Regarding the recent Jerry Freilich guest column arguing for taking down the Snake River dams. I have no doubt as Dr. Freilich asserts that the dams have a huge impact on the health of the salmon fishery and am saddened by the salmon’s decline. But as a mechanical engineer, I question several of his assertions related to solar and wind power effectively replacing the hydroelectric power generated by these dams.

Dr. Freilich states that most hydropower “comes in springtime” which implies that hydropower is only available for a short period of time as the snow melts. But the purpose of dams is to store the water so it is available year-round to spin the turbines as power is needed, to include when the sun is not shining and wind not blowing. I have seen no evidence that battery technology is to the point where it can meet the forecast storage needs and be cost effective. Regarding the ability of the nationwide grid to provide continuous electrical power from one side of the country to the other, this will take much more study and significant investment.

To help educate the public (myself included), regarding the ability to transition to greener power, I believe we need to hear directly from power industry experts (e.g. unbiased engineers and those directly responsible for generating and delivering reliable power to our homes). Their take on the green power transition would be much more reliable than from politicians or wildlife biology scientists.

— Russell Laustsen, Bend

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