Open letter to Bend City Council about Jackstraw

I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the Bend City Council’s decision to gift $10.6 million in tax exemptions to Killian Pacific for the Jackstraw project. As the owner of a small business in Bend, I wrote to you early last year with my concerns that the city of Bend cared very little about the small businesses that make Bend unique and special, while doing the bidding of the town’s huge developers. Since then, the council has only made matters worse. You have increased licensing, permitting and registration fees, thereby significantly increasing the financial burden on smaller businesses, many of which are struggling, and given away millions of dollars in future tax revenue to Killian Pacific, one of the largest developers in the city. This is Robin Hood in reverse: taking from the smallest and most vulnerable businesses so you can hand out financial subsidies to the wealthiest and most sophisticated.

I understand why the multiple unit property tax exemption program is in place. There is no way that a project like the Jackstraw meets the letter or the spirit of that program. The 300 units of high-priced, luxury housing will do nothing to alleviate the problem of affordable housing in Bend, and the two child-care units used to justify the tax break are comically inadequate to justify giving away $10.6 million of public money. Not even close.

So, like many small-business owners in town, I am left scratching my head, wondering why we are charged exorbitant and ever-increasing fees if the city has enough money to give away $10.6 million to Killian Pacific? Why not give small businesses a break, and let the giant developers, with their far superior financial strength and sophisticated advisers, fend for themselves? Who are you actually working for?

While the decision is made — I can confidently speak for the majority of Bend when I say — the only party winning here is Killian Pacific.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Council member Mike Riley for handing back the contribution to his nonprofit so that he could participate in the council’s decision on the Jackstraw project and do the right thing for Bend.

— Eric Kramer, Bend

Bend got played by Jackstraw developer

Thank you, Bend City Councilor Mike Riley, for showing some spine in your “no” vote on the $10 million property tax exemption for the Jackstraw project.

The giddiness with which other city leaders, including Mayor Melanie Kebler, greeted the unveiling of this project makes me question how their Pollyanna leanings can so clearly strong-arm their critical thinking. Bend’s housing shortage isn’t going to be solved with the construction of units renting for $3,000 or more per month. In case Kebler and others of her mindset haven’t noticed, those who can afford $3,000 a month in rent aren’t a critical mass of our homeless.

And developers who cater to those who can afford $3,000 a month in rent shouldn’t be rewarded with a $10 million tax exemption — especially when the requirements to qualify for the tax exemption were so laughably weak. The amenities Killian Pacific is including in its project to qualify for the tax break aren’t bleeding-edge pro-environment measures; they are barely more than table stakes for modern development.

Further, the City Council allowing Killian Pacific to capitalize on its self-victimizing claim — “You need to take a vote? But we’ve already started building!” — will make any other caught-in-the-act grifter envious. The City Council should not have rewarded Killian Pacific’s ignorance about the requirements for the tax exemption. Underhanded plotting should incur a cost, not a reward.

— Mike Wilson, Bend

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