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To say the Bend-La Pine School Board is important is a vast understatement. They will ultimately decide how our kids are taught and the flavor of the education they receive in the local area. Parents love and care for their children more than anything else in their lives, and whoever is on the board will have a profound effect on the students and parents, too.

I am strongly recommending Mr. Chet Wamboldt for the board for the following reasons: He wants to open up school board meetings to allow more public comment. He is an advocate for school choice within the district, which could ultimately have the parents decide where their students attend school. He also feels the views of teachers and unions are already well-represented on the board, and hopes to represent the views of the parents.

I vote for the person who values the parents and the kids as their top priority for this election.

— Wally Long, Bend

As a member of the BIPOC community, I am writing in support of Kina Chadwick for School Board-Zone 7.

In this election cycle, a number of right-wing school board candidates are hiding their true politics in an attempt to win over Bend’s progressive voters. And for the most part, the local media and editorial boards have chosen to not dig too deep, and pretend the encroaching extremism, book banning, and attacks on our LGBTQ+ youth is not reaching our community. But we know that regardless of what you say in a campaign to get elected, who chooses to support and fund you is an indicator of what you’ll do in office.

Elizabeth Justema is pretending to be “non-partisan” and “moderate.” But according to the Oregon Secretary of State website, her known conservative donors include Patricia Buehler (Knute Buehler’s wife) and Hayden Watson. Watson, the real estate developer who donated $10,000 to Justema, is known for dropping large sums of money on extremist politicians such as Tim Knopp and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, as well as the United 4 Education PAC. I believe United 4 Education’s sole purpose was to fund the campaigns for a slate of candidates that ran on the racist platform of eliminating so-called Critical Race Theory from school curriculums. Justema can’t win, but she can peel off enough moderate and progressive votes to ensure a victory for Nicole Fitch, the extremist Deschutes Republicans-backed candidate.

I’ll be voting to keep Kina Chadwick, the only progressive candidate, for our position 7 school board director. Learn more at KinaforOregon.com.

— Priscilla Calleros, Bend

I have had the pleasure of knowing Chet Wamboldt for two years and we could not do better than to have him as a representative of our Bend-La Pine Schools. Chet has a daughter in school and is heavily invested in her and our schools’ success. Chet listens; he is collaborative and thoughtful. He doesn’t just push for his own way, he works for the benefit of all and desires to see our schools excel and to win back disenchanted parents.

He is a person of integrity and is fully committed to the position entrusted to him. He wants teachers and administrators to be aligned, for our teachers to feel supported, and for parents to feel and be heard and their interests well represented. He wants our schools to focus on the issues and skills that will help our kids have meaningful careers and become successful contributors to our communities. Chet has some good ideas worthy of our consideration. Please join me in voting for Chet, Zone 6!

— Rich Travis, Bend

Recognizing that our city’s overstretched, underfunded police force has its hands full working to prevent gun violence, human trafficking, and any number of serious crimes, it’s no wonder traffic in Bend is becoming increasingly dangerous. No matter how hard they work, our police can only cover so much ground, which means west-side roads are seeing significantly diminished traffic enforcement.

As Bend continues to grow, unless frequently policed, the speeding, tailgating, passing, and racing on Mt. Washington Drive, Archie Briggs Road, Northwest Summit Drive, Northwest Skyliners Road, Southwest Century Drive, Newport Avenue, Northwest 14th Street, and other west-side arterials will undoubtedly result in serious accidents for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

I and other Bend taxpayers are asking the city to devote some resources, however small — officers, speed cameras, etc. — to these roadways to prevent more incidents like that which killed Walter James Lane.

— Sean Leslie, Bend

It’s hard to know where to begin when addressing the willful ignorance expressed by David Coutin in his recent guest editorial. Just because he knows many kind and compassionate Christians doesn’t mean that there aren’t Christians actively seeking to transform the U.S. system of government into a theocracy based on biblical teachings. Christian nationalism and dominionism are well-documented political movements. Similarly, just because he isn’t personally impacted by a public celebration of Confederate slaveholders doesn’t mean that others aren’t. Perhaps he should consider the impact of someone wearing their great-grandfather’s SS uniform and waving a Nazi flag in the Redmond parade. Why should that bother anyone? It’s just history.

As for his claim that there is no white supremacy in Central Oregon, I urge Coutin to read up on Oregon’s Black exclusion laws, which forbid Black Americans from settling in Oregon and mandated whipping for those who stayed in the territory after passage of the first such law in 1844. Coutin tells us to honor Christian compassion. To do so, you need look no further than the history of the Civil Rights Movement and its faith-based leaders, people of great moral fiber who drew strength from their faith to fight white supremacy in America.

— Amber Keyser, Bend

I was extremely disappointed that our Congressional Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, voted to support MAGA legislation in regard to the debt ceiling. It is a reckless piece of legislation that would hurt, among many others:

veterans

seniors

hungry children

lower-income people with serious health issues

Republicans are playing political games with the full faith and credit of the United States, insisting on extreme cuts in order to agree to a deal on the debt ceiling. This could devastate the American economy and throw us into a recession. Rep. Chavez-DeRemer campaigned on the promise that she would be a moderate voice in Congress, but so far has shown next to no evidence of that. This latest vote — aligned with the most extreme voices in the Republican party — does nothing to serve her constituents and directly contradicts her stated support for our veterans. I want better.

— Gayle Stamler, Bend

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