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Please consider measures 9-158 and 9-159 before voting on these fire levies.

Voters should review their 2022 taxes before voting on these new tax measures. These tax measures will increase the Rural Fire District #2 local option by an increase of additional 280%. This may not seem like much, but large increases never go away.

My approximate total fire tax bill for 2023-24 will be $781, but with an additional tax increase of $423.16, the total will be $1,204. I also pay a Department of Forestry fire protection assessment because of where my home is located. My tax base (taxable assessed value) is $424,390, which represents an approximate 54% increase for fire taxes. This base goes up 3% each year.

The Rural Fire District #2 general fund tax revenue increased from 9,651,000 to 16,729,000 over a 10-year period, an increase of 7,078,000 or 7.3% per year. The population of Bend increased from 77,455 to 102,834 at a rate of approximately 3%.

The fire tax revenue is increased each year with new housing developments, new businesses and house resales.

Renters could expect an increase in monthly rent due to a pass through from the property owners. Before voting, look at your tax schedule and consider the financial impact.

— Donald Crum, Bend

During a time marked by divisiveness and the politicizing of public institutions, when many of our elected leaders seem motivated by personal agendas and egos, I am grateful for the integrity and experienced leadership of Bend-La Pine Schools Board Chair Melissa Barnes Dholakia and excited to support her for a second term.

I have known Melissa since 2010 when she was my principal in the K-12 public school where I was a teacher. If there ever was a leader who walked the walk, it is Melissa. She holds herself to the same high expectations she has for the teachers she leads and the students she serves. Her intentions are clear and unwavering — to do right by children and their families for the good of the larger community.

Now, as a parent of two students in the Bend-La Pine Schools District, I feel deep gratitude and relief knowing that my own children are beneficiaries of Melissa’s leadership. She brings the perspective of a parent, dedicated educator, and engaged community member to the important task of governing our schools. Join me in electing Melissa Barnes Dholakia to another term on the Bend-La Pine Board of Directors and ensure that our schools remain places of purposeful learning, joyful engagement, belonging, and wellness for all.

— Britta Pells, Bend

I’ve been a user and lover of the Deschutes County Library system for nearly 70 years. Like a majority of county voters, I supported the 2020 bond measure that promised residents a new central library, a new library in Redmond and upgrades across the system.

Allowing the district to keep those promises is one big reason for library Zone 4 voters to elect Marisa Chappell Hossick in the May 16 election. She understands a couple of things that her opponent, incumbent Ray Maio, apparently does not.

First, a new main library is what voters approved and what they should be given. The downtown Bend library has reached capacity; the new library will allow the entire system to serve people better.

Equally important, as others have noted, a system of small neighborhood libraries would be impossibly expensive to run. The library system has been as financially responsible to voters as any public agency in the area, a neighborhood library system flies in the face of that responsibility.

Hossick would bring other qualities to the job, of course. She is interested in, and works to support, childhood literacy. That’s not surprising, she’s a young mother herself. She supports intellectual freedom and the idea that the county’s library system is a resource that extends beyond books.

I believe Hossick’s vision of the future will serve us best in the years ahead. She deserves your vote in the coming election.

— Janet Stevens, Bend

Just imagine a CEO, manager, or supervisor with recent, long-term,first-hand, and successful experience doing the most vital work of a business or organization: a rare treasure. School board candidate Elizabeth Justema for Zone 7 is this jewel.

Elizabeth was a Bend-La Pine Schools high school history teacher for nine years, until June 2022. She knows the specific challenges faced daily by students and teachers in our district, she’s lived it.

From her on-the-ground, frontline awareness, as well as her 18 years in industry prior to teaching, she has the background to engage in the difficult task of drastically improving our schools.

Whereas most school board members deserve the public’s respect for their willingness to volunteer time and energy to an important cause, good intentions do not translate to good policy unless informed by experience and deep awareness. It is difficult to imagine a better vantage point from which to understand the highpoints and pitfalls of school district programs and policies than from the desk of a teacher working daily to better support and educate our kids.

It is our good fortune to have the opportunity to elect Elizabeth Justema to the school board. She has passion, courage and a deep sense of purpose. Most importantly and most rare, through her years in the classrooms of Bend-La Pine Schools, she knows intimately the needs of students and teachers struggling in these rapidly changing times.

Support this most competent candidate and elect Elizabeth Justema to the school board.

— Mark Molner, Bend

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