Of Foxes and Henhouses | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Of Foxes and Henhouses

This week's letter of the week comes from Mac Simon who takes aim at the recent city council shake-up. Thanks for the pointed letter, Mac.

This week's letter of the week comes from Mac Simon who takes aim at the recent city council shake-up. Thanks for the pointed letter, Mac. Stop by the Source headquarters to claim your winner's spoils, a $20 gift certificate to Parrilla Grill. Tasty!

While you were sleeping - or celebrating, a ground-breaking, earth-shaking, life-changing election - or dancing as fast as you can to avoid foreclosure, the Bend City Council was seized by special interests. The kind that are probably not compatible with your interests in Bend's livability. Steel yourself for the consequences.

Unbelievably, we lost two intelligent voices of reason - Peter Gramlich and Linda Johnson. Gramlich lost by a handful of votes to Tom Greene (really? pronounced green?), the frontman for the industry that intends to plunder and pillage what's left of our natural landscape.


Johnson lost to Kathie Eckman. If you recall the Council's history, she's the bitter Republican who thinks running a city is as simple as a slash-and-burn weekend with QuickBooks. Her campaign was also funded by those who believe a crippled government is one less obstacle to unharnassed development of every square foot in Central Oregon.

You may have missed the endorsements of Greene and Eckman from our town Bully - often the first indicator of who has ties that bind. Bend's Bully lives up to its cocky, smug reputation. You'll find a lot of space in last Sunday's paper giving the newly-elected a chance to huff and puff. Eckman insists that just because some builders' association funded her campaign, doesn't mean she shares its agenda. Of course not.

So, hello strip malls and condos pretending to be resorts and toxic industries. Goodbye public services.

God help Jim Clinton. With no special interest to serve, he will often be the only voice representing our community from a broader perspective.

Or maybe others will show up, stand up, speak up at City Council meetings. Maybe we learned something from the presidential campaign...something about coming together to regain the integrity and legitimacy of our country, counties and communities. One can at least hope.

Mac Simon, Bend

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