What is it about Barb Campbell that so alarms the local power structure?
During a recent three-day splurge, the political action arms of the Bend Chamber of Commerce and Realtors Association dropped $7,000 into the pockets of Victor Chudowsky, one of Barb’s opponents for Bend City Council, Position One.
Combined, this is the most money ever given to any single candidate by these two PACs. In a stroke, it has more than doubled Mr. Chudowsky's campaign war chest.
(At the local level $7,000 can buy a lot of name recognition during a campaign and a lot of influence in government afterwards.)
Why would Barb’s campaign be singled out for such well-funded opposition?
After all, her downtown shop, wabi sabi, seemingly fits the Chamber’s model of a successful small business. It provides employment for numerous people in our community. As a magnet for out-of-town customers, wabi sabi definitely enhances local tourism.
Mr. Chudowsky, on the other hand, is a consultant for D.C.-based Center on Education Policy and partly makes a living publishing analyses of the No Child Left Behind-influenced testing culture.
Barb Campbell would govern on the City Council with the wisdom that comes from long-standing community ties and daily immersion in the local economy. She recognizes the need for investment in existing local businesses as a means for job creation. She believes existing neighborhoods should receive infrastructure enhancement to maintain quality of life.
Though outspent by moneyed interest groups, Barb's ideas will not be outmatched. She would, for example, work to keep utility rates under control by providing City staff with the tools to meet our considerable ongoing infrastructure needs, rather than outsourcing millions of our dollars to consultants.
She feels the water project (and now, possibly, the sewer project) is being steered toward a prearranged outcome without proper collaboration and public process.
Barb, with her ability to connect with people and her promise of adding much needed diversity to the City Council, would be a thrilling choice for Position One.
Take a stand against yet another attempt to buy a Bend City Council seat. Display a lawn sign for Barb. Request a bright blue sign from www.BarbforBend.com or pick one up at wabi sabi, 830 NW Wall St.
