Unger, Henderson debate canal piping, other issues

The two men who are running for the Deschutes County Commission want Central Oregonians to know where they stand on the issues county residents care about.

Their race was the debate focal point as the Bend Chamber’s “What’s Brewing” election series continued Tuesday evening.

One of the topics debated: the role of county commissioner. Challenger Phil Henderson said he believes their role is to find out what county citizens care about, and then to advocate for that.

Incumbent Alan Unger, a former Redmond mayor first elected to the commission in 2008, said their duty is to guide and help manage the county, and to approve a balance budget while advocating for the needs of the county’s citizens.

Growth issues, as well as marijuana in Oregon were discussed. Henderson has said he would push back against and seek change in state land-use laws that hamstring local governments’ ability to meet their housing needs.

Regarding the canal pipeline issue, Henderson said he sympathizes with homeowners who bought their property intending to enjoy the water feature on their land.

“I favor water conservation in general, but I think you have to look at it with the tradeoff of what have people already bought or expected in the areas where they are,” Henderson said.

Henderson also said we need to have enough water for farmers to use for irrigation. He said farmers have an important role in our society. He doesn’t want to spend all our time thinking about protecting the spotted frogs.

Unger said the county is trying to find a solution, but explained the difficulty of coming up with a plan that everyone agrees on.

“How do we manage to find the water we need to conserve so we can keep it in the river and support solutions to overcome the (endangered species) listing of the spotted frog?” Unger said.

Unger said he supports Bend City Councilor Sally Russell’s solution, which includes a “lazy river” for homeowners to look at over the buried pipeline.

Henderson asked if that was a joke.

Other topics discussed included the connection between mental health treatment funding and homelessness. In addition, they spoke about land use issues and public transportation from Redmond to Bend.

Henderson said the bigger issue is that people should not have to live in Redmond unless they want to, not because they cannot afford Bend’s soaring costs or find a place in a severe rental squeeze. He said if they work in Bend, they should be able to live in Bend.

Unger said the commission is working on a better public transportation system, which includes a hub in Redmond.

These candidates do agree on two things. They both oppose Measure 97, the large-corporation tax hike on the Nov. 8 ballot — and they both would like your vote.