Bend, Deschutes County leaders talk on hot issues

As Central Oregon grows, it’s important for county and city leaders to occasionally meet and make sure everyone is on the same page.

On Thursday morning, Bend city councilors and Deschutes County commissioners met at City Hall to talk about some of the current hot-button issues.

From the urban growth boundary expansion and transportation projects to public health, marijuana enforcement and 911 dispatch, there was plenty for the councilors and the commissioners to discuss.

Commissioner Tammy Baney said she would like to see more of these joint sessions.

“For us to get together and talk about how we communicate and collaborate, I think is first what’s expected of us from the public. But also, what we should be doing as local government is to make sure we’re aligned in moving forward and addressing that growth,” Baney said.

Managing Bend’s growth was a major talking point during the meeting, especially project funding.

Mayor Pro Tem Sally Russell said cities used to be able to rely on federal money for major projects, but that isn’t the case anymore.

“Now all the sewer backbone that we’re building is all from local funding,” she said. “It comes from the taxpayers, the developers or the residents. That makes housing more expensive, but it’s not something we have direct control over, so we have to be more creative as we move through this.”

Plans for a crisis stabilization center also were discussed, which Bend Police Chief Jim Porter said would be a welcome relief and a positive movement toward decriminalizing mental health issues.

“Generally, we get a lot of calls at 6 in the morning, when people come to their businesses downtown and find intoxicated transients sleeping in the entrance to their business, and we have nowhere to go with that,” Porter said.

“We roust them and send them down the road, knowing they’re intoxicated,” the police chief said. “I’ve responded myself to those calls in the morning, the last six months. It’s just heart-wrenching, and feels a little inhumane.”

Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson noted that keeping a person with mental health issues in jail costs taxpayers $50 to $100 a day.

The most heated topic of the morning was Deschutes County’s new $4 million 911 radio system that’s been plagued with problems since it was installed last summer.

“Why wasn’t there a system in place to completely test the system and understand that it worked for those people who are taking care of the health and safety of our community to be able to continue to communicate well and seamlessly as well went through this process?” Russell said.

The commissioners took responsibility for poor implementation of the radio system and said they are finally on the right track with the project.

Marijuana enforcement was also discussed during the meeting. Both Nelson and Porter said it would be helpful to have increased enforcement to help stop the black market industry from thriving in Central Oregon.