New Oregon House speaker, C.O. lawmakers tour Bend navigation center, talk with Redmond leaders

(Update: Adding Monday Prineville visit)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – On the second leg of his three-day trip through Central and Eastern Oregon, House Speaker Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) toured a new low-barrier homeless shelter in Bend Tuesday, one of the numerous facilities the Legislature funded across the state in recent years.

Speaker Rayfield, Rep. Jason Kropf (D-Bend) and Rep.-elect Emerson Levy (D-Bend) traveled to the new Lighthouse Navigation Center to tour the new facility, according a news release from Rayfield's office, which continues in full below:

In 2021, Rep. Kropf allocated his district’s share of funds ($2 million) from the American Rescue Project Act (ARPA) to the City of Bend so they could purchase the site for the navigation center. The Legislature also allocated $2.5 million to help convert the property into a navigation center to support Oregonians experiencing homelessness and providing food and shelter to those in need in Bend. 

“I was incredibly impressed with the work local organizations have done to make this center a key community resource in Central Oregon,” Speaker Rayfield said. “It is critical that we keep seeing the impact of these investments in our communities and make them work all over the state. In 2023, we’ll keep making progress to ensure that Oregonians are seeing the results of what we’ve been paying for.”

“I appreciate the support the Speaker has shown for funding local community efforts to help tackle homeless and build more affordable housing that can support our growing workforce,” Rep. Kropf said. “We worked well together in my first term to get our housing and homelessness priorities across the finish line. We’re committed to continue partnering with local providers and communities to tackle these issues once again in the coming session.”

In 2021, Rep. Kropf also chief sponsored House Bill 4123 to help local communities develop a coordinated response to homelessness. The bill allocated $1 million grants to local governments and nonprofits – Benton County, Coos County, Deschutes County, Lincoln County, the Mid-Columbia Community Action Council, Polk County, Tillamook County and Umatilla County – as part of the coordinated effort.

“I can’t wait to get to work on coordinated solutions that support building more workforce housing in Central Oregon," Rep.-elect Levy said. “Dramatically rising housing costs are hurting workers and employers throughout the region. We’ll be working to ensure the people in our communities can afford to live where they work.”

The group started the morning at Redmond City Hall with Mayor-elect Ed Fitch, City Councilor Cat Zwicker, City Councilor-elect John Nielsen and City Manager Keith Witcosky to discuss local economic development priorities related to the Redmond Wetlands Complex, a public safety facility, a city-led affordable housing project and local transportation improvements.

The morning concluded with a local victims’ advocacy roundtable at Bend City Hall to hear directly from victim services providers about their work and their requests for potential state support. Rep. Kropf will be leading on legislation related to victim services and community safety this session in his role as House Judiciary Committee chair.

“In my work as a prosecutor and a victims’ rights attorney, I have seen far too many examples of crimes like domestic violence leading to the victim losing their housing,” City of Bend Mayor-elect Melanie Kebler said. “Investing in both victim services and housing is key to helping crime victims get back on their feet and promote community safety, and I truly appreciate the spotlight legislative leaders have put on these two issues in recent years.” 

On Monday, Rayfield joined House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) today for a multi-site tour around Prineville to highlight the region’s growing economic opportunities and discuss ongoing efforts to support local businesses and families impacted drought and water shortages.

“Leader Breese-Iverson and I worked together collaboratively in 2022, and I look forward to continuing this work together on behalf of Oregonians in 2023,” Speaker Rayfield said. “Our time together today allowed for unique insight into the diverse economy and opportunities in Prineville, Crook County and across Central Oregon. My thanks to her and her family for showing incredible hospitality during my time in her community.”

“I am grateful to Speaker Rayfield for accepting my invitation to visit Central Oregon. District work trips are an excellent way to collaborate on solutions outside of Salem. We made several tour stops that highlighted Central Oregon’s diverse economic region and discussed the growing drought and water shortage,” Leader Breese-Iverson said. “I look forward to continuing our positive working relationship next session in order to make Oregon the place people want to live, work, and raise a family.”

Speaker Rayfield and Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson met at her ranch on Monday morning before touring the Facebook Data Center in Prineville and discussing the center’s impact on the local community and broadly in Oregon. In March 2021, Facebook announced adding two more data centers to its existing complex, which was built in 2009.

The legislative leaders then toured the Crooked River Wetlands Complex and discussed with local leaders how the city uses greywater, supplies the Facebook Data Center, and cost-effectively returns clean water back into the Crooked River. The 120-acre, multipurpose project is for the City of Prineville to expand wastewater capacity, lower the cost of system development charges, stabilize wastewater rates and more.

Their next stop was to City Hall in Prineville for a discussion with local leaders about projects like Prineville Biomass and efforts by the Ochoco Irrigation District to mitigate the impact of extreme drought in Central Oregon. The City of Prineville and Crook County are pursuing plans to build and operate a 20-megawatt biomass power plant facility in the region to reduce severe wildfire risks, bring new natural resources jobs, reduce carbon emissions, and more.

Speaker Rayfield and Leader Breese-Iverson then traveled to the Dry Creek Airpark to see where Daimler is testing electric trucks and later met with leaders of the North Unit Irrigation District to discuss ongoing drought issues in the district, which is primarily used by farmers in Jefferson County, and opportunities for how these issues can be resolved.