The City of Bend has qualified for a matching grant from Partners for Places, a national matching grant program that invests in local projects to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy and the well-being of all residents. Funding will support the City working with the Bend community to increase energy efficiency and reduce fossil fuel consumption.
The City of Bend, in partnership with The Environmental Center (TEC) and The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF), submitted a proposal to Partners for Places in July 2017 for a project to engage diverse voices in creating a community climate action plan that balances equity, efficiency, economic development and meaningful climate benefits.
This project stems from a September 2016 Bend City Council Climate Action Resolution that established goals to reduce community-wide fossil fuel use by 40 percent by 2030 and 70 percent by 2050. Partners for Places will provide a $50,000 grant, pending success in raising a matching $50,000 from OCF Advised Funds, a program that allows OCF donors to identify causes that matter to them and recommend OCF grant support in collaboration with other donors.
This project is planned to unfold over a two year period at a cost of $175,000 per year.
Project funding for the first year will come from Partners for Places, OCF Advised Funds, funds raised by TEC from the community and the City’s budget. The funds will allow the City to hire a new staff person to manage the project, conduct baseline studies including a community-scale greenhouse gas emissions inventory, form a Council-appointed volunteer Climate Action Steering Committee, and contract outside support for a community planning process that will identify how to achieve fossil fuel reduction goals in the 2016 Bend City Council Climate Action Resolution.
The City plans to apply for additional funding for the second year to support community prioritization of climate actions, to develop targets and metrics for measuring progress and to develop an implementation plan.
In addition to Bend, Partners for Places has committed to matching grant awards to teams from Cary, NC; Cincinnati, OH; Grand Rapids, MI; Lancaster, PA; Las Cruces, NM; Los Angeles, CA; New Orleans, LA; Philadelphia, PA, Salt Lake City, UT; and St. Louis, MO.
Deschutes County
• When Deschutes County enacted marijuana land use regulations, the commissioners committed to the public and the legislature to review their effectiveness after a one year period. That review begins this week, as the County’s Community Development Department launches an online survey that gives residents the opportunity to submit their feedback on the regulations’ effectiveness in addressing the impacts of marijuana land uses in unincorporated areas of the county.
The County’s Community Development Department will also be conducting stakeholder interviews and focus groups with marijuana industry representatives and neighbors who live near marijuana businesses. Community Development Department staff will present the findings of the evaluation to the Board of County Commissioners in December.
The County’s online survey closes on Thursday, Nov. 30, www.deschutes.org/cd/webform/marijuana-land-use-regulation-evaluation-form-0.
For more information, or to track project updates, visit www.deschutes.org/marijuana or contact Deschutes County Senior Planner Matthew Martin at 541-330-4620.
• Deschutes County is looking for a resident to serve on the Deschutes County Audit Committee. Please apply now. We will keep the search open until the position is filled and will schedule applicant interviews as needed.
The Audit Committee is an advisory committee to the Board of County Commissioners that:
-Provides oversight and coordination to auditing (external and internal) for the County
-Reviews and comments on the work plan for internal audits to be performed
-Discusses whether further recommendations are needed to the Board
-Reviews provided audit reports and information on their own time to prepare for meetings
The specific appointment will fill a term that ends June 30, 2019 and can be reappointed for subsequent two-year terms.
The Audit Committee is comprised of seven to nine members. Four to six members are public members and three are from County management. Public committee members are asked to serve a two-year volunteer term and will not be reimbursed for their time. The Committee meets approximately four times a year, usually on the second Thursday of March, June, September, and November from noon to 3 p.m. If necessary, additional meetings may be scheduled. Citizens with financial and/or local government experience are encouraged to apply. Additional audit committee information is available on the County’s website.
To Apply: Please submit a letter of interest (including qualifications and experience valuable to the Committee) and complete a Deschutes County Volunteer application. The volunteer application packet is available on Deschutes County’s website or may be picked up from Deschutes County Human Resources at 1300 NW Wall Street, 2nd Floor, in Bend. If you would like an application packet to be mailed to you, please call (541) 617-4722.
Applications are required and will be accepted until the positions are filled. Applications should be addressed to: Deschutes County Human Resources, P.O. Box 6005, Bend, OR 97708-6005.
Jefferson County
Mike Shirtcliff (R-Redmond), CEO of Advantage Dental, announced he will be seeking an appointment to fill House District 59, a legislative seat recently occupied by John Huffman of The Dalles. Huffman is leaving to seek an appointment to the Department of Agriculture through the Trump administration.
Shirtcliff, 73, helped found one of the most successful rural dental networks in the nation here in Oregon focusing on serving people who lacked access to quality dental care.
Shirtcliff has extensive local government experience having served on the Deschutes County Planning Commission, Douglas County Budget Committee and the City Council of Myrtle Creek.
His volunteer record is equally impressive, having volunteered with Northwest Medical Teams, Community Dental Clinic, and Central Oregon Community College.
Salem
Activist Marc Koller announced his candidacy for the U.S. Congress in Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District as an Independent with a wide array of endorsements.
Koller has received the endorsement of the Oregon Progressive Party and will seek its nomination in 2018, along with the nominations of the Independent Party of Oregon and the Pacific Green Party. His campaign is working with over 50 organizations, both national and local, to address crucial healthcare needs with the Medicare-for-All program, vast wage inequality, environmental threats, humane immigration changes, and social justice.
• The Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a two-year contract to develop and provide training for the Employment First Initiative. The targeted audience of the training and technical assistance is community employment and residential providers, families, and case management entities.
The DHS Employment First initiative is committed to improving community job outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Part of the initiative’s strategy is to provide robust and accessible training to employment providers and case management entities (Brokerages and Community Developmental Disabilities Programs) that serve people with I/DD.
The contract resulting from the RFP funds a training and technical assistance entity to develop sustainable training materials that will educate community providers and case management entities on the Employment First Initiative. More information on Employment First is at: http://iworkwesucceed.org
The training curriculum and modules should include entry and advanced levels, with discreet modules focused on Job Coaching and Discovery. The contractor will design and create a competency-based training curriculum for employment professionals and build upon the current training modules for case management entities.
The contract period is January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019, with the possibility of an extension.
Training and technical assistance agencies who may want to apply for this Request for Proposal can apply at: http://orpin.oregon.gov or questions about this RFP may be directed to: Lesley Erickson, Lesley.g.erickson@dhsoha.state.or.us; 503-945-6698.
Washington D.C.
• Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to extend the comment period by 45 days for changes to the Greater Sage-grouse conservation plans.
The letter from Wyden and Merkley as well as five other Western senators responds to the Trump administration publishing a Notice of Intent earlier this month to amend Greater Sage-grouse conservation plans with only a 45-day comment period closing on November 27, 2017.
The existing conservation plans were developed over many years through a robust process with public comments and meetings, and the seven senators urged an extension of the Nov. 27 deadline by 45 days.
“Given the importance and complexity of the proposed rule, and the intersection with BLM’s resource management plans, it is essential that all stakeholders have sufficient opportunity to prepare and provide feedback,” the senators wrote
In the letter, the senators noted that any change to the land use plans will affect stakeholders across 11 Western states. They emphasized that in addition to keeping the Greater Sage-grouse off of the Endangered Species list, the original plans protected habitat for other species and provided certainty for landowners and producers.
“Westerners spent years working on state and federal plans to improve the management of public lands, to address the threat of wildland fire to sagebrush habitat, and to provide incentives for landowner and livestock producers to conserve sage grouse habitat,” the senators wrote. “Western governors continue to stress that a complete overhaul of the sage grouse conservation plans are not needed and have requested to be involved in any proposed changes.”
Also signing the letter were Senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev.
• U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley urged U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to find solutions to the high veteran suicide rate across the Western United States.
The Oregon senators’ letter with nine of their Senate colleagues to VA Secretary David J. Shulkin, M.D. notes that the veteran suicide rate throughout the West is 7 percent higher than the rest of the country. A lack of doctors in remote areas, increased isolation by veterans suffering from PTSD, and limited access to mental health care are believed to be some of the primary factors contributing to Western veterans’ heightened suicide rate.
“We are supportive of the services the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) already provides in Western states,” the senators wrote. “The Vet Centers that offer mental health services to combat veterans are critical to ending veteran suicides. Additionally, the information available on the Department of Veterans Affairs website and the expansion of the Veterans Crisis Line are important steps toward ensuring access to resources for veterans in need. The increases in mental health services for women, including telehealth medicine, are also commendable. While these are steps in the right direction, there is still more work to be done, and we want to work with you and all concerned stakeholders to do more to address this public health crisis.”
Also signing the bipartisan letter were U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.) Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
• Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River), along with Rep. Peter DeFazio and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent a letter urging the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to maintain security infrastructure at Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport in Klamath Falls as the airport recruits another carrier to resume commercial air service. In their letter, the lawmakers state that keeping screening equipment in place will allow the airport to continue its recruitment efforts unhindered by logistical and administrative burdens.
“PenAir’s bankruptcy and abrupt decision to pull out of several small, regional airports in the Northwest — including Klamath Falls — forced the community to begin recruiting another carrier,” the lawmakers wrote. “Removal of the existing TSA equipment would present a burden to those recruitment efforts. Given the lack of notification ahead of PenAir’s cancellation of service, the airport and local community should be allowed time to conduct recruitment unhindered by such logistical and administrative burdens.”
“The local community understands well the diverse benefits that air service provides. That’s why they are working to find a replacement,” the lawmakers continued. “As they do that, we respectfully request that you allow TSA screening equipment to temporarily remain at the airport until such time that a robust recruitment of potential replacement carriers has been completed.”
Walden and his colleagues are working closely with airport officials and the Department of Transportation to bring air service back to Klamath Falls. All four lawmakers led a bipartisan effort to craft the Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act of 2016, which passed the House of Representatives last year and helped restore commercial air service to Klamath Falls after the departure of SkyWest in June 2014.
• Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called for the International Trade Commission to forcefully respond to illegally subsidized Chinese hardwood plywood, which is flooding the U.S. market and crushing U.S. mills and jobs.
Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees trade issues, said the United States needs to respond now, before this illegal Chinese trade wipes out U.S. and Oregon producers.
“I can tell you with absolute confidence that American hardwood plywood manufacturers are some of the most efficient and competitive in the world. But they play by the rules of a competitive global economy. Their Chinese competitors don’t. So American businesses and workers have been forced to compete head-to-head against Chinese products sold well below market value,” Wyden testified.
“The buck must stop here. Allowing China’s unfair trade practices with respect to hardwood plywood to continue unfettered will not only undermine American manufacturing, but will also encourage more countries to play by their own rules — and not with the fair competition and innovation that allowed us to become the world’s biggest and most vibrant economy,” he continued.
Wyden also led a letter with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., and 13 other senators, who urged the International Trade Commission to stand up to these subsidized and dumped hardwood plywood imports.
• Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced legislation that would improve the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) ability to serve America’s veterans by removing roadblocks to construction of some VA projects.
The bill would expedite the process for more routine construction at VA facilities, including clinics, by raising the cap on such projects from $10 million to $20 million. Currently, Congress must individually approve VA construction projects that cost more than $10 million, which can result in delays of months or even years. The VA asked for the increase as part of its 2018 budget request to allow the department to better serve veterans.
“Our veterans shouldn’t have to wait for Congress to approve routine construction and maintenance projects in order to get the care they need,” Wyden said. “This bill will ensure more timely completion of the high-quality, up-to-date facilities our veterans deserve.”
“Congressional red tape shouldn’t stand in the way of projects that are essential to getting our veterans the care they’ve earned,” Merkley said. “The VA should be able to provide veterans with updated, modern facilities without being delayed by unnecessary bureaucratic hoops.”
Last year, the Portland VA requested bids to expand its emergency room and received only bids in excess of the $10 million cap. Since Congress last raised that cap in 2007, inflation and construction costs have eaten away at the VA’s ability to conduct routine construction and maintenance without a separate congressional authorization.
The Wyden-Merkley bill would also raise the cap for minor medical facility leases from $1 million to $1.5 million, the amount used by General Services Administration for leasing space in other government buildings.
The bill now goes to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee for consideration.
