Indivisible Bend reports that it has enthusiastically endorsed four candidates in the May 16, 2017 elections. Following are comments on each candidate made by Indivisible Bend members:
Angela Chisum for Bend La-Pine School Board, Zone 1
Carrie Douglass for Bend La-Pine School Board, Zone 7
Lauren Sprang for Bend Parks & Recreation Board, Position 5
Erica Skatvold for COCC District Director, Zone 4
Angela Chisum for Bend La-Pine School Board, Zone 1
Indivisible Bend enthusiastically endorses Angela Chisum for the Bend-LaPine School Board seat, Zone 1. Angela is an engaged, visible volunteer in Bend classrooms and brings her principled views, creative ideas, and collaborative demeanor to the School Board. She witnessed the need to reduce Bend-LaPine class sizes and is prepared with solutions that balance our desire to provide educational opportunities for all children bound by fiscal constraints. Angela values budget solutions that invest in teachers with the financial support they have earned and been promised while providing opportunities for the needs of all of our students. Teachers are employees who have unique responsibilities: we trust them to teach our children.
Angela is a champion for educational innovation and supports opportunities to expose children to innovation at early ages. “Lego Robotics” is a fun interactive program for children to learn practical problem solving skills and science, and thrives in Bend-LaPine schools thanks to Angela’s championing. She believes strongly in equal educational opportunities for all children regardless of a student’s address, gender, ethnicity, or other demographic. The safety of our children should not be compromised by poorly constructed and maintained school buildings. In Angela’s words, “I believe students are our community’s top priority.” We agree.
Carrie Douglass for Bend La-Pine School Board, Zone 7
Indivisible Bend enthusiastically endorses Carrie Douglass as the most highly qualified candidate for the Bend-LaPine School Board seat, Zone 7. Carrie Douglass currently sits on the Bend La-Pine School Board and clearly stood out amongst 26 applicants in the recent school board vacancy. Carrie is the ONLY candidate for the Zone 7 seat who has experience in the classroom as a teacher as well as a strong business background managing multi-million dollar budgets. Carrie knows how to improve the education for all students including our children from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds, and has a successful track record advising community groups in districts across the country through her work as the Managing Partner of the nonprofit EducationCities. EducationCities engages with community groups to “create and coordinate ecosystems that foster the growth of high-quality public schools.” Our Bend-LaPine School Board needs the voice of an educator with a strong business background.
Let’s get out the vote for Carrie Douglas, a Bend native, teacher, manager, and mother whose child will enter Bend’s public schools as a kindergartener in 2020.
Lauren Sprang for Bend Parks & Recreation Board, Position 5
Indivisible Bend enthusiastically supports Lauren Sprang for Bend Parks & Recreation Board, Position 5. Lauren is motivated to preserve the natural beauty of our spaces which will influence her park and trail development decisions. She will encourage collaborative solutions with the City of Bend to address our immediate needs as a growing community. There are twenty parks to be developed throughout our city and with the growing East / West divide, we are proud to support a candidate that sees Bend as ONE community; united by our shared values of protecting our natural high-desert beauty and increasing parks access across our city. Lauren’s business mind coupled with her attitude of inclusiveness and fairness resonate when speaking about Bend’s Parks and Trails.
We need Lauren to bring her thoughtfulness to Bend Parks and Recreation’s complete rewrite of the Comprehensive Plan. This 20 year plan is the foundation for a city parks vision that reflects our shared values of natural beauty and equality across our city. Lauren is that voice at the table for us.
Erica Skatvold for COCC District Director, Zone 4
Erica Skatvold gained Indivisible Bend’s endorsement because of her “educate here to work here”vision. As a high school student, Erica took classes from COCC then went on to earn a B.A. from the University of Denver and later a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Chicago. She is uniquely qualified to serve on the COCC board not only as a former COCC student, but as a native Bendite who returned to her roots and dedicates her time to improving opportunities for the next generation.
In her work at St. Charles Health System, Erica sees many vacancies which could be filled by COCC students if they had more experience to step directly into these roles. Erica wants to create apprenticeship type opportunities that will help COCC students gain the experience required while also supplying the healthcare system with more experienced local applicants. This is a program that she envisions for other career paths at COCC.
Erica Skatvold is the sort of native Bendite and public servant that we desire to have represent us on the COCC Board with her bold and pragmatic plans.
