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It would seem that this measure is not the answer, but it's clear that our schools are broken and we're not getting the leadership from School Boards or the Teachers Union. So was left, a draconian attempt my the voters to at least force some change, for better or worse. I'm for one know that meritocracy systems work. But only in situations where clear goals can be measured with clear results. Somehow, the competency of a teacher needs to be factored out of test scores in such a way as to indentify teachers that need improvements. Longevity and college credits is not the answer to merit pay.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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Sorry, I disagree with the statement: "While the resorts east of town do not pose much of a threat to anything beside junipers and sagebrush".

Those so called resorts aren't being built east of Brothers, but in Powell Butte. The area comprises thirty thousands acres of green Ag farms. It's rural, it's country, and it's great people. And guess what, the Crook County Destination Resort Overlay map that controls where you can site DR's consists of thirty thousand acres of Powell Butte. With the passage of the recent ballot measure, the Crook County Court is in the process of trimming back the Overlay Map to just the current approved DR's. For the record, this Overlap Map was generated by the first DR applicant in Crook County with strong influence by the real estate lobby. And finally, the DR State Statue (something out of Salem) ties the hands of local communities, as the statue's effectively trumps local zoning. I am sure if Statue Statue allowed airports to site new facilities where ever without regard to local community zoning, we all be hollering.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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Most of the water that Ag uses at least recharges the aquifer. Water for golf courses has a 98% evaporation. As far as Ag, the State statue for DR's says they must be compatible with the surrounding community. Unfortunately, DR's have morfed into housing tracks. The destination "resort" feature of the latest DR approved in Crook County is RV spaces and it's across the street from a major Ag region in Powell Butte. That's why we have UGB to control the proper location for urban growth. That's also why the Ballot Measure passed by a 2-to-1 margin in Crook County to halt further DR's.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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You right on. Local control is through a planning commission. Trouble is State statue for DR's trumps this. Go check out Brasada and what you find is 90% of it is still zoned EFU. For those that don't know the term - it means "Exclusive Farm Use". You pay a lot more tax on the little green grass in your backyard, then they pay on those big putting greens.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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I'm in total agreement on stopping DR's near the Metolius, but I don't agree with the logic to dump them east of Bend. I assume, east of Bend means Powell Butte. We need to be unified in stopping this cancer. A not-in-by-backyard mindset is short sited. The DR's in Powell Butte are being serviced by Avion. Guess where this water is sucked from. It isn't in Crook County. Wake up folks. Bend is doing rationing, while those additional golf course's suck us dry. Let's face it these new proposed DR's coming on line are not a Sun River class resort. They're housing tracks outside the UGB. They trump local zoning. One in particular, Pronghorn is a gated community and they've pretty much given the middle finger to Deschutes County. The jobs these DR's provide are a joke. Nobody wants to scrub toilets in Brasada. We need to face the facts that DR's are incompatible. Deschutes County needs to follow Crook County in imposing a moritorium till we get real answers on the effect DR's impact on urban growth, water, roads, wildlife habitat, and fish. We don't need a myopic view, but a tri-county planning entity that isn't in the back pockets of the real estate lobby.

posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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