In Oregon, the most important land use decisions are made by the state. City councilors are also very important to the work we do as YIMBYs – they make many decisions over the years that are hugely influential on the amount and kind of homes that are built. Cities are where most people in Oregon reside.
In Oregon, counties sit kind of between the state and the city: they’re important to housing, but often in more roundabout ways, since unincorporated county land is not where most people are going to live.
Counties do important work in terms of homelessness, and in Deschutes county we’ve seen the county help out with surplus land for affordable housing. They also need to coordinate with cities in terms of planning for when cities expand – Urban Growth Boundaries are not a hard, “forever” line.
With that in mind, we are endorsing candidates that we think would work well for Deschutes county, and that we could work well with.
In several races, our members supported multiple candidates, so we are endorsing them. For the November elections, we expect to select one individual.
Position #1: Jamie Collins
Position #3: Amanda Page and Amy Sabbadini
Position #4: Rick Russell
Position #5: Jennifer Letz and Morgan Schmidt
Bend YIMBY 