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The Incomplete Council
Bend City Council has 30 days to replace two outgoing councilors
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By Jack Harvel
The Bend City Council shrunk at its regular meeting on May 18, with both Mayor Sally Russell and Councilor Rita Schenkelberg resigning near the end of the meeting. Russell’s term expires at the end of December and Schenkelberg’s runs until the end of 2023.
Russell cited exhaustion after the past four years of pandemic, social unrest and environmental disasters. Schenkelberg (they/them) said balancing a full-time job while working as a City Councilor and harassment over their race and nonbinary gender identity became untenable.
“They’re both very human-focused, emotionally involved positions,” Schenkelberg told the Source just before their resignation. “The other piece is the harassment around all of my identities was wearing me down and being it was very unsustainable for me.”
City Councilors heaped praise on Schenkelberg for bringing a distinct voice to the City Council and Russell for a decade of service. Several fought tears while apologizing to Schenkelberg for the harassment they’ve been subject to since starting their term.
“We had a conversation about how we could support you, and I feel like we have just failed you and I am so sorry for failing you,” Bend City Councilor Megan Perkins said after Schenkelberg officially resigned.
City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Gena Goodman-Campbell replaced Russell as mayor after fellow City Councilors nominated her. Goodman-Campbell said during her appointment that City Council meetings will look different with a working mom leading them.
“It always will look different every time we have a different mayor at the helm, because everybody is different in their styles,” Goodman-Campbell told the Source. “It’s really healthy for an elected body to have different perspectives and different viewpoints with different life experiences in our leaders.”
The City Council has 30 days to replace the two vacated seats, and if it fails to do so they will be up for election in November. Schenkelberg said they hope their replacement understands the challenges of public life and can represent voices that may not be present on the current City Council.
“I hope that they fully understand the position and feel like that’s something sustainable for them,” Schenkelberg said. “I hope that they have a focus in diversity and understanding how important representation is. I hope that they feel energized and wanting to continue to make changes at the city government level.”
City Councilors Megan Perkins, Melanie Kebler and the new Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Broadman will take the first steps of reviewing applicants and making recommendations.
“We haven’t discussed any specific priorities and will be most focused on somebody who we believe can come up to speed quickly and do the job effectively,” Goodman-Campbell said. “I think Rita’s perspective as a renter was incredibly valuable on Council, and it is something that we’ll be keeping in mind as we go through this process.”
The City Council last appointed a member of City Council in June of 2019, when it chose Chris Piper to replace the seat Russell vacated when she assumed the role of Bend’s mayor. The decision drew controversy for its lack of clarity in process, the partisan framing of balancing the City Council, an officially non-partisan position and choosing Piper over a member of an unrepresented group.
The appointment happened at the start of Goodman-Campbell’s tenure, and she said the City Council will seek to avoid the same criticisms this time around by having a concrete process drawn out in the council rules.
“I think it is helpful when you’re in this time of change and uncertainty to have a process to walk through,” she said. “Having observed how that process went in 2019, two of us from the inside and three from the outside, we’re all really committed to having that dialogue be public.”
Jack Harvel
Bend Mayor Sally Russell, left, and Bend City Councilor Rita Schenkelberg, right, made their last appearances as elected officials at Bend City Council’s regular meeting on May 18.
Election Results, So Far
Preliminary results from the May primaries are out, though official results will have to wait
By Jack Harvel
It’s Oregon’s first election where ballots can be sent as late as Election Day, delaying results. Official results won’t be released when this article goes to print, but here’s what we’ve seen so far in unofficial results.
Deschutes County Commissioner: Incumbent Tony DeBone leads challenger Scott Stuart 75-25% in the Republican primary. Democrat Oliver Tatom, who ran unopposed, will face DeBone in the November election. Both candidates for Deschutes County Commissioners Position 3, incumbent Patti Adair on the Republican side, and Morgan Schmidt on the Democratic side, ran unopposed.
Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District: Jamie McLeod-Skinner is leading incumbent Kurt Schrader with 60% of the vote in the Democratic Primary— though ballot-counting delays in Clackamas County are making this one a protracted nail-biter. Lori ChavezDeRemer is ahead in the five-person Republican primary with 45% of the vote.
Oregon Governor: Former House Speaker Tina Kotek is the clear leader in the Democratic Primary for governor with 57% of the vote. Christine Drazan on the Republican ticket leads with 23% of the vote.
U.S. Senate: Incumbent Ron Wyden clinched the Democratic nomination for Oregon with 90% of the vote. Jo Rae Perkins holds a slight lead in the seven-person Republican Primary for the with 33%, compared to her nearest challenger, Darin Harbick, who’s won 31% of the vote.
The City of Redmond appears to have approved a bond measure to construct a new police department building 56%-44%.
A bond that would fund a Sunriver public safety building is ahead 68%-32%.
Crook County narrowly rejected a bond that would fund school facility upgrades 51%-49%.
St. Charles Staff Sacked
After several difficult years dealing with COVID, Bend’s largest employer is laying off nearly 200 staff members
By Jack Harvel
Jack Harvel
St. Charles is cutting nearly 200 people from its roughly 4,500 workforce as labor costs rise and caregivers perform fewer elective surgeries.
Central Oregon’s largest employer, St. Charles Health System, announced this month it would be laying off 105 people and eliminating 76 positions that are currently vacant. The health system is Central Oregon’s largest employer, retaining over approximately 4,500 employees across the region.
St. Charles said most positions it’s eliminating are non-clinical positions in areas including finance, IT and human resources. But even while it’s laying off nearly 200 people, it’s also still aggressively recruiting for positions.
“It’s a delicate balance, because at the same time, we still have a number of openings that we need and will still continue to recruit for,” said Rebecca Berry, vice president of human resources at St. Charles Health System, during a press conference. “Those openings are largely in patient-facing areas that are critical to making sure that we have the people in the right roles to care for our patients and for our community,”
St. Charles says the layoffs won’t cause any services to close, and that the layoffs will recoup losses stemming from the last two years of the pandemic. St. Charles CFO Matt Swafford said the hospital system lost $21.8 million this year, or a negative 6.7% operating margin. The biggest drain on the system’s finances is in increased staffing costs and diminished surgery volume. Contract labor, like travelling nurses, have been brought in to accommodate for COVID surges and represents a much higher share of labor costs than before the pandemic.
A March report from Kaufman Hall, a financial advisory firm, found labor expenses rose 37% on a per-patient basis between 2019 and March 2022 in a sample of 900 hospitals. In that time contract labor rose from 2% to 11% of labor expenses and regularly employed nurse wages increased by 11%.
“Pre-pandemic, we had really worked hard to lower and really minimize the use of contractors and have really focused and were able to fill positions. So, we’re definitely higher right now—that number has been coming down,” Berry said. “We’re going to continue our focus on our recruitment efforts to bring and fill those positions and minimize the use of travelers going forward.”
St. Charles officials say layoffs are a last resort, and come after substantial cost-cutting efforts failed to get the system out of the red. It has pulled about $65 million out of its long-term reserve fund since fall of 2021, about 10% of its total value, increased its line of credit and financed $75 million in bonds that will be due in 2032. Even with the staffing cuts and cost-saving initiatives, the hospital system will still need to find a path for long-term viability.
“With these initiatives, including the layoffs, we still estimate that we will be recording a significant loss from operations for 2022. And so, the importance of these initiatives and the impact of these layoffs will require us to continue to dig a little bit deeper so that we can make sure that we are sustainable for the long term,” Swafford said.
Medical Helicopter Crashes in Christmas Valley
The Bend-based Airlink helicopter crashed on its way to pick up a patient, seriously injuring at least two people on board
By Jack Harvel
An AirLink medical helicopter crashed while landing at the Christmas Valley Airport on its way to pick up a patient last week. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, which occurred in windy conditions around 5:24 pm on May 18, according to NTSB public affairs officer Peter Knudson.
Knudson said the crash seriously injured two of the four people on board, which included two pilots and two medical personnel. AirLink’s parent firm, Global Medical Response, confirmed all four crew members were transported to local hospitals for evaluation.
“They landed hard, and the helicopter rolled. The helicopter had substantial damage; two of the people were injured, seriously injured,” Knudson said. “[The other two] might have minor injuries, but they weren’t considered serious.”
Airlink maintains another helicopter and two fixed-wing aircraft in the region. The cause of the crash is yet to be determined by the NTSB, but Knudson said a report should be released within one to two weeks.
Courtesy of Jamal Jackson via Facebook
Noticias en Español El municipio de la ciudad de Bend tiene 30 días para reemplazar dos concejales salientes
El concejo municipal de la ciudad de Bend redujo su personal durante la junta del 18 de mayo, tanto la alcaldesa Sally Russell como la concejala Rita Schenkealberg renunciaron a su puesto al casi terminar la reunión. La vigencia del puesto de Russel se vence a finales de diciembre y la de Schenkelberg continua hasta finales de 2023.
Russell citó el agotamiento después de los últimos cuatro años de pandemia, el descontento social y los desastres ambientales. Schenkelberg (ellos/ellas/los/las) dijo que el nivelar un trabajo de tiempo completo al trabajar como concejal de la ciudad y el acoso por su raza y su identidad de género no binaria llegó a ser insostenible.
“Ambos puestos están muy enfocados en el ser humano, en los que uno se involucra sentimentalmente,” Schenkelberg le comentó a the Source un poco antes de su renuncia. “El otro punto es el acoso en relación a todas mis identidades lo cual me estaba desgastando y me era muy instolerable.”
Los concejales de la ciudad elogiaron a Schenkelberg por traer un punto de vista diferente al municipio de Bend y a Russell por una década de servicio. Muchos lucharon en contener las lágrimas mientras se disculpaban por el acoso al cual han sido expuestos desde que comenzaron su mandato.
“Platicamos sobre cómo podríamos apoyarte y siento que te fallamos, lamento mucho haberte fallado,” dijo la concejala de la ciudad de Bend Megan Perkins, después de que Schenkelberg presentó su renuncia oficial.
La concejala municipal y alcaldesa por el momento, Gene Goodman-Campbell reemplazó a Russell como alcaldesa después que sus colegas concejales la nominaron. Goodman-Campbell dijo durante su nombramiento que las reuniones del concejo municipal serán diferentes con una madre con un trabajo encargándose de las reuniones.
“Siempre será diferente cada vez que tengamos un alcalde diferente al mando porque todos tienen estilos diferentes,” le comento Goodman-Campbell a the Source. “Es muy bueno para alguien electo tener diferentes perspectivas y diferentes puntos de vista junto con diferentes experiencias de vida en nuestros líderes.”
El concejo municipal tiene 30 días para reemplazar las dos plazas vacantes y si no lo logra se presentarán a elección en noviembre. Schenkelberg dijo que esperan que su reemplazo entienda los retos de la vida pública y que pueda representar las voces que no pueden estar presentes en el concejo municipal actual.
NOTICIAS Después de varios años difíciles lidiando con la COVID, el empleador más grande de Bend está dando de baja a casi 200 empleados
El empleador más grande del centro de Oregon, St. Charles Health System, anunció este mes que estará dando de baja a 105 personas y que eliminaría 76 puestos actualmente vacantes. El sistema de salud es el empleador más grande del Centro de Oregon, quedando con aproximadamente 4,500 empleados a lo largo de la región.
St. Charles dice que la mayoría de las bajas son puestos no clínicos en las áreas de finanzas, tecnología informática y recursos humanos. Pero a pesar que está dando de baja a casi 200 empleados, también sigue con fuerza reclutando personal.
St. Charles dijo que las bajas no causarán el cierre de ningún servicio y que las bajas recuperaran las pérdidas derivadas de los dos últimos años de la pandemia. El director financiero de St. Charles, Matt Swafford dijo que el sistema hospitalario perdió $21.8 millones este año o un margen operativo negativo del 6.7% del margen operativo. El mayor consumo de las finanzas se encuentra en el incremento de los costos de personal y la disminución del volumen de cirugías. Se ha contratado mano de obra laboral, como enfermeros(as) viajantes, para adaptarse a los aumentos repentinos de la COVID y representa una proporción mucho mayor de los costos laborales que antes de la pandemia.
Un reporte de marzo de Kaufman Hall, una firma de asesoría financiera, encontró que los gastos laborales aumentaron 37% por ciento entre 2019 y marzo de 2022 en una muestra de 900 hospitales. Durante ese tiempo, la contratación laboral aumentó del 2% al 11% de los gastos laborales y los salarios de los enfermeros(as) contratadas aumentó en un 11%.
