Monday, October 22, 2007

The Collapse of Bend Has Begun

I don't know if anyone else got this feeling, but the din on the Bearish Buzz Meter seemed to redline for most of the week. There just seemed to be a non-stop cacophony of intense negative sentiment towards housing primarily, but the masses are starting to grasp the effects that wiping out trillions in Bubble wealth is going to have on the rest of the economy.

Starting locally, you can see the deleterious effects overblown housing prices are having on industry. After engaging in what are almost certainly under-the-table dealings with Columbia Air higher-ups, Cessna stated that it would keep a dramatically scaled down Columbia in Bend, only if it's rent was cut in half.

Although they probably will at some point, Cessna doesn't really address any other cost as a contingent reason for keeping Columbia, other than real estate costs. The real estate costs aren't just some small, insignificant side issue here: It's the primary driver of Cessna's decision. Columbia is just the tip of the iceberg.

Industry is evacuating Bend like there's an Ebola epidemic here. And many companies, Cessna included, probably are thinking that price per sq ft on their rented space is their primary real estate cost driver, and it's really not. The high cost of residential homes is indirectly borne by every company here. How do you think rents & mortgages get paid?

That $1 million per week in operating losses quoted by Columbia officials is going to pay for, among many other things, employees & their real estate needs. In fact real estate costs are among the highest costs for local working Bendites (some of the highest in the U.S.), and therefore one of the highest costs for local businesses.

I've said this till I'm blue in the face, but the inflation caused by high home (and commercial RE) prices is pervasive; it'll invade everywhere. Columbia Air, Bend Tarp & Liner, Oregon Woodworking, and Seaswirl are just the tip of the iceberg. These companies are either folding or moving almost entirely due to real estate costs & it's after effects.

Companies are UNABLE to hire employees here. Why? Because no one can live here on peanuts anymore. "Poverty with a view" used to be doable here. You could live dead simple, go agrarian, or even as BendBust has suggested, go into "hunter/gatherer" mode to make ends meet. "Poverty with a view" just is impossible nowadays... maybe in Burns, but not here.

So what companies are really faced with is this: Can I make the mortgage payments on the typical Bend home, plus all the other necessities of life for each of my employees to produce the goods/services my company makes at a competitive price? And the answer is becoming an overwhelming "No".

The economics of staying & working in Bend is fast becoming an untenable proposition for thousands of people, because it is completely impossible for the companies located here. I think I read that the typical Bend family needs to make something like $25/hr for each working adult to survive here. 98% of all Bend companies cannot pay a wage anywhere close to that. Somethings gotta give.

The shrill din of bearishness recently has become almost unbearable. We're almost certainly in a recession, and it is almost certainly due primarily to deflating home prices. Some people wonder why I would even have to affirm such an obvious fact... but read some of the comments, there are still a decent sized contingent of True Believers. So we are being pushed into recession because ALL home prices are declining (not just subprime), and homes are the primary "container" of wealth in this country.

And the U.S. home market has experienced a faint shadow of what Bend has gone through in the past 5 years. We literally hit the Housing Bubble Lottery Jackpot. Probably not a single other town in the U.S. that has done as well as Bend. Probably less that 1 in a 1,000 that have done as well as Bend in the past 20 years; we went from half the national median to almost double at the dead white-hot top last year.

So what happens here? Everyone else is worried about a nasty recession due to an appreciation slump that should make the average Bendite laugh. I don't think people will be laughing long. The contagion of RE inflation will reach into every nook & cranny in our local economy, even more so than it has already. Combine that with a complete cessation of lending on what has essentially been a proxy for Americans income: their housing ATM.

And the bearishness became almost intolerable. Look at last weeks comment count: Over 300 comments, many of the grave-dancing variety. Some really severe beating on those who have used local rags as their own PR/Marketing tabloids for spreading rampant misinformation. The local media & the local RE machine are complicit in pumping the Bend Dream to levels that are simply unsustainable. And this blog has take more than it's share a swipes at them for it, and most deservedly so. In fact, I consider the uncovering of blatant lies by local media as being one of the primary goals of this blog.

So Phase I, "The Recognition of The Bubble & All It's Terrible Consequences" seems to be happening, and with some decidedly furious intensity in the past week. And I'll admit that on a personal level, I get a bit of "validation satisfaction" from that. But then I start thinking about what's really on the other side of this thing. And not just from a selfish perspective of, "Hey, it'll be great! I'll finally be able to afford to buy that house I've always wanted at a rock-bottom price! Cool!". But from a real all-inclusive viewpoint: From that perspective, I'm actually pretty sure I WON'T be able to buy that house I've always wanted to because of the vicious after-effects of what the RE inflation has wrought; a completely destroyed industrial sector and a gutted business base.

There won't be anything here for me (and many, MANY others) when housing gets to very attractive levels. If you can buy for ALL CASH and have a reliable income stream that is 100% independent of the local economy, then you will be one of the rare individuals who will be able to capitalize on the Implosion of Bend. There is the occasional commenter who seems to intimate that they have a steady local job at attractive wages, plenty of savings, and a cash cushion, and are therefore pretty much immune to a local downturn. But I really start to wonder how secure ANY job is around here. I know people who moved to Bend to work at Columbia, and until recently fit this bill to a T. But they are now fully aware that they may lose their job and have to relocate. And they also know they are underwater on their home by $100K, which is where a lot of their "savings" was. They're not broke... but they are in a definite crunch, because they MUST sell their home in order to keep their income stream alive.

If the rest of the country goes into recession, Bend will almost certainly experience something akin to a depression. Even Bill Valentine said that since Bend went up 50% more than the rest of the country (only 50%?), it'll experience a commensurate decline. And the collapse of Bend, while late in coming, has begun. And we are starting to see it manifest itself in a number of ways.

First, Becky Breeze, a much maligned target for RE fibbery, has not sold nearly the unit volume at The Plaza that she claims. Whether it's "most", "about 25%", or whatever she is claiming now, it seems that only 2-3 Plaza condos have sold. Why would she lie? And lie about information that is publicly available? I know she was long schooled at the Community College of Creating Perceived Shortages, as were most area Realtors, but I wonder if she (and others) have to make such claims to assuage the fears of those they are indebted to.

Becky & Tom seem to be in a World of hurt with The Plaza. It is just a terribly conceived idea. It's the sort of thing that could only work in a real urban center, where there truly exist intractable land shortages. And at the time they were in the planning stages, I'm sure it seemed like Bends "land shortage" would only become more acute. So they went forward, completely oblivious to the fact that high land prices "produced" land out of thin air, all over Bend. Subdividing pretty much became the only game in town at the tail end of the Bend Bubble.

But peruse craigslist, or the Bulletin and you will find we are AWASH IN LAND. It's everywhere (One of the main "suppliers" is chameleon "Destination Resorts".) One of the "unintended side effects" of RE inflation; where once there was none, there is a tsunami. Every inch of Measure 37 approved scrub, is getting chopped into innumerable lots. Becky's wonderful concept both made possible AND destroyed by the RE Bubble. And have no illusions, this same fate awaits virtually EVERY SINGLE LARGE RE PROJECT IN CENTRAL OREGON. Lafky's Mercato? Dead. Redmond Water Park? Dead. Yarrow? Dead. IronHorse? Dead. Remington Ranch? Dead. These, all the other chameleon subdiv's, along with Breeze's Plaza will stand as a near permanent testament to the lunacy of the past 3-4 years. For the want of just a few short years of hyper-speculation, this town will be lost.

A commenter from many moons back said they saw a plaque on Arnie Swarens (long-time Sisters Realtor) desk that said something along the lines of, "God, give me the knowledge to not waste the next real estate bubble". Well, it's over. If you've still got skin in the game, you've overstayed and will probably lose everything you made, if not more. If you're out, well Congrats.

But if I were you, I would take my chips and go. The other side of this Mega-Bubble is not likely to be pretty. There will be little if anything to retain business, and the only thing that'll remain is outrageously overpriced vanity businesses -- which will dissipate your winnings far faster than somewhere boring, but less expensive. And they sure as hell ain't going to reflate the Bend RE souffle.

This place is utterly doomed. We've got mind-boggling incompetence in local government, the primary economic engine of the local economy collapsing, the collateral damage of RE inflation slaughtering almost everything else, local media that has no compunction about lying for the sole purpose of frisking every last nickel from locals or immigrants for the benefit of an elite few. All these parties seem bent on absolutely destroying this place.

And that's what has got Paul-doh a little depressed this week. Stock market falling apart, local builders going wholesale with imploding subdiv's, Timmy posting an ever increasing tide of preforeclosure announcements, BendBB posting listing price cuts that are truly stupefying (look at those bad boys! The single digit percent cut is becoming a rarity..), Secretary Paulson stating flat out that housing presents the biggest challenge to the US economy, and a host of other events that you'd think would make a Bearish Bubble Prognosticator positively giddy.

But no. Because I'm starting to get a glimpse of the other side. The Ultimate Product of this Experience can be summed up in 2 words: Human Misery. People getting fired, people losing their homes, peoples hopes & dreams going up in smoke. And for every Becky Breeze or Aaron Lafky whose Super Project ends in a quiet demise, at least 100 "normals", just ordinary people doing ordinary jobs, will also succumb to the Bend Mega Bubble.

And all the "validation" in the World about being dead ass right, will really never compensate for how shitty that makes me feel.

326 comments:

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tim said...

Love that Woodhill Homes site.

How many different ways can you scream, "please buy a fucking house!"

Anonymous said...

he had sold them on Lease-Option

Woodhill Homes is doing the 'lease-option' bit to move inventory...

*

This is how BUBBLE's ALWAYS end, seen three cycles now. NOTE your cunt "DON LLOYD", read his SHIT carefully, this is what he's telling BUYERS to do to get rich. NOTE you can't MTG for JUMBO, this is the ONLY way to SELL jumbo.

So the suckers 'lease-option', which means they pay HIGHER than prevailing rents today, which they hope that the builder passes to his BANK, rarely do they, in every cycle I have seen what they do is pocket the cash to float their sub's and suppliers as long as they can.

Suprisingly, pocketing 'money' on a lease-option is NOT fraud, as a 'lease-option' is just rent money, and you don't even have to OWN the property. NOTE THIS CLEARLY EVERYONE these BUILDER's DONT OWN THIS SHIT, they're RENTING someone elses property.

In about 1-2 years 90% of these retners are going to get a notice of default from the bank, that says this house has been repo'd, and there's NOT a fucking thing you can do.

If you BUY on contract in a REAL buy, you can have ALL the monthly payments go to an ESCROW and demand that lien-holders be paid before the builder, but with a lease-option, you cannot really demand that in the lease-agreement, because a sale has NOT been executed.

In summary the 'lease-option' is what you always see in Oregon during the last 1-2 year death cycle, its keeps cash flowing so the builder can wrap-up and get out. He can pocket all the 'rent' cash, and there's NOT a fucking thing anyone can do its all how the game is played.

Thank god for lawyers.

Anonymous said...

A lease-option is the builders ONLY option, the BUYER's best option is to wait.

Usually what happens in these deals is the lease-option 'buyer' gives a $2k down, which is passed to a Realtor as a fixed commission. Then the builder gets the higher than prevailing rent payments, which he pockets. All the bank notices of default go to the buiders mailing address, and not the home. Thus the leaser never knows of foreclosure until the sheriff posts notice on the front door.

The last time this shit happened in Oregon was 1983-84 and tons of people ( renter/virtual-buyer ) got shafted, and all the builders went on after BK, to do all over again in todays cycle.

*

Why a Lease Option May Be Your Best Option

Published by Darris under Woodhill Homes

Due to the recent sub-prime meltdown, many mortgage companies are tightening their lending standards. These tightened standards are making it difficult for many people to obtain loans, which is why Woodhill Homes is now offering a Lease Option.

With a Lease Option the monthly payment on a home is less than a standard mortgage payment; leaving you with more cash at the end of each month. Additionally, a portion of your monthly payment is credited toward your future purchase of the home as equity.

This equity credit is a great benefit to those that are having difficulty obtaining a mortgage difficult lending environment.

Anonymous said...

The end of the line is here.

Today the only way builders can DUMP bend JUMBO RE is by lease-option.

It will take about a year to use this cash-flow to finance bankruptcy attorneys.

In about a year all of our Bend builders will be gone.

Construction will be over.

All this is just the normal deflating of the Oregon RE BOOM-BUBBLE.

Todays WSJ says that inventory is at an all time high, that BUYERS are out of the game, in 2-3 days the Oregonian will report such, and probably in a week the BULL will turn the info upside down. The fact is that the masses are now going to be told that RE boom is over.

Anonymous said...

NOTE THIS CLEARLY EVERYONE these BUILDER's DONT OWN THIS SHIT, they're RENTING someone elses property.

*

Your landlord is a LLC, Your landlord doesn't own the property. By the time you get the sheriff's notice on your front door, your landlord has file bankruptcy protection, which means legally your not even allowed to call him and whine.

You have no recourse.

Anonymous said...

SMUG, a few post ago HOMER called Sebastian SMUG,

Why shouldn't they be SMUG, they have the Bend courts behind them, the city council, the lawyers, everybody is on on the get-rich-quick program.

Yes, they're very SMUG, and they always WIN,

Welcome to Oregon.

Anonymous said...

It will take about a year to use this cash-flow to finance bankruptcy attorneys.


*

Remember in 1983 Hollern ( Brooks ) was cash-poor, and land rich.

Today he's cash-poor, house-rich.

Massive debt on loans to banks for the houses that aren't selling.

Now the lawyers start making money, and working over-time.

All these structured LLC's are now put to use, the courts get busy, everybody makes money.

Time to start planning where to spend your long term vacation during the dark-years, mexico? spain? I'm thinking as a builder here. Those of you staying Bend, I'll send you a postcard.

Lease-Option, ahhh I love lease-option, this is the end of the line, this is when you know the cash is gone. This is the last way to raise cash, once this plays out, ... there is no other way.

You need to feed your bankruptcy attorney to protect your ASSETS before its too late, this winter is going to be a very busy time for Bend Bankruptcy attorneys.

Anonymous said...

So the suckers 'lease-option', which means they pay HIGHER than prevailing rents today, which they hope that the builder passes to his BANK, rarely do they, in every cycle I have seen what they do is pocket the cash to float their sub's and suppliers as long as they can.

*

Can someone post some of these insights as a comment on the Woodhill site/blog? We should take bets on how long it lasts up there.

I give it 30 minutes......

tim said...

>>These tightened standards are making it difficult for many people to obtain loans, which is why Woodhill Homes is now offering a Lease Option.

Let me rephrase that...

"These tightened standards are making it difficult for many people who can't afford homes, and never should have been able to get loans in the first place, to obtain loans, which is why Woodhill Homes is now offering a Lease Option."

>>Can someone post some of these insights as a comment on the Woodhill site/blog? We should take bets on how long it lasts up there.
I haven't tried it, but I wouldn't be surprised if comments were invisible there until approved.

Anonymous said...

Can someone post some of these insights as a comment on the Woodhill site/blog? We should take bets on how long it lasts up there.

*

These are NOT insights, these are historical FACTS of Oregon, this is exactly how the last RE recessions played out, and this is my third.

Regarding the person who says to post this shit @woodhill, leave them alone, if they or their customers truly cared knowing the true history of Oregon they wouldn't be looking to 'buy' a home on lease-option in the this late part of the game ( bend bubble collapse ).

Experience is the best teacher. The young need to get a good beating when they're young to understand how the system works.

No fucking insight, historical fucking observation having been in Oregon for 40+ years, at the end of every building boom, the financing by banks is terminated, and then the only way to DUMP is by lease-option, and generally that late in the game the builder has no moral obligation to pay the bank, so its always best to 'pocket' the monthly payments. When I say 'pocket' the actuality is much is eaten up by your favorite bankruptcy attorney practicing in PDX or SEA ( oregon bar approved ).

No fucking insight here, just cold ugly Oregon history. I might add that this is a BIG fucking bubble implosion, so multiply my conservative 'insights' by ten to find reality.

Anonymous said...

Bend is about FRAUD, Everything we have discussed since xmas here is about FRAUD.

Bend is the Fraud capital of US RE. The city of Bend promoted the fraud with taxpayer money. The BULL&SORE perpetuated the Fraud.

All the citizens became enriched from the Fraud.

As BEM eloquently points out "Everybody does it", no BEM everybody doesn't do it, and this is why Bend will implode and become a pariah, a poster child of Bubble-Mania.

Read the above, Paisley just smelled the fact that the politicians were going to "BEND" paisley, and 90% of the public recalled them. On the other hand in Bend 90% of the public is 100% for the fraud. There are many good people in Oregon, but Bend is based on Fraud.

Everyone in Oregon see's Bend as a pariah, and soon the nation.

Anonymous said...

Duncan has a good take today on the 'sebastian' rumor, but like he says there has been no proof.

I have saying since yesterday, "SO WHAT".

If you didn't sell ALL your pending last fall, and cash-out, and get out, then the ONLY exit is BK ( ch-11 ).

This is NO big deal, and NOT even a story, I'm sure that just like Hollern, that every project that Sebastian has is its OWN LLC, and thus if one LLC files ch-11, so what, it doesn't have to pay creditors. ...

This is how the bubble is going to end, it means nothing.

On the other hand if true, what it means is go hang out at the big suppliers for builders and look and see the inventory's and the turn-over. These are the folks like Miller-Lumber, that will be hurt when the builders file ch-11.

Duncan is right its very early. They're just starting the lease-option now, it usually takes 1-2 years of non-payment before the occupant gets booted. My guess is that by 2010 most of todays builders will have most of their LLC's shutdown.

The other day someone rhetorically asked - "Why did the builder sell his home in Bend?" Because they're moving on, once you fuck the supplier, you really can't do business ever again, ...

On the grand scale none of this really means anything, those that really care can march over to the court-house and see what bankruptcy's have been filed.

For now watch the trends, we know that JUMBO has halted, and Bend is jumbo. Everyone will soon be trying to DUMP their mcMansion using lease-option.

Smart people got out last year, smart people are selling now, by reducing the price, and making things real nice. Only those under-water cannot sell. Jumbo didn't really get shutdown until August 07, even in September CACB was promising to finance JUMBO, and look how their stock reacted.

A lot of builders in Bend, and when I say that I'm including the city-hall, they thought they had everything under control, just like Juniper-Ridge. Its only been two months since August, and Bend will now unravel very quickly.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Keep an eye on that craigslist widget... always good for something of interest:


Short Sales in Bend
Reply to: fanderson@bendcable.com
Date: 2007-10-25, 5:25AM PDT


10 Short Sale Properties in Bend and 1 Bank Owned Repo. Great deals and some avail close or under $200K.

Call or email for details.

Fred Anderson
Anderson Realty
541-788-7355

Anonymous said...

10 Short Sale Properties in Bend and 1 Bank Owned Repo. Great deals and some avail close or under $200K

*

No real info, no addresses, but if you look closely at the pic's you'll recognize the dog's you have seen for months on craigs, what this realtor is doing is using 'short-sales' to catch fish looking for a deal, attention 'fish' bite bait in a falling market, or catch a falling knife.

tim said...

>>what this realtor is doing is using 'short-sales' to catch fish looking for a deal

There are always some suckers around to buy at 10% off what will eventually be 50% off. These are people who are still riding the "accepted knowledge" of two years ago.

Anonymous said...

Ray, Ray, Ray are you there??? Ray pick up the phone ray, ...


Bend's Juniper Ridge Project Possibly At Risk

OPB
By Ethan Lindsey

Bend, OR October 23, 2007 4:11 p.m.

The city of Bend Tuesday delayed the biggest expansion in that city's history. The 1500-acre Juniper Ridge project included a plan to add a university, two shopping districts, and thousands of homes. But now that dream could be at risk, as Ethan Lindsey reports from Bend.


Juniper Ridge isn't your grandma's urban growth boundary expansion.

The city okay'ed a PR campaign for the thing. There's been countless town hall meetings. And even promotional videos.

Promotional Video: “This will not be an old standard industrial park. We think this will attract the kind of jobs that are really driving the new economy in the United States and the World.”

For the past two years, Bend has been touting Juniper Ridge as the future for this -- Oregon's fastest growing -- city.

The idea was to build a huge new neighborhood on the city's northeast side.

But critics, including several old-time mayors, call it a screwed-up backroom deal between the city council and private developers.

Jerry Mitchell is the city's development manager for Juniper Ridge. He says this delay is, for the most part, about road costs.

The Oregon Department of Transportation raised objections about how much new streets and infrastructure would cost.

Jerry Mitchell: “Assuming we identify a solution that's acceptable to ODOT and acceptable to the community, and we have a reasonable funding strategy for that, then we would be in a position to make a commitment on the development agreement.”

Mayor Bruce Abernethy says the city has to share some blame for the screw-up.

Bruce Abernethy: “We went farther than we should have without having this transportation piece more solidified.”

But Mayor Abernethy says the delay is not an intentional hang up to stop the deal.

Bruce Abernnethy: “Anytime you are in a negotiated deal, you don't know how people are going to respond to this or to the delay. We need the cost estimates to figure out does the current proposal bring enough to the deal.”

Mitchell, the city's point man on Juniper Ridge, says he thinks the developer might be scared off by the news.

Jerry Mitchell: “Obviously we are in dialogue with the developer and we might have a lot better idea about that in the next few days.”

The developer, Juniper Ridge Partners, wouldn't return repeated calls for comment.

The deal has major ramifications for Bend and the state. Juniper Ridge was supposed to be a forward-looking growth plan that other cities in the state would model themselves after.

Now the city could be on the hook for $2.5 million if it backs out of the deal with private developers.

Anonymous said...

Worlds biggest BOND-INSURANCE FUND is going down the drain, Why in the Hell would investor BUY Bonds without insurance? Cost of Insurance? If you have to ASK, you cannot afford to borrow.

.......

MBIA Plunges After Stock Buyback Halted, First Loss (Update3)

By Christine Richard

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- MBIA Inc., the world's biggest bond insurer, plunged the most in 20 years after the company reported its first loss, ended a share buyback and failed to quell speculation it will write down more of its mortgage portfolio.

The company today reported a $36.6 million loss after reducing the value of the securities it guarantees by $342 million. Chief Financial Officer Chuck Chaplin told investors the company will stop buying its shares because it needs to conserve capital, helping stoke concerns that more asset mark downs may be ahead.

Anonymous said...

The following is getting VERY close to home. REIT's one of my favorite BEND topics, the finance of all the SHEEEEEET from The Plaza to Franklin Crossings, 100's of stupid big boxes all over Bend, all of downtown is owned by National REIT's.

Todays REPORT! REIT's are 40% over-valued. Investors are dumping this shit. A REIT that has the word 'BEND' in it, is a pariah.

Game Over, No MORE commercial building in Bend.

****

REITs See Biggest Drop Since 1998 as U.S. Rout Grows (Update1)

By Dan Levy and Hui-yong Yu


Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. real estate investment trusts are poised for their biggest decline in almost a decade as higher borrowing costs curb takeovers and reduce property values.

After outperforming the Standard & Poor's 500 Index every year from 2000 to 2006, REIT stocks may drop as much as 20 percent in the next 12 months, according to University of California economist Kenneth Rosen.

``REITs are overvalued by 25 to 40 percent relative to stocks and bonds,'' and cash flow yields are too low, said Rosen, who also runs a $480 million hedge fund from Berkeley, California, that invests in real estate securities.

Property trusts that own office buildings, apartment complexes, hotels and shopping centers are losing value as banks and investors shun bonds and loans backed by subprime and commercial mortgages. That's going to drive down REIT prices, said American Century Investments fund manager Jeffrey Tyler. Morgan Stanley analysts said last month that REIT returns could decline 10 percent.

The Chicago-based National Association of Realtors said yesterday that sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell more than economists forecast in September as higher mortgage rates made it more difficult for potential buyers to get financing. Sales were down 19 percent from September 2006 and the median home price dropped.

tim said...

>>Juniper Ridge was supposed to be a forward-looking growth plan that other cities in the state would model themselves after.

Oh god lord. So not only did we want to be the next silicon valley, we also had a "lead them out of the desert" messiah complex.

Anonymous said...

Mitchell, the city's point man on Juniper Ridge, says he thinks the developer might be scared off by the news.

Jerry Mitchell: “Obviously we are in dialogue with the developer and we might have a lot better idea about that in the next few days.”

The developer, Juniper Ridge Partners, wouldn't return repeated calls for comment.

*

You, notice that nobody EVER-EVER use's his name, its always JRP, but NEVER Ray 'Rasputin' Kuratek.

I never see any article say his name, even the city-hall doc's never use his name. It's always JRP, its like he doesn't exist, which explains why he doesn't answer the phone.

ODOT scared hime away?

tim said...

Like I said before. Guys like Kuratek are all about ego, even more than they are about money. His time here is done. He's the next guy on the "Bend loved me, but now it hates me" list. Even with $60k a month or whatever, he's miserable now. Wouldn't be surprised to see him go to the next great place to live.

Anonymous said...

Kuratek proposed some unconventionally aggressive growth fi gures. The developer promised that all 1,500 acres-worth of development would be completed within 15 years. He further promised Juniper Ridge Partners would create nearly three times as many new jobs (24,000) within the project area, as the City’s just-completed Concept Plan (8,800 jobs).

Nor did the City question these figures. According to Jerry Mitchell, development manager for the City of Bend, the basis for tripling the number of new jobs was simply “the developer’s aspiration for higher employment density.” Russell noted in an interview that, “putting controls in place will guarantee more employment per acre.” Russell did not identify the controls, elaborate on how that guarantee would be enforced or indicate if the developer had any responsibility in meeting these new higher numbers. Kuratek did not respond to calls seeking comment.

http://www.bendliving.com/BUSINESS/Bend_Business_Review/Juniper_Ridge/

It's ok to pull numbers out of your ass, everybody does it, and nobody will ever question it.

Anonymous said...

Money Talks . . . and Then it Walks

Even if these “aspirations” were merely words blowing in the wind, money brings it down to earth. One of the most signifi cant factors in Russell’s recommendation of Kuratek was his “ready access to capital.” Under its agreement with the City, Juniper Ridge Partners was to put up $30 million against the City’s $40 million and the two entities would split profi ts in two equal portions, a generous split that left experts in development and fi nance incredulous.

Money talked, but it also walked--twice. Kuratek’s promised financial backer, Stockbridge Capital Partners, withdrew before the original memorandum with the City was actually signed. Stockbridge Capital Partners did not return calls seeking clarifi cation about why they pulled out. Later, the second prospective capital firm behind Kuratek, Pacifi c Coast Capital Partners, also withdrew. They refused to comment on reasons for their withdrawal. This should leave city councilors with serious questions about the fi nancial viability of the project, and also to question the dubious original premise for selecting Kuratek--ready access to capital. Prior to October 2007, the developer has no known commitment for the $30 million.

In October Kuratek found AIG, who would loan $30M to Bend for 20%/yr. Within a money Anderson ( city manager would be fired ), Russell ( city economic director ) will be next.

tim said...

>>Nor did the City question these figures. According to Jerry Mitchell, development manager for the City of Bend, the basis for tripling the number of new jobs was simply “the developer’s aspiration for higher employment density.”

One word: skyscrapers. Give me $60k per month, plus whatever the skyscrapers cost, and I'll add a million jobs in Juniper Ridge.

Anonymous said...

RENAISANCE HOMES has apparently been offering 6 months payment of your mortgage to move houses . . . but maybe it's not working:


http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8SA63TO0.html

"Oregon builders turn to incentives to move inventory"

10/16/2007 Associated Press

With the Portland region facing its largest housing inventory in three years, builders are starting to reduce prices and offer incentives to clear out stock. And they are starting to cut back on building....

...companies are using incentives such as gift cards and trips to entice buyers into taking finished houses. Luxury builder RENAISANCE HOMES has "with some conditions" offered to "pay your mortgage for six months," said Kim Whitman, the Lake Oswego-based company's vice president of sales and marketing.

Anonymous said...

Supposedly Garzini called Anderson looking for work, Anderson told Garzini he needed someone to manage Juniper Ridge. One month later Anderson is fired. Garzini is brought in and Mitchell announces that he his the manager of Juniper Ridge, then Jim Clinton quickly announces that he has been doing all the work. Juniper Ridge seems to have lots of managers, but no one in charge. Jim Clinton himself has publicly said that he has made it a full time job to work on Juniper Ridge during the past two years. Many have called the councilors involvement 'micro-management'.

Was Garzini asked to call Anderson? Did he really make this call on his own? Let's take it all at face value. Anderson had NO confidence Mitchell, so tried to replace him with Garzini. That got him fired. It seems like Garzini is going to be kept around, at least six months. Most likely the next to go is Mitchell.

In the long term we have NO idea how much has been spent on Juniper Ridge, even if its never even developed. The lawsuits against the city, the destroyed careers, the failed political ambitions will wreck havoc on Bend for years. Then there is the public and State lawsuits for violating public meeting laws.

Garzini back in Bend: Can he advance Juniper Ridge?

Sep 26, 2007 03:23 PM
All options on the table when it comes to 'tweaking' Juniper Ridge, says new 'assistant to city manager' Ron Garzini
All options on the table when it comes to 'tweaking' Juniper Ridge, says new 'assistant to city manager' Ron Garzini

'Nothing is sacred ground' in possible project changes

By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM

After a quarter-century of public-sector work around the Northwest, including two stints as Bend's interim city manager, Ron Garzini was back home in Redmond, retired and ... well, bored.

So, he recalled, he called up current Bend City Manager Andy Anderson a couple of months ago, telling him "I was looking for something to do again."

"I wasn't even thinking of Bend - I was thinking wherever, through the network of (city) managers," said Garzini, at 60 a veteran of local, state and federal government, from managing industrial parks from La Pine to Alaska and, most recently, serving as interim city manager in the Portland suburb of West Linn for four months in 2005.

What Anderson ended up doing was asking for Garzini's help with the storm-tossed project known as Juniper Ridge. On Tuesday, the city announced that Garzini had been brought aboard as "temporary project manager" - but Garzini told KTVZ.COM that's not quite right, as the project already has Jerry Mitchell as a manager of the up to 1,500-acre mixed-use project.

Anonymous said...

RENAISANCE HOMES has apparently been offering 6 months payment of your mortgage to move houses . .

*

These are all high-end homes, aka JUMBO. Ever since Aug-07, Jumbo has been shut-down. Nobody is going to fund a home over $420k in Bend, given that there is certainty that the prices will fall below that amount.

JUMBO even with high rates is still too risky, note back this summer JUMBO was offered for 8%, a few were written. To date NO MTG's have been bought. The market has only been buying small loans that are written FHA, all other's are being carried by the MTG companys, which are paper rich ( toxic paper ), and cash poor.


Even at 8% investors didn't BUY jumbo's. To date the high-end people are MORE likely to walk-away from under-water property than so called sub-prime or low income. The 'rich' simply walk-away or declare bankruptcy.

It doesn't do any good to offer six months of MTG paid, when you cannot obtain a jumbo loan.

All that is now left is Contract Sale, or Lease-Option Sale, or Pure Rent. The problem with pure rent/lease is there is NO commission for the realtor. The problem with lease-option and contract. Is that there is little leverage to force the builder to actually pass your payments on to the bank.

Think about 100's of houses that can't be sold, and each has a huge bank payment. The burn rate is incredible. There are dozen's of builders in Bend sitting on tens, hundred's, and thousand's of property's that cannot be sold.

tim said...

And speaking of AIG...

AIG may take $9.8 billion subprime hit

Anonymous said...

Other than the smell of pussy on this blogsite, the second best thing is the majority of renters present. Experts in home ownership! Sort of like a group of virgins discussing sex.

Anonymous said...

Experts in home ownership! Sort of like a group of virgins discussing sex.

You dickhead! In the last 5 years I have owned a Tri, 4-plx, 8plex, & 3 homes. I came to Bend this last April with the goal of purchasing one of these wonderful small acreages on the outside of town. Lo and behold, I step into the biggest RE bubble of the last 50 years. The reason many on this site are so into this blog is they are searching for an in potentially. Why would a bunch of endless renters be so into this blog, only to see the beautiful of this town get fucked? That is just a side show bonus. Now you audience before you start popping off you fucking panty waste!

Anonymous said...

The reason many on this site are so into this blog is they are searching for an in potentially.

[ What is is this electrical engineer really trying to say? ]

Now you audience before you start popping off you fucking panty waste!

[ I think he's saying that he pooped his pants. Please clarify. ]

Anonymous said...

I came to Bend this last April with the goal of purchasing one of these wonderful small acreages on the outside of town.

[ Juniper Ridge is for sale. Go to Craigs-List there are ton's of propertys outside of town for sale. Unless you have water rights, and 90% don't there is nothing wonderful about isolated desert property outside of Bend. ]

Anonymous said...

A taste of what’s to come:

• Bistro Corlise, a French bistro located in the former Vino Mercato space on Wall Street, is expected to open by Halloween.

• Typhoon!, the Portland-based Thai restaurant chain, is planning on opening two restaurants in the Franklin Crossing building by the end of November. Typhoon!, located on the northwest corner of the building on Bond Street, should be open Nov. 16.

• Bo Restobar, a bar and small eatery by the Typhoon! owners, will open soon after Typhoon! on the southeast corner of the building on Franklin Avenue.

• The Summit, a saloon and music venue, is expected to open in the O’Kane Building on Oregon Avenue and Bond Street. The 6,400-square-foot space formerly housed Bend City Grill and is expected to open by late November.

• Decoy Bar & Grill, a “Northwest indigenous” cuisine, is expected to open Dec. 17 on the ground level of the Bond (Street) Business Condominiums on the southwest corner of Bond Street and Greenwood Avenue.

• Volo, a “new American” restaurant, is expected to start building in January and open May 1 inside the new 919 Bond building.

Recent additions:

• The Village Grill, a family-friendly sports bar, opened Sept. 17 in the former Grove space on Northwest Wall Street.

• Bistro Pow, named after powder snow and meant to inspire images of winter sports, opened Oct. 6 and is the new concept for the former site of Giuseppe’s at 932 N.W. Bond St.

Anonymous said...

I came to Bend this last April with the goal of purchasing one of these wonderful small acreages on the outside of town.

*

Where did this atrophied pussy come from?

I'll bet you one Juniper-Ridge dollar, it was cali.

April 07, came to Bend to BUY, we call these folks the 'great fools', the greatest suckers have arrived. Please BUY, and be the last holding the Bend-Bag. ( Bag of Shit )

What a sight, and old atrophied cunt, with a dick-head. I can think we have found proof that Bend REHO's are actually breeding.

It's pretty sad they come to Bend.

tim said...

>>Other than the smell of pussy on this blogsite, the second best thing is the majority of renters present. Experts in home ownership! Sort of like a group of virgins discussing sex.

Or some of us owned and got out.

Anonymous said...

There are already three builders in town (PDX) offering to pay your mortgage for six months. Renaissance says they have lower prices and move-in incentives, whatever that is. And Legend Homes' CEO says sales are down 2/3 from last year in PDX (and blames the media, rather than price-income disconnect).

So how is Bend?

Anonymous said...

HONEYMOON is OVER, KURATEK is GOING to SUE BEND.

NO MORE MR. LOVE BUNNY, RASPUTIN-RAY NOW PUTTING ON HILLY-POO MASK FOR HOLLOWEEN


Juniper Ridge split: Fork in the road - or dead end?

Oct 25, 2007 10:31 PM

Developers say city walking away; city says it just wants 'protection'

By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM

Whatever happens in the now-strained relations between the city of Bend and its chosen developers for the controversial Juniper Ridge project, one thing seems clear - the status quo is no longer that.

After the city announced on Tuesday a delay until early next year for completing a development agreement, Ray Kuratek of Juniper Ridge Partners disputed the city's claim that the shift in its stance resulted from the Oregon Department of Transportation's requirement for a fix of the Highway 97-Cooley Road interchange.

"There's more to the story than the transportation issue," Kuratek told NewsChannel 21.

"We've known about this (ODOT) decision for a long time," he said. "I think the city wants to go in a different direction, and they are using this issue as kind of a red herring to go in a different direction."

"I think our plans will not be going forward," Kuratek added. "I think it's a great plan, but I think politics and such are going in a different direction. In my opinion, this is a political situation, not a traffic situation."

Told by KTVZ.COM of Kuratek's comments, Ron Garzini, the city's special projects manager, said Thursday that the chosen developer was "partially correct - it is not just a traffic barrier."

"It is also me trying to protect the city from an agreement which exposes the city to too much risk," said Garzini, who had given the developer partners a list of the city's concerns about the project at a meeting this week.

He was not pleased, for example, with the idea of $60,000 monthly payments under the development agreement, well before land sales could begin.

"For example, I want an escape clause to protect us if the relationship deteriorates in the future," Garzini said. "Looks like a good suggestion at this point, doesn't it?"

So will all this end in legal action, as so many such tangled messes do?

"I hope to avoid all that," Garzini wrote, "but Ray has a reputation for being litigious. If he becomes reasonable, we should be able to resolve things. Maybe he will calm down."

Anonymous said...

"I hope to avoid all that," Garzini wrote, "but Ray has a reputation for being litigious. If he becomes reasonable, we should be able to resolve things. Maybe he will calm down."

*

Note 'garzini' is now the POINT man. Russell is OUT, Mitchell OUT, Anderson GONE. Bend is falling apart. New Bend Order.

When will Clinton do a Hummel and fall on his sword??

Anonymous said...

"For example, I want an escape clause to protect us if the relationship deteriorates in the future," Garzini said. "Looks like a good suggestion at this point, doesn't it?"

*

Yeh, the city council signs secret MOU, that said "I hereby fuck myself and Bend forever". Escape clause?

This is why secret meetings are illegal in the State of Oregon. Too many fucking Californians think that Oregon law doesn't apply to them.

Anonymous said...

"I hope to avoid all that," Garzini wrote, "but Ray has a reputation for being litigious.

*

All one has to do is study the open history of bay-view down in cali to see this, San Mateo literally ran Kuratek out tar&feather. What part of his operational history did fucking Bend NOT fucking understand????

Today Ray say's its all a political problem. Hello earth to Ray, 88% of Bend thinks that Juniper Ridge should be shutdown. What part of representative democracy do you fail to grasp?

Time to move to a totalitarian government that will let you run planning.

tim said...

Like I said last week, Kuratek is a spent force. Sure, he may win big loot from a city that's so stupid that5 it deserves to lose.

But he can't DO anything here any more. He'll NEVER get his hads on the levers here again.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

they are using this issue as kind of a red herring to go in a different direction

Kuratek is dead right. He was the better grifter on this, he grifted us fair & square.

The question is: Is he a Super Grifter? Will he settle for the $2.5MM we owe him or will he go for the Big Money in court, money we have absolutely no obligation to give him? Depends on The Dirt he's got on City Council.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Note 'garzini' is now the POINT man. Russell is OUT, Mitchell OUT, Anderson GONE. Bend is falling apart. New Bend Order.

When will Clinton do a Hummel and fall on his sword??


Yup... it's imploding quickly. We should start to see City Councilors leave soon. Although they could do a "Rumsfeld" and just keep clinging....

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Sort of like a group of virgins discussing sex.

Did someone say "Virgins"?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

AIG may take $9.8 billion subprime hit

These "Baby & Bathwater" earnings blowouts are not even close to ending. Like Duncan said, you can manipulate things to a decent extent. But there's at least $3-5trill of about $21trill in housing value at risk, we've got a ways to go. And I've often said that this sort of thing can go domino on you in a hurry. For want of a horse, The Kingdom Will Be Lost....

Anonymous said...

Depends on The Dirt he's got on City Council.

*

Yes, somebody is going to talk. Go back to 2005 Kuratek sat on the board of allocating federal money to affordable-housing in Bend. Plenty of places there where fraud could have been involved, and then you don't has the pathetic State, you have the fed's crawling up your ass.

Kuratek, yeh he could be the one that spills the beans, most likely they'll pay him a lot of our money to go away.

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/city_hall/meeting_minutes/october_19__2005_city_council_meeting_packet.html

A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.

Anonymous said...

But there's at least $3-5trill of about $21trill in housing value at risk, we've got a ways to go.
*
Six months ago when bendbust was talking them kind of CDO/MTG numbers you all told him he was full of shit.

Anonymous said...

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/city_hall/meeting_minutes/october_19__2005_city_council_meeting_packet.html

A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee

*

This is what is hilarious about this WHOLE FUCKING thing, this guy is an appointed committe member, yet they make him JR master-develoer, in ALL the MOU's they never use his name, just "JR pardners", and then later "JR pardners LLC". In the early days the name Kuratek is no where to be found, accept his bid on the block committee.

What is the block-grant, its federal affordable housing dollars, that Kuratek promised that he could get if he ran the board, and MY BET is this was the payback,e.g. JR was the council way of saying 'thanks' for us getting federal money.

This WHOLE thinks stinks to shit.

Anonymous said...

AIG may take $9.8 billion subprime hit
*
This is why they need Bend to pay 20%/yr on $30M forever.

Anonymous said...

Let's review the history.

Kuratek gets the block grant committee post in Bend October 2005, he promises federal money, something he has done before. Nearly the same day the city gives him the JR deal, lock, stock, & barrel, and tells tramell-crow to fuck-off.

Who profits? The condo ho's, the federal money is used to build condo's downtown, something that everyone in city hall wanted, it was the carrot payback for getting elected.

Why is Rasputin Ray pissed?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Wow, they locked the thread about the rumored Renaissance BK over on BendBB. Deleting posts, and all.

Why? Plainly stated it was a rumor. It seems like they're saying if it isn't proved TRUE, then there has been some sort of blatant spreading of misinformation, when there has been NONE.

Someone purporting to be "Renaissance" has made all sorts of flowery financial statements... but NO DENIAL OF BK. "Call Us", and we'll tell the truth. Uhhhhh... RIGHT! I'm SURE Renaissance financials will be laid bare for every anon call. Sounds fishy....

I'm actually more convinced than I was before that something is WRONG. Renaissance denying BK rumors on a BB? Hmmmm.... smells funny to me.

Duncan McGeary said...

Rumors are a nasty and very, very unfair thing.

Still, I'm not impressed by "Gross" sales.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (sounding like bilbo here) sales don't mean a thing without knowing costs.

Profits! How are the profits?

Anonymous said...

To all you Broken Top naysayers..

It’s official: Members own club
Filing of $8.36M deed ends 10-month legal feud
By David Fisher / The Bulletin
Published: October 26. 2007 5:00AM PST

The Broken Top Club’s sale to its members is complete.

After a 10-month battle to stave off a Portland developer’s plans to convert the exclusive club into a high-rise hotel/condo complex, a 146-member group called BT Members Club Inc. formally took ownership when its deed was filed Thursday in the Deschutes County Clerk’s Office.

The deed officially listed the price of the club, with its Tom Weiskopf- and Jay Morrish-designed golf course and its 15-year-old clubhouse and restaurant, at $8.36 million, but $2 million of the purchase price was credited back to the membership group to compensate it for money it already paid last summer.

The club will be run by a nine-member interim board until a permanent board can be elected, interim board member Mike Marr said.

In the meantime, a lot of questions remain up in the air, Marr said. The board doesn’t know yet, for example, whether it will reopen the restaurant to the public, or whether it will offer temporary memberships or nonequity memberships to boost revenues in the short term.

What’s certain is that the club will remain a relatively quiet presence on the city’s far southwest side, owned for the first time by its members instead of a real estate developer.

And there won’t be a new hotel.

“It feels terrific,” Marr said. “It’s been a tough fight, and I’m just pleased that so many people worked as hard as they did to make this come about.”

The sale to the club’s members has its roots in a deal they made last year with former owner Don Bauhofer and his partnership, Arrowood Development Inc.

Bauhofer offered to sell the club to its members once 300 members either contributed up to $55,000 apiece to buy it or came up with an equivalent amount in cash. When more than 140 members signed on to that deal, with most paying the difference between Bauhofer’s $55,000 price tag and the amount they originally paid to join the club, he agreed to give them 10 years to come up with the rest.

Six months later, though, Bauhofer and Arrowood sold their interest in the club to a new group centered around Seattle developer Paul Brenneke.

Later joined by his brother, Tom Brenneke, a Portland developer, Paul Brenneke’s group floated “concept” designs for a massive hotel/condo on the site of the existing clubhouse, along with more than 80 villa units strung around the tennis courts and the 18th fairway.

The members, and the surrounding neighborhoods, erupted.

A group of equity members filed suit against the new ownership group to force it to follow through with Bauhofer’s offer. The Broken Top Community Association sued to pre-empt any potential commercial development on the club that borders its neighborhoods. And Bauhofer sued, as well, alleging the hotel development would damage his own plans to build Tetherow, a new resort along the club’s southern border.

Acting on the members’ lawsuit, Deschutes County District Court Judge Alta Brady ordered the Brenneke group to sell the club to the members once they announced their intention to come up with the cash equivalent of 300 memberships. The deal closed with the filing of the deed at 12:21 p.m. Thursday.

Paul Brenneke refused to comment on the sale Thursday night. Tom Brenneke could not be reached for comment.

The deal’s closure did not end all of the questions about the club’s future.

Currently, the club has 146 “equity” members who paid to participate in the transaction, Marr said. An additional 110 golf members, who belong to the club but did not opt to buy into the equity deal, will be allowed to continue with all of their existing privileges, Marr said, but the club is not currently marketing any new nonequity memberships.

The equity members managed to amass the full $8.36 million price tag for the club, Marr said, some in cash and some through personal loans from the members. The club will have plenty of cushion to get through the winter, Marr said, thanks in part to the cushion provided by the $2 million that was credited back to them to account for the money they paid in 2006. But board members figure they will need to attract about 45 to 50 more members to keep the club’s operations in the black, he said.

Equity memberships are available for sale at $55,000 apiece to new members, Marr said. The interim board, or its successor board, will decide later whether it will try to sell other types of memberships to increase interest, but a full marketing campaign is not expected to gear up until next February or March.

David Fisher can be reached at 617-7862 or at dfisher@bendbulletin.com

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Still, I'm not impressed by "Gross" sales.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (sounding like bilbo here) sales don't mean a thing without knowing costs.

Profits! How are the profits?


Remember: Columbia Air has had RECORD SALES & RECORD DELIVERIES every year, for years.

Renaissance putting out a PR piece about record revenues means ZERO w/ respect to BK rumors.

I would agree about the Bad Karma of rumors... but man, NO ONE more richly deserves it than Randy Sebastian... not cuz he's a smug bastard, but because of his whole "Green" marketing hypocrisy.

The guy would kill a whole herd of elk, to make $5K on a schlub piece of shit house. What an ass.

Duncan McGeary said...

What Broken Top naysayers? I think most of us thought that Brenneke was the interloper, and his project a monstrosity, and his chances of success nil.

This played out the way we all thought it would.

Duncan McGeary said...

Though I still think all Brenneke's huffying and puffing was as a stalking horse for the family trust. If so, it worked.

Does anyone know if they got out with a profit?

tim said...

>>Renaissance denying BK rumors on a BB?

Why wouldn't he deny it? If you leave an insolvency rumor to spread, people have to assume it's true.

Who knows what that was all about.

But it's just the beginning of the ballgame here. Renaissance may make it, but lots of builders won't.

Anonymous said...

Let's do the Brenneke math:

$875K payment to Don B of Tetherow

TOP on the $6.5M Interest Only Weston Note

TOP of operating the club less dues or about $100K a month for 10 months.

Receive $3M in CEM funds. Spend $500K or so of that on club renovations.

Pay for lots of lawyer and architect time

Spend lots of time working on the project and travel to Bend.


Club Sale to members:

Payoff $6.5M Weston Note

Receive $6.3M from members

I suspect it was a very slight loss of $$$ and much time wasted.

Anonymous said...

||___||

How are decisions made on Bend council?
City manager firing and Juniper Ridge cast light on an often-delicate process
By Erin Golden / The Bulletin
Published: October 26. 2007 5:00AM PST

After a meeting exposed cracks in the relationship between Juniper Ridge developers and the city of Bend on Tuesday, city councilors’ varied responses to questions about their prior knowledge of the issue opened a window into the Bend City Council’s delicate balancing act between private business deals and public accountability.

Though most of the council’s day-to-day business is handled every first and third week of the month in public meetings, certain matters — including personnel discussions, business transactions and legal concerns — are set aside for executive session, in which the public is kept out and the media is let in to observe, but not to directly report on, the proceedings. In some cases, councilors said they check in with one another for feedback or meet with city staff to discuss how to move forward on a complex or sensitive issue.

And while those private conversations are not prohibited by law, two high-profile issues — the tenuous forward progress of Juniper Ridge and the firing of City Manager Andy Anderson — have put the spotlight on where and how the council makes its most sensitive decisions.

After the Oct. 17 meeting in which the council fired Anderson, Mayor Bruce Abernethy told The Bulletin that the vote came about as a result of council chatter.

“It became clear when councilors were talking amongst themselves that some expectations were not being met,” he said.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, Ron Garzini, the city’s special project manager for Juniper Ridge, met privately with at least three council members to discuss his concerns about working with the Juniper Ridge Partners. Others, however, said they were left out of the loop.

“It’s extremely difficult to have everybody at the same level of understanding when you’ve got small groups that are doing most of the negotiating with the other party,” Abernethy said. “I was aware of the need in the delay in going forward (with Juniper Ridge plans), but I was not aware of the, at least how it was portrayed, acrimonious nature of the meeting.”

Oregon law requires the council to call a public meeting for any gathering where more than three councilors will be present. That rule, created in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, is designed to keep elected officials in check, said Kevin Neely, a former spokesman for the state attorney general and a board member for Open Oregon, a nonprofit organization that works to protect open meeting and open records laws.

“People need to keep a close eye on how their government is operating, and the best way to do that is open records and open meeting laws,” Neely said. “Oregon law allows individual citizens a window into how their government works.”

And while all of the councilors contacted said they are careful to obey that rule, they noted that the planning of Juniper Ridge, a 1,500-acre mixed-use development north of Bend, has presented a unique challenge. In that venture, the city is acting as the developer, a role usually held by a private company not bound by duty to the public.

“Two private parties can do whatever they want, in a very tough negotiating style out of the view of the public,” said Councilor Jim Clinton. “But here, we have 1,500 acres owned by the public, and they have a right to know what’s going on, and that makes it more challenging.”

Despite the need for transparency, Neely said some council transactions just can’t work under the glare of the public eye and the laws surrounding the do’s and don’ts aren’t always clear.

“The laws need to balance the right of the public to know how their tax dollars are being expended with the ability of public officials to effectively operate the government,” he said. “Sometimes, that’s a fine line, especially with real estate transactions. We want our government to get as good a deal as possible, but at the same time, we want our government to negotiate in good faith and that ultimately requires some level of disclosure.”

Some councilors said misunderstandings created by individual or small group conversations are unavoidable, a result of constantly evolving negotiations and plans that can’t be stopped for approval at every step. With some long-term projects, including Juniper Ridge, the council turns some of the work over to a staff member and then waits to discuss that staffer’s findings at the next scheduled meeting.

“The way many of these things work is that the council adopts guidelines, policies, philosophies about a particular matter and delegates it to the appropriate staff to carry out the negotiations,” said Councilor Bill Friedman. “The staff’s responsibility is to come back and report to us in a public meeting or executive session where appropriate.”

But with complex issues like Juniper Ridge, councilors agreed that they have to continually work to keep the public up to date and to make their work more visible.

“The concept of us being both a developer and a City Council is sort of new for us, because we’re accustomed to operating as a public body,” said Councilor Linda Johnson. “I don’t think any of us ever conceived that we would forget that and play by different rules.”

Bend Economy Man said...

Though most of the council’s day-to-day business is handled every first and third week of the month in public meetings, certain matters — including personnel discussions, business transactions and legal concerns — are set aside for executive session, in which the public is kept out and the media is let in to observe, but not to directly report on, the proceedings.

...

Oregon law requires the council to call a public meeting for any gathering where more than three councilors will be present.


So BendBust, are the "executive sessions" legal?

If they aren't, can a concerned citizen go to court to get an injunction to force City Council to open all its meetings to the public?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Oregon law requires the council to call a public meeting for any gathering where more than three councilors will be present.

See, there doesn't seem to be some sort of "exclusion" rule.

3 COUNCILORS, PERIOD.

“The concept of us being both a developer and a City Council is sort of new for us, because we’re accustomed to operating as a public body,” said Councilor Linda Johnson. “I don’t think any of us ever conceived that we would forget that and play by different rules.”

Seems like you did though, doesn't it? Folks, this is what happens when an Old Boy Network mentality imbues local government. They consider themselves UNTOUCHABLE, and IMMUNE FROM THE RULES.

"We're accustomed to operating as a public body..."

Translation: We try to break the law AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.

Linda Johnson: The PSYCHOTIC BITCH who brought us AFFORDABLE HOUSING by letting a Redmond developer go CONDO on land GIVEN TO HIM BY THE CITY OF BEND for the expressed purpose of ONLY BUILDING AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS. Changed the rules before EVEN ONE SHOVEL OF DIRT was removed.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...


And while all of the councilors contacted said they are careful to obey that rule, they noted that the planning of Juniper Ridge, a 1,500-acre mixed-use development north of Bend, has presented a unique challenge. In that venture, the city is acting as the developer, a role usually held by a private company not bound by duty to the public.


2 THINGS:

1) THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THE CITY NEVER SHOULD HAVE GONE INTO PARTNERSHIP ON THIS THING.

2) THERE'S NO WAY TO REASONABLY ENGAGE IN THE JR DEAL, WITHOUT BREAKING PUBLIC MEETING LAWS. NO WAY.

Dumbfuck City Councilors. Paint themselves into a corner everytime the stupid motherfuckers are handed a paintbrush.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Does anyone know if they got out with a profit?

C'mon DUNCAN! It's the 90's... IT'S HAMMERTIME! Brenneke got BIG REVENUE! Who cares about anything else!

Get HIP! No one cares about profit. That's so last century...

Anonymous said...

So BendBust, are the "executive sessions" legal?

*

Executive session is an HR [ human resources ] cover, like discussing the firing of Anderson, that kind of meeting can justify 'executive session' in Oregon, because its not public business ( yet ), and Anderson would have the right to privacy. Once the descision is made then it would go public. Discussing the DIRT can be done in private, because he's an employee and has privacy rights.

There is NO way in hell that making secret deals about KURATEK who was working on a federal grant as a committee member, and then also selling a private/public secret MOU at the same time, that is NOT something that 'executive session' was designed to protect.

The way they got away with it was having the meetings on short notice, and not notifying anyone, and then after five minutes with no one there [ in opposition ] declaring "we're now in executive session' with no one there to challenge they can get away with it, had someone been there they could have demanded justification.

Anonymous said...

So BendBust, are the "executive sessions" legal?

If they aren't, can a concerned citizen go to court to get an injunction to force City Council to open all its meetings to the public?

*

I have done it many times in my days, but you have to be there years ago I used to go to all sessions. Whenever they tried to 'remove the public' I would say ... WHY? They would have to have a damn good reason. Like an HR privacy reason.

the way they got away with it, was that they made sure that nobody was there to oppose, you can go to all the minutes and time's of city-of-bend website and see how they did it,

Sometimes with 'homeland security' issues, like the prez is coming to pdx, they can exclude you also besides HR, but in Oregon these are the only legal ways to kick the public out of a city meeting.

I don't think there is an issue here that they broke public-meeting laws by doing all the deals in secret, and keeping all the MOU's secret, the chamber of commerce, and such has long also made a comment of such.

Somebody has to enforce the law, after the fact its very difficult to fix things, that's why meetings are supposed to be public, and folks should always show up to meetings, to keep the politicians honest, BEND is broken.

What I have seen in the last 5 years is that the only people who even show up at meetings anymore are developers. They sure in the all aren't going to challenge executive seession if they know the purpose is to spend city money on them.

Anonymous said...

“The concept of us being both a developer and a City Council is sort of new for us, because we’re accustomed to operating as a public body,” said Councilor Linda Johnson. “I don’t think any of us ever conceived that we would forget that and play by different rules.”

*

I think this last paragraph sums it UP, the fact is the city council is NOT a fucking private body, is a public body. Nobody changed the city charter for them ( all city's in Oregon, must have a city-charter, and MUST follow that charter ), the fact is the city-council decided that on some days they were public, and other days they were private, yet they used city property, which is public, and they were elected by the public to do city-business, and they took an oath to follow the law ( city-charter ) and State Law of Oregon.

They're fucked, they're just covering their ass, and the BULL is trying to move on. I'm sure someone is going to SUE them bigtime, because ALL one has to do is go back over the minutes to see all the illegal shit they did.

"They fucking forgot they were a public body, Sorry a mea-culpa like that will not keep you out of jail".

Anonymous said...

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/city_hall/meeting_minutes/october_19__2005_city_council_meeting_packet.html

A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee

*

This is what is hilarious about this WHOLE FUCKING thing, this guy is an appointed committe member, yet they make him JR master-develoer, in ALL the MOU's they never use his name, just "JR pardners", and then later "JR pardners LLC". In the early days the name Kuratek is no where to be found, accept his bid on the block committee.

What is the block-grant, its federal affordable housing dollars, that Kuratek promised that he could get if he ran the board, and MY BET is this was the payback,e.g. JR was the council way of saying 'thanks' for us getting federal money.

Anonymous said...

bendbb has always been a asshole, locking subjects deleting shit, there really was nothing there, 'the wizard' said he heard something, and normal dribble came forth.

timmty-twat shouldn't have modified the subject, and bendbb shouldn't have modified the post, all know, cuz I need to remind you from time-to-time, that anything you read on informe.com, they log your IP, and of course anything you POST bendbb gets your IP.

Given ALL the LLC's that sebastian has in the town, there is a high mathematical probability right now one is subject to ch-11 filing, that said ALL that would have to be done is for someone to check county filing's here, and federal filings in pdx, most of these guys go federal, because pdx has the best bankruptcy attorneys.

I don't want to waste my time, becuase honesly dears I DONT GIVE A DAMN. I think a vast majority of ALL these guys are going to BK ch-11 their LLC's, that's why ALL these cunts setup this shit this way in the first place, to protect thier personal assets and get out of dodge once the bubble blew its wad, almost ALL these guys have been here before, they were around in 1983, they know how it ends, that's the reason for the LLC's.

Anonymous said...

I suspect it was a very slight loss of $$$ and much time wasted.

*

It was all timing, had the bubble not busted when it did, these BT folks would have sold out to walmart. BT is the bastion of greedy get-rich-folk of Bend, this late in the game, there simply was no reason for anyone to move, so they fought Brennekes. Of course given the fact that the Deschutes County Court ruled against him, probably made him think twice to keep the meter running.

Knowing that there was no money to be made, they held their ground. Possession is 9/10 of the law.

Anonymous said...

Depends on The Dirt he's got on City Council.

WHERE DID THE FEDERAL BLOCK GRANT GO?? GETTING FEDERAL DOLLARS in the 'name of affordable housing' to build CONDO-HO CONDOS in downtown Bend is this why KURATEK was GIVEN the JR deal????
*

Yes, somebody is going to talk. Go back to 2005 Kuratek sat on the board of allocating federal money to affordable-housing in Bend. Plenty of places there where fraud could have been involved, and then you don't has the pathetic State, you have the fed's crawling up your ass.

Kuratek, yeh he could be the one that spills the beans, most likely they'll pay him a lot of our money to go away.

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/city_hall/meeting_minutes/october_19__2005_city_council_meeting_packet.html

A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.

tim said...

>>and of course anything you POST bendbb gets your IP.

All that's true.

It's worth looking into one of them many free web anonymizers out there. A bit of a hassle, but potentially worth it.

There's a case right now of a guy exposing the bad practices of a hospital on a blog. The hospital is going to the ISP to identify the poster.

If you're casual about your identity, you can find yourself liable for the things you say.

I think blogger is owned by google. I don't think Paul can see the IPs, but google probably has them archived per message. I'm not sure if google will give it up, but your IP can watch you as well.

Search for "anonymous free web proxy" for more info.

Nothing wrong with The Wizard asking to have his post removed. As for whether I should have added "Rumor" to the headline, I don't know. It was clearly a rumor, as stated in the original post. I did feel it was important to say what I had done immediately upon doing it. I wouldn't do anything on the sly. I admit responsibility for my actions, right or wrong. Judge me as you like.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Well fuck me in the ass....

October 19, 2005 City Council Meeting Packet


AGENDA

Bend City Council

Wednesday, October 19, 2005



4:30 p.m. Light Meal



5:00 p.m. Work Session



Development Code (Issue Summary) (Public Testimony)

Update on Reed Market

Code Enforcement (Issue Summary) (Calls for Service) (Calls per Department) (Growth Pattern) (Valuation of Projects) (Inspections and Permits)

Executive Session pursuant to ORS 192.660 (2) (d through h)



7:00 pm City Council, Regular Meeting

City Hall, 710 NW Wall



1. Roll Call: Mayor Bill Friedman

Councilor Bruce Abernethy

Councilor Chris Telfer

Councilor Jim Clinton

Councilor Linda Johnson

Councilor John Hummel

Councilor Dave Malkin



2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Receive Visitors



4. Good of the Order

A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.

B. Consider a proclamation declaring October 25-31 National Magic Week. (Bill Friedman)

C. Recognition of Rod Foster for participation in Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Holy Shit... try to search "kuratek" on the city site. I'd paste what I got, but Blogger won't take Java error codes, etc... It's about 10 pages of solid code, errors, etc....

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

As for whether I should have added "Rumor" to the headline, I don't know. It was clearly a rumor, as stated in the original post. I did feel it was important to say what I had done immediately upon doing it. I wouldn't do anything on the sly.

Dude, I had Zero Problem with "what" was being done, I simply wanted to know Why. I thought everything you did wasn't the least bit objectionable. This post by me responding to BendBB, seemed to spark the firestorm:

In the case of "Renaissance Homes", his or her email address is in the renaissance-homes.com domain and looking up the IP address in ARIN yields "Renaissance Homes" so I'm confident that post came from someone at the company.

2 words: Faked Headers.


I mean, anyone with the slightest knowledge sees the problem here. I simply said that faking email headers is POSSIBLE (not probable), and I even said that it PROBABLY DID NOT happen in this case. Matching emails to IP's? I mean, come on. Timmy, I KNOW you see the problem with this line of thinking... I also realize you sort have to stay mum. That's OK.

Sometimes I don't get BendBB: totally reasonable, good guy at times. Even tech savvy. Then he insists on pinning one line of logic, to my technical prowess regarding IP cloaking. I said, 'it was ALMOST CERTAINLY a RH "person"'. Does that make it TRUE? Is that the rumor refuting standard? I'm simply curious what the policy was regarding deleting posts, because of the nature of the post (stated as rumor or fact), and how (or why) that was affected by IP's or email headers, both of which are fakeable by someone with the inclination & time to do so.

You know, and I know Timmy, that someone with the time & inclination could mount a very technically convincing Rumor-fest on BendBB, or any board for that matter.

This whole thing is why my comment area is totally unmoderated. I neither have the wisdom, patience, or time to somehow filter a process I know allows chameleon-like behavior that I cannot possibly detect. Even google can receive faked IP's. It's instances like this that make me feel like I am WAYA too trusting & that I SHOULD cloak my IP.

tim said...

>>I mean, come on. Timmy, I KNOW you see the problem with this line of thinking... I also realize you sort have to stay mum. That's OK.

TO be honest, I expect to get the info on Bend's fall HERE, and to get the data I like THERE. As long as there's an outlet for everything, I don't care who runs their own board what way. The BB is a lot better format for data distribution than this place. Have you ever tried to find a particular old post here? It's a nightmare.

As long as I'm TOO LAZY (or "busy," as I like to claim) to start my own board or blog, I'm not going to second guess either one of you.

But I find all this sniping counter-productive. I want to hear more about Bend, not blog and board rules.

Anonymous said...

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/city_hall/meeting_minutes/docs/minutes12_12_06_City_Council_Special_Meeting.pdf.

OK, BEM rhetorically asked today - HOW DID THEY GET AWAY WITH IT ...
Look at this one the Les Schwab giveaway, with NO public notice a public meeting was help Dec 12,2006, with No opposition the meeting went into executive session at 9:05AM, which means NO NOTES wer taken, also dec 12, 2006 was a TUESDAY, meetings don't happen on Tuesday. At 10AM the executive session went into recess. At 10:01 the meeting went public, with NOBODY from the public present, they voted to GIVE Juniper Ridge to Les Schwab. Meeting Over, ....

A smart fellow a citizen of Bend, would call this a criminal endeavor.

**** It's ALL below, read carefully

Bend City Council Special Meeting
December 12, 2006
1.
Roll Call
A special meeting of the Bend City Council was called to order at 9:00 A.M. in the City Council
Chambers at Bend City Hall, 710 NW Wall. Present upon roll call by City Recorder Patty Stell
were Bend City Councilors Dave Malkin, Linda Johnson, Bruce Abernethy, John Hummel, Chris
Telfer, and Mayor Bill Friedman. Councilor Jim Clinton joined the meeting during Executive
Session.
2.
Mayor Friedman called a recess to Executive Session at 9:00 A.M. pursuant to ORS
192.660 (2) (e).
3.
The special meeting reconvened at 9:59 A.M.
4.
Sale of Real Property
Economic Development Director John Russell explained the public hearing to consider a land
sale for the first 20 acres of Juniper Ridge. The agreement is for the immediate purchase of 12
acres with an option for an additional eight acres over the next 12 years. The company would be
building a 120 square foot building for 320 employees. The land would be for Les Schwab
corporate headquarters relocating from Prineville. The company approached the City in May
anonymously. This would be for the corporate headquarters and the remainder of the Prineville
operations would remain in Prineville. The Company was considering Bend or leaving the state.
a. Hold a public hearing to receive comment on the proposed sale of real
property
Mayor Friedman opened the public hearing at 10: 01 A.M. Hearing no comments, the public
hearing was closed.
b. Consider a motion to sell real property
Councilor Telfer moved to approve the purchase and sale agreement with SWW LLC. Councilor
Malkin seconded the motion

http://www.ci.bend.or.us/city_hall/meeting_minutes/docs/minutes12_12_06_City_Council_Special_Meeting.pdf.

Anonymous said...

>> Of course given the fact that the Deschutes County Court ruled against him [Brenneke], probably made him think twice to keep the meter running. <<

What ruling what that be? The suit never even got to trial. His attorney asked/demanded arbitration to set the terms of sale to the members. It went to arbitration and the members got the club for $6.3M.

Are you the same ass who said Brenneke was taking this to Seattle out of Deschutes County. I think so.

Anonymous said...

I want to hear more about Bend, not blog and board rules.

*

I want more pictures of bendbb in his bikini.

Anonymous said...

A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.

*

Now go to google, and search "block grant', its one of the BIGGEST federal pork projects in the country, but its meant for poor people, not for Bend Condo Ho's.

Anonymous said...

Well fuck me in the ass....

October 19, 2005 City Council Meeting Packet

Bend City Council

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

4. Good of the Order

A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.

*

Oct 19, 2005 was a wednesday, they voted for Kuratek near the end, nobody knew who kuratek was, they didn't even have to go into executive session.

Anonymous said...

“The concept of us being both a developer and a City Council is sort of new for us, because we’re accustomed to operating as a public body,” said Councilor Linda Johnson. “I don’t think any of us ever conceived that we would forget that and play by different rules.”

***

Linda, please shutup and hire a lawyer. You were elected to do city business, you were not elected to do private development so that you and Ray Kuratek could make millions of dollars at the taxpayers expense.

Anonymous said...

Well fuck me in the ass....

Wednesday, October 19, 2005
4. Good of the Order
A. Consider appointment of Candace Wheeler, Kim Manie-Oskoii, and Charles Tucker for three year terms, and Raymond Kuratek for a one year term on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.

Well fuck me in the ass....

The selection of the developer, Ray Kuratek (Juniper Ridge Partners), was largely based on the October 29, 2005 “selection report,” of economic director Russell, and City Council discussions that were not open to the public.

Anonymous said...

> Of course given the fact that the Deschutes County Court ruled against him [Brenneke], probably made him think twice to keep the meter running. <<

What ruling what that be? The suit never even got to trial.

***

Nobody said 'trial' those are your words, over a month ago the Deschutes County Court ordered that all the children seek Arbitration. I love the revisionism, "Our Attorney begged for Arbitration", no the court demanded arbitration.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Have you ever tried to find a particular old post here? It's a nightmare.


Searching the posts is OK, finding comments is hell.

Just between you & me Timmy, what really crunched my nuts was this: Thw Wizard posts a "rumor". Straight up, everyone, you & me alike, threw all in, wondering if it was true. OK, it's a rumor & everyone, you, me, BendBB, and everyone else is OK WITH IT. No changing shit.

THEN, "renaissance-homes" says:

"HEY NOW! Everything is JUST FINE, and Randy will have words & posible anal sex with anyone who says different! Now, you bitches take back every fuckin word!"

And that's exactly what happened. All on the strength of "renaissance-home" having an IP that matched... what? BendBB said this:

his or her email address is in the renaissance-homes.com domain and looking up the IP address in ARIN yields "Renaissance Homes"

So we have this weak-ass evidence that RH has said Boo, and BendBB nearly shits his pants. I just wonder "Why"? I really surprised that he locked/deleted a thread for THAT. I mean, I know he's a hair-trigger on the lock/delete button... but deleting an acknowledged RUMOR, SOLELY because some wank who purports to be renaissance blows some shit up his skirt.

I'd understand much, MUCH more if he'd blown it out the hatch IMMEDIATELY as a "Gat-Damned Rumor!"... but no... he waited until the fuckin Renaissance thought police showed up... ONLY THEN was it deemed a DAMNED LIE... which of course it hasn't.

I'm just a little bothered that a NON-DENIAL by a renaissance nobody about a rumor was enough to have it nixed.

Anonymous said...

Revisionist ASSHOLE, which part of the below don't you understand?

The JUDGE ordered arbitration. No fucking attorney begged for it.

***

Judge orders club owners to sell to group of members.

Publication: Bulletin (Bend, OR)

Publication Date: 11-SEP-07

Judge orders club owners to sell to group of members.

COPYRIGHT 2007 The Bulletin

Byline: David Fisher

Sep. 11--A Deschutes County Circuit Court judge ordered the current owners of Broken Top Club on Monday to sell the club to a group of club members.

Judge Alta Brady left the terms of the deal, including the sale price, to be settled in binding arbitration before an independent arbitrator to be chosen by Friday.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

I'll say this right now:

I'm more convinced than EVER, that Renaissance Homes will going flat-ass fuckin' broke in the next 6 months. And fuck Randy Sebastian RIGHT UP THE ASS.

Answer this RH:: Why the fuck did you greedy fucksticks put up a home on an elk migration path if you're so fuckin' "GREEN"?

Answer that you cocksucking hypocrites.

Anonymous said...

I want to hear more about Bend, not bendbb board rules.

*

I want more pictures of bendbb in his bikini. I want to know how he can be a censor and prevert at the same time?

Anonymous said...

>> Of course given the fact that the Deschutes County Court ruled against him [Brenneke], probably made him think twice to keep the meter running. <<

What ruling what that be?


Judge orders club owners to sell to group of members.
COPYRIGHT (c)2007 The BULLetin
Byline: David Fisher

Sep. 11--A Deschutes County Circuit Court judge ordered the current owners of Broken Top Club on Monday to sell the club to a group of club members.

Judge Alta Brady left the terms of the deal, including the sale price, to be settled in binding arbitration before an independent arbitrator to be chosen by Friday.

Anonymous said...

January:
Time share hack Mike Parker rolls into Broken Top with plans to fill in the lake and turn the place into a destination resort with an ice skating rink. He wasn't well received. Some club members had his car towed.

April 13th Angus Cameron:
"Once we have a new direction for the club, then we still must confront the professed opposition of the neighborhood association, and the lawyers they hired. It is my desire that we confront that opposition with a united vision of the club. Make no mistake in your thinking that the status quo can be maintained. "

August 26th Bend Bulletin:
“We will win,” Brenneke said, leaning back on a couch in his Crane Building lobby last month. “We will win. It’s a matter of time. It’s going to be painful; I’m aware of that. I’m reminded of that regularly. But there are cards we haven’t played yet, too.”

“With 20-some years under my belt, and a lot going right, I don’t need a stumble,” he said. “Don’t need it at all. It’s not something that I can afford.”

October 25th BTCA president:
"The Broken Top Community Association is pleased that the Broken Top Golf club has finally become the property of the club members. Without the golf club at its heart, the community would not be the same. With members owning the club, they can control their destiny and safeguard the future of the club. This can only serve to enrich the community and make it a better place. Congratulations to all those involved in this purchase process," said Webber.

Anonymous said...

>>Answer that you cocksucking hypocrites.<<

Ask bendbb he's a Renaissance Bitch.

Anonymous said...

Bulletin. Sep 11th - "Brady ordered the sale after Susan Eggum, the ownership group’s attorney, and Lisa Kaner, attorney for the group of club members, cobbled together a rough agreement over the weekend to make the deal happen."

Sounds like Brenneke wanted out. Talk about stumbling at every turn.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

I want to know how he can be a censor and prevert at the same time?

Ambidextrous?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

4:30 p.m. Light Meal

What? I mean, funk'n A. "Light" meal?

"We're all watching our figure here. This is Bend, beautiful people, you know. As leaders, it's our duty not to become fat tubs-a shit. Rest assured, we only snack on "light" goodies when we're about to buttfuck the taxpayers of this town."

Light meal my ass! What the fuck sort of comment is that in a City Council agenda?

"Hey, guys. The transcriptionist put "Eat" here at 4:30. Doesn't sound right. Shouldn't it be more... I don't know... dignified? But not gluttonous. Maybe, "Small Snack"? No... no, snack implies we couldn't afford a meal. But "Meal" implies we're hungry, and possibly poor, and worse that we're pilfering public funds, which we only do in Executive Session. Let's put "Light Meal", as a good compromise between the poverty-stricken stupidity of a "snack" and the gluttonous indulging of a "meal". Gat damn we're smart!"

Bend Economy Man said...

I think blogger is owned by google. I don't think Paul can see the IPs, but google probably has them archived per message. I'm not sure if google will give it up, but your IP can watch you as well.

On Blogger you can for sure install Google Tools and see the IPs and domains of visitors, but I don't know how/if you could actually tie a specific comment to a specific IP.

It's better to use an anonymous proxy if you're going to be doing some big-time blog posting, as a matter of practice.

Anonymous said...

Go to the bendbb site, open the page as HTML, and read the fucking code, you'll note there is a fucking script in there that say's ...

"Everytime someone reads this send, their time,date, IP" home to mom.

Who is MOM? Mom is informe.com, a company that turns around sells 'profiling' data by IP, so that marketers can know what subjects people are interested in by IP. Which also means that anyone including Sebastian ( Renaissance Homes ) can at any time contact informe.com for a nickel and find out exactly who is posting and reading the SHIT.

Informe.com is owned by one of the sleaziest junk-mail firms in New Jersey, and they have long cooperated with the government, which is how they stay in business.

Anyone that reads and/or posts using informe.com is fucking MORON.

Yes, use an anonymous IP engine, so BEM why don't you tell everyone which you one use?? I note a few fucking experts here are always telling people what they should do, but NOT how to do it!

Note also that the FUCKING CUNT BENDBB already blocks most anonymous IP sites, because he's an ANAL cunt.

Anonymous said...

yes, anyone who knows something about TCP-IP can spoof any IP, and thus fool a dumb fucking cunt like BENDBB.


99% of the internet is bullshit, and there is NO way you can police shit, we don't even know for sure if the 'real' wizard even posted the 'rumor', we don't know shit.

sebastian will fuck himself without our help.

Anonymous said...

I get angry reading all this smug shit.

BEM why don't you help people, tell them exactly how they can make themselves anonymous. In detail.

Yes, everyone need to be anonymous when talking about Bend, this is a MOB town. Things are going to go to shit over the next year, and the dogs of war are going to find and punish any innocent people they can.

Don't make it easy for them.

Lastly, once BEM shares information about anonymous browsing and blogger-fodder anonymity, if BENDBB blocks the IP, then FUCK-HIM, everyone should boycott his site, I really think that everyone should use an anonymous proxy and for now the same one, There's NO fucking reason BendBB should be banning every fucking anonymous IP forwarder in the universe, but he does, why does he WANT YOUR REAL IP SO FUCKING BAD?

DONT GIVE IT TO HIM!

Anonymous said...

There's a word in the biz for BendBB sites, they're called HONEY-POTS.

Just enough goody's to stay sticky and keep stupid bears around until they get shot.

Anonymous said...

It never matters what lawyers say or do, is always BULLSHIT, in no ever field of business, can someone take your money and deliver no service. In the legal biz, all that matters is the court, once they issue an order, you follow it or go to jail, or they take ALL your money. Lawyers talk shit, and take money from suckers, but they cowtow at court, because they KNOW who rules. If a loser lawyer is lucky, eventually he becomes a judge ( court ), ... The court comes from WAR, once a people are occupied, like is currently happening in Iraq, then courts of law are established to 'secure' the government.

In the case of Brokent-Top everyone was BULLSHIT until the court told them what to do, and when to have it done by.

The court controls the cops, the court is what keeps government is business. The essence of government is beating, killing, and imprisoning. The essence of lawyers is k-mart suits and large fee's for talking shit.

Judge orders club owners to sell to group of members.

COPYRIGHT (c)2007 The BULLetin
Byline: David Fisher

Sep. 11--A Deschutes County Circuit Court judge ordered the current owners of Broken Top Club on Monday to sell the club to a group of club members.

Judge Alta Brady left the terms of the deal, including the sale price, to be settled in binding arbitration before an independent arbitrator to be chosen by Friday.

Anonymous said...

Getting Back to Renaissance

Below I did a advanced google search, only on their site, NOTE that they mention their LLC's only as 'affliates', thus we'll never know or connect the dozens if not 100's of LLC's that Randy Sebastian.

Note that at least Brooks Resource, they sort of let your know that NWXC has lots of LLC's, by name, but NOT Renaissance Home, LLC, which is just actually one, most likely the big one. We need to find ALL the LLC's in the name of Sebastian, problem is they're probably setup by trust, we could find them using state DBA. The only real way to collect Sebastian names is to back-tract all Sebastian developments on DIAL, find who owns the property other than the bank. Once we have a collection of Sebastian LLC's, then we can search the bankruptcy filings using the various search engines available.

This is all a lot of work, and history has proven that 99% of the cunts here are lazy.

*** GOOGLE ADV search for 'llc' only on renaissance-homes site.

Renaissance Homes
In this Terms of Use, “we” or “us” refers to Renaissance Custom Homes, LLC and its affiliates. We provide our services to you subject to the following terms ...
www.renaissance-homes.com/legal.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

Anonymous said...

Getting Back to Renaissance

Below I did a advanced google search, only on their site, NOTE that they mention their LLC's only as 'affliates', thus we'll never know or connect the dozens if not 100's of LLC's that Randy Sebastian.

Note that at least Brooks Resource, they sort of let your know that NWXC has lots of LLC's, by name, but NOT Renaissance Home, LLC, which is just actually one, most likely the big one. We need to find ALL the LLC's in the name of Sebastian, problem is they're probably setup by trust, we could find them using state DBA. The only real way to collect Sebastian names is to back-tract all Sebastian developments on DIAL, find who owns the property other than the bank. Once we have a collection of Sebastian LLC's, then we can search the bankruptcy filings using the various search engines available.

This is all a lot of work, and history has proven that 99% of the cunts here are lazy.

*** GOOGLE ADV search for 'llc' only on renaissance-homes site.

Renaissance Homes
In this Terms of Use, “we” or “us” refers to Renaissance Custom Homes, LLC and its affiliates. We provide our services to you subject to the following terms ...
www.renaissance-homes.com/legal.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

Anonymous said...

Bend Economy Man said...

I think blogger is owned by google. I don't think Paul can see the IPs, but google probably has them archived per message.

*

Just like informe.com does, all paul would have to do, but we will not let him do it, is insert similar script into his 'blog html template', that sent the IP of every visitor to a site that logged IP's. It's quite simple. Anyone can place custom HTML ( or script ) of any kind in their blogger ( google ) blogsite, to make it do anything they wish. Anything.

Anonymous said...

This is all a lot of work, and history has proven that 99% of the cunts here are lazy.

*

Whoops lazy-renters.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

On Blogger you can for sure install Google Tools and see the IPs and domains of visitors, but I don't know how/if you could actually tie a specific comment to a specific IP.

It's better to use an anonymous proxy if you're going to be doing some big-time blog posting, as a matter of practice.


I agree. By all means, do everything possible to spoof 'the system'. As much as I do not want my IP known, I do not want to know anyone else's.

BenBB's reaction to that supposed 'renaissance-homes' post kind of freaked me out... AGAIN. Last time me & BendBB butted heads, he started digging up all sorts of data. The whole idea of knowing, and then banning, IP's on a blog-like forum is just foreign to me.

And also the idea that the rumor was OK.... until 'someone' with the tech savvy to fake a good response posts some sort of Non-Denial... then everyone starts backpedaling like crazy. And all based on the "Legitimacy" of some bullshit email headers & IP's.

It probably WAS RH... but now we know that certain posts can & will be altered/removed based on easily fakeable IP, email header bullshit. Tech-savvy bullshit artists have the keys over there...

BendBB ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE WORLD:

"Rumors are OK... UNLESS a plausible denial comes with requisite IP and/or email headers. Then we erase."

And that's fine, it's his gig over there. But I would not have a policy like that, mainly I guess cuz I'm too lazy. Plus I have ZERO inclination to know, or somehow zero in on someone, via their IP or some other bullshit.

I am a little freaked out that BendBB seems to now be using IP's to make policy decisions...

Anonymous said...

I am a little freaked out that BendBB seems to now be using IP's to make policy decisions...

*

That's the entire basis of the informe.com client. It was designed so little Napoleons could do this shit.

Don't you get what's going on??

Anonymous said...

On Blogger you can for sure install Google Tools and see the IPs and domains of visitors, but I don't know how/if you could actually tie a specific comment to a specific IP.

*

You can use google-tools, or you can insert a script into blogger that log's IP's, you have a time-stamp, all these post have a time-stamp of who did what and when. informe.com ( bendbb ) uses a script to log all IP's whether you read, write, ... whatever no matter what you do at bendbb's site your being continually logged for everything you do.

This is ALL trivial shit, if your a computer scientist, or a kid with lots of time.

Anonymous said...

[ It would be trivial for someone with the informe.com log's to match time-stamps of posts, there really isn't that many people here. ]

Another fun thing to do would be to take the script, out of bendbb's site, and put into everyones blogs, I mean everyones, that way everytime anybody visited any of the blogsites, the bendbb site would log! That would make the bendbb logging completely worthless, what they do is send an encoded string to a server, with the IP and time-stamp, and other stuff, the 'encoded-string' is a message that say's its from 'bendbb' on informe.com, its a completely different site, its own by the NewJersey guy that owns Informe.com. They would have no idea that the logs were coming from a different website.

Anonymous said...

>> In the case of Brokent-Top everyone was BULLSHIT until the court told them what to do, and when to have it done by. <<

Are you suggesting that Brenneke didn't foresee his attempt to turn the tranquil Broken Top neighborhood into a destination resort wasn't going to end up in many courts before all was said and done? Can anyone point to a precedent of converting a residentially zoned neighborhood into a commercially zoned destination resort?

Anonymous said...

Are you suggesting that Brenneke didn't foresee his attempt to turn the tranquil Broken Top neighborhood into a destination resort wasn't going to end up in many courts before all was said and done?

*

HBM, Why do you always use this socratic method of telling people what they said, when in fact they never said such a thing.

Brenneke took a gamble, the court ruled against him, he quit while he was ahead.

Anonymous said...

Brenneke and all his local cronies in the RE biz lost big time. Neither civil nor land use law was on his side. He will forever be known as the guy who tried to take over Broken Top and failed big time. He stepped right in it and it smells.

tim said...

Did Brenneke make a profit or not?

It could be said he just took Broken Top hostage for ransom. Maybe this was one of his expected outcomes.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Did Brenneke make a profit or not?


Paul’s brother, Tom Brenneke, also refused to identify the trusts or their members after he took control of the operations in May, saying only that they were “not immediately related” to him.

“It’s a private matter,” Tom Brenneke said in a July interview with The Bulletin, refusing again to name any trusts or trustees.

The e-mail identifies Jimmy Drakos, a Lake Oswego mortgage broker, as trustee of the Zoe and Ava Brenneke Irrevocable Trust. It identifies Dunavan as the trustee of the Dunavan Family Irrevocable Trust.

Tom Brenneke has said he has an agreement to buy the club from the trusts for $12 million. Brenneke hopes to build a 208-room hotel-condo project with a new clubhouse, along with 88 new “villas” on the club’s grounds if he can gain control, but an attorney for the owners said in court Wednesday that they are attempting to negotiate a sale to club members.


Given that it was sold for $8+mill - $2+mill taken back, he had to really rip his nieces down from $12mill to make a profit. Looks like he netted $6mill +/- on the sale to the members... a BIG loss.

All this for a perennial money-loser:

The club lost $1.3 million in 2006, according to Brenneke's memo, "and is projected to lose close to that in 2007."

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

saying only that they were “not immediately related” to him.

Yet another "statement of fact" that turned out to be 100% bullshit.

Anonymous said...

Brenneke wanted to be just another developer who used the loss leader golf club as a carrot to lure more home buyers. As soon as his new hotel was sold the club would be right back in the same place. No one bought the same ole song and dance.

Brenneke in his own words..

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5380302200998038999

Anonymous said...

I want to join this club. I'm a shit eater. I'm from California, been here for six months. Do you guys have meetings? I would like to meet this 'bendbb' he sounds very Californian. I miss California, Bend reminds me of Eastern Oklahoma.

Anonymous said...

Yet another "statement of fact" that turned out to be 100% bullshit.

*

Hear this now "bullshit' is a registered trademark of the Bend BULLetin.

No BullShit to be dispersed in Bend without approval of the mother of all Bend BullShit.

Anonymous said...

$319900 Amazing New Price for a Beatiful Bend Home!

* http://bend.craigslist.org/rfs/461474131.html

What makes this guy so good? How does he do it? This guy plays a mean pinball.


This guy everyday is the top of the list, is he paying Homer for this position??

How does he do it? What makes him so good?

http://bend.craigslist.org/rfs/461474131.html

tim said...

WSJ has an article that talks about how Moody's downgraded some CDOs from AAA to junk in one day.

Man, in one day. Do not pass go. Go directly to jail.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

WSJ has an article that talks about how Moody's downgraded some CDOs from AAA to junk in one day.

What? Really? Damn...

tim said...

Yeah. If you get the WSJ, it was today's Weekend Edition. You can probably see it at the grocery store tomorrow if you're cheap. Story on the front page of the second section.

Anonymous said...

>> http://bend.craigslist.org/rfs/461474131.html <<

Lower baby, lower baby! You really don't understand the reality of Bend RE.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

>> http://bend.craigslist.org/rfs/461474131.html <<

Lower baby, lower baby! You really don't understand the reality of Bend RE.

*

Almost everyday this guy is at the to of the list, been there for months.

Anonymous said...

More BULL, Garzini has history 'getting stuff done', been around, force's the BAT up the ass, dissappears, reappears when new un-popular project are on the horizon.
The question I ask is WHO is running this? Abernethy will be OUT soon, Anderson Said Garzini called him because he was bored, only to get Anderson fired.
The council who is now MORE INTERESTED in private-development than public city business has brought in Garzini. They thought that Kuratek was their boy, but he didn't have the 'right stuff' to win-over the heart and mind of Bend. Garzini has a history of getting shit done, mostly un-popular stuff. This council will be gone in a few years, who is actually running this whole SHAM? My guess is still Hollern, he has lots of land around what we call Juniper Ridge.
A few months ago the council said the reason for JR failure was 'PR', so they said they were going to get 'PR', and they bring in Garzini.
Who owns Garzini??

Meet Bend’s go-to fix-it man
Ron Garzini gets job done, but methods bother some

By Cindy Powers / The Bulletin
Published: October 28. 2007 5:00AM PST

Whether they like him or not, people agree that Ron Garzini gets things done.

The man that Bend city officials have tapped to handle the aggressive and controversial Juniper Ridge development project north of town admits that he can be bullish but says it’s only in the interest of progress.

“I would rather be criticized for doing something new and different and creative than just sitting here and collecting a paycheck,” he said. “You can say I’m a bully, but I’m not a bully. I’m someone who says, ‘This is how it is, and let’s get it done.’”

With more than 20 years of experience in city, state and federal government positions in Alaska before coming to Bend, where he twice has served as interim city manager since 1998, Garzini, 60, has faced his share of criticism.
Ron Garzini over the years

•Twice served as interim city manager.
•Worked to get $600,000 in block grants for a new senior center.
•Proposed hooking up south Bend customers of troubled Juniper Utility Co. to city water and sewer lines.
•Encouraged city councilors to purchase land allowing the city to build the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge and persuaded them to give the project the green light.
•Mended the relationship between the Central Oregon Irrigation District and the city of Redmond.
•Addressed traffic problems throughout the city of Bend.
•Proposed a fixed-route bus system for the city of Bend.
•Organized the West Bend Traffic Consortium to improve roadways and put in roundabouts.
•Took the helm of the Juniper Ridge project, a proposed mixed-use development of 1,500 acres in north Bend.

Now at the helm of what some consider to be the centerpiece of future development in Bend, Garzini’s proponents say his role in many key projects in the city during the past decade have prepared him for the job. He has worked to alleviate traffic problems, pushed for construction of the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge and was one of the first backers of a fixed-route bus system.

Most recently, Garzini has been involved in a public clash between the city and the developers who have been working with the city for two years to get the Juniper Ridge project under way.

The concept touted by city officials would turn what is now 1,500 acres of sagebrush into a city within a city — including housing, shopping, light industrial, a university and a performing arts center.

Garzini was brought in to shepherd the project last month, and the developers tapped to do the work, Juniper Ridge Partners, say he has brought a new set of rules to the table. Last week, the developers announced that they’ll likely be pulling out of the project.

While the turmoil with the developers may be a setback, Garzini says he tends to thrive in turbulent environments and considers himself somewhat of a fix-it man.

“As I’ve interviewed with (city) councils over the years, I’ve always said, ‘If you’re happy with the status quo, then hire someone else. But if you’re looking for a change agent, then I’m the one,’” he said.

Making it happen

Garzini’s resume seems to back up his self-assessment.

Twice in 10 years, officials in Seward, Alaska, hired him as the city manager with an eye toward turning the economy around and restoring the public’s confidence in city government.

“He was a wheeler dealer,” said former Seward Mayor and Chief of Police Louis Bencardino, who worked with Garzini. “He is a good businessman, and he understands government and he understands private enterprise. That’s important, to be able to work with private enterprise, to get things done in your town.”

Bencardino credited Garzini with bringing a prison and a shipyard to the town, revitalizing its economy.

Garzini also served as the director of transportation and municipal manager for the city of Anchorage before becoming the assistant commissioner for the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Development.

His experience in Alaska was a big consideration for Bend Mayor Bruce Abernethy in deciding who should handle the Juniper Ridge project.

“When I first heard about it, I thought, ‘Brilliant,’” Abernethy said. “In essence, you have someone who has a lot of experience in industrial development. Plus, he is well known in the community, including those who have been the more vocal critics of Juniper Ridge.”

Former Bend Police Chief and City Councilor Dave Malkin, who worked with Garzini during his second stint as interim city manager from 2003 to 2004, counts himself among those critics.

“I believe that, in hiring Ron Garzini, it’s apparent that the Bend City Council is intent on cramming Juniper Ridge down the throats of the people of Bend,” Malkin said. “To say Ron is a pragmatist is an understatement — he is a steamroller with limited vision of the long-term ramifications of his actions.”

Malkin cited improperly handled labor negotiations and labor contracts as well as lawsuits that he said should not have been settled as among Garzini’s mistakes.

Malkin served on the council from 2002 through 2006, after serving as police chief for nearly two decades.

He said Garzini gets results but has a tendency to skirt policy and procedure.

“Based on my experience, Ron tends not to pay attention to all of those details,” Malkin said.

He declined to point to specific instances, saying he did not want to violate personnel policies or discuss matters that he could not have talked about while serving as a city councilor.

Moving to town

Garzini first came to Bend in 1997 and became a consultant to the nonprofit La Pine Industrial Group, helping to market an industrial park to businesses there.

The following year, he was hired as Bend’s assistant city manager and chief operations officer, a position he kept for two years.

Garzini pushed to get funding for a new senior center, worked on traffic issues in an already growing city and worked with the City Council to purchase land where the much-debated southern crossing bridge — now known as the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge — was to be built, extending Reed Market Road over the Deschutes River.

He backed an effort to get water and sewer lines out to the customers of Juniper Utility Company, which the city later condemned, when they complained about service.

In 2000, when the Bend City Council fired 14-year veteran City Manager Larry Patterson, Garzini took over as interim city manager.

The following year, a Salem company accused Garzini of getting in the way of a deal it had with the city to build a $7 million Alzheimer’s facility in east Bend. A parcel of land there was one of the most well-studied dioxin sites in the state, according to earlier Bulletin reports. Brownfield Development LLC, which rehabilitates contaminated properties, proposed cleaning up the parcel and building the facility.

But negotiations with the city broke down when Garzini got involved, Brownfield’s Chief Executive Officer Patrick Brady said at the time. He accused Garzini of “incompetence and poor leadership.”

Garzini countered that the company made increasingly unreasonable demands, an argument he would later make about Juniper Ridge Partners, and that their price continually went up.

As the community divided over the proposed southern crossing bridge in 2001, Garzini ushered the project through, said Abernethy, who initially was against the bridge.

“He was able to persuade me that it was in the best interest of the city,” he said. “He made a pretty convincing case that it had been on the books for a long period of time and was supported by the community.”

But before voters approved the bridge in a referendum, Garzini was criticized for withholding information about its construction.

Garzini directed city staff not to talk about the bridge and reportedly kept a report from the City Council showing that materials the city was distributing about the bridge were biased toward its construction.

After Bend City Manager David Hales was hired in the fall of 2001, Garzini worked as a consultant and interim manager of the Central Oregon Irrigation District. He was credited with repairing the district’s broken relationship with the city of Redmond after clashes over piping irrigation canals.

Back to the city

When Hales resigned in late 2003, the city brought Garzini back on board for the second time as interim city manager.

He made an unsuccessful bid to bring a fixed-route public transit system to the city and worked with the council to offer high-tech manufacturer IdaTech incentives to build a new facility in Bend.

In 2004, the operators of The Riverhouse were ready to expand, but a city hearings officer turned down its request to build a conference center along the Deschutes River. The resort’s owners sued, and Garzini responded.

“I asked the lawyers to step aside,” he said.

He met face-to-face with owners Clyde and Wayne Purcell to see what could be done.

“We just kicked back and worked it out,” Garzini said.

The Purcells signed over property rights, allowing the city to build a new bridge on Mt. Washington Drive. In exchange, the city granted waivers allowing construction of a convention center, restaurant, 102 hotel rooms, 80 condominium units, and a swimming pool and spa.

The construction is again the subject of litigation after the company owned by the Purcells recently filed suit, alleging the city improperly collected fees it agreed to waive when the convention center was built.

Garzini again stepped aside from city government in late 2004, when the city hired recently terminated City Manager Andy Anderson to take over.

Anderson was let go earlier this month. City councilors cited a “disagreement on management style.”

Garzini’s next task was dealing with turmoil in the city of West Linn, said current Mayor Norm King.

The city manager and chief of police had been fired along with the chief accountant who was suspected of embezzling from the city, King said.

“The situation was that the staff was really just totally demoralized,” King said. “Ron was very good at evaluating what was going on, what the problems were and tacking the toughest ones. It was actually a breath of fresh air for us.”

But Garzini missed being in Bend full time with his wife, Pam, with whom he travels to Italy for two months each year. So he spent some time in semi-retirement doing consulting work and teaching continuing education classes.

Then, Anderson came to him with an idea. The city needed someone to take control of the Juniper Ridge project.

Juniper Ridge

Councilors say that the relationship between the city and developers Jeff Holzman and Ray Kuratek of Juniper Ridge Partners has always been up and down.

“The analogy that I use is that we pitched eight innings, and we needed the closer,” said City Councilor Mark Capell, who took office in January.

Capell has joined fellow councilors Jim Clinton and Bill Friedman in taking specific interest in the Juniper Ridge project.

“So he came in and said ‘Let’s just talk to people and see where we are on this,’” Capell said.

Garzini said that, during those conversations, a significant hurdle came up. Traffic issues at the intersection of U.S. Highway 97 and Cooley Road would have to be addressed, he said.

At Garzini’s request, the Oregon Department of Transportation issued a letter last week notifying the city that it could not go forward with additional construction until a traffic plan and funding source for it was identified.

Garzini proposed a risk assessment of the entire project and then reported to the council that changes in the development agreement, which was expected to be finalized last week, would have to be made.

Holzman and Kuratek have said the city is making an 11th-hour move to cut them out of the deal.

Now, the relationship between the city and the developers is tenuous, and Garzini said he is standing directly in the middle.

“I’m stuck either way,” he said. “If I bring an agreement forward with these guys, it had better be good because I’m under a heck of a lot of scrutiny. And if I don’t bring this thing forward, then we have to talk about a separation and severance, then I’m also under scrutiny.”

Yet he remains optimistic that he will be able to pull the project through.

“I’m very confident that we are going to get through this, but I’m also very confident that there will be some bumps in the road along the way,” he said.

Western Communications, Inc. Copyright 2007. (c) BULL

Anonymous said...

People vote something down, in pops Garzini, and unpopular stuff happens. Over 80% of Bend public today thinks that Juniper Ridge needs to be shutdown.

•Proposed a fixed-route bus system for the city of Bend.

[ People voted against it, Garzini got it implemented. ]

•Organized the West Bend Traffic Consortium to improve roadways and put in roundabouts.

[ Bend construction company's made a fortune. ]

Anonymous said...

Bend, Oregon; Model test laboratory for the crime-free, prison-industrial city-state of tomorrow. Ron Garzini, expert witness.

Managing a surplus population in a retirement community.

......

This essay examines what we are calling the ‘crime control industry’ and how the growth of such an industry relates to growing inequality and the need to ‘manage’ or ‘contain’ the ‘surplus population.’ Profits are a major moving force in this process, rather than the goal of reducing crime and suffering. An important component of this industry is the ‘prison industrial complex,’ one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. Also included is a rapidly growing private security industry that includes private police and security guards, along with a growing supply of technology to aid in the ‘war on crime.’ Other components include drug testing companies, gated communities, and a booming gun industry. We conclude by outlining possible explanations for the growth of this industry.

Anonymous said...

[2] Ron Garzini, US private prison booster, quoted in Christian Parenti 'Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis

*

Ok, here's the deal; answering the rhetorical question. How does Garzini fit into BEND, gated communitys,... Brooks Security Services, ... Bend Stewards.

Garzini is a NUMBER-ONE spokesman in America for the issue of 'managing an un-needed population', solution prison privitization.

Garzini is the critical link to 'cleaning up' central oregon. Note the new prison up in Madras is part of the over-all picture.

Garzini is the critical link at the federal level for the Oregon Laboratory. I don't even want to get into that, Oregon was designated back in the 1950's post WWII to be a sociological laboratory to study population policy management.

The reason that Garzini is a 'fix-it' man, is that behind the scenes he has powers at the Federal Level. He also has the second most powerful lobby in America behind him, #1 military-industrial-complex, #2 prison-industrial-complex.

Ron Garzini is a leader of #2.

Welcome to Bend, Oregon.

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