Thursday, December 20, 2007

The Cult of Bend

After reading the Dec 18 piece in the Bulletin, "29 homes auctioned, not one sold" about the Buena Vista auction, you realize some pretty importsnt things not only about the Bend housing market, but the mindset of its participants. With respect to the 29 homes located in Bend:

"It was the only one of the company's nine sales area without a transaction."

This should tell you something: This was a rigged, sleazy auction ripoff, riddled with trap doors, but it STILL managed to attract a lot of people:

"The 2,209 people who swarmed into the Oregon Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday snapped up almost all of the unsold homes the Lake Oswego-based builder put up for sale in Portland's suburbs."

Now the Bend turnout was obviously lower, given the venue:

"Of the 385 people who registered to attend the auction and left their registrations at the Forum Meadows site in east Bend, only about 15% attended the actual auction in Portland..."

But this STILL MEANS about 60 people from Bend, interested enough to go register onsite, and then make the trek to Portland actually DID ATTEND. So this idea that because Bend had a fairly low turnout means that prices offered were NOT a reflection of market values for these homes is ludicrious. These were probably the most interested 60 people you could find, as they jumped through several hoops just to attend this event.

"Some of the Bend homes attracted bids, Higgins said, but none of the bids came close enough to meeting the reserve prices to justify finalizing sales on any of the homes, Higgins said."

First, David Fisher -- crack Bulletin reporter, Paul-doh said, we don't have to hear "Higgins said" twice in one sentence, Paul-doh said.

Second, you quickly see the completely FAKE nature of this auction revealed in this one sentence. Buena Vista SELECTIVELY picked & chose bids that it would accept:

"About 96 percent of the 141 homes that sold went for final bids below their reserve prices..."

This "auction" was a big sham by Buena Vista, as I said it was repeatedly. A TRUE AUCTION of a large number of properties in Bend would reveal what many on this blog have long known: Market clearing prices are FAR BELOW where they are today in Bend, that fact is EASY TO SEE in the volume numbers which have evaporated to DECADE lows; they may well be at ALL TIME PER CAPITA LOWS, as Bend was a far smaller town in 1997 when we last saw sales volumes this low.

The most interesting quote in the piece? With repsect to FEW the rejected bids that Buena Vista did receive on their Bend properties:

"'They were trying to steal them', Higgins said"

WHAT?

You hold an auction, that gets press coverage FAR & WIDE, you actually get a hard-core contingent of buyers to show up, they actually BID on these shithole, shoddy tubs of shit you call "homes", and you say they are trying to STEAL THEM?

This comes back to a point I've written about several times on here, despite it's unpopularity, the idea that Bend is a town that has been indoctrinated & brainwashed into thinking that WE ARE GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. Not the "Jew Thing", but that as a town we are better than "The Rest". We deserve better. Hell, we deserve THE BEST, and by God, we'll wait until our dying day to get it. This is a mindset cultivated DAILY by ALL BEND MEDIA.

EVERYTHING IS BETTER IN BEND. ESPECIALLY THE PEOPLE. AND IF WE ARE GREAT, SO ARE OUR HOMES, AND THUSLY THEY CANNOT & WILL NOT GO DOWN IN PRICE. PERIOD.

You can see this mindset CLEARLY reflected in Buena Vistas spokesmans statement. EVERYWHERE else, free market values were largely accepted. But Bend? NO. The fair market value bids received here were akin TO THEFT.

First this is a primary function of ignorance about ONE THING:

The fair market value of homes in Bend has RUN AWAY to the downside SO QUICKLY that MANY market participants REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE REALITY OF IT.

The Bend home market has changed so radically & quickly, that people simply refuse to accept it. It's like the tulip mania: It ended so abruptly that people simply refused to accept that prices could in fact go down at all, and also that they could go down with such breathtaking rapidity that peoples entire life savings could be wiped out in minutes.

It's only taken a few months in Bends housing market, which is really the blink of an eye.

The carefully crafted and continuously reinforced Cult of Bend has become the primary driver in a media-fueled mania which clearly did NOT understand the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Oh, we're Gods Chosen people all right... and neither WILL WE, NOR SHOULD WE drop our prices ONE CENT! Realtors cannot get their clients to drop price to effect sales. Why? They've told them day in and day out that NEVER, EVER will Bend RE drop in price, and that ANY DROP is temporary & they should hold the line, and they'll make it through to the other side just fine. And that's what people are doing.

Even Buena Vista homes believes it.

"All our other properties, well we got bids at or close to reserve, so the market must be fair & we'll sell. But Bend? HELL NO! We got bids there that ARE TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! These don't even reflect anything close to fair market value. FUCK THAT, we'll have another auction. Right, another 'auction', but this time it'll be in Bend. That'll set things right!"

Uh huh. You don't get it Buena Vista: Bend has returned to NORMAL BEND, after about 5-6 years of PATTY HEARST BEND, where everyone is continuously brainwashed into thinking 30% appreciation is their GOD GIVEN RIGHT. That's The Cult of Bend.

Normal Bend is a radically different place. People slog to low-pay jobs, WHEN THEY CAN GET JOBS, and they live in shithole 800/sf dungheaps that are priced at a ridiculously high price given local wages. Where is that today? Down around $220K medians, AND SINKING.

Buena Vista GOT MARKET CLEARING BIDS, and they simply refused to accept them as REAL. They have a hell of a lot of company, as about 98% of all Bend home seller are doing the same thing. The Cult of Bend. Won't let them lower price. Been told TOO MANY TIMES TO HOLD TIGHT ON PRICE AT ALL COSTS, and now they are doing it.

I've said many times that we are just an "average place" (within 2 STD's of the mean), and took shit from all sides from Lake Wobegoners that everything in Bend is 77 standard deviations above the mean, as they've heard on TV, radio, and seen peed in the snow 24/7 for 5 years straight. Great. Now we'll pay. We will DIE HERE on the slopes of Everest because of a STEADFAST refusal to accept our human frailties & faults.

We OVERPAID. OK? Not by a little, but by a WHOLE LOT. An amount so far beyond the markets clearing price that we may NEVER see last years prices again in our lifetimes.

What's going to be the epitaphs on the tombstone of Bends housing market?

"This is Bend Oregon and people want to live here"

"Prices have to go higher, because they can't go any lower"

"They want to live in a custom home. And they don't want to sacrifice quality. They want to be close to walking trails and the mountains. They're really mobile and they have a lot of money,"

"They were trying to steal them"


So let me join the chorus, with The Bulletin, Cascade Business Buttbangers, and KTVZ, and just say;

"KEEP YOUR PRICES HIGH. THIS IS BEND, AND THUSLY YOU ARE NOT JUST SPECIAL, BUT EXEMPT FROM MARKET REALITY. DON'T LET ANYONE STEAL YOUR KEYS TO THE GATES OF HEAVEN. YOU DESERVE & ULTIMATELY WILL RECEIVE 30-40% ANNUAL APPRECIATION ON YOUR BEND HOME. DON'T EVER GIVE IN TO THE IDEA THAT YOU WON'T. HOLD TIGHT. WE ARE GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE & HE WILL COME FOR US, AND DURING THE RAPTURE HE WILL BRING WITH HIM HOARDS OF SLOBBERINGLY AGGRESSIVE BUYERS WHO WILL MAKE YOU WHOLE. AMEN."

133 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buena Vista GOT MARKET CLEARING BIDS, and they simply refused to accept them as REAL. They have a hell of a lot of company, as about 98% of all Bend home seller are doing the same thing. The Cult of Bend. Won't let them lower price. Been told TOO MANY TIMES TO HOLD TIGHT ON PRICE AT ALL COSTS, and now they are doing it. - homer

*

Homer, It's called "real estate paralysis", well documented in any good book (mcElvain) on the 'great depression'. People wouldn't sell, and buyers wouldn't buy, from 1929 to 1932, and by 1932 banks wouldn't loan, eventually -90%. Those that were smart enough to unload at -20%, -30%, ... did fine, those that held on to 1932, and then didn't stay put until 1945 got wiped out.

It's clear, and probably needs to be repeated, but Pollock ain't that smart. If he was smart, he would have quit back when TOLL went south in late 2004, that was the end. He wants out, my guess is the higher powers said, "Don't sell Bend below reserve", "Lets all stick together on this".

It's all a mute point, there's already guys selling new crap-shacks in East 'Bend' Siberia for $190k, so why in the fuck would have anyone paid 2005 prices for a Pollock in Bend?

Problem is Pollock built late, and paid TOP dollar for his Bend play, he would be smart to walk with -50%, then again, with the BULL printing press releases are verbatim, and treating all AUCTIONS has the equivalent of a presidential visit, perhaps they're just waiting for a Bend "Auction". Trouble is if NRLL/RDCO doesn't smell 100's of 5% cashier-checks,they're NOT coming.

I really think that this PDX auction was as good as it gets. Pollock could have dumped his Bend play if he wanted to, but he didn't. He may have a partner, we may want to look into this, for instance, if he had a partner out here, say HOLLERN, then that may explain why he refused to let the shit go, like he did in PDX, going into this the goal was always to DUMP everything.

He probably paid top dollar for his Bend land, and most likely the PDX stuff sold at cost, but he really was offering the Bend at cost, and couldn't go any lower.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...


Homer, It's called "real estate paralysis"


Yup, and it will suffocate the life outta this town. There's NO ONE left who MAKES ENOUGH to pay todays prices, so we watch volumes slowly & steadily decline to MULTI-DECADE LOWS. This market is in a fuckin coma, and needs a heart-lung machine to keep it alive.

And as sure as shit stinks, it'll spread to every quarter of the Bend economy, giving it the Kiss of Death.

PERMANENTLY HIGH PRICES: All these RE types wanted it, now they got it, and it's going to kill them.

Good call.

Anonymous said...

Blogger bruce said...

PS BB, I'm just digesting the SORE right now. Seems rather interesting...

*

I think its what they don't say is critical,

Nada a word about Les Schwab, Nada a word about the DEED and terms of the Juniper-Ridge $1 land sale.

An OK, review to date 2004->present timeline, but not MEAT, and NOT a fucking piece of info that you couldn't have found in the BULL, over that time, what HBM has done, is do a story on Juniper-Ridge, that will PISS OFF NO ONE.

Lastly, again remember that Schwab is the #1 advertiser here, for every fucking media there is, so its ONLY going to be the bloggers that ever talk about this issue.

Anonymous said...

"It's all a mute point..."

I don't see how you can say that.

Anonymous said...

Good story in yesterdays WSJ about how all homes are now getting recorded +5-25%, thus everywhere in the country if you see someplace like Bend say RE medians are going up or flat, its MOST likely bullshit.

What's happening EVERYWHERE is builders are hiring BROKERS, who pay 20% CASH to BUYER, at closing, and then at closing the builder pays back the BROKER and a FEE generally 2%.

If a home gets recorded at $300k, then what they're doing is give $60k to the buyer, he puts down $240k, then after recording the builder pays back the $60k to the broker, plus $6k for service rendered, thus a recorded home sale of $300k, nets the builder $234k, a FAR FUCKING CRY from what NAR/MLS will report.

The WSJ says this isn't illegal, but what they say is it is fucking up the zillow.com, and trulia.com, and MLS bigtime.

The big boyz are NOW automatically subtracting 20% from any recorded price, and assuming that is what it sold for.

Remember this story is national, and its happening everywhere.

Bewert said...

Re: HBM SORE article on JR

I was wondering that exact same thing: how in the hell can you do an article on JR without mentioning LS?

The Garzini as cupid illustration was rather wierd as well. Kind of amateurish.

Bewert said...

Homer, this may be your best rant yet. It "just the facts, ma'am" in all their real ugliness.

Anonymous said...

It's all a mute point, there's already guys selling new crap-shacks in East 'Bend' Siberia for $190k, so why in the fuck would have anyone paid 2005 prices for a Pollock in Bend?

*

I'm sure this rhetorical question from Bruce's 'anonymouse' needs clarification, and as always I'll do anything to elucidate.

The Pollock homes are PURE shit, they were trying to get big bucks on siberian Bend crap-shacks. A buyer that really wants that SHIT can get it today NEW, there are ad's in the paper "NEW BEND HOMES, starting at $190k", thus why go buy the same shit at an auction and pay Pollock 2X??

The whole purpose of SELLING the Bend shit at the PDX auction, was that PDX people too fucking lazy to drive out with the fucking dream of a vacation Bend home, may have paid the high price to NRLL.

The FACT is that nobody in their right mind who wants to have a weekend getaway in Bend, wants to have a crap-shack in East Siberian Bend. Thirty years ago it was Sunriver, then black-butte, later mt-b village, inn@7th,

The CUNTS can try as hard as they can, but SIBERIAN CRAP SHACKS are JUST low income housing, NOT stuff that a getaway PDX yuppy would buy.

Figure this, 1,000's of Siberian Crap-Shacks have been built around Bend. They were priced over $400k, but the avg income was under $60k/yr, thus people could ONLY afford $240k. Because of ONE-TIME insane financing people could have been put into that shit.

Today, the crap-shacks in Siberian Bend are ALL WORTH LESS THAN $200K, and POLLOCK was asking more than that.

When I say "mute point", it is because a low income loser that wants to buy a crap shack in Bend can pick up one right now on a builder-contract for under $200k, with NO CREDIT requirements. Anybody that wants siberia can buy it now for cheap.

In PDX like the auction that feeder market wanted NICE recreational land. Who the FUCK would entertain their PDX ski buddy's in a Siberian Crap-Shack???

This goes back to what I said, Pollock and everyone else that built this shit, had and still has SHIT for brains. Yes, Bend RE could sell it for a awhile as flipper bait, because endless cali's could and did buy four on speculation.

Anonymous said...

The Garzini as cupid illustration was rather wierd as well. Kind of amateurish.

*

Pure sarcasm, like I said last night under the influence, those arrows that cupid is shooting have 'rat poison'.

HBM & AARON have NO balls, they cannot say what they think, but they can have fun with cartoons.

Look closely at Kurateks ragged shoes. Someone had a lot of fun with these graphics.

Content?? Nothing, nobody is going read, not a fucking thing new, but this way, the SORE can say they didn't ignore the Juniper Ridge story.

Remember in Bend, there is NO new story, until a new Press Release is issued.

Also, NOTE your fucking LS agreement it says "NO FUCKING PUBLIC DISCUSSION ABOUT LES SCHWAB and JUNIPER-RIDGE Is to take place, unless ALL party's have agreed on content".

Right now LS is keeping its mouth shut, the city by contract must keep its mouth shut, and the BULL/SORE will never report hearsay, until the masters of the universe of Bend, have given them the green light via a press-release.

Bewert said...

Article from NYT reprinted in BULL today on the cutting of a bond insurers rating from A to CCC is worth reading.

Here is some more from the NY Times:

$9.4 Billion Write-Down at Morgan Stanley

By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
Published: December 20, 2007

Morgan Stanley reported the first quarterly loss in its 72-year history Wednesday, heightening fears that the financial toll would keep mounting from the fast-spreading crisis in the subprime mortgage market.

The company took a $9.4 billion charge on subprime-linked investments for the fourth quarter, bringing its cumulative charges for subprime mortgages to $10.8 billion. In a stark reflection of its diminished status it also said it would sell a $5 billion stake to a Chinese investment fund to shore up its capital.


Bond Insurer’s Stock Plunges on Exposure

By REUTERS
Published: December 20, 2007

MBIA said Thursday that it has exposure to $30.6 billion of collateralized debt obligations it insures, including a large exposure to risky bonds known as CDO squared, sending its stocks plummeting 22 percent in early trading.

MBIA said in a statement released on its Web site on Wednesday that it has exposure to $30.6 billion of total CDOs net par that it insures. MBIA, the world’s largest bond insurer, also is vulnerable to $8.1 billion of CDOs backed by high-grade collateral, 85 percent of which are risky bonds known as CDOs of CDOs, or CDO squared.

“We are shocked that management withheld this information for as long as it did,” said a report from Morgan Stanley , referring to the CDO-squared exposure.

“This new disclosure completely changes our view of MBIA being a ‘more conservative underwriter’ relative to Ambac,” said the Morgan Stanley report, which was written by two analysts, Ken Zerbe and Yoana Koleva.

Ambac is the second-largest bond insurer behind MBIA.

Bear Stearns Reports First-Ever Quarterly Loss

Bear Stearns reported a steep loss for its fourth quarter, its first ever in its eight-decade history, exceeding analysts’ fears about how much the investment bank would suffer from subprime mortgages bets.

The investment bank said it lost about $854 million, or $6.90 a share, for the fourth quarter, compared to a profit of $563 million, or $4 a share, for the same time last year. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected a loss of $1.82 a share.

Bear Stearns also said it had written down $1.9 billion of its holdings in mortgages and mortgage-based securities, up from the $1.2 billion it had anticipated last month. As a result of its disastrous results, Bear Stearns said its management will not receive bonuses this year.

The news caps a disastrous year for the investment bank, one of the nation’s largest underwriters of mortgage bonds. Beginning this summer with the housing slowdown, Bear Stearns has stood as the prime example of how Wall Street’s big bet on securities based on risky home loans went bad.

While many of its peers, including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, have announced far more in devaluations, Bear Stearns draws far more of its profit from its trading operations. That was reflected in its fixed income unit, which reported a net loss of $1.5 billion, down sharply from the $1.1 billion in profit the bank reported for the same time last year.

“We are obviously upset with our 2007 results, particularly in light of the fact that weakness in fixed income more than offset strong and, in some areas, record-setting performance in other businesses,” James E. Cayne, Bear Stearn’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The fate of Mr. Cayne, its longtime leader, has been the subject of much speculation on Wall Street since the firm acknowledged that two internal hedge funds that had bet on home mortgages had begun to crumble. As those funds collapsed, questions about Mr. Cayne’s leadership arose, especially as reports that he had gone golfing during the worst parts of that crisis.

The investment bank lost so much capital that this fall Bear Stearns formed a partnership with China’s Citic Securities, in which the two firms swapped shares. Though not as drastic as other firms’ measures to shore up capital — Morgan Stanley on Wednesday announced a $5 billion stake sale to China’s sovereign wealth fund, and both Citigroup and UBS made similar deals with Middle Eastern and Asian governments — it was a reflection of how weak Bear Stearns had become.

Bewert said...

Re: When I say "mute point",

You mean "moot point"

So us bloggers better keep ragging on them, if no one else will.

Anonymous said...

so much for the "End of Bend, lack of snow theory"

Bewert said...

Just published a new blog post: "Bend City Council Executive Sessions--Legal or Not?"

For google: www.juniper-ridge-info.blogspot.com
www.juniper-ridge.info

Anonymous said...

"End of Bend, lack of snow theory"

*

Yeh, they sure fixed that xgiv snow problem, like it never happened. Like there are no kids at St. Charles recovering, its all now forgotten.

The good times are here, another positive Bend story. Just wait long enough, and Bend will eventually play a hand of cards.

Get a bad hand, just deny you ever saw it, everyone in Bend only gets dealt a good hand, no such thing as misery or lack of perfection in Bend.

This is Lake Wobegon, where everyday is perfect.

Anonymous said...

Re: When I say "mute point",

You mean "moot point"

*

A mute point, is when your talking to deaf people, that's why all discussions here are 'mute points'.

It was a good point, and I'll tell it again, if you didn't get it.

Anonymous said...

The mutant point was, ...

The reason that NOBODY in PDX bought the Bend crap shacks, is that in PDX they buy Bend as a vacation, second home.

Contrair to ALL BEND hype and marketing, owning a shit shack in Bend's eastside Siberia, and or any Bend Siberia is NOT a fucking vacation home.

If pdx people wanted shit-shacks they could buy in Beaverton.

You notice that to date, Sunriver is doing fine, why pray tell?

Because it really is a resort, but BEND is NOT a fucking resort, and the city of bend, spending millions a year saying "bend is the #1 resort in the west", doesn' make it so.

Proof is this auction, people in PDX had the chance to BUY #1 Resort home and Bend, and there were NO takers. Imagine that, Bend long ago found the greatest fool.

The Greatest fool theory in Bend has collapsed, now its only downhill.

Anonymous said...

Bear Stearns Reports First-Ever Quarterly Loss

*

Ya, saw this page one of WSJ, no xmas bonus for bigwigs at BS,...

They'll just have to give themselves a raise.

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous said...
Re: When I say "mute point",

You mean "moot point"

*

A mute point, is when your talking to deaf people, that's why all discussions here are 'mute points'."
---------------

Now, I know about 'mute tail grabs', so I just figured it was another pro free-style skier trick, maybe this was with the ski pole tip. You know, a 'mute-point-dinner-roll-with-butter-on-it".

Anonymous said...

You know, a 'mute-point-dinner-roll-with-butter-on-it".

*

At buster's advanced age it would be a "mute-point-dog-meat-with-butter-on-it".

He was just having a senior moment.

Anonymous said...

You could do and Edit\Replace Bend for San Francisco Bay Area and the mindset is the same. Bay Area sales are at a 20 year low but the mindset prevails.

Anonymous said...

Bay Area sales are at a 20 year low but the mindset prevails.

*

BAYAHREA is very nice place, like frisco in general, very, very nice,

The prices will always be high,

That said a 1bd shit-shack in san-jose for $800k, sold to a mexican laborer for zero down, 5/1 ARM, is the problem down there, not nice homes in pacific heights.

The problem with BEND, is that BEND is all san-jose.

There is NO nice area in Bend, its just an old mill town, that got over-sold during the great DUBYA RE boom.

Anonymous said...

ok, I'll try it again, since this is Homers issue, BV

It's a Teenage Ninja MUTANT Point.

Donatella, goes to Bend to find the master ( kuratek ). Instead he is sold a crap-shack by Hollern. Donatella returns to the city where the other turtles are pissed.

Donatella says "I bought resort property". The other's say "No, you bought a crap-shack in Bend, Oregon".

They decide to all go to PDX, and unload. They attend the NRLL auction, but nobody wants to buy Bend, crap-shack, not even in PDX, for any price.

They finally find the Master, he says "Bend is fucked, and only a fucking idiot would buy a Bend Siberian mcMansion".

Donatella is kicked out of the TNMT den, and sent to live in Bend to protect the crap-shack.

***

There you have it moots, moats, mutes, and mutants, all get fucked in Bend.

Anonymous said...

This is too important, and I thought I should get it recorded before I forget it was in the yesterdays WSJ, page-2, on the sub-prime, collapse, and how people are NOT paying their MTG, and imminent collapse of credit cards.

What has completely blown away all mathematical models, is everyone assumed that people would pay their MTG, first, but that is NOT what is happening, people are walking away from their MTG, but still paying payments on their credit-cards.

This is a real blow to the planners of RE-MTG modeling it wasn't supposed to be this way.

This doesn't surprise me, it was easier to get a MTG, than it is to get a credit-card if you were a loser. They actually look at your credit, and a stated-income doesn't cut-it for credit-card rates.

People in USA feel naked without a credit-card, but they can easily live in their car.

I thought it all quite fascinating that this has all caught the best minds on Wall Street off guard, the assumption was always that people would pay the their MTG first, and then the credit card, but its not playing out that way.

This is all so Bend.

Anonymous said...

BAYAHREA is very nice place, like frisco in general, very, very nice,
Yeah, B.S. just like "Bend is very nice" No different.

San Francisco is a dirty city full of junkies. Just try walking thru it sometime. Oh, and watch for the needles in the beautiful Golden Gate Park. There are *some nice neighbohoods, just like Bend. Crap shacks abound all over the Bay Area with ask of 900K esp. in Antioch, Vallejo, Oakland, Tracy etc and no one is buying. Nor are the Condos in SF proper selling.

Anonymous said...

As for people paying their credit cards before their mortgages, this has been covered before. For over a year, there have been stories in WSJ, FT, and Economist that people now value their cars and credit more than their mortgage.

It's true and it's important. And people won't just lose their houses. Some people are addicted to spending and they won't be able to stop--they'll be like birds into a jet engine.

Anonymous said...

SF Bay Area housing in free fall:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/20/BUQ9U25H7.DTL&tsp=1

Anonymous said...

http://www.sfgate.com/
cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a
/2007/12/20/BUQ9U25H7.DTL&tsp=1

Anonymous said...

Prices are still way up there in jumbo territory: "For all existing homes in the Bay Area, the median price in November was $670,000, up 1.4 percent from $661,000 a year ago. "

Anonymous said...

This might interest you guys ... news from inside the banking industry ... SF sounds like Bend (the B-all and end-all of RE) ...

Many Foreclosures Driven by Investors, Speculators: Investigation

An investigative report over the weekend shows that the rise in foreclosures in the San Francisco Bay area is likely fueled by flippers and scam artists.
December 17, 2007

More than 20 percent of all properties in the San Francisco Bay-area that fell into foreclosure in the first nine months of this year were bought by investors, according to an investigative story Sunday in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The newspaper concludes that many of the homeowners impacted by the subprime mortgage meltdown are “hardly the struggling home buyers often portrayed as victims of the Bay Area's and nation's foreclosure crisis. Some bought houses as often as other people buy shoes, rarely putting down any money," the paper reported.

The newspaper worked with DataQuick Information Systems and analyzed the public records of the 6,557 properties that went into foreclosure from January through September. “Of properties repossessed by lenders, 1 in 6 had been owned by people who had two or more foreclosures in their names. Eighteen Bay Area investors had five or more foreclosures,” the paper reported.

Of the 6,557 properties, about 1,350 were owned by people who had multiple properties foreclosed upon during the first three quarters of 2007 or by those who listed mailing ZIP codes different from their property's address at the time of purchase, an indication the property was an investment.

The Chronicle’s analysis of DataQuick’s records found that most of these foreclosed properties were bought with little or no money down. About 80 percent of these buyers put down 5 percent or less of their own money toward the purchase prices.

About 80 percent of the investor-owned Bay Area foreclosures were purchased at the height of the real estate market in 2005 and 2006, according to the Chronicle’s story “Investors own about one-fifth of Bay Area homes in foreclosure.”

The paper found that many of the investors hoped to “flip” their investment, that is, quickly sell it at a profit as home prices keep rising. However, there may also have been a fraud with scammers inflating property appraisals. They would then take out loans on the property, and sell it for the inflated price, according to the paper.

In another investigation, the Mortgage Bankers Association analyzed loan records for properties in early stages of foreclosure and found that non-owner-occupied homes appeared to account for 13 percent of prime defaults and 11 percent of subprime defaults nationwide. The association found that in California, absentee owners accounted for 21 percent of prime defaults and 15 percent of subprime defaults.

Anonymous said...

people now value their cars and credit more than their mortgage.

*

I have relatives that are this way, what's important, now is that credit-cards, are now defaulting, so these folks are going to lose both.

Yes, they walked away from their MTG, but kept paying their credit-card, which looks real good in a BK court.

Anonymous said...

SF sounds like Bend (the B-all and end-all of RE) ...

*

I don't see SF spending Millions of taxpayer dollars annually on the promotion that SF is the #1 resort in USA.

SF, will be what it is, and always a desirable place, but Bend is 1/2 oakland, and 1/2 san-jose, e.g. just a shit hole.

Bewert said...

Re: ...which looks real good in a BK court.

The new BK law makes it almost impossible to walk away from CC debt. That was the intent of it.

Mortgage debt can still be left behind, and the credit counseling provision makes it a virtual certainty that you will lose your house before you are done with "counseling".

Anonymous said...

Bend is a dirty city full of METH junkies.

Just try walking thru it sometime.

Oh, and watch for the needles in the beautiful LA-Pine State Park.

There is a few nice places like Awbrey, Broken-Top, and Mt Bachelor Village, where the white people are marvelous. The rest of Bend, is white trash.

tim said...

It's hard to pay on a mortgage that is bigger than the current house price. Every month you say "shit!"

Your credit cards, on the other hand, they give you things you want. Big TVs. Wonderful meals.

And your car lets you bring home the TV and go to the restaurant.

Things will change. But it won't be overnight. Lessons will be learned, the hard way.

Anonymous said...

Re: ...which looks real good in a BK court.


*

I was being sarcastic bruce.

Judge: "Can you explain, why you cannot pay your MTG, but did pay your credit card?"

Debtor: "Your honor, I understand that I have to pay my credit card bill, but I can fuck my MTG, besides, my HELOC is tapped out, and I still have an open line of credit on my card."

Anonymous said...

Regarding health, take care of yourself, its a known fact that once you go to a doctor, they'll kill you. Stay away from the doctor and meds as long as you can....

BB - damn straight! That's some good advice -- especially to stay out of the worst kind of home possible -- nursing home. Got to keep yourself healthy or those mothers will F you up.

Bewert said...

RE; Regarding health, take care of yourself...

What do you do when at age 11 you suddenly have a grand mal seizure from previously undiagnosed epilepsy that you were born with?

My wife's favorite story is how during the 12-minute run, that we all had to do back then, she was way ahead of everybody else and then she just kind of "went away" and then they were all there when she came back.

Her journal shows her worry over losing whole hours, while her best friend would protect her as she had long absence seizures.

We need to take care of people, all people. The majority are in good shape. Do we just fuck those that are not?

Anonymous said...

We need to take care of people, all people. The majority are in good shape. Do we just fuck those that are not?

*

Yes, it's called free market capitalism, and it works the same way in the health care industry as it does in the mortgage industry.

Bewert said...

Re: Yes, it's called free market capitalism, and it works the same way in the health care industry as it does in the mortgage industry.

So then we should use that model for all the things everyone uses, like water, sewer, power, etc.?

Or should we regulate those services that everyone uses?

Bewert said...

Or did I miss the snark?

Anonymous said...

I suppose one could try to turn health care into a utility like water, sewer and power, but it's unlikely the industry would agree to do it that way. There are too many people with a vested financial interest in keeping health care the way it is.

Anonymous said...

We need to take care of people, all people. The majority are in good shape. Do we just fuck those that are not?

*

It's called Darwinian Evolution. Long ago the weaker members of a tribe were eaten by animals, and quite often food was not provided, as it was more important to feed the strong.

The concept that an entire village is responsible for the health of the most weak, would have made the human race extinct long ago.

Anonymous said...

New Press Release from "Brooks Resources", NOW the BULL has news to print.

"North Rim" open for biz, new gated community, that you can read about, but never see.

So, now we have 'private parks', now the BULL can condition us for the 'private amenity' future of Bend. Of course cali nazis that move here, love this shit, keep it coming Mike Hollern, we need more news in Bend.

***

Park in Bend Oregon's North Rim Now Open for Residents

Published on: December 21st, 2007 12:01am by: awhalen

Bend, OR (OPENPRESS) December 21, 2007 -- North Rim, a community that features one-acre and larger premier homesites on Bend Oregon’s Awbrey Butte, today announced the North Rim Park project has been completed. The private park will serve residents of North Rim with a tennis court, picnic seating area, open spaces and trails. The park was designed by Drake Design Group and constructed by Botanical Developments.

Romy Mortensen, vice president of sales and marketing for Brooks Resources Corporation, a Central Oregon real estate developer, which is developing North Rim, said, “This park will be a great amenity for our residents at North Rim and give them a fabulous outdoor space in which to gather and play. We are really pleased with the way the park showcases the native high desert landscaping, which is a key part of the concept of the North Rim community as a whole.”

The park features native plantings and rock outcroppings, along with erosion control elements to help stabilize the area on which the project sits. An open round pavilion area sits on the edge of the park, overlooking the Cascade Mountain range and the Deschutes River.

The North Rim Park tennis court was designed and constructed by Cushion Courts of Oregon, which has patented its court building process using a recycled tire surface on asphalt. The recycled tire surface protects the court from the sun’s UV rays, keeping it from cracking, as well as providing a low impact surface for players. More information can be found by calling 541.550.0941 or cushiontenniscourts4u@msn.com.

More About North Rim
At the northern tip of Awbrey Butte inside the city limits of Bend, Oregon, lies the private and serene park-like setting for the North Rim Community. Developed by Brooks Resources Corporation, this 200-acre community with minimum one-acre homesites will appeal to those who long for a quiet locale where nature and technology are uniquely blended. North Rim will maintain surroundings that blend into the natural landscape and preserve the unique character of the high desert, while simultaneously providing the first fiber optic connection to an entire residential community in Bend. The spectacular homeowners’ lodge, designed by renowned architect Thomas Hacker, is the focal point of the community, giving residents a special place to meet and relax. Residents will appreciate the stunning views and numerous trails that lead through the development to the Deschutes River and its extensive trail system. www.northrimbend.com

Anonymous said...

I think we should quit discussing Bend Real Estate and only discuss my Hemorrhoids.

Where do I start??

Should I first elucidate the current status of the hemorrhoid biz?

Would photos help? Should the village of Bend support me economically? Should I get medical care paid for by the city taxpayer?

Would DVA/VCB be willing to market/PR bend as the Hemorrhoids capital of the USA, #1 Hemorrhoids.

You know this is some serious shit, and given that Bend RE is too boring, and given that we can't discuss CPST ( micro perpetual energy ), then health care, and if that is the topic, then it MUST be Hemorrhoids.

Anonymous said...

First of all, who is the best proctologist in Bend??

Can we make him/her work for free. Is he a road or a sewer?

Given that infrastructure is always paid by the city, and given that I feel like Mike Hollern on most days, can I make the proctologist serve my needs? At taxpayer expense?

Anonymous said...

Yes, it's called free market capitalism, and it works the same way in the health care industry as it does in the mortgage industry.

* Free Market MED in Bend,OR

Ok, lets play the model. First of a all Health Care would have to be a 'home'. Something that people would never walk away from, then we have to have ARM's, zero down, and stated-income. Then we have to have 7% commission for the Realtors, and a couple grand for the MTG Broker.

We'll have goons go door to door. "Hi, does anyone in this home have hemorrhoid problem"? Yes?, NO? Let's say the response is NO, well there's no reason not to clean up the glory hole before's its too late. Let's SELL the customer the $100k plan, a real clean hole, forever free and clear of Hemorrhoid's.

First we have to get the money from the MED-MTG broker, ok, he get's $2, the MED-RE gets $6k, and the doc still wants his $100k, so that's a $108k loan. No problem, DUBYA has said that ALL americans need to be free&clear of hemorroids.

A few days later a roto-rooter truck stops by the home of the new customer, and performs the service. The doc is busy, and shows up afterward to vow the work is-was 'KOSHER'. Doc-Kosher, gets his $100k, but then something happens, he doesn't pay the roto-rooter men their cut. Now there is a lien against the asshole of the customer at 1 Main, in Bend.

An asshole lien is bad shit in Bend, first of all it means that everyone knows. Your bung-hole credit is now fucked. What do you do??

This is such a big deal, we must switch to first person, now we're the customer.

You call the Bend cops, and file a report. Ah, but they want $500 to file a report. So you pay, you still, haven't paid the payment on the $108k loan. The cops come back on fine you another $5K, because you filed a false-report, it turns out that your contract you signed with "MED-RE", explicitly said that you were responsible for all roto-rooter charges.

Roto-Rooter wants $20k, for services. So, now your up to $132,500, butt you still have lien on your arse.

DUBYA just passed new bankruptcy laws that make it next impossible to walk away from a ANAL lien.

The first payment is due for the $108k loan, and you don't have the money. The MED-MTG broker had assured you that the first five years of your 5/1 ANAL-ARM didn't require a payment on principal, but now you find out that you still have to pay the interest on the $108k. Roto-Rooter is calling you every day about the $20k, as they have now turned you over to anal-collections. This outfit is ran by Bend's, Ron Garzini, Bend Mr-Fix AssHole's. Garzini is threatening to reverse the roto-rooter procedure if you don't pay ASAP.

There's a guy in Bend call Dr. Kuratek, that sells retroactive Anal-Insurance. He wants 50% of your anal profits for 100yr to fix the problems. So you sign up, UBS pay's off all your debt, and your placed in one of Bends Houses-of-Repute, where Chinese tourists corn-hole you 24/7 into perpetuity.

Your now a full time RE-HO-MED slave in Bend, Oregon. The fastest growing tourist operation in Bend. You get AIDS, because one of the Johns refused to wear a condom. Now your back out on the street. The Bend cops pick you up for being a transient, which is illegal in Bend, OR.

Now your in Bend's Juniper-Ridge Prison, where Garzini's boyz take liberty, and your still doing tricks, but now for $1.20/day. UBS now has a lien against your ass, because of the AIDS, and you owe $132,500 plus interest, its now up to $314,516, and growing daily. Your $1.20/day doesn't even pay the interest.

Now your a permanent slave in Garzini's prison, with NO hope.

You escape, but where do you go??

Life is good, Bend is exceptional.

Anonymous said...

Garzini say's to Run Bend like a business.

What kind of business?

What model? Corporate, .e.g. 600% debt to asset ratio?

Anonymous said...

What does the TMNT have to do with Bend?

Anonymous said...

The concept that an entire village is responsible for the health of the most weak, would have made the human race extinct long ago.
*****

Then why aren't people becoming extinct in countries with socialized medicine?

If this were true, Americans would dominate the world, instead of being outnumbered by billions in other countries.

Anonymous said...

Then why aren't people becoming extinct in countries with socialized medicine

*

Modern western medicine isn't even 80 years old, and it is bankrupting everyone, just be patient.

I remember forty years ago they used to say, that people would start to die again of natural causes because they simple couldn't afford to pay the doctor bill.

The problem with 'modern medicine' is that its costs are infinitely high. Sure, you can KILL AMA, and do what Venezuela and Cuba do, create 100's of thousands of doc's, and dilute the cost, but its also equipment and drugs.

*

Healthy people is largely by birth, and no society can keep Frankensteins monsters alive forever, those that do will go bankrupt.

I have to admit that years ago I liked the medical system in Greece, but now that the world is being 'globalized', and all are being sold the same equip, and drugs, then the cost every where will be the same, which is infinite.

*

Let's get back to my Hemorrhoids, and less about your wife's medical problems.

Anonymous said...

The concept that an entire village is responsible for the health of the most weak, would have made the human race extinct long ago.

*

I have lived in African, and Chinese villages that practice this, and it does, work, but lets be honest, you only can use what you have in the village.

A child fell from a tree one day, and got a compound fracture on his arm, the next day it was set by a village elder, and wrapped with newspaper as a cast, and tied up with rope, and he was playing.

I remember in an African village a child was playing by the river, and a crocodile got his arm, they got a bunch of ants on the severed arm which coagulated the blood.

*

Both of the above REQUIRED NO MONEY, and little to NO knowledge of western medicine.

Providing everyone in the world the kind of St-Charles services you wish would cost everyone $10k/mo, which would be 4Billion people times $120/yr, not as much as we spend on killing people in Iraq, but remember we can't do this forever.

There is NO cost containment.

Go live in a village, if you want the village to take care of you.

There are NO villages in USA. It's all take no prisoner capitalism work or go to prison.

Bewert said...

Re: There is NO cost containment.

That's where you are wrong. Costs are contained by regulation and negotiation. Same way costs are contained for electricity. Look what happened when the Cali's tried to deregulate it. Enron immediately took them for a multi-billion dollar ride.

Some products are simply universal and thus must be treated differently than products of choice. Water, sewer, electricity, and healthcare. The US is the only major country not to recognize this, and it's more a function of a need for a way to get workers in a wage-controlled system 60 years ago then anything else.

Canada went through the battle in the early 60's. It's a rather fascinating story, the doctors hated the idea and even went on strike after it was voted in. Now the leading doctor that led the fight against single-payer agrees it was the right thing to do, even though he doesn't agree with the details.

Health is not simply a function of being born with the right genes, its also a function of not having some idiot try to pass around a curve and run head-on into you at 60 mph. As an 80+ year old lady I once came across while out riding had happen to her about three minutes earlier. She was alive, but I could stick my fingers all the way into where her knees should have been. The bottom of the dash had almost severed her legs. But in the end she lived, although I don't know about walking.

The basic idea of insurance is spreading risk as wide as possible. Universal coverage does this.

And,yes, the entrenched interests will scream and fight all the way to them losing. It's the people versus the system, and sometimes the people win.

And cutting health costs by a third by taking the profit out will free up that much more cash flow for mortgage payments for McCrap shacks in Bends Eberia. Or other places.

Anonymous said...

"Social Darwinian," those who preach social Darwinism understand neither Darwinism nor society.

The phrase "survival of the fittest" is misleading. It does not mean survival of the strongest or the most ruthless; it means "survival of those best adapted to their environment."

If being the biggest, strongest and most ruthless predator was all that mattered, the saber-toothed tiger would still be around and the cockroach would be extinct.

Also, Homo sapiens is a social animal, and it is evolutionarily maladaptive for social animals to kill off members of their own species.

Anonymous said...

"Providing everyone in the world the kind of St-Charles services you wish would cost everyone $10k/mo, which would be 4Billion people times $120/yr"

And you arrived at those numbers ... how?

Even if your $10k/month figure is right, obviously everybody doesn't need health care every month or even every year.

It is not medical care that's making us go broke but our way of paying for it. Americans spend more per capita on medical care than any other people in the world and get less for it, in terms of results, than any of the developed countries with their socialized health care systems that the right-wingers keep telling us don't work. Maybe they don't work perfectly, but what we've got works a hell of a lot worse.

Anonymous said...

Even if your $10k/month figure is right, obviously everybody doesn't need health care every month or even every year.

*

'dartagnan' aka homer, as I DEFINED health-care as the level DUBYA recieves at Bethesda, and that in Cash value would cost $10k/mo with a $2k deductible.

Anonymous said...

Tolstoy, Eliot (TS), McGreary, and Now BendBust! Pulitzer Prize Winners!!!

***

Yes, it's called free market capitalism, and it works the same way in the health care industry as it does in the mortgage industry.

* Free Market MED in Bend,OR

Ok, lets play the model. First of a all Health Care would have to be a 'home'. Something that people would never walk away from, then we have to have ARM's, zero down, and stated-income. Then we have to have 7% commission for the Realtors, and a couple grand for the MTG Broker.

We'll have goons go door to door. "Hi, does anyone in this home have hemorrhoid problem"? Yes?, NO? Let's say the response is NO, well there's no reason not to clean up the glory hole before's its too late. Let's SELL the customer the $100k plan, a real clean hole, forever free and clear of Hemorrhoid's.

First we have to get the money from the MED-MTG broker, ok, he get's $2, the MED-RE gets $6k, and the doc still wants his $100k, so that's a $108k loan. No problem, DUBYA has said that ALL americans need to be free&clear of hemorroids.

A few days later a roto-rooter truck stops by the home of the new customer, and performs the service. The doc is busy, and shows up afterward to vow the work is-was 'KOSHER'. Doc-Kosher, gets his $100k, but then something happens, he doesn't pay the roto-rooter men their cut. Now there is a lien against the asshole of the customer at 1 Main, in Bend.

An asshole lien is bad shit in Bend, first of all it means that everyone knows. Your bung-hole credit is now fucked. What do you do??

This is such a big deal, we must switch to first person, now we're the customer.

You call the Bend cops, and file a report. Ah, but they want $500 to file a report. So you pay, you still, haven't paid the payment on the $108k loan. The cops come back on fine you another $5K, because you filed a false-report, it turns out that your contract you signed with "MED-RE", explicitly said that you were responsible for all roto-rooter charges.

Roto-Rooter wants $20k, for services. So, now your up to $132,500, butt you still have lien on your arse.

DUBYA just passed new bankruptcy laws that make it next impossible to walk away from a ANAL lien.

The first payment is due for the $108k loan, and you don't have the money. The MED-MTG broker had assured you that the first five years of your 5/1 ANAL-ARM didn't require a payment on principal, but now you find out that you still have to pay the interest on the $108k. Roto-Rooter is calling you every day about the $20k, as they have now turned you over to anal-collections. This outfit is ran by Bend's, Ron Garzini, Bend Mr-Fix AssHole's. Garzini is threatening to reverse the roto-rooter procedure if you don't pay ASAP.

There's a guy in Bend call Dr. Kuratek, that sells retroactive Anal-Insurance. He wants 50% of your anal profits for 100yr to fix the problems. So you sign up, UBS pay's off all your debt, and your placed in one of Bends Houses-of-Repute, where Chinese tourists corn-hole you 24/7 into perpetuity.

Your now a full time RE-HO-MED slave in Bend, Oregon. The fastest growing tourist operation in Bend. You get AIDS, because one of the Johns refused to wear a condom. Now your back out on the street. The Bend cops pick you up for being a transient, which is illegal in Bend, OR.

Now your in Bend's Juniper-Ridge Prison, where Garzini's boyz take liberty, and your still doing tricks, but now for $1.20/day. UBS now has a lien against your ass, because of the AIDS, and you owe $132,500 plus interest, its now up to $314,516, and growing daily. Your $1.20/day doesn't even pay the interest.

Now your a permanent slave in Garzini's prison, with NO hope.

You escape, but where do you go??

Life is good, Bend is exceptional.

Anonymous said...

That's where you are wrong. Costs are contained by regulation and negotiation

*

I know Insurance company CEO's, and believe me nobody can contain the costs, in time cost will go up and up, and service will go down, and down, until nobody can afford to pay, and everyone simply dies, like they used to.

p.s. No reason to debate with homers ( liberal ego dartagnan ), as its always irrational, I would prefer homer play his real foul mouthed mba self :>

Anonymous said...

the entrenched interests will scream and fight all the way to them losing. It's the people versus the system, and sometimes the people win.
-bruce

*

In case you haven't noticed jefferson lost the debate, and hamilton WON. This USA here is ruled by interest.

It's never going to fucking change, no matter how much you chest beat. If I were you, and had a sick wife, I would go to New Zealand PRONTO.

Anonymous said...

Homo sapiens is a social animal, and it is evolutionarily maladaptive

*

Homo's have been around for such a short period of time that this argument is a joke.

Anonymous said...

MAO said "All political power comes from the barrel of a GUN".

USA practices this with NUKES.

The USA DOLLAR is #1 currency, because if you don't use it you DIE, this is what SADDAM did to get the wrath of DUBYA.

Anybody that thinks life if fair, or that the meanest, and most clever doesn't always WIN is a fucking loser.

We're all fighting for limited goody's. There is a shortage of good pussy, good food, and good things in general, and 4Billion homo's fighting over a enough good stuff for about 10k homos'.

tim said...

chatty

Is there no more to say about Bend RE?

Anonymous said...

Blogger Timothy said...

chatty

Is there no more to say about Bend RE?

*

No this is now the hemorrhoid channel 24/7.

HBM of the SORE told us yesterday that Bend is perfect, and that we needed to find a new axe to grind.

Anonymous said...

Merry Xmas, the banks decided not to pool in order to bail out the money-market, thus means that people will now exit the money-market in MASS, as the buck will break.

***

NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

Dec. 21, 2007

The banks orchestrating a bailout of troubled investment vehicles that were hit by the subprime mortgage crisis are throwing in the towel after struggling to raise money for the planned fund, according to people familiar with the matter. At the behest of the Treasury Department, Bank of America, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase have been working since September to set up the fund, which would buy assets from so-called structured investment vehicles. But lack of interest has led the banks to drop the plan, known as the Master-Enhanced Liquidity Conduit.

Anonymous said...

Ok, back to RE, but what's the point?? Most of you fuck-heads are renters from cali. Which means your lower than swamp-gas on the food chain.

***
DEAR BRUCE-SKI (brewski)

NO. The only "real estate issue" that can legally be discussed in executive session is specifically to "conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to negotiate real property transactions".

*

Not to spoon feed you bruce, but the LS Agreement is well written by Schwabe, Williams, & Wyatt of PDX, law firm who just happens to run EDCO, which just happens to RUN BEND.

In that agreement they make clear that if a rat has light flashed on it you must say "This secret because the state of oregon says that real estate Appraisals can be secret". This is the magic incantation, because the State of Oregon has ruled that this is the only Real Estate biz that can be secret from the taxpayer.

That's it, end of story, the entire JR process was NOT a fucking REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL.

HBM, is LAZY TURD, the guy is a loser, he's been making minimum wage for over 20 years in Bend, he says "ALL real estate issues in Bend, are secret from the citizenry".

This is BULLSHIT. The ONLY time that a real-estate issue can be 'secret' is when its an APPRAISAL.

Now if you read the SWW LS agreement, you'll see that they suggest ALL CUNTS to say that ALL activity is "real estate appraisal".

Go to the bathroom, take a like "real estate appraisal".

Governor gets caught have sex with 13 year old girl "real estate appraisal".

City gives $15M to Les Schwab, ..."real estate appraisal".

HBM's mother kicks him out of the garage, where he's been living for twenty years "real estate appraisal".

Anonymous said...

Given that BEND is ONLY about fucking REAL-ESTATE and NOTHING ELSE...

Regarding HBM's assertion in yesterdays SORE, that says that it is LEGAL for the city to HIDE any subject regarding real-estate from the taxpayers, this is like saying,..

The City of Bend has the right to with-hold ALL fucking information from the tax-payer, because 99.999% of what Bend is, does, thinks, ... IS ONLY PURE FUCKING REAL ESTATE.

I'm sure as always, as everything that HBM writes is just to piss off all party's, because a complete fucking CLOWN. He wants to piss of the objectors of LS/JR so writes this shit, and wants protect the city with inanity by saying shit that is utter non-sense.

Welcome to Bend.

Besides, this is the best we got, we get NOTHING from the BULL, and we get insipid putrid rhetoric from HBM (SORE).

BEND gets what it deserves, and the elected is a mirror image of the parasitic electorate.

Anonymous said...

What is the fucking point of discussing Real Estate.

In ten minutes BENDBB will be posting butt-plug story's.

Anonymous said...

Just for you buster: Everything about Butt Plugs

http://www.love-shop.biz/about-plugs.html

Bewert said...

Actually, I think buster would like this model the best: http://fleshbot.com/sex/sex-toys/sex-toy-of-the-week-george-bush-butt-plug-203631.php

All hat, no gas.

Bewert said...

Also, just picked up about 80 pages of emails between Garz and JRP, and will post anything real interesting.

It seems they are trying to kiss and make up. I hope Garz holds to his guns on his bullet points. I still think JR could be a real job boost if it focused on jobs, not housing. That will take continued pressure.

I actually was within three feet of Garz last week, right after I dropped off the request for these records. I was riding over to the school, and as I was getting ready to leave, he walked by heading out to his car. Then I rode right past him--he probably thought I was some homeless guy using the bathroom ;)

Somehow I just knew it was him, even though I hadn't seen any photos until HBM's article. Actually, he seems like some of the tougher guys I grew up with in Northern Wisconsin. They knew when it was time to be a hard ass and the rest of the time they were fine.

One thing of note is that there has been no payments to Juniper Ridge Partners, no Contingency Removal Notice from LS, and no Notice of Alternate Phase 1 Purchase Price to Les Schwab from the City. So we are getting $7 a sq ft and we pay all SDCs for LS.

Which leads to the question I asked by in my blogpost on this:

Since:

524,610 * $6 = $3,147,660

524,610 * $7 = $3,672,270

and we are getting $7 a sq ft, why do all the docs talk about only receiving $3M to $3.2M from LS?

Of course, thats if LS sends that Contingency Removal Notice in the next ten days and seven hours...

If they don't, it should get real interesting.

Bewert said...

Re: If I were you, and had a sick wife, I would go to New Zealand PRONTO.

She's not sick. She could probably kick your ass on a bike. She kicked every Utah female and most males asses in the early 90's when she won the Utah Duathlon Series twice in a row. And she still rides 100-150 miles a week, plus runs, plus skate-skis and downhill skis. The only thing I can beat her on is my bike and on skis, if there are no moguls. She was a pro mogul skier for eight years and flows like water through them. But her knees have paid the price.

She has epilepsy, which announced itself with a grand mal seizure as she entered puberty. It requires Lamictal and Depakote to control, which costs around $600/mo retail here and around $200/mo in Canada. Actually, if you are in Canada, they are about $10; if you buy them from there and ship them here they are $200. Our copays are $60 presently, but we just received a notice of termination from Blue Cross yesterday. So we have until Feb. 1 to figure it out.

They are not new, state of the art drugs, they both been around for decades.

She's 5' 9", 138 lb. with blond curly hair to her shoulders. If you saw her that last thing you would think is that she is "sick".

Anonymous said...

The 'private parks' are now here, old Mike Hollern, has finally figured out that 'golf courses' are for dodo's. Now he's building NWXC style-crap-shack farms on 1 acre, with a private park, e.g. no white-trash, will be visiting this park. Most notable is the fact that the GOLF COURSE is DEAD.

This Press Release will be printed verbatim by the BULL tomorrow, suggesting that if you had money, then you might be welcome at the private park.
***
North Rim's First Park in Bend Oregon Now Open for Residents

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

Cascade Mountain views, spacious gathering places and a recycled tennis court are just some of the amenities at the private park.

Bend, Oregon (PRWEB) December 21, 2007 -- North Rim, a community that features one-acre and larger premier homesites on Bend Oregon's Awbrey Butte, today announced the North Rim Park project has been completed. The private park will serve residents of North Rim with a tennis court, picnic seating area, open spaces and trails. The park was designed by Drake Design Group and constructed by Botanical Developments.

Romy Mortensen, vice president of sales and marketing for Brooks Resources Corporation, a Central Oregon real estate developer, which is developing North Rim, said, "This park will be a great amenity for our residents at North Rim and give them a fabulous outdoor space in which to gather and play. We are really pleased with the way the park showcases the native high desert landscaping, which is a key part of the concept of the North Rim community as a whole."

This park will be a great amenity for our residents at North Rim and give them a fabulous outdoor space in which to gather and play. We are really pleased with the way the park showcases the native high desert landscaping, which is a key part of the concept of the North Rim community as a whole.
The park features native plantings and rock outcroppings, along with erosion control elements to help stabilize the area on which the project sits. An open round pavilion area sits on the edge of the park, overlooking the Cascade Mountain range and the Deschutes River.

The North Rim Park tennis court was designed and constructed by Cushion Courts of Oregon, which has patented its court building process using a recycled tire surface on asphalt. The recycled tire surface protects the court from the sun's UV rays, keeping it from cracking, as well as providing a low impact surface for players. More information can be found by calling 541.550.0941 or cushiontenniscourts4u@msn.com.

More About North Rim
At the northern tip of Awbrey Butte inside the city limits of Bend, Oregon, lies the private and serene park-like setting for the North Rim Community. Developed by Brooks Resources Corporation, this 200-acre community with minimum one-acre homesites will appeal to those who long for a quiet locale where nature and technology are uniquely blended. North Rim will maintain surroundings that blend into the natural landscape and preserve the unique character of the high desert, while simultaneously providing the first fiber optic connection to an entire residential community in Bend. The spectacular homeowners' lodge, designed by renowned architect Thomas Hacker, is the focal point of the community, giving residents a special place to meet and relax. Residents will appreciate the stunning views and numerous trails that lead through the development to the Deschutes River and its extensive trail system. www.northrimbend.com

Anonymous said...

She's not sick. She could probably kick your ass on a bike.

*

For two months now since your appeared from Provo, UT. We have heard nothing but your wifes medical problems.

Now we learn she's not sick, simply requires a very expensive medicine. So travel up to Canada twice a year and stock up like everyone else does.

"You got problems? Your are alive. You got NO problems? Then you are dead." - an old greek philosopher

Anonymous said...

If you have the email on garzini it shouldn't be hard to 'cat' it all, and put in one file, and place it on your juniper-ridge-info.com, at the very least the search engines can index it, and the rest of us can peruse it,

It's silly for you to act as a gate-keeper and decide what's interesting.

Make sure you put it on your website as pdf or html so the robots can index the data, don't use tiff files like you did the ls-agree.

Anonymous said...

This is what I mean, you mention 'real estate' and you get nada response, but you mention but butt-plugs you get five reply posts, pics, references, and reviews.

I love this group.

Anonymous said...

Now he's building NWXC style-crap-shack farms on 1 acre ....

*

Umm, not quite buster. Hollern isn't building anything in North Rim, he's selling 1 acre lots and the buyers are building custom homes. Only a couple have been spec homes.

Anonymous said...

Re-reading the HBM review today on Juniper-Ridge made me think about some names he dropped.

With regards to how the old boys in Bend get rich, and got cut out of the JR deal by Kuratek.

The names were Brooks, Old-Mill, and other big projects. Note that I posted the CRS guy who is claiming that JR land is the best deal in Bend, and will have the best ROI.

But note, that most land around JR, is owned of course by Hollern. Note also the guy who put together Old-Mill was financed by Les Schwab.

Also note that EVERY FUCKING THING that is done for HOLLERN is done by Hap-Taylor aka Knife-River aka Capell.

Then you get the Les Schwab infrastructure, Capell/Hap-Taylor gets the money, Les Schwab gets the goods, and City of Bend taxpayer gets the bill.

Note, that HBM makes it clear that this is how its always been in Bend, being a small town and all that, and that KURATEK was going to change this, but NOTE that KURATEK has changed fucking nothing.

The same people who always make money already have a done-deal on Juniper-Ridge, something that HBM failed to mention.

Bewert said...

Re: NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

That is real fucking news. A Friday afternoon dump right before Christmas that is going to have repercussions we can only imagine.

Bewert said...

Re: "You got problems? Your are alive. You got NO problems? Then you are dead." - an old greek philosopher

I like that :)

Why should we have to travel a couple of thousand miles? We're American's, we got rights!

Bewert said...

Re: It's silly for you to act as a gate-keeper and decide what's interesting.

No, it's a matter of time and other stuff to get done. Like making money.

Did I use TIFF's anywhere? I used JPGs on the website, which linked to PDFs.

Am I the only one with enough balls in this entire town to file a complaint with the Ethics Commission regarding Executive Sessions?

Bewert said...

Re: If you have the email on garzini it shouldn't be hard to 'cat' it all,

If was digital, yes. I have many pages of paper I will have to scan. That I paid for by the page.

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one with enough balls in this entire town to file a complaint with the Ethics Commission regarding Executive Sessions?

*

In a word, yes.

Bewert said...

Re: In a word, yes.

Damn.

Fuck it. I've always had to do what I got to do. Just the way it is.

Bewert said...

It's like this blog comments are from a bunch of old fucks, that go to bed at 7 PM. I like the early morning back and forth, but at this time of day, 7:30 PM or so, it's like all you cunts are hibernating.

Anonymous said...

I like bruce too, but the problem is, I know my dick is bigger than his, but I don't about his wife, sounds like his wife wears the pants with the enlarged left-leg inseam.

It's pretty scary when a virtual avatar on this blog has to threaten you with his wifes bicycle endurance.

What hath goth roth?

Anonymous said...

In a word, yes.

*

Bruce,

Twenty years ago, I was doing what your doing, and I might add forty years ago.

Did it make a fucking difference? In a word? No.

I do hold to theory that its important to keep up the big fight, but understand, for every Garzini you cut down, there are 1,000 more ready to take their place. Remember Garzini is getting $333/day just to show up, and Kuratek is getting $2k/day to show up. How much are you getting???

This is the ultimate problem in math its a zero-reward positive sum-game. The pro's get an avg of $1k/day, and get to drink beer all night and laugh their ass off, while the anti's sit around on a saturday night at a keyboard. What point of the negative-sum game don't you understand.

If you can't find them, join them.

Nobody in Bend cares, this town wants to get fucked.

Anonymous said...

Bruce CUNT, and NOTE CUNT in ALL cap's, you talk a lot of shit, and you have done as your told.

Which is worth 1 out ten atta-boys.

Why don't you tell us what you really think??

You seem to be as many say, just another HBM, fence sitter, every trying to be the 'rational' one in a irrational town.

Anonymous said...

That is real fucking news. A Friday afternoon dump right before Christmas that is going to have repercussions we can only imagine.

*

People don't even fucking know, I remember in Feb 2007 trying to explain sub-prime to this group, it was trying to tell them that their dick was for something else than whizzing

This is BIG, its MEANS that post new-year ALL money-market is in a fucking free fall, in 1896, in the rich-mans recession JP Morgan single-handedly rescued Wall-Street, what the banks said today is its everyone for himself.

I hope your all listening this is big shit.

Anonymous said...

Twenty years ago, I was doing what your doing, and I might add forty years ago.

*

You were doing butt-plugs 40 years ago? Dude!

Bewert said...

Re:
Why don't you tell us what you really think??

You seem to be as many say, just another HBM, fence sitter, every trying to be the 'rational' one in a irrational town.

You need to go to sleep now...

Bewert said...

RE This is the ultimate problem in math its a zero-reward positive sum-game. The pro's get an avg of $1k/day, and get to drink beer all night and laugh their ass off, while the anti's sit around on a saturday night at a keyboard. What point of the negative-sum game don't you understand.

Yeah, and that sucks. So you do what you can, and if it remains totally fucked, there are other nice places out there.

But, according to the records I just picked up last night, JRP has not received any money from the City. Kuratek and Holzman have been working on spec.

But then I also have a notice of the LS Dec. 12, 2006 meeting dated Dec. 8, which every media person I have spoken to seems to not have received on that date. Or ever.

So who knows. I'm just turning over the rocks so the cockroaches can feel the sunlight.

Anonymous said...

You seem to be as many say, just another HBM, fence sitter, every trying to be the 'rational' one in a irrational town.

*

Brewski, first of all remember there are a least four people here using anonymous with an "*", so don't assume that everyone is an HBM.


I have tried to explain to you that, youth or perhaps innocence is good, your a new boy to town, and yeh get out there get data, create websites, and share info.

After 40 years of chest beating at meetings, and writing, and getting hit by cops at public events, one becomes cynical, especially if one stays put, you seem to be the one that says, if "I don't like bend down the line, I'll move", there are many of us that cannot move.

I'm not sure 'HBM' is a fence sitter, I have had enough 'chats' with him to know, that he doesn't have the resources, remember he is 99.99% of the source textual content, its basically HIM. I think the owner of the SORE Aaron Switzer, spends all his time planning the events that the SORE promotes.

When I have asked HBM why he covers NO personal events himself, the standard answer is always "I don't have time". Most meetings are in the eve, and he's probably already done his 9-5.

That is the problem with this little town, there really isn't any reporting, there is NO Clark Kent working 18hr/day 7 day/week. There is NOBODY.

Then there is the BULL that just waits for all partys to hand them Press-Releases for filler in their paper. This is the problem when you have a regional paper that OWNS a dozen other regional papers its like the radio-biz, they try to generate one batch of content for all the papers, with one 'cat in tree story' for each paper to make them look unique.

We already know that the BULL & SORE will never cover Bend, never have and never will. There is NO money in pissing off the 1/2 dozen guys that run this town.

tim said...

>>We already know that the BULL & SORE will never cover Bend, never have and never will. There is NO money in pissing off the 1/2 dozen guys that run this town.

As we have seen, the Oregonian, when it decides Bend is worth coverage, can actually put together a story. So can the WSJ Sometimes, the State paper and a National paper are more local than our lame little Bulletin.

Bend is apathy.

And why shouldn't it be? There are a lot of us here who are recent arrivals. We don't know anything about our local gov't.

We're still busy finding all the waterfalls, lakes, and trails. If you expect us new arrivals to spend our time trying to fix a local gov't we don't understand, we're more likely to say "fuck it" and move on to a less corrupt, better infrastructure town.

Yes, clearly someone fucked up this town, but we don't even know who the players are unless we come to this blog.

Anonymous said...

Tetherow golf resort's unfinished business
West Bend development says it paid upfront for roads, shouldn't pay more
By Patrick Cliff / The Bulletin
Published: December 21. 2007 5:00AM PST

In 2000, the company developing Tetherow, a golf resort, paid $500,000 toward road improvements on the west side of Bend. The money went toward the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge, and it was supposed to be the only money Tetherow put toward roads.

Separate from the road payments, Tetherow signed an agreement with the city and with Deschutes County that same year. Under that agreement, the developers had seven years to build the resort.

Now that the resort has asked for an extension of that agreement, some are questioning whether Tetherow should pay more.

The problem begins when someone asks when the seven years started.

After a public hearing Monday about the unfinished Tetherow resort before the Deschutes County Commission, it remains unclear if Tetherow and its owner, Arrowood Development, have run out of time on their original agreement.

At issue is whether Tetherow should pay for road improvements on the west side of Bend. The resort’s owners and lawyers argue that the $500,000 was all it owed. They say the seven-year clock began only when the final master plan was approved in 2005.

Tetherow filed for a development extension in November with both the city and county.

“We filed this as a precaution,” Tia Lewis, Tetherow’s lead attorney, said.

“My position is that because we got (a) final master plan for our resort, our resort is approved.”

The opponents to the extension, in part west-side neighborhood associations, have asked the city and county not to approve the extension. “The agreement expired on Nov. 29. I mean, it expired,” said Bob Brell, head of the Land Use Committee for Century West Neighborhood Association. “We think the situation has changed.”

Tetherow, because it did not finish the development inside of seven years, has opened itself up to other responsibilities, said Brell.

For example, he pointed to the backup along Century Drive that happens when students are picked up or dropped off at Cascade Middle School. The roundabout at Mt. Washington and Century, he says, backs up sometimes a half-mile and is not wide enough to allow emergency vehicles to pass the traffic.

Myles Conway, another lawyer for Tetherow, during his argument before the county said he has children at the school and understands the problem. “But nobody at Tetherow has kids at the school,” he said.

Tetherow’s plan, largely unchanged since 2000, involved more than 200 homes, a hotel and a golf course. The golf course is the only section of the project finished, and it has yet to open.

As developers began to eye the west side for resorts before the 2000 agreement, housing and office space, the city threatened to halt all construction because the roads would not be able to handle the additional traffic. Ten developers joined together as the Westside Consortium. The consortium pooled $12 million to help alleviate the traffic impact of their planned developments. The money went toward the bridge, roundabouts and Mt. Washington Drive. The Bulletin, which was finishing its current facility at the time, was a member of the consortium.

Tetherow is unique among the Westside Consortium partners because it holds an agreement with Deschutes County and Bend. Tetherow sits on county land, on the west side of the urban growth boundary and needed an agreement with the city also because of road use on the approach to the resort. The resort has also requested an extension of that agreement.

Tetherow is not the only Westside Consortium partner looking for an extension. During November and December, West Bend Properties, Century Park and Brooks Resources-Mt. Bachelor Village all filed with the city for extensions.

None of the applications has made it to the City Council for a hearing, said Heidi Kennedy, sen-ior planner in the Bend’s Community Development Office.

Lewis said that construction has been slow to begin because of various factors, primarily the difficulty of securing financing after Sept. 11, 2001.

“It’s been a five-year delay,” she said. “It just took that long, several years, to get financing.”

The property finally began to move forward in January 2005, when the conceptual master plan was approved, according to a timeline in a report prepared by Anthony Raguine, associate planner for Deschutes County. Appeals by third parties — unnamed in the report — were not finished until December of the same year.

The original plan did shift. Because of market conditions, Tetherow cut down on multiunit buildings, said Lewis. The result was fewer people per acre. The big, single building lots are selling. Since October, Tetherow has sold 20 lots worth an estimated $12 million.

Lewis estimated Tetherow had built about $8 million worth of roads inside the development. By the time Tetherow completes construction, the company will have spent nearly $15 million in roads and the bridge, according to Lewis.

Deschutes County Commissioner Dennis Luke declined comment on the extension Wednesday because the decision is pending, but he gave an indication of his direction during the Monday meeting.

“If the city agrees to extend it or write a new agreement, I would sign it,” said Luke at the meeting. “I cannot sit here and sign this. It’s a three-way agreement.”

Commissioner Tammy Baney, though, seemed inclined not to extend the agreement.

“I am not in favor of an extension of the existing contract,” she said. “I think we are at a crossroads of needing a new agreement, and an extension would not be the cleanest.”

The hearing was continued until late January, which left opponents of Tetherow’s extension and developers in a holding pattern.

If the city decides to extend the agreement, development of the resort would continue. If that new agreement included more payments to the city infrastructure, said Lewis, Tetherow would appeal.

Patrick Cliff can be reached at 633-2161 or at pcliff@bendbulletin.com.

Anonymous said...

Ordinance lives; taxpayers cringe
Published: December 22. 2007 5:00AM PST

Bend’s mobile home park closure ordinance has become a sort of zombie. By all rights, it should be dead, but it isn’t. Instead, thanks to regular doses of magical thinking by a handful of councilors, it staggers on, stomping property owners’ toes and generating lots of work for local lawyers. Grab your wallet and run for your life.

The council created this monster with the best of intentions. Soaring property values in recent years prompted some owners of mobile home parks to begin the lengthy process of closure and redevelopment. Many of their tenants objected and asked the City Council to intervene. The council, in response, approved a cumbersome ordinance that essentially shakes down park owners for the cost of moving mobile homes.

The council has thoughtfully given park owners a way to avoid this extortion. They can agree to provide a certain number of affordable housing units in their new developments, in exchange for which they’re also eligible to develop at a greater density.

The council adopted the ordinance knowing park owners might sue. Some have. What’s more, they’ve enjoyed some success in court.

As all of this drama was playing out, the state Legislature created a statewide closure law that is, in most important aspects, like Bend’s. It doesn’t have the density bonus, but it does shake down park owners fairly aggressively when they oust their tenants. The law is not a good one, and it, like Bend’s ordinance, will probably face legal challenges.

But the state law could help Bend’s councilors put their zombie to rest. Because it’s so similar to Bend’s ordinance, the state law makes it virtually redundant. Councilor Mark Capell has urged his colleagues to zap the city ordinance, rely upon the state law instead and — significantly — let Salem fight the legal challenges and pay the lawyers. As for Bend’s density bonus, it could be offered as a stand-alone incentive to park owners.

This was the background for a proposed revision to Bend’s park ordinance Wednesday night. The details of the revision aren’t particularly important here, though the amended ordinance would extort slightly less from park owners who seek to close up shop. The important issue, instead, remains the council’s reluctance to repeal its own ordinance and rely upon the state law. If the consequences of stubbornness weren’t clear enough, city attorney Pete Schannauer kicked off Wednesday night’s discussion with the following caveat:

“Let me just say that in executive decision we discussed in some detail potential legal challenges and the reality that there would be defense costs associated with those legal challenges … we don’t want to go into too much detail in the public session regarding either the current litigation or, really, future litigation. But suffice it to say that there are some issues that could be raised by property owners given the high stakes involved and the high costs involved in this matter involving the amended proposed amendment to our ordinance, as well as to current state law. There could be some challenges to that. So, as the City Council considers this, that’s one of the factors that should be involved …”

In the process of amending the ordinance, a majority of councilors made it perfectly clear that they were willing to keep Bend’s ordinance on the books and accept whatever legal costs might result. The notable exceptions were Capell and Chris Telfer, who reminded her colleagues of the significant costs associated with some of the city’s other legal battles. These include the Juniper Utility lawsuit, which could prove hugely expensive.

When the virtually inevitable happens and the city racks up further tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in legal bills defending the mobile home park ordinance, city councilors will not be able to say they weren’t warned — clearly and forcefully. Bend’s residents deserve to know this, as they ultimately will have to pay for the wholly unnecessary havoc the council’s zombie wreaks.

Anonymous said...

Bauhofer borrowed $30M from the Florida MOB a few years ago to build up the lots at Tetherow.

That money is gone.

They need more money, they sold a few lots, but to date nobody has built anything.

Baufhofer has spent $24M on bridges and pavement through-out Tetherow, Knife-River/Hap-Taylor/Capell of course.

Now Bauhofer wants the city to give him some cash for all the roads he made.

It's a good proposition, considering the good city is giving Les Schwab $15Million dollars of taxpayer money for their campus.

Bend is generous, why shouldn't everyone get the same deal that Les Schwab gets??

Anonymous said...

Yes, clearly someone fucked up this town, but we don't even know who the players are unless we come to this blog.

*

Read carefully the above two BULL story's one says "The Real Estate Boom completely caught us off guard, we couldn't plan".

What BULLshit, note that the city ENGINEERED the RE-BOOM, it was the BUST that they didn't plan for.


Yes, I agree that hiking, and xc-skiing is better than fucking with the folks that run this town.

Bill Smith ( old-mill ), les Schwab ( Dick Borgman ), Mike Hollern ( Brooks ), Capell ( Hap-Taylor/Knife-River ). Run this town, and they have 100's of lawyers, and coat-tailers that will stop at nothing to get a free ride.

Anonymous said...

Bend’s residents deserve to know this, as they ultimately will have to pay for the wholly unnecessary havoc the council’s zombie wreaks.

*

They don't deserve anything, other than what Hollern tells them they deserve.

The trailer parks were worth nothing, before the city marketed bend as #1 tourist resort in Universe.

Then Hollern, Capell, Smith, Borgman, .... bought the cheap land, now the profits don't look so good when you have to move granny.

The easy money is over CUNTS.

Anonymous said...

"HBM, is LAZY TURD, the guy is a loser, he's been making minimum wage for over 20 years in Bend, he says "ALL real estate issues in Bend, are secret from the citizenry". This is BULLSHIT. The ONLY time that a real-estate issue can be 'secret' is when its an APPRAISAL."

This is HBM the lazy turd here. I would like to make a couple of points, if you will kindly indulge me.

1. I have never worked for minimum wage here or anywhere else I have worked.

2. I never said "all real estate issues" are secret. Go back to the second grade and learn to read.

3. Oregon's open meetings law says the council can hold an executive session "to conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to negotiate real property transactions." This is not a blank check but it is pretty broad. For example if the council wants to talk with Garzini about his negotiations with Kuratek and Holzman, it can go into executive session.

Also notice there's not a word about "appraisals."

I have tried to be patient with you as you spout your ridiculous unsupported claims and accusations from behind a cloak of anonymity, but when you start defaming me personally I draw the line. Your anonymity may protect you from a libel action, but it will not protect the proprietor of this blog.

Enough said.

Anonymous said...

This is HBM the lazy turd here. I would like to make a couple of points, if you will kindly indulge me.

*

It doesn't matter what you actually say, buster will twist your words to support the points he wants to make anyway.

Bewert said...

Re: This is HBM the lazy turd here.

It may be broad, but it is specific in it's public notice requirement.

Holding unnoticed Executive Sessions is a big no-no. And the way the City notices Executive Sessions is clearly inadequate.

As a reporter, you should figure out those things. Not some nobody like me.

Bewert said...

BTW, I emailed Bruce Abernethy about these concerns last night. I doubt I will receive a reply, but if things change for the better I will be satisfied.

PS Why so many Bruce's around here? I've never been in a place with so many. It used to be a rather uncommon name.

Bewert said...

On US healthcare:

"Insurers always qualify their denial letters with a sentence to the affect that the doctors must provide whatever care is necessary and that the payment is a separate issue. Insurers never deny CARE only the authorization for payment. To stall the actual delivery of care, insurers hold out an insincere promise to authorize payment if only the doctor provides more information. This leads the doctor on indefinitely, while insurers never says absolutely 'No' until the patient gives up or dies."

From a transplant surgeon.

More here.

The only people that want to make millions of off our health care are those that want to make millions, period. Jonas Salk wasn't working for a paycheck. As he said, "Who owns my polio vaccine? The people! Could you patent the sun?"

Anonymous said...

One thing is sure, the half-wit people posting on this blog sure aren't going to fix any problems. There here for sexual innuendo, apparently. You should all quit kidding yourselves and get a life.

Anonymous said...

One thing is sure, the half-wit people posting on this blog sure aren't going to fix any problems.

*

Yes, but beating your chest is better than sitting on your ass like duncan all day in front of the TV.

Thoreau said that "most people live lives of quiet desperation".

If you don't can't stand people bitch about Bend, then don't read this blog, and sit on your ass in front of the TV and listen to Oprah.

Money talks in Bend, and the bloggers have no money. They'll never change anything, but at least we know who we are and what we will accomplish.

Those that sit on their ass in front of TV, are already dead and don't even know it.

Anonymous said...

Bruce's around here? I've never been in a place with so many. It used to be a rather uncommon name.

*

That's a good idea, from now on no buster, its all bruce from now on!

Anonymous said...

Re: This is HBM the lazy turd here.

*

This is HBM universal reporter.

Anonymous said...

Blogger bruce said...

Re: This is HBM the lazy turd here.


I thought that H 'Bruce' Miller, and Bruce were the same person?? Are they not??

Anonymous said...

It doesn't matter what you actually say, buster will twist your words to support the points he wants to make anyway. - pseudo hbm

*

Buster is gone, its now bruce 24/7.


Ya, that Buster so powerful, able to twist the words of clark kent.

Let's all be honest here, hbm is one of us, he concurs that Bend is BIG-JOKE.

At least hbm has a job, most people in Bend, don't even have that.

Anonymous said...

This leads the doctor on indefinitely, while insurers never says absolutely 'No' until the patient gives up or dies."

*

The purpose of 'insurance' is to collect premiums and deny claims.

Anybody that expects a check from an insurance company, that doesn't have a lawyer on retainer is a fool.

Anonymous said...

It's xmas can't we all get along?

Buster, homer, bruce, timmy, hollern, capell, costa, SORE, BULL, we're all Bend brothers.

Can't we all just get along??

Duncan McGeary said...

Buster, for such a yahoo, you can be a freakishly insightful dude.

If only I didn't have to wade through tons of shit to get to your little turds of wisdom.

Anonymous said...

'bruce-ology 101':

"bruce" is the dude with the buff wife who will wrap her bicycle around you neck.

"bruce abernathy" is da mayor.

hbm is the minimum wage "bruce" who got let go at one paper and now scribbles crap for the SORE.

none of the above 'bruces' are the psuedonym 'bruce' (code for gayboy) to my knowledge, but I have been wrong before.

Anonymous said...

In a word, yes.
-----

You need a pardner in sticking it to the city to force them to adhere to Exec Session laws.

Mike Morgan outta Sisters (Mike and Jan, in the book) forced the School Dist to record the audio of Exec Sessions, as minutes. He knows the ins and outs, and has spent money to get it done.

Bewert said...

RE: 'bruce' (code for gayboy)

Ah, you've been down under...

Bewert said...

Re:
You need a pardner

Do you know Mike? Have his cell number?

I would love to talk with him.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Mike Morgan outta Sisters (Mike and Jan, in the book) forced the School Dist to record the audio of Exec Sessions, as minutes. He knows the ins and outs, and has spent money to get it done.

Mike Morgan KICKS ASS! I love that guy!

Anonymous said...

Phonebook results for "mike morgan" sisters oregon

Mike Morgan
(541) 549-8898
Sisters, OR 97759

Anonymous said...

Garzini Goons expand enforcement Bend to AZ Border.

Terrorism reigns in America
By Brenda Norrell,
Posted on Fri Dec 21th, 2007 at 12:52:13 PM EST
THE GATE, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION (Arizona) -- While Homeland Security announced the forced occupation and takeover of Lipan Apache lands in Texas for the border wall yesterday, I was at the Arizona border once again being bullied by the US Border Patrol.

All along the border, Homeland Security's Border Patrol is intimidating and harassing the people who have lived here all their lives.

The Tohono O'odham have lived here since time immemorial. Now their land has been seized and taken over by the Border Patrol, the contractor Boeing and the invading National Guardsmen, for construction of the border wall. The graves of O'odham ancestors have been dug up, according to the traditional O'odham.

All along the border, young people are intimidated and harassed constantly. Tailgating police, excessive force and Nazi-style prosecutors push young people into rage and jails.

At the same time in Tucson, a judge has declared peace activities opposing US torture in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo, as a "danger to the community."

The United States government has become the terrorist it claims to oppose.

In Texas, Margo Tamez, Lipan Apache/Jumano Apache, called for immediate support Thursday, Dec. 6, when Homeland Security announced the occupation of lands where Apache land title holders are refusing to sign NSA waivers for the border wall.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the United States will seize private lands in south Texas for the border wall, using the law of eminent domain. Tamez said, "We need your help on our continuing efforts to protect and keep safe the elders of our struggle against U.S. tyranny."

Chertoff announced plans to force occupation of South Texas families who refuse to allow the government access to their lands.

Tamez said, "'Refusers' such as the Lipan Apache Land Grant Women Defense, led by my mother, Dr. Eloisa Garcia Tamez (Lipan Apache, Basque-Apache), in the rancheria of El Calaboz, have frustrated the NSA, Border Patrol and Army Corps of Engineers officials for over two years, and increasingly in the last two months.

"Using tactics such as public announcements over the news service, used as intimidation and as psychological warfare--NSA/Chertoff exploits the press to prepare the nation to invade South Texas--and indigenous peoples--who are being 'architected as the perpetual enemies of the United States.' This is an old story of genocidal tactics and militarization.

"This scenario played out before, in 19th century, in 20th century. And now the 21st, my mother, the 'child of lightning ceremony', is fighting for the vestiges of our traditional lands.

"My mother, and the ancestors of 'the place where the Lipan pray', have been critical to our land-based struggle, and they are leaders in an Apache struggle in the Mexico-US International Boundary region. Our elder voices direct us in a huge role that Apache people will play in standing up against tyranny of the settler society. We cannot do this without the support and the solidarity of our indigenous sisters and brothers who are also at the forefront of the 21st century battles for our rights as indigenous people with ancient footprints on this land.

"My mother, at this stage of our community-based struggle, indicates that she is prepared to receive national and international support for our small community on the peripheries of U.S. empire. She wrote a comment on the page of this newsstory out of Houston, Texas.

"Today we are submitting our comments to the Environmental Impact Statement authorities, and parallel to that we are submitting an in depth case study of our histories under U.S., Mexican, Spanish, Vatican and corporate domination to the International Indian Treaty Council shadow report to be submitted to the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of Racism and Racial Discrimination in December," Tamez said.

Meanwhile in Tucson, peace activists opposing US torture were declared a "danger to the community."

At a detention hearing in federal court in Tucson, Betsy Lamb, a retired Catholic lay leader, and Franciscan Fr. Jerry Zawada were jailed without bail until their trial, according to the support group "Torture on Trial."

Lamb, Zawada and Mary Burton Riseley were arrested on November 18 at Fort Huachuca, home of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School, during a protest of military use of torture against war detainees.

Magistrate Hector Estrada was concerned by evidence that both Lamb and Zawada had failed to heed an order of the court in cases pending in other jurisdictions. Betsy Lamb is awaiting trial for a September anti-war protest outside the office of Rep. Greg Walden, in Bend, Oregon.

As a standard condition of release on her own recognizance, Lamb had promised not to commit any other crime while awaiting trial. Fr. Zawada has an outstanding bench warrant for failure to appear for a court date in Washington, D.C., where he has been arrested several times in recent years for anti-war protest.

Army Prosecutor Capt. Evan Seamone came to court with three witnesses in dress uniform, several poster-sized photo enlargements and a videotape of the arrests. But the magistrate said he already knew the defendants' intent, and would only listen to Seamone's summation. Seamone described the defendants' peaceful passage through police barricades at the gate of Fort Huachuca as a violent act because it had to be met by police, who were forced to go face to face with the unarmed protesters and lift them from a kneeling position. In the eyes of the law and legal precedent, Seamone argued that such violent trespass warranted pretrial detention for the safety of the community.

Were the court to release Zawada and Lamb, "their blatant defiance is likely to happen again" Seamone warned, gravely predicting that "all kinds of chaos" would ensue at the gate to Fort Huachuca.

Attorney Rachel Wilson, representing the defendants, objected repeatedly without success to Seamone's arguments. Wilson told the court that Ms. Lamb had "learned her lesson" and was willing to post bond along with her promise to return to court for trial. Estrada was unmoved.

He told the defendants he didn't trust them and that he believed they were right where they wanted to be - before him in chains. Protest is brinkmanship, and the point is to not be arrested; better to organize a conference or seminar, he chided.

Estrada then ordered that Lamb and Zawada be kept in custody until their February 4 trial because they "remain a flight risk, and are a danger to the community." Not even Capt. Seamone had suggested that the defendants were a "flight risk".

Responding to the court's conclusion, Felice Cohen-Joppa said of her friends, "Betsy Lamb and Jerry Zawada are not a danger to the community - they, along with Mary Burton Riseley, are the conscience of the community. They are shining a light on the involvement of military intelligence in torture around the world. Their nonviolent acts are no more a danger to the community than were the nonviolent acts of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King, Jr." Lamb and Zawada are not the only people now in prison for peaceful protest of U.S. torture practices.

On October 17, Magistrate Estrada sent Frs. Steve Kelly and Louie Vitale to prison for five months in prison for a similar protest at Fort Huachuca in November, 2006. They are scheduled to be released in mid-March.
More: www.tortureontrial.org/ Please see photo of construction of the border fence on Tohono O'odham land: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/ Although the Tohono O'odham Nation refers to this as a "vehicle barrier" instead of a "border wall," traditional O'odham say it has the same effect, since it is a barrier to the annual ceremonial route and has already resulted in the digging up of O'odham ancestors' remains. While the Tohono O'odham Nation government works with Homeland Security and supports the border fence, the traditional O'odham are opposing it. Traditional O'odham said the future of their people and their ceremonial way of life is at stake.

Anonymous said...

If only I didn't have to wade through tons of shit to get to your little turds of wisdom.

*

You said the same thing about pippi longstocking.

Duncan, pippi killed her TV, why can't you??

Anonymous said...

Phonebook results for "mike morgan" sisters oregon

Mike Morgan
(541) 549-8898

*

If there were 2 or 3 people like 'mike' in Bend, the city would completely implode.

Take away executive sessions and report what city hall is up to how about campaign contributions? I would love know who owns 'Bruce A."

Anonymous said...

If only I didn't have to wade through tons of shit to get to your little turds of wisdom. - Herman Melville

*

Call me Ishmael.

Anonymous said...

Skier's YOU'LL THIS, and its NO bruce-shit. Its completely TRUE. Capstone is going to be selling Micro-Turbines to MT-B to power their new village of condo's. Assuming rain, and melting snow in coming years, there will be 100's of micro dam-heads on MT-B all powered by CPST. This is 100% true!! Note this wire is from 'Newhouse", which is the folks who own the Oregonian, which is owned by KKR, which is owned by the Oregon Pers pension fund. Small World.

***
Ski resorts plan for a future with less snow

By Matthew Preusch
Sunday, December 23, 2007 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
Newhouse News Service

BEND, Ore. — The snow guns at the Mount Bachelor ski area have been blowing for more than a month, laying down a 3-foot base.

The $5 million system helps the resort build its base on what started out to be a low snow year this season. But it works only when it's cold, and Cascade Mountain winters are expected to get warmer.

So at Mount Bachelor — as at many other ski resorts in North America and Europe — managers are starting to adjust long-term plans based on the predicted effects of global warming.

This fall, Mount Bachelor's owners hired a group of scientists to create a long-term climate forecast specific to the 9,065-foot butte west of Bend.

"What we hope that's going to do is help us say, 'OK, this is the trend we're on, and this is what we can do to adjust our business model in the future,' " said Matt Janney, president and general manager of Mount Bachelor.

Janney said that could include everything from mountain biking in the summer to micro-hydroelectric turbines turned by snowmelt that would power the resort and allow it to sell excess electricity.

Some resorts are branching out of the ski business altogether. Hoodoo Mountain Resort, based in Sisters, Ore., is now Oregon's largest operator of national forest campgrounds and plans to nearly double its contracts in three years, said Charles Shepard, chief executive officer. Last year, it got approval from the U.S. Forest Service to put in an alpine slide and a zip-line ride, although it is putting off construction, he said.

"Mostly what we're trying to do is diversify ourselves so we're not as reliant on skiing as a business," Shepard said.

Scientists at Oregon State University estimate that global warming will mean warm winters in the Cascade Mountains more often.

A study by OSU geographers published last year in the Journal of Hydrometeorology found that between a fifth and a quarter of the Oregon Cascades will begin experiencing more of their winter precipitation as rain, not snow.

The OSU study predicts that the frequency of warm winters at Hoodoo will, for example, jump from 7 percent to 67 percent by the middle of this century.

In other parts of the country, resorts are bulking up their snowmaking operations, but that might not be practical in the Pacific Northwest, which has the lowest incidence of snow machines of any region in the country, according to the National Ski Area Association. The reason: the region's temperate maritime climate.

advertising

"You can make snow if it's cold enough, but you can't make cold," Shepard said. "We can't refrigerate the mountain."

In general, larger resorts can respond better to a changing climate because they can afford costly snowmaking systems or develop newer high-altitude terrain, said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Area Association.

"We are generally optimists, and we're also knowledgeable and experienced with huge weather variability," Berry said. "We're ready to make the commitment to the huge complexity that could be around the corner."

Anonymous said...

Once again bruce-buster is right. Hollern brings in a MormRON, who helps guide the blog's on a gentle path. Focus on Capell, not on Hollern.

Buy CAPSTONE ( CPST ), then it turns on the new super-resort at MT-B will be using 100's of micro-turbines all over the MTN for power from snow-melt and wind.

This is all too much of coincidence, which shows that brewski has involvement in the BIG PLANS of Hollern for the Bend Region.

Anonymous said...

I think you are right. Mike is a catalyst.

If you super cool water, it can get down to 25 degrees or less, without freezing, just completely liquid below freezing. But once you open the bottle, and get one single chrystal inside, then the whole thing freezes up in two seconds.

Bend is the super cooled liquid, Mike that one chrystal catalyst. Give him a call. Now that he ripped Sisters School District a new one, he might be looking for a new bone to chew on.

Anonymous said...

This is quite interesting, our own "Sally 'heatherton' Henderson", will soon be running the Bend Film Festival. Not bad, non-functioning cali, comes up, and within four months creates her dream job at taxpayer expense. Kuratek shows that in Bend, dreams come true.

***

Film festival gets a new leader in a critical year
In the director’s chair
By David Jasper / The Bulletin
Published: December 23. 2007 5:00AM PST

Disappointment.

That’s what Sandy Henderson felt a year ago.

What a difference a year can make.

Back in fall 2006, BendFilm founder Katie Merritt had announced her intention to step away from directing the nonprofit film festival she founded in 2004.

Henderson, who had been in Bend four months, fresh off of 16 years working in the film industry in Los Angeles and her native Australia, knew her dream job when she saw it.

Unfortunately for her, someone else landed her dream job.

Erik Jambor took over as executive director of BendFilm in February.

Jambor resigned in November after this year’s financially lackluster festival, which saw a 15 percent drop in attendance on top of a late scramble to raise $80,000 that fell short of its goal by half.

Guess who got the dream job this time?

Friends and foils

Sitting in the BendFilm office, Henderson, 42, tells of her childhood in Adelaide, a south Australia city known for its wines, churches and artistic culture in general.

“Australia was a penal colony, by the way,” interjects Jim Bailey, president of the BendFilm board of directors and Henderson’s friend and foil.

“Thanks so much for that,” Henderson answers. “But Adelaide is actually where all the officers lived, so” — here she sticks her tongue out at Bailey, who’s chuckling — “to you.”

She likens herself to a military brat because of her father’s successful banking career. With each promotion, he moved the family around the country. “I’m incredibly blessed. I have a dad who I always knew that no matter what happened, all I had to do was make a phone call. And I think that’s really rare.”

Henderson believes the itinerant life led to her outgoing personality.

“I went to a lot of different schools, so I was constantly feeling the need to make friends and fit in, and probably that’s where the shy and retiring personality came from.”

And, from an early age, she fell in love with movies, classics mostly . “I think the first movie I saw that I really can remember is 'The Towering Inferno.’”

Bailey groans, then laughs: “Gawd. Despite that, she loves movies.”

“I used to earn my pocket money by doing the ironing,” Henderson continued, “and in Australia, on Saturday afternoons on the ABC (Australian Broadcast Corporation), they would have a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers festival, or a Bogey/Bacall festival. And I’d stand there doing the ironing, making my pocket money, watching the classics.

“When we talk of 'Lawrence of Arabia,’ or 'Casablanca’ or 'The Maltese Falcon,’ it started when I was 10.”

Henderson skipped college in favor of “the college of life” and moved to London for a couple of years.

In 1987, she moved to the U.S. She would become a legal resident and settle in Los Angeles, “with the singular goal of being involved in film, because it’s always been my passion. It’s always been my first love,” says Henderson, who incidentally is not involved in a long-term relationship.

She worked as a temp, then went to work for such companies as AFX Studio, a special-effects makeup lab owned by David LeRoy Anderson, who won Oscars for Best Makeup for “The Nutty Professor” and “Men in Black.”

By 1999, she began working for Patrick Wachsberger, president and CEO at Summit Entertainment, the international sales agency that bought “The Blair Witch Project” at Sundance Film Festival, “and turned that around into the phenomenal film release, the juggernaut that it became,” says Henderson.

In 2000, Wachsberger wrote a letter of recommendation for Henderson, which she shared with The Bulletin. He credits her with being instrumental in the success achieved by Summit and writes that “she has a brilliant future, and I promise that she will be an asset to any business fortunate enough to hire her.”

For three years beginning in 2003, one such business was Code Red Films, an international film consulting company that aims to heighten awareness about Australian films and filmmakers. Finally, she worked for New Line Cinema from March 2005 to June 2006.

From the early part of this decade, she had been coming to Bend to visit longtime friend David Rosell, chairman-elect of the Bend Chamber.

“Like everybody else, I said, 'You know what? I really like it here.’ It’s stunningly beautiful, especially after L.A., where it’s the complete opposite,” Henderson says.

Bend pet parade

“I came up here one July 4th, actually, and my friend David took me to the pet parade.

“You have a pet parade and there’s hundreds of dogs, and they’re not fighting with each other, they’re not growling, and I said, 'You know what, there’s got to be Prozac or something in the water, because everybody is happy.’ And how can you not want to be part of that?”

In July 2006, she made the move to Bend, where she enjoys hiking with her dog, and is not looking to go back to Los Angeles, except perhaps to visit her best friend from childhood, who plans to move there.

“The brilliant thing about L.A. is you see a lot of people at the top of their game,” Henderson says. “You see the very best of it, and you see the worst.

“I was really lucky in that I worked with a lot of people that just loved film, who were really, really good at what they did, and introduced me to people of the same nature, who were in it for the right reasons, as opposed to the razzle-dazzle.”

'She doesn’t have

an L.A. personality’

The first time Henderson sought the BendFilm director’s chair, she was just four months into her new life in Bend.

When she didn’t land it, she became director of promotions at Bend Radio Group. She also joined BendFilm’s board of directors.

She wanted to stay involved with BendFilm, she says, because she believed strongly in the festival’s cultural importance. “(I) still wanted very much to be involved because I think it’s a phenomenal organization, and I think it’s really important to the arts community and to the entire community at large.”

For his part, Jambor says he voluntarily stepped down because he had little interest in fundraising, a bigger aspect of the job than the film-school graduate had expected.

“A lot of the reasons why I came out here — a lot of those reasons ended up going away,” Jambor says. “The budget that was expected for ’07 was a little more optimistic than, I think, the organization was ready for.”

When Jambor resigned, Henderson says, “the board sort of sat there and pointed the finger.”

“Really, didn’t you?” she adds, directing her question at Bailey.

He answers by saying, “Sandy not only had experience in the film industry, but having been a board member since April, she knew everything about the organization from the inside out. So if we were going to avoid any disruption or have the smoothest transition, you look around the room, and lo and bold, there the person is.

“Rather than go through the process of ... three months to reach a decision — at the end of which it’s going to be Sandy — why do that when the person is sitting right there?”

Henderson says she expects that Bailey, a lawyer by trade, will play a larger role in the festival than a board president has in the past. “Jim has amazing business skills as a lawyer and brings a strength to weaknesses that I may have,” she says.

If it says anything about his dedication to BendFilm and Henderson, Bailey sticks around for the entire two-hour interview with Henderson. He says that if there had been any concern about Henderson’s capabilities among board members, they would have considered other candidates.

“But there was no significant concern raised that wasn’t very clearly addressed in terms of Sandy’s experience.”

Henderson replies, “Isn’t he lovely?”

Bailey adds that before they handed her the keys to the office on Powerhouse Drive, each board member did have questions for Henderson.

“My question was,” says Bailey, 'Are you too big for BendFilm?’ Given her background, it was like, 'Wow, this person is such a heavy hitter. This person has been in the big leagues. Does she come with a heft that would just overwhelm anyone here in town?’

He answers his own question: “It’s clear that’s not her personality. She doesn’t bring an L.A. personality to the job.”

Henderson bites her tongue a second, then blurts out, “Thank God!”

“Yeah, that’s the best thing I can say about her,” said Bailey. “She doesn’t have an L.A. personality.”

Playful banter aside, Henderson has joined BendFilm at a serious moment in its young life. Will Henderson be able to get local sponsors to pony up the cash in a cold economy?

Festival staff, including former director Jambor, stress that BendFilm still enjoys a strong reputation among filmmakers angling to win that $10,000 best-in-show prize. And according to BendFilm, festival attendees rated their overall experience an average score of 4.5 out of a possible 5.

But will any of that mean anything if it doesn’t have the support of its own backyard?

'The determining year’

Scott Ramsay, a volunteer with the festival since its second year and its director of selections, says that a lot of money BendFilm received traditionally came from builders and real estate agents. “And when the economy started to fall into a downturn, we knew there were going to be some financial challenges, but we didn’t know the extent of them.”

Ramsay coordinates the selection process, leading the committees that cull the hundreds of annual submissions down to the 85 that screened during the four-day festival.

“We had great submissions. I think the overall programming for this year was better than the previous year, but because of limitations in funding, it was really a struggle to make the festival as exciting as it was in previous years.”

For example, with the belt-tightening necessary at this year’s festival, BendFilm did not bring in high-profile personalities quite on par with previous years.

“Budget cuts certainly impacted our ability to bring in as many filmmakers as we would have liked, or invite in a marquee celebrity like John Waters, two things that the general public really values,” Jambor said after this year’s event, held Oct. 11-14.

Henderson’s 1,000-watt personality alone seems likely to bring the excitement back. Ramsay says BendFilm needs a “strong enough personality” to keep momentum going, and he felt even last year “that (Henderson) was an absolute right solution.”

He recalls meeting Henderson at the post-announcement party at the Tower Theatre before the 2006 festival.

“She came strolling right up to me and said, 'You don’t know me, but I’m going to be on the selections committee next year, because I worked in L.A., and I know film, and I want to be involved in BendFilm.’ I was like, 'Wow, who are you?’”

Her prediction came true. The two struck up a friendship. “I put her on the selections committee, and the rest is history,” he says.

Ramsay “absolutely” has confidence in her ability to lead BendFilm. “Erik brought some really great things to the festival. He brought some insight from other parts of the country, and he brought in some filmmakers and judges who have vast experience in festivals. And his programming skills were incredible. But it was a very, very difficult year for BendFilm. We made it through the worst of times, and we’re pushing on and are going to hopefully push it to the very best of times again.”

The 2008 festival “will determine whether BendFilm remains a small, community film festival, or it begins to grow exponentially and becomes a film festival on the map. This year will determine that.”

In other words, a lot is riding on the 2008 festival and people like Ramsay, the board and the 200-some volunteers to take the festival from here to there.

“This year will be the determining year,” says Ramsay.

Bout with cancer

Over lunch at one of her favorite restaurants, Merenda, Henderson discusses something much more personal: when she was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 2003.

“I was so blessed during the entire experience, because I got to see the very, very best of people. I got to be on the receiving end of such love and support; I mean, unconditional love and support.”

She adds how important it was in her recovery to have that best friend of hers, Karen Wiseman, by her side as she underwent chemotherapy, surgeries and radiation.

Further, cancer changed her view of life, she says.

“It makes you appreciate everything. I would not be in Bend if it wasn’t for going through breast cancer. It changes how you want to be in your life.”

Ramsay says that on a volunteer basis, Henderson has accomplished more in the past month and a half in terms of fundraising than anyone did all of last year.

Imagine what she might accomplish now: As of last Tuesday , she began working at BendFilm full time. Prior, she’d been dividing her time between BendFilm and Bend Radio Group.

Jim Gross, co-owner of Bend Radio Group, is sorry to see her go. However, “You can’t help but feel happy for her, that she’s doing what she wants to do, and where her passion is. It’s kind of fun for us as well. You can’t hold on to everybody forever. You just hope that the time you have them is good for everybody, and that they move on to great things.”

Henderson says she plans to make the festival a year-round presence and give something back to the people. “It comes back to my MO right now, that BendFilm needs to give back to the community as well.”

On Wednesday, she told The Bulletin, “Last night I met with a sponsor who has re-upped and increased their sponsorship by another 25 percent; (another) sponsor has done the same.

“There is absolutely zero debt,” Henderson says. “We’re in the black. And as of the meeting I had last night with an anonymous sponsor, we’re very much in the black.”

One of Henderson’s first duties in a more public capacity will be hosting a free screening and discussion of “Babel” on Jan. 17 at Central Oregon Community College’s Hitchcock Auditorium.

'No bitterness’

In hindsight, she says, it’s probably best that she did not get the job last year.

“I feel like I bring so much more to the equation,” she says. “A friend of mine said to me, 'Aren’t you bitter about this?’ And I said, 'No,’ because I got the job I wanted.”

“And seriously, having had breast cancer, you learn not to be bitter. You learn to appreciate every day, and everything happens for a reason. So no. No bitterness. Life’s too short.”

Henderson says that if she had been appointed executive director a year ago, “I didn’t have the network of professional and personal contacts that I do now. And having been the director of promotions for the Bend Radio Group, there’s a whole slew of contacts that I can bring in. Whilst it would have been great to have had it then, it’s more beneficial to BendFilm that I’m getting it now.

“It’s literally the job of my dreams. So I’m really, really happy,” she says. “To be able to do film in Bend, it’s such a gift for me right now, to be able to do what I love in a town that I love.”

Anonymous said...

Give him a call. Now that he ripped Sisters School District a new one, he might be looking for a new bone to chew on.

*

School boards are one thing, you don't see him opening Sisters City Hall. Then there's Bend city hall.

Too much money is riding on Bend, Billons of dollars 'super lawyers'.

Miller-Nash, Schwab-Williams, all pro-bono on the behalf of Bend to become an inner Los Angeles with ten years, and have Bend be a 500,000 population. These people have invested Millions, and expect an ROI of Billions.

Let's see mike first OPEN-UP Sisters, on the real, before you can assume that even 2or3 of him, can OPEN-UP Bend.

Honestly, the only real fix for Bend is RE collapse, and hope the next generation gets involved. Human greed is extremely powerful, parents will sell a pound of their children's flesh, if the profit is certain,only when that profit is eliminated will sanity be returned.

Using the barbarians at the gate model, if we had dozens of people like 'mike' coming from different angles, on different departments, all forcing everything to go public, .. Then, but even then so all the public info get's posted, still nobody would know.

The BULL & SORE will never cover the dirt on their owners.

Anonymous said...

Posted: Monday, March 26, 2007
Article comment by: Jan Morgan

Let me say up front that although I am Mike Morgan’s wife, these are my comments and they may or may not reflect his views. I can’t be absolutely certain if the school board’s dismissal of Mr. Helphinstine was justified or not because the story is so incomplete. I trust that Mr. Thonstad and the board carefully weighed the specifics in the executive session prior to the vote. Thank you to Steve Rudinsky for pointing out, “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the input from the principal or from the master biology teacher who are intimately involved in the situation to speak up about it.” Shouldn’t their participation be one of their job requirements, rather than an option? Their input was crucial to a just resolution and it’s unfair to Mr. Helphinstine and the entire community to withhold relevant information. After all, this is a PUBLIC school. Those with direct responsibility and involvement display a total lack of regard for the community by refusing public comment. What allowed this situation to occur? Was this teacher given orientation and policy/curriculum guidelines? Was his classroom performance monitored in any way whatsoever? What happened from the time parents first expressed their concern to Mr. Macauley to the time the board voted to dismiss this teacher? Was Mr. Helphinstine counseled and given a chance to make changes? What was the vice principal’s role? Did a difference of opinion about what was appropriate subject matter between Mr. Macauley and the school board result in the teacher being dismissed? Tim Comfort’s comment troubles me. He stated, “It is not common practice to pop in the first week or two and observe your new staff formally. In general, you’ve got to have some faith in their training…. We don’t operate thinking that every new employee is going to be at risk and do something wrong.” I have taught in public schools as a regular classroom teacher and also as a substitute. Principals would drop in from time to time to observe (and sometimes participate in) classroom activities and to evaluate/mentor my performance. I didn’t interpret this as lack of faith in my character or teaching skills. In fact, classroom visits from principals and administrators project a genuine interest for teachers and students alike, while promoting better personal relationships. Part of an administrator’s job is to perform classroom oversight. Principals are expected to ensure that classroom activities advance the educational goals of the district, supervise/evaluate teachers, and maintain effective relationships with parents and the community. Mr. Rudinski was right on point in saying, “It was not just about the teacher. It was about oversight and how we manage new teachers. Do we mentor them? Are we watching what they do?” Unless everyone involved cooperates, improvement is unlikely. Without oversight, there is no way for those in charge to know what is happening in the classrooms and the door is left open for much worse. Jan Morgan

Anonymous said...

A local expert on Exec Session meeting allowances and non-exemptions is Mike Morgan in Sisters.

He sued the Sisters School Dist and got them to now record in audio tape their Exec Sessions. He also won his legal fees.

It sounds like the Bend City council is also using the exemptions fast and loose. City councils and school boards follow their legal advice, which generally means they always try and do things in Exec session. It is really amazing that the Bend City Council and Les Schwab got putting their deception in writing. "Yeah, lets call it a lease appraisal negotiation, so we can keep it secret". Disgusting.

Give Mike Morgan a call in Sisters, Mike and Jan Morgan. He will help you out.

tim said...

Today's front page is choice. We have the Bend Film story (surprise--it's getting hard to raise money).

And we have the Bend budget. The situation is "mixed." Revenues down and spending up, but say, the forecasts are great! They aren't even bothering to try to make sense any more.

Anonymous said...

Homer partied late last night at BENDBB's trailer.

He's going to sleep in, there may be no new post today.

Anonymous said...

Garzini's plans from 50 years ago released to public.

***

FBI planned mass arrests in 1950
Former FBI director J Edgar Hoover
The FBI boss wanted suspects held in military and federal prisons
Former FBI director J Edgar Hoover had a plan to arrest 12,000 Americans he deemed a possible threat to national security, declassified papers reveal.

The FBI chief sent his proposal to US President Harry Truman just after the start of the Korean War in 1950, The New York Times newspaper reports.

He asked the president to declare the mass arrest necessary to counter "treason, espionage and sabotage".

There is no evidence any part of the plan was ever approved.

Mr Hoover wanted the president to suspend the centuries-old legal right of habeas corpus, which protects individuals against unlawful arrest.

The FBI director planned to detain the suspects - whose list of names he had been compiling for years - in US military and federal prisons.

"The index now contains approximately 12,000 individuals, of which approximately 97% are citizens of the United States," wrote Mr Hoover, in the now declassified document.

The New York Times gave no details about the identities of those targeted.

The US Department of State declassified the plan, along with other Cold War-era documents from 1950-55 this week.

Anonymous said...

it's called free market capitalism, and it works the same way in the health care industry as it does in the mortgage industry.

* Free Market MED in Bend,OR

Ok, lets play the model. First of a all Health Care would have to be a 'home'. Something that people would never walk away from, then we have to have ARM's, zero down, and stated-income. Then we have to have 7% commission for the Realtors, and a couple grand for the MTG Broker.

We'll have goons go door to door. "Hi, does anyone in this home have hemorrhoid problem"? Yes?, NO? Let's say the response is NO, well there's no reason not to clean up the glory hole before's its too late. Let's SELL the customer the $100k plan, a real clean hole, forever free and clear of Hemorrhoid's.

First we have to get the money from the MED-MTG broker, ok, he get's $2, the MED-RE gets $6k, and the doc still wants his $100k, so that's a $108k loan. No problem, DUBYA has said that ALL americans need to be free&clear of hemorroids.

A few days later a roto-rooter truck stops by the home of the new customer, and performs the service. The doc is busy, and shows up afterward to vow the work is-was 'KOSHER'. Doc-Kosher, gets his $100k, but then something happens, he doesn't pay the roto-rooter men their cut. Now there is a lien against the asshole of the customer at 1 Main, in Bend.

An asshole lien is bad shit in Bend, first of all it means that everyone knows. Your bung-hole credit is now fucked. What do you do??

This is such a big deal, we must switch to first person, now we're the customer.

You call the Bend cops, and file a report. Ah, but they want $500 to file a report. So you pay, you still, haven't paid the payment on the $108k loan. The cops come back on fine you another $5K, because you filed a false-report, it turns out that your contract you signed with "MED-RE", explicitly said that you were responsible for all roto-rooter charges.

Roto-Rooter wants $20k, for services. So, now your up to $132,500, butt you still have lien on your arse.

DUBYA just passed new bankruptcy laws that make it next impossible to walk away from a ANAL lien.

The first payment is due for the $108k loan, and you don't have the money. The MED-MTG broker had assured you that the first five years of your 5/1 ANAL-ARM didn't require a payment on principal, but now you find out that you still have to pay the interest on the $108k. Roto-Rooter is calling you every day about the $20k, as they have now turned you over to anal-collections. This outfit is ran by Bend's, Ron Garzini, Bend Mr-Fix AssHole's. Garzini is threatening to reverse the roto-rooter procedure if you don't pay ASAP.

There's a guy in Bend call Dr. Kuratek, that sells retroactive Anal-Insurance. He wants 50% of your anal profits for 100yr to fix the problems. So you sign up, UBS pay's off all your debt, and your placed in one of Bends Houses-of-Repute, where Chinese tourists corn-hole you 24/7 into perpetuity.

Your now a full time RE-HO-MED slave in Bend, Oregon. The fastest growing tourist operation in Bend. You get AIDS, because one of the Johns refused to wear a condom. Now your back out on the street. The Bend cops pick you up for being a transient, which is illegal in Bend, OR.

Now your in Bend's Juniper-Ridge Prison, where Garzini's boyz take liberty, and your still doing tricks, but now for $1.20/day. UBS now has a lien against your ass, because of the AIDS, and you owe $132,500 plus interest, its now up to $314,516, and growing daily. Your $1.20/day doesn't even pay the interest.

Now your a permanent slave in Garzini's prison, with NO hope.

You escape, but where do you go??

Life is good, Bend is exceptional.

Anonymous said...

Now your a permanent slave in buster's prison blog, with NO hope.