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The city of Bend should be taken to task for tacking on a fee unrelated to water or sewer to the utility bill without voter approval. That fee will be increasing to $180/year for homeowners in a couple of years.

Other local entities are also proposing tax levies. All these added taxes and fees add up and push some over what they can afford. It is easier to increase taxes than cut costs. The city and school district have a fair number of employees earning six figure salaries.

These government entities need to do more to demonstrate they are running an efficient operation before increasing the financial burden of residents.

— Dale Putman, Bend

There are so many attorneys! Why not require each attorney to take a certain number of cases as public defenders each year. We citizens are required to participate in jury duty. Why not allow attorneys the opportunity to participate in this area of the law? If each one took two cases per year, I bet that would reduce the number of unrepresented individuals significantly.

— Ellie Robison, Bend

KTVZ reports students walked out of class to support the Bend-La Pine Schools levy:

I won’t approve another levy request by any government body without the exact information as to why it is needed!

For too long, the marketing for my vote is “Love our teachers, Love our Firefighters, Love our police, etc. It’s past time to use guilt-tripping as a rationale to request money. Is this the way you would approach your bank for a mortgage or funds to start a business?

Consider this approach:

Show us the exact details as to how every penny is to be spent over the time frame. Report the results via The Bend ÅÝֱܽ²¥, on a quarterly basis.

And by the way, what is the penalty for walking out of school without permissions’? Or are these students practicing how they will act as adults when the world doesn’t live up to their expectations and demands?

— Bill Gregoricus, Bend

I found the article in the April 16 issue of the ÅÝֱܽ²¥ regarding our state’s loss in population interesting in that of the three West Coast states, we ranked second only to California in people leaving the state. I am sure there are other reasons why but I would think our state legislators would take a lesson from California. Liberal policies have proven not to work. People are leaving California in droves because of the liberal policies of high taxation, high crime, over-regulation, homelessness, welcoming illegal aliens. All paid for by taxpayers. Our state legislators obviously have not learned anything from California or they are just unwilling to change their stripes for what I believe would be good for our beloved state. Why do they think the people that live in southeast Oregon want to have their part of our state moved into Idaho. I don’t believe Salem really cares about them. They represent too small a voting bloc and the majority of them don’t vote the way Salem wants them to.

To me and what I find so unbelievable is that here in Central Oregon where our population is growing, so many people are moving here from California to escape the results of the liberal state only to import those ideals here. They are only proving the definition of insanity is absolutely correct. You cannot do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome.

I can only hope and pray that Salem recognizes what they are doing before we become a California or New York.

— Charlie Thomson, Bend