If Bend is going to have a protracted downturn, which I'm convinced we will, then how do I approach coming here every day? To I put lipstick on the pig? Do I pretend the pig isn't there? Or do I slaughter and eat the pig?
So far, as 'negative' as some people have said I've been, if anything I've let the optimistic, hope for the best, part of me control my message, and my planning.
While the more logical, downbeat part of me was sort of nagging, then shouting at me.
So....
I thought the article in the Bend Bulletin this morning about the Bend Reserves Fund, was a perfect representation of the "Hope for the Best" psychology that dominates at the beginning of every bubble burst. The unwillingness to believe, the inability to change. While your reserves get whittled away.
Actually the emergency that the reserves were created for, hasn't really even begun. We were well within the time range when changes in behavior could have changed the outcome. There have been some bloggers who have been saying for a couple of years that the BAT wasn't working, that Juniper Ridge needed to be scaled back or mothballed.
The 'Who could have seen it coming!' really doesn't wash.
Pay as you go. They should have made the decision to move to the Bulletin site BEFORE they bought the land. They should have gone to the voters for funding of the BAT, BEFORE they bought the buses. They should have realized that they were dealing with crisis management BEFORE they funded the dreams of "Bend 2030."
I can almost guarantee you that most businesses in Bend approached this downturn in almost the exact same way as the city, though, frankly, probably most of them never really had the reserves in the first place. On the other hand, most of them can make changes much quicker, and hopefully don't have white elephants like Juniper Ridge and BAT dragging them down.
So far, as 'negative' as some people have said I've been, if anything I've let the optimistic, hope for the best, part of me control my message, and my planning.
While the more logical, downbeat part of me was sort of nagging, then shouting at me.
So....
I thought the article in the Bend Bulletin this morning about the Bend Reserves Fund, was a perfect representation of the "Hope for the Best" psychology that dominates at the beginning of every bubble burst. The unwillingness to believe, the inability to change. While your reserves get whittled away.
Actually the emergency that the reserves were created for, hasn't really even begun. We were well within the time range when changes in behavior could have changed the outcome. There have been some bloggers who have been saying for a couple of years that the BAT wasn't working, that Juniper Ridge needed to be scaled back or mothballed.
The 'Who could have seen it coming!' really doesn't wash.
Pay as you go. They should have made the decision to move to the Bulletin site BEFORE they bought the land. They should have gone to the voters for funding of the BAT, BEFORE they bought the buses. They should have realized that they were dealing with crisis management BEFORE they funded the dreams of "Bend 2030."
I can almost guarantee you that most businesses in Bend approached this downturn in almost the exact same way as the city, though, frankly, probably most of them never really had the reserves in the first place. On the other hand, most of them can make changes much quicker, and hopefully don't have white elephants like Juniper Ridge and BAT dragging them down.