Jamie’s Vision

• Tackling the Insurance Crisis. Too many of us — from Sisters and Newberry Country to neighborhoods right in the city of Bend — have had our homeowner’s insurance dropped or have seen rates skyrocket. I will make our county a proactive partner in reducing risk, helping to keep insurance accessible and affordable.

• Prioritizing Smart Planning. We will use advanced hazard modeling in all new development decisions. We must be more deliberate about growth in fire-prone areas to protect our resources and the safety of our first responders.

• Strengthening Community Preparedness. With federal resources becoming less reliable, strong local leadership is more important than ever. I will ensure we reinvest in public preparedness education and create clear, integrated evacuation plans so every resident knows how to get to safety.  I’ll champion public-private partnerships to make our county a testbed for new technologies that can help us prevent and respond to wildfires more effectively.

• Build Resilient Infrastructure and Shore Up Our Aging Electrical Grid. We must ensure our roads, bridges, and electrical grid are built to withstand the challenges of the future, supporting renewable energy while meeting our conservation goals. This means partnering with developers, our cities and our utilities.

• Leverage Our Natural Advantages. The same geography and geology that make our region special also give us abundant solar and geothermal energy resources. We can tap these resources to create union jobs, pioneer new technologies and deliver reliable, clean energy to our homes.

• Lead with Science on Water and Air. As a scientist, I will ensure our county’s policies are always grounded in the best available data to protect our clean air and water for generations to come.

• Turn Waste into Opportunity. Our ongoing fire mitigation efforts produce large volumes of woody debris. Instead of treating this as waste, we can use it to drive innovative biomass technologies, creating a new avenue for new County revenue while reducing risk and removing carbon from the atmosphere.