Thousands of Bank of the Cascades shareholders are voting by proxy and in person today. they are deciding whether to issue $177 million of company common stock to private investors.   Bank of the Cascades CEO Patty Moss says if passed, it will make a tremendous difference for the bank and allow BOTC to be among the best capitalized community banks in the northwest and even the nation.  Strong local banks are vital to pull communities out of hard times. “You want to have very, very strong banks in those markets and particularly community banks are more likely to lend to markets such as to Bend, to Redmond, to Boise, and Medford, Portland, Salem. You want strong banks that know their communities there. So it ends up being a good thing for the bank and for the community. “ According to a recent FDIC report,  the Bank of the Cascades is Deschutes County's number one bank; holding about 29% of the local deposits. Wells Fargo is 2nd at 16% of market.