Update 3/18, 7:28 pm: The Bend City Council voted unanimously tonight to take the city’s proposed transportation bond off the May ballot. Below is the story we posted Tuesday night.
O n Wednesday, the Bend City Council will meet in its usual location in the Council Chambers—with one big agenda item on the table.
The room will be set up to maintain social distancing measures, but the public is encouraged to watch the meeting from home. The Visitor’s Section, during which citizens can typically offer comment for up to three minutes, will be limited to written comments only. They can be submitted to council@bendoregon.gov.
Most of the meeting agenda involves normal city business, such as contracts and agreements with other agencies and companies. But the City Council announced Tuesday that due to the coronavirus outbreak, it will also vote to withdraw the ballot measure for the general obligation transportation bond, Measure 9-131, planned for the May 19 ballot.
Within the last week, the municipal bond market has become volatile and market access has been challenging, according to the resolution to remove the bond posted along with the agenda on the City’s website. While the effects may be short-term, many bond issuers are delaying normal operations. The Federal Reserve recently reduced treasury interest rates, which has helped municipal bond markets in the past, but that has not been the case within the last few weeks.
The Source covered the details of the transportation bond in December in, “If You Build It, Will They Come?”
The meeting takes place at 7pm Wed., March 18.
Keep up with all our coronavirus coverage at our Coronavirus HQ.
This article appears in Mar 11-18, 2020.
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I had to read this for a Journalism class I’m taking… in Ohio…
Does anyone else actually read this on their own accord? Because I have a feeling that right now, there’s a classroom of about 25 college-aged students who are being conscripted to care about this more than the actual residents of Bend.
My Journalism Class: Hey there, future colleague! Not sure why you landed on this particular page for your class… but hopefully you found the more in-depth piece it’s linked to– and perhaps that has some more journalistic interest than this spot news piece? (And yes, people in Bend did and do care about this, though as you know, news happens and then people move onto the next story.) Then again, if you’re learning about spot news and how it can be updated on the fly…. well, then, this is certainly an example. Take care!