Though City Council duties, meetings, committees, and hearings require 45 to 55 hours per week to fulfill, Bend City Councilors are considered volunteers, have no administrative support staff and receive no benefits. The archaic notion of an unpaid mayor and city council is not in step with the times within the paradigm of the exponential […]
Bend City Council
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides
Sally Russell
Bend City Councilor
Sally Russell says she is ready. Having served as Mayor pro tem, she tells the Source Weekly that she wants to be Bend’s mayor. Russell was first elected to the Bend City Council in 2012 and will soon announce her re-election bid. Unlike many other cities, those who are elected Bend City Councilors choose a […]
Posted inNews
Accessory Dwelling Units Provide More Housing
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also known as mother-in-law quarters, are popular to homeowners for multigenerational living and are often converted to rentals for additional income. This year, the housing shortage in Bend has led to a closer look at the possibility that ADUs may be used to help add affordable housing and increase density within […]
Posted inNews
Smoke Signals 1/6-1/13
Why legal restrictions are forcing pot into the public
As cannabis legalization unfolds, a hot topic has become public, on-site consumption of cannabis. The default for medical marijuana laws has been to allow consumption only in a private place such as a residence. Recreational cannabis legalization laws have largely followed suit. Anywhere that could be construed as being “open to the public,” even a […]
Posted inNews
Smoke Signals
City regulations preclude “green light districts” The Bend City Council has approved local regulations for cannabis businesses in the city. The regulations are effective immediately and are intended to supplement the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s rules for cannabis businesses statewide. The Council included two significant restrictions on cannabis businesses in Bend that go beyond what […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters 12/9-12/16
TROY FIELD FANS DESERVE AN APOLOGY Wow…I think someone owes the crowd of Bend residents that took time from their day, their families and their jobs a big apology for the no-show that happened Thursday at City Hall. Everyone was shocked to hear—after waiting almost 20 minutes for proceedings to start—that another seemingly concerned party got […]
Posted inOpinion
The Slipper 12/9-12/16
Pay Together City Council took the first decisive step toward keeping Bend’s roads from falling into a deepening state of disrepair at its last meeting by voting to put a fuel tax on the March 2016 ballot. It was not a unanimous vote. Councilors Victor Chudowsky and Casey Roats voted against the tax measure, ultimately […]
Posted inNews
Last Gas Effort
Proposed fuel tax would help City repair roads
In the late 2000s, the City of Bend failed to find additional funding to fix its crumbling streets, City Councilor Sally Russell explains. And Bendites are feeling the effects of that failure today. “So here we are 2015, almost 2016, and we’re looking at somewhere around 60 to 80 million dollars. And that’s increasing around […]
Posted inNews
Side Notes 11/25-12/2
A special Bend City Council meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 30. The public will have a chance to address the Council about the proposed fuel tax ballot measure. The City Council will also have a work session on text amendments to the Bend Municipal Code and the Bend Development Code for Marijuana Businesses […]
Posted inOpinion
The Slipper 11/18-11/25
Fueling the Future There’s no such thing as free lunch. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to get our metaphorical lunch. Rather, it reminds us that everything has a cost. It’s a relevant lesson as the City prepares to hold a public meeting about street funding on Nov. 30. The Street Maintenance Funding Committee—who […]