BEND, OR -- Monday night's Bend Chamber of Commerce debate between incumbent City Councilor Doug Knight (left) and opponent businessman Bill Moseley (right) touched on a number of issues, including how to fund ongoing maintenance of the iconic Mirror Pond. 

 

At the Deschutes Brewery forum, Knight said he would like to see the formation of a local improvement district. He told the crowd, "That would mean that anyone who was within the overlay zone - the 100' within the high-water mark of the river - that you would then contribute to a fund since you derive a direct benefit from being sited on the pond."

 

Moseley responded with an idea to get the Bend Parks and Recreation board to step up. "We have some of the nicest parks, anywhere. I think they can help contribute to some of these problems. I see, too often, where the Parks District shoves their parking, streets and trash issues onto the city budget that's already strained, while we have gold-plated parks. I think they can contribute." 

 

The two got heated when discussing the incivility noted by many on the current Council. Moseley accused Knight of behaving unprofessionally, telling the crowd, "My opponent worked behind closed doors with special interest groups to try and slip in a gas tax on voters; he belittled and demeaned city employees to the point that the city had to hire a consultant to work on employee morale issues; my opponent privately wrote to me about the lack of intelligence of a fellow City Councilor, while claiming to be her friend and her teammate."

 

But, Knight fired back, "It's amazing to me how you count yourself as a centrist who wants to bring the Council together; yet, you come in from the periphery, outside of the organization, and you tell us what we've done wrong and how you're going to correct it? I'm blown away by that. When you want to talk about civility and decorum, you've just exemplified exactly what we don't want on Council."

 

Moseley claims the lack of civility is one of the main reasons he decided to run for City Council. Knight says he's always been professional and refutes Moseley's claims.