BEND, OR -- Bend City Councilors failed to agree this week on what changes to the city’s charter should go to voters, although they acknowledged the timeline to get something on the May ballot is tight.
Some Councilors worry a proposed ward system would mean future Councilors could be elected by a small group of voters. Charter Review Committee co-chair Brent Landels says nearly all of Oregon’s largest cities use some version of wards and a lot of time was spent developing the proposed map. He agrees it’s not perfect nor was the committee unanimous; but he feels it’s the best option. "The Oregon Secretary of State has, for years, has had in place rules for establishing wards or voting districts, or that type of thing." He tells KBND News, "You have to use existing political boundaries. So, in the city, you’re typically going to end up with the voter districts – which is what we used – and then each of the wards has to be +/- 5% for population. So, we couldn’t just do a straight north/south line and a straight east/west line." While most of the sitting Council lives in what would become Ward Two or Ward Four, based on the proposed map, Landers says the Committee didn't discuss their residency. "One of the rules is we absolutely cannot look at how it would impact anybody who is currently an active politician, an active City Councilor or Mayor, or how it would impact anybody who has announced they would be running." The committee proposes a mixed system where four Councilors are elected from a "ward" or region of the city, while the other two are elected at large, as they are now.
