BEND, OR -- Bend City Councilors will interview finalists for two Council vacancies later this week. At a special meeting Friday, three Councilors whittled down the list from 36 applicants. They quickly pulled three out, saying they were unqualified. Ten others rose to the top based on resume, community involvement and geographic area. 

Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Broadman noted there were a lot of great candidates who didn’t make the cut, "People who are so committed to Council and so committed to the City. I know there’s lots of roles we all can play, and lots of these people have said they want to run so they’re going to run and I’m excited for that. I also know we have to narrow this down." Councilor Melanie Kebler also thanked everyone who showed the dedication to submit an application.

Councilor Megan Perkins acknowledged the list of 10 finalists came quickly after the subcommittee - Broadman, Kebler and Perkins (pictured) - discovered several applicants were favored by multiple Councilors, "We came here after studying these packets. It’s not like we - this was not a discussion beforehand. This was literally all of us sitting individually and going over all of this and thinking about criteria. So, there was nothing decided or anything. This is all just personal preference based on what we saw."

The full Council meets Tuesday to discuss whether to interview all or just some of those ten finalists. Interviews are scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m.