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Bend Mayor Outlines Ideal Candidate For Council Vacancy

BEND, OR -- Bend City Councilors are moving ahead with filling an open seat in the next two weeks. Mayor Melanie Kebler says they'd received nine applications, as of Thursday morning. She tells KBND News Council wants to be open-minded about the candidate, "There’s no real hard requirements, other than you have to live in Bend and you  have to be a registered voter here in Bend." But, she says, "I really want someone who will fit in with Council as a team and be able to work well with us. That doesn’t mean they need to have agreement with every single person on the Council. I think it’s healthy to have disagreement, of course. But someone who is sharing a lot of those core values so we can all be moving in the same direction." Those core values include, "Making sure that we’re protecting our natural beauty and our environment that we all love here, making sure that as we grow we’re protecting our community spirit and not losing the feel of Bend, even though we know we’re growing and changing. And, really focusing on affordability and making sure that we’re providing homes and all the services that people need, no matter what your income level is."

To listen to our full conversation with Mayor Melanie Kebler, visit KBND's Podcast Page.

The vacancy in Position One was created when Kebler was elected Mayor mid-way through her term on Council. The appointment is to serve out that term, which ends in December 2024. Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. Friday. Click HERE for more details. Council's Vacancy Subcommittee meets at 9 a.m. Monday to go through the applications and make a recommendation. At 3 p.m. that same day, the full Coucil meets to review the recommendation. Then January 11, at 3 p.m., they'll interview selected applicants and may meet again on the 12th, if necessary. 

"Our plan is to hopefully have someone appointed by the January 18th Council meeting," says Kebler, "And then that person will be on board when we go right into goal setting in the next week after that."

 

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