BEND, OR -- Bend’s City Council has narrowed the list of candidates to fill the Position One seat. They plan to interview four finalists later this week, for the vacancy created by Melanie Kebler’s move to Mayor.

Monday morning, a subcommittee, made up of Mayor Kebler, Mayor Pro Tem Megan Perkins and Councilor Anthony Broadman, discussed the 14 applicants. One was immediately ruled out for not living inside Bend's city limits. Councilor Broadman noted he wants someone who can hit the ground running and bring diverse perspectives, "I’m particularly mindful of the fact that I think I’m the only business owner on the Council, and that’s an important perspective to bring; somebody who’s familiar with housing, in particular, I think would be valuable."

The subcommittee recommended interviewing John Heylin, owner of an ax-throwing bar, Bryan Brown, a Construction Project Manager and Megan Norris, who works for a local home-builder. Later in the day, the full Council agreed to also interview community organizer Greg Delgado.

Overall, Councilor Ariel Mendez was pleased with the quality of the applications, "I think it’s a real testament to the passion and care that people have for our city and for our city government. It’s pretty cool to see that kind of energy and, frankly, quality. I was looking for someone with service experience, whether that’s in the business world or nonprofit world; someone with direct experience with the city, who’s going to be familiar with the issues."

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Councilor Barb Campbell hopes to infuse more diversity into the group, "Someone who’s not just another, frankly, white, middle-aged, home-owning person. I’m always, frankly, trying to get away from that demographic. I feel like, over the entire history of our city, the people who have been sitting up here, largely have looked like me." 

Also in Monday's afternoon meeting, Council discussed what questions to ask the candidates in interviews, and how to prepare them for the challenges of serving on Council. Mayor Kebler noted, "As much as possible, we’d like this person to stay for the full two years, right? And there’s things we can ask them, and we’ll work as a team to support everybody." Perkins responded, "We'd like to not do this again."

Finalist interviews are Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Council Chambers.