REDMOND, OR -- Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch says he has some lofty goals for his first term. "Our transportation plan, because of recent growth, is already outdated. We need to update that." He says he’s interested in pursuing a “beltline” around the city to reduce congestion on Highway 97. Fitch also told KBND News Wednesday, "We have to address homelessness very vigorously now because we haven’t done anything for the past few years." He's the city's first new mayor in 14 years. 

"We have a lot of goals for downtown Redmond, in terms of a family activity center, perhaps an art gallery and art workshop. So, there’s a lot of things on the table that we’re going to work aggressively to address and hopefully make the community a much better place." But, he says the work won’t compete with Bend’s standing in the region, "We don’t want to be the biggest city. What we want to be is the city that works for families, the city that provides employment and the city that can provide affordable housing." He adds, "I think we could transform the community to keep its values, but also to make it so much better. For example, we have a lot of areas in the older part of the community that don’t have sidewalks. I think we could use some grant money and a local improvement district approach to put sidewalks in a lot of different parts of our community."

He says, overall, he wants the City Council to be more transparent and more open to discussing issues brought to the table from the community.