Local architectural engineer plans to run for one of the city council seats being vacated this year. Knight currently serves on the Deschutes County Landmarks Commission and is principle of the Knight & Company.
Knight has a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering with graduate-level course-work in structural steel design and rock mechanics. He is a licensed professional engineer in Oregon as well as three other states. Civically active, he has served on the City of Bend Planning Commission, Bend Paddle Trail Alliance, the Deschutes County Landmarks Commission as well as the Bend Vision 2030 Board.
When asked why he wants to run in November, Knight remarked, “It is time,” citing his long tenure of civic service. “I’ve been actively serving the Bend community for more than a decade now, from being part of the leadership for both the River West and Old Town Neighborhood Organizations, to now chairing the Bend Urban Area Planning Commission.”
He also pointed to more than eight years of service on the Deschutes County Landmarks Commission. “I’m no stranger to quasi-judicial land use matters, and making legislative changes to the Bend Code; these are primary duties city councilors perform.”
As the licensed civil engineer of record planning roads and utilities for public projects such as the Bend Library and many Bend La Pine Schools, he hopes to “lend a voice well-versed in infrastructure improvement” as Bend moves forward.
Knight is the owner and developer of the new Deschutes Brewery building in downtown Bend. He helped facilitate the project with the team of SunWest Builders, Deschutes Brewery and DKA Architecture.
“The City is going to be grappling with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of necessary infrastructure projects, and they will need someone at a high level that is technically-minded to interpret city engineering staff’s recommendations.“
Knight also believes there is a need to revamp some of the City’s fee collections. “There is an over-reliance at the City upon utility collection fees, system development charges and planning fees. There is definitely something wrong when it costs more for the Planning Department to review a proposed fence than the cost of the fence itself. The City has moved to a fee-based system and it is hurting industry here in Bend — from developers and design professionals all the way down to contract laborers and food cart vendors. We need these people at work making Bend a great place to be.”
As an instrument-rated pilot, Knight says he also understands the unique economic position of the Bend Airport. “The airport used to be one of the premier airplane manufacturing facilities in the country, and I would like to see it return to that.” We especially need high-tech jobs here in Bend, and we’ve got a ton of shovel-ready dirt ready to go at the airport with all sorts of great access to Silicon Valley and beyond,” Knight said.
Having come from the Neighborhood Association culture, Knight says he knows the frustrations of Bend citizens who often feel they are not well informed. “While the City has improved, there is still much, much more it could be doing with its community outreach. The good news is that we all have the same goal in mind, which is to preserve the character of Bend while also encouraging its economic vitality.”
