Residents asked to weigh in on big questions.
Time to register for the second Charter Review Forum to be held from 5 to 7pm Tuesday, November 1 at Central Oregon Collective. Go to Bend2030.org to register today.
This is the second of two forums held this fall by Bend 2030, the Bend Chamber of Commerce and City Club of Central Oregon that aim to provide education and collect public input regarding whether our current governance structure offers our citizens the best leadership possible for addressing our complicated population, housing, transportation and livability issues.
At the last forum, held in September, residents defined a wide array of questions that our community must address before considering a change to our city council governance structure. All the questions were collected in a report released last month. Click here to read the report http://bend2030.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Charter-Review-Forum-One-Report.pdf
Among the questions posed were:
⦁ Should Bend residents elect our mayor? If yes, should they have additional powers over other councilors, such as a veto?
⦁ Should Bend develop a ward system? If no, why not? If yes, how many wards should there be?
⦁ Should councilors be paid more than the current $200 per month? If yes, what negative and positive affects could that have?
Central Oregon governance expert Rick Allen will kick off the forum by discussing key issues related to the kinds of government models found in Central Oregon.
Then, through more than a dozen fun, interactive stations set up at the Central Oregon Collective, we’ll collect your input and bring it to the Bend City Council in January, helping to form the basis of any charter review process that might occur in the next year.
Also at the forum, a volunteer team of people interested in helping to design and make the presentation of the public input to City Council will be formed.
Registration for this forum is strongly encouraged as space is limited to 150 participants at each event. Go to Bend2030.org to register for free to attend. Catered appetizers sponsored by Webfoot Painting and beer sponsored by Worthy Brewing!
