Continued work on housing and homelessness
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We worked with Rep. Jason Kropf to pass a bill providing funding to establish a joint office on homelessness with Deschutes County, now called the Coordinated Homelessness Response Office, and collaborated with our County and City partners to hire Cheyenne Purrington as the executive director. Next steps include finalizing our strategic plan and continuing to identify and close systemic gaps of services and housing.
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The City’s first ever permanent warming shelter is now a navigation center, and since opening as the Lighthouse in July of 2022, Shepherd’s House and their partners have helped over 60 people get off the street and into more permanent housing.
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We opened the shelter on Franklin St in the former Rainbow Motel, where medically fragile and young families have been staying while we fully renovate the Division Street shelter we established with Project Turnkey funds. We also signed a contract to move the Central Oregon Villages project forward. We have increased shelter bed capacity three-fold in two years, and continue to work to make sure there is a safe place for everyone to sleep at night in the City of Bend.
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We established a Multi Unit Property Tax Exemption Program to incentivize more housing in the core of our city that also provides public benefits, such as green buildings, open space, child care, and deed-restricted units.
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We successfully implemented a concept plan for the Stevens Road land that we brought in to the City via a bill in the 2021 session. The plan includes affordable housing for educators, open space, connected trails and transit, and over 2000 new homes in this complete neighborhood.
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We created public accountability for permitting times through a public dashboard, asked our staff to evaluate the department’s efficiency, and ensured that they met with housing producers to talk about how to improve the process.
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We revised short-term rental rules to provide for more enforcement, increase the distance between STRs, and encourage owners to rent long term.
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We are nearing our goals for 1000 affordable homes and 500 shelter beds, which we are hoping to achieve by July of 2023.
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Learn more about our work on homelessness here, and learn more about the work of our affordable housing committee here.
Investing in transportation and infrastructure
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With unprecedented federal funds for infrastructure flowing to state and local governments in the coming years, we dedicated staff time to go after these funding sources and work to certify the City as capable to accept federal grants directly. This makes us more competitive when going after the money we need to support infrastructure projects like the Hawthorne bridge.
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We approved the final contract for north corridor improvements led by ODOT, while securing a promise from ODOT to help the City to create multimodal options along that project as well as across the city.
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We prioritized investments for the Midtown Crossings and set a work plan for infrastructure projects in the Core Area, setting the stage for increased housing development and placemaking in the Bend Central District.
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The Transportation Bond Oversight Committee helped Council to set a priority plan for our transportation bond projects, the first of which on Wilson Ave is well underway, with the city’s first ever roundabout with physical protection for people biking.
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We updated century-old sewer and stormwater pipes underneath Newport Ave, working to minimize impacts to businesses along the corridor and installing new infrastructure that will serve the neighborhood much better and long into the future.
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We approved the design of a new public works campus in Juniper Ridge, which will increase efficiency and allow our departments to work together better to build and maintain city infrastructure.
Promoting safety and accountability
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Chief Krantz re-established the Police Chief’s Advisory Council to increase resident engagement and feedback on policing practices in Bend.
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We shared information and mourned with our community after the horrific shooting at Safeway, and supported common sense gun measures, which Oregonians approved. We are currently working with legislators to ensure proper implementation.
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We hired ten new firefighter and EMS positions in our Fire Department in order to maintain our response times amidst growing calls for service over the past year.
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We supported the Deschutes County Stabilization Center and the Mobile Crisis Team as an alternate response to residents in mental distress, so that police do not need to respond to calls where a mental health professional is more equipped to help.
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We passed code to create clearer rules about when, where, and how people can shelter on the public rights of way in Bend, the first code of its type for our city. We simultaneously passed a resolution recommitting to our work to create places for people to go so they don’t have to shelter on our streets.
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We amended our Council Rules so that the process for appointing new Councilors when there is a vacancy is clearer and more transparent. We followed our rules and successfully and transparently appointed two new Councilors this summer after two resignations.
Increasing equity and access to government
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We created a program to provide small stipends to our advisory committee members, to help compensate them for the hours they volunteer in service of helping the Council make better policy decisions.
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We produced a brand new “Know Your City” video series to help residents better understand what our City government does.
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The City supported the Juneteenth and Pride events this summer, both of which successfully brought our community together to celebrate our diversity, acknowledge our history, and foster a welcoming environment for all.
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We successfully negotiated contracts with our three city worker unions (police, fire, and city employees) with increased cost of living and wages for all, recognizing the impacts of inflation and honoring the important work that our city staff does on a daily basis.
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Our Human Rights and Equity Commission produced a detailed work plan that will influence the new set of Council goals that we will be working on at the end of January 2023.
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We invested American Rescue Plan Act dollars in organizations that help some of our most vulnerable community members, including children experiencing abuse, domestic violence survivors, and those experiencing homelessness.
Protecting our environment
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We have planned for electrification of the City’s fleet, and installed solar arrays at our water filtration, Westside Lift Station, and Awbrey Butte city facilities.
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We successfully went after a grant from Pacific Power to create an ebike rebate program for low income families.
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We created a Home Energy Score program that will help home buyers understand home efficiency and encourage homeowners to make investments in energy efficiency.
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We reinvested tourism tax dollars into sustainability projects that will benefit residents and tourists alike while taking care of our environment.
The above list is incomplete – City staff and the City Council have been working hard all year to keep our essential City services working efficiently while we step boldly into addressing some of the most challenging issues facing our community today. In 2022, I look forward to continuing the work to put real action behind the words that guide our policymaking:
We believe Bend can be a city for everyone. We can all share in the prosperity and promise of this unique and beautiful place. We honor the people that came before us on these lands and acknowledge that the health of our community relies on the health of our environment. As stewards of the city, we are accountable to the people of Bend and are responsible for delivering excellent city services. We are committed to serving everyone equitably, creating a more connected community, and preserving Bend’s spirit as we grow. We will strive to achieve equity and justice for everyone in Bend. ”
– the Bend City Council, 2021-23 Council Goals
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