City Manager Recruitment Process

     The Bend City Council is seeking input from the community in developing the leadership profile for the next City Manager. Let the city know your list of characteristics by going to the following address: http://www.ci.bend.or.us/home/city_manager_input.html. You may also e-mail your comments to the Council subcommittee via the City’s Web site at www.ci.bend.or.us, which links to the e-mail address or by using this e-mail address: citymanagerinput@ci.bend.or.us. Individuals can also phone 388-5505 or mail or drop off their input to City Hall, located at 710 NW Wall Street. Let your voice be heard.

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Central Area Plan

     At the December 5^th Work Session, city staff presented an update on the Central Area Plan. This update provided background on the basic purpose for the area plan, namely to create a long-term plan for the area, including land uses and transportation improvements, General Plan map and text amendments, and amendments to the Transportation System Plan, Public Facility Plan and Bend Development Code. In February of 2008, staff expects to present to the Council, a recommendation regarding the Year 1 Work Plan, including development of an Urban Renewal Plan. The update also included information on secondary issues such as, major changes to the General Plan and Zoning Map to encourage development of what is being called the “Railroad District” – the area along the Third Street corridor between the railroad tracks and Fourth Street and the budgetary considerations for the consultant fees for the Fiscal Year 2007 – 2008, which are not included the Long-Range Planning Division Budget.

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City of Bend Household Community Survey

     Erin Coldwell of National Research Center, Inc.’s draft report on the 2007 Community Survey of households in Bend was presented at the last City Council meeting. The survey is designed to learn about the community’s perceptions concerning the “Quality of Life” in Bend and what city services the community might like to see expanded or cut back. The phone survey was conducted between October 18 and October 26, 2007 of 500 households and the interviews lasted around 18 minutes. The margain of error is +/- 4.5%.  A resident of the households surveyed must be a registered voter and calls were weighted to reflect the demographic representations in the voter list. Half of the interviewees had lived in Bend for less than 10 years. Of this group, one-third was from California, another one-third was from other areas in Oregon.  Of the latter one-third, the State of Washington had the highest representation. When asked about their perceptions on the quality of life in Bend, respondents were highly favorable, many evaluation areas ranking around 75% positive on a scale of 1 to 100. As a place to work, residents rank Bend at 54, the lowest ranking in this portion of the survey.

     Residents were asked what challenges they believe are facing the city: 24% cited population growth, lack of affordable housing and transportation as their top three key issues. When it came to resouce allocations, where more money should be spent: Ranked as #1, at 29%, was public transportation; 17% for street repairs; 10% for sewer service and 8% for building permits. When asked what services might be cut if funding got tight: landscaping and maintenance was at 17%; public transportation at 11%, building permits and development at 9% and social services at 5%.

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Have you received your kicker?

     Checks are in the mail, as per Oregon law which requires a refund to taxpayers (kicker) when actual revenues exceed forecast revenues by 2%. The refund is 18.6% or your 2006 Oregon income tax (before credits). State income tax makes up 86% of the revenue for the General Fund, which Oregon uses to support state services. Other dollars come from corporate income tax, fees and the Lottery. Out of each dollar used for state services, 55 cents goes for education, 23 cents for human services, 17 cents for public safety, and the remaining 5 cents goes to the state’s natural resource and other small agencies. Now you have the “big picture” of where your state tax dollars go.

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Newest COCC Class

     Bill Kemp, Development Director for Volunteers in Medicine, is sharing his years of nonprofit fundraising experience in a new class to be offered in 2008 at COCC.  Bill’s class entitled “Comprehensive Nonprofit Fund Development” will be offered from February 12 through March 11, 2008 for a low fee of $55. Classes will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. His class is designed for individuals with fundraising responsibilities for nonprofit organizations. Attendees will learn how to plan their fundraising strategies from an intergraded, comprehensive standpoint so as to utilize resources to their full potential. To register, call 383-7270, Course number: 15605 or go online to www.cocc.edu.

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Burley Selected as Cooperator of the Year

     The Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association has selected Representative Chuck Burley (R-Bend) to receive the 2007 Cooperator of the Year Award.  According to Executive Director, Sandy Flicker, “Representative Burley showed incredible courage in the 2007 Legislative Session in protecting the interests of electricity rate payers against incredible pressure.” Representative Burley served on the House Energy Committee and consistently viewed potential legislation from a customer perspective. “He is very knowledgeable about the energy issues affecting Oregonians and consistently tries to balance the needs of the environment with the needs of ratepayers” says Bill Kopacz, General Manager of Midstate Electric Cooperative in La Pine. The Cooperator of the Year award is presented each year to an elected official who has demonstrated their support of electric cooperatives.

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