Bend charter review wins ‘Conversation of the Year’ award

The City Club of Central Oregon announced at a Tuesday evening reception for its members and guests that the “Rethinking Government: Bend Charter Review” is the winner of its second annual “Conversation of the Year Award.”

The award is given to the community conversation that best reflects City Club’s mission and values.

The winning conversation featured many individuals and organizations including the Bend Chamber, Bend 2030, Erik King, Bend City Council and a grassroots citizen action workgroup. The collaboration sparked conversation and then action by voters who amended the city’s charter and, ultimately, elected their first mayor by popular vote in over 90 years.

Unlike most awards, which recognize individual achievement, the Conversation Award celebrates the quality of the conversation, itself, and recognizes the community as the true winner.

City Club prides itself on being tough on issues but easy on people. It fosters a culture where members may disagree without being disagreeable. The participants in the winning conversation exemplified those principals.

The revolving trophy for the Conversation Award is an antique lectern, equipped with a chrome microphone, which symbolizes City Club’s role in providing a voice for community perspectives.

Those perspectives are represented by four interwoven “conversation bubbles” that make up City Club’s logo, which adorns the front of the lectern in wood from four species of Oregon trees.

The trophy also features various historically significant artifacts, including a spike from the Shevlin-Hixon Railroad, a steel section of the original Pilot Butte Canal diversion structure, and a 1912 photo of sign-bearing suffragists gathered on the porch of the Drake Lodge.

The award will be presented by City Club to the Bend City Council at its May 1 st City Council meeting for display at City Hall.

About City Club of Central Oregon

City Club of Central Oregon exists to be the top-of-mind hub for citizens and community leaders. We intentionally shape our community and influence public policy while preserving our uniquely warm and connected culture. We champion “passionately non-partisan” discussion between diverse perspectives.