Dozen to seek Bend council seats this fall

Tuesday was the deadline day for local candidates to file for the November general election.

And the Bend City Council has a lot of interest this year.

Twelve candidates are vying for four positions this year. That’s twice the number of candidates as in 2010.

The race includes two incumbents running to keep their seat, and two races for soon-to-be open seats, including the one to replace outgoing Councilor Tom Greene.

When Greene announced he was giving up his council seat to run for county commissioner, seeking to unseat Alan Unger, Victor Chudowsky decided to run for his council seat.

“Over the next few years, we are going to be making about $200 million worth of investments in our infrastructure — roads, water, sewer,” Chudowsky said Tuesday.

Chudowsky, who served on the city’s budget committee for a couple terms, was the first to file for the seat back in February.

“I’m just afraid that the mistakes we made in the past — I don’t want to repeat any of those mistakes,” Chudowsky said. “We need people who are on this city council who are high caliber, that hold the city government to a high degree of confidence and professionalism.”

And until Monday, Chudowsky was the only one seeking Greene’s seat.

“It was kind of feeling empty there for a while,” Chudowsky said.

At the last minute, Bend small business owner Barb Campbell decided to jump in.

“I really felt like I could be valuable to the city council and decided I was just going to go for it,” Campbell said. “The support has been heartwarming.”

Campbell says the city needs more professional diversity on the city council.

“It seems like we have been weighted very heavily towards developers, toward building,” Campbell said. “I think we can use more focus on the neighborhoods and businesses that are already here in town.”

Candidates needed 150 voter signatures to make the ballot. It took Campbell only seven hours to get 166 signatures.

Also handing in signatures in on the last day – Wade Fagen, owner of Fagen’s Tree and Chips service.

“Having been a native that grew up here and understand a lot of the old traditional values of Bend,” Fagan said. “I wouldn’t want seven members, but I would like one. So I’m going to put my best foot forward.”

“There’s a lot of interest in the city of Bend,” said Bend City Recorder Robyn Christie “The city’s at a pivotal point as far as growth. I think people are really excited and want to be a part of that.”

Mayor Jeff Eager’s seat is also up for grabs after he decided against running again.

Meantime, councilors Kathie Eckman and Jim Clinton face challengers in November.

NewsChannel 21 will have more on those and other local races in the coming weeks.