Roats announces Bend council re-election bid

Bend Mayor Casey Roats announced Tuesday that he will run for re-election to the city council this fall and not for the first directly appointed mayor’s position, having served as the last mayor chosen by fellow councilors before voters approved changing the city charter.

Here’s his news release announcement, in full:

Today, Bend Mayor Casey Roats announced that he would seek a second term on the Bend City Council. Roats was elected to the Council in November 2014, and appointed by the City Council to serve a two-year term as mayor in early 2017. Roats’ first term on Council has been highlighted by strong support for street and sewer improvements while maintaining a conservative city budget.

“Our city is at its best when our city government focuses on the fundamentals, like fixing our streets and protecting people and property from criminals. In recent years, we have more than doubled street maintenance funding and increased police presence in the downtown area and citywide without raising taxes. We are also undertaking major street and sewer improvements to make housing more affordable and allow room for new, better paying jobs,” Roats said.

In 2015 and 2016, Roats was one of only two Councilors who opposed a city gas tax. Over Roats’ objections, Council referred the gas tax to a March 2016 special election costing taxpayers over $50,000, when the vote would have been for free to the city just two months later. Bend voters rejected the gas tax by nearly 2-1. Roats later successfully spearheaded the effort to economize city operations to find additional funds to fix streets without raising taxes.

“It was wrong to make Bend taxpayers pay over $50,000 for that special election,” Roats said. “It’s a matter of priorities. I think a lot about those families where both parents are working two jobs in order to afford to live here. It’s important that city government live within its means.”

Roats is running for re-election to the Council, rather than for another term as mayor. “It’s been an honor serving as mayor. With the new elected mayor position, the obligations and responsibilities for the mayor will I believe be higher. As a father and a small business owner, I know that I can excel at the Councilor position with the other demands on my time.”

Roats is the father of two daughters, and, along with other family members, is an owner of Roats Water System, a small private water utility. He was elected to the Bend City Council in 2014. Prior to serving on the City Council, he was a member of the city’s Infrastructure Advisory Committee, and the Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of Mountain View High School and Central Oregon Community College.