City of Bend Hosts State of the City Session at CityFest

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) The City of Bend hosted a short State of the City session at CityFest, held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Life Fitness Studio parking lot in downtown Bend.

During the event, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler addressed the city on several key initiatives.

Kebler spoke about current efforts in public safety, homelessness, housing, rent costs, wildfire resiliency and climate work.

CityFest also invited community members to talk to city employees about work projects around town.

Bend Kebler shared insights into the city's focus on various issues. "Yeah, I think we've got we've done a great job on safety and public safety and on homelessness. And we talked about that, how we've really leaned into housing to help flatten our rents in the city. And how we're really leaning into things like wildfire, resiliency, climate, work. All of that will be part of what I talked about tonight," Kebler said.

The Downtown Bend Business Association also participated, giving away two $250 gift cards at the event.

For those unable to attend, the City of Bend will post a version of Mayor Kebler's address on its website sometime in the coming week.