Bend extends COVID-19 state of emergency; councilors receive survey results

(Update: Adding video, comments)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A day of new beginnings and getting down to work, for the new president and the new Bend City Council.

Councilors Wednesday evening reviewed a community survey administered by DHM Research through phone calls and and online survey of nearly 1,900 Bend residents to better understand concerns heading into the new year.

DHM President Michelle Neiss presented the findings to the council.

"This is going to be a theme in the survey, that housing and traffic are some of the top concerns your residents have right now," Neiss said.

Results revealed affordable housing and traffic congestions as residents' top specific concerns, followed by homelessness and hunger.

Nearly two-thirds of residents also gave an 'A' or 'B' overall grade for operation of the city, while 88% rated the quality of life as 'excellent' or 'good.' (You can find a link to the full survey results in Wednesday night's council agenda.)

"Fairly normal for a city of your size," Neiss said. "Once you start to get bigger, it then gets harder to have a strong majority of 'excellent' (ratings), because you have a greater diversity of opinion." 

The city also amended its COVID-19 state of emergency to reflect changes from the state of Oregon, extending it for another 60 days until Mar. 21.

Councilor Anthony Broadman was the lone 'no' vote on the extended order.

However, it was a unanimous 'yes' vote from the council to extend mask enforcement for another 60 days as well.

Here's the city's news release on the community survey results;

Community Survey Results Rank Affordable Housing and Transportation Top Concerns

Affordable housing and traffic congestion are the community’s most important issues that they want local government to address, according to respondents in a survey conducted in December, 2020. The City of Bend regularly conducts community satisfaction surveys seeking the community’s perspective on City services and priorities for City funding.

The most recent survey found that people in Bend appreciate living in Bend and are satisfied with the City’s services. More than eight in in ten respondents say that Bend is an excellent (36 percent) or good (52 percent) place to live. Over six in ten respondents rate the City of Bend’s performance as an A (14 percent) or B (51 percent). Strong majorities are satisfied with the City’s drinking water service (84 percent), police and fire services (81 percent), and sewer service (75 percent).

The Bend community sees room for improvement around transportation issues and affordable housing. Specifically, about one in five respondents (19 percent) identify traffic congestion as a top transportation issue they would like government leaders to address. Similarly, about one in five (21 percent) say the City of Bend needs to prioritize ensuring the transportation system can handle more people to better manage growth.

Concern about affordable housing stands out as a priority issue for respondents: 34 percent say addressing affordable housing is an “urgent” priority and just as many (34 percent) say it’s a “high” priority. When asked to choose one service to prioritize for funding, affordable housing is at the top of the list, with four in ten (42 percent) respondents asking the City to increase availability of affordable housing. Three in ten (32 percent) say keeping the region affordable is key to better growth management.

The survey also asked about the City’s role related to COVID-19. Respondents preferred the City focus on small business support (39 percent) or expanding childcare opportunities for working parents (15 percent).

Phone survey results and complementary online survey results have been shared with the Bend City Council as one of several inputs intended to help guide their biennial goal setting. Goal setting, which is underway today, helps shape the City’s two-year work plan and influences discretionary funding in the City’s two-year budget.

And below is the full news release from the city on extending the state of emergency:

Local State of Emergency Extension

The city of Bend has amended its COVID-19 local state of emergency to reflect changes from the state of Oregon and extended it for another 60 days. City councilors ratified the updated declaration Wednesday evening.

Gov. Kate Brown’s most recent order assigns counties with risk levels, replacing the phased reopening approach previously in place. Statewide information related to COVID-19 is at coronavirus.oregon.gov. 

The city’s updated emergency order references this revised statewide approach, tying temporary policies to state-determined risk levels, rather than reopening phases. Currently, Deschutes County is in the “extreme” risk level.

A declaration of a local state of emergency allows for temporary emergency policies related to procurement practices, facility closures, employee teleworking and public meeting protocols and more. It also says:

• The City won’t shut off water for non-payment of unpaid water bills.
• Permitted special events are not allowed, with some exceptions.
• The City can allow some businesses to operate on sidewalks, parking areas or streets to provide a safer environment for customers and employees, and to stimulate the recovery and support local businesses.
• The City can continue to limit in-person meetings and livestream virtual meetings for the public.
• The City can establish or allow private or public entities to establish on public or private property certain transitional housing, with case management, during the emergency.

The City’s updated declaration remains in effect through March 21, subject to further amendments or extension at that time.