Bend City Council chambers in 2017. Bend councilors and mayor are elected for four-year terms.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
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In Bend, the city’s Human Rights and Equity Commission has received a record number of applicants.
The volunteer board advises the city council on DEI efforts. Bend Equity and Inclusion Director Andrés Portela III said enthusiasm for the positions is surprising but attributes the bump in applications to “intentional outreach engagement.”
The city received 37 applications for three open positions with the HREC. It’s the most applications received since the commission’s creation in 2020, according to Portela.
Bend Equity and Inclusion Director Andrés Portela III at his city hall office on April 4, 2024.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
He said the city usually gets five to seven applications for openings on any of its various boards and commissions.
Bend’s overall approach to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts is a stark contrast to the county surrounding it. Deschutes County commissioners recently ended an internal staff-led DEIA committee despite public outcry.
The commissioners who voted to abandon the committee, Tony DeBone and Patti Adair, said they wanted the county to be in line with a presidential executive order attempting to end federal DEI programs.
Mayor Melanie Kebler listens to a visitor speaking at a city council meeting in Bend, Ore., on July 17, 2024.
Kathryn Styer Martínez / OPB
Meanwhile, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler has stood fast in her commitment to the city’s DEI efforts since the beginning of the second Trump administration.
In a statement last month, she called President Trump’s attacks on DEI “racism and bigotry from the highest office in the land.”
As DEI becomes a prominent national conversation and local political dynamics shift, Portela said, “folks are just looking to be energized and be a part of the work that they see happening organically.”
Bend has scheduled interviews for the open HREC positions over the next two weeks.
