★ ★ ★PUBLICRECORDJAN 28 2026

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Bend City Council Meeting – January 28, 2026: Equity Program Structure and Transportation Standards

City Council — Wednesday, January 28, 2026

BodyBend, Oregon

SessionCity Council

DateWednesday, January 28, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:04:58

Transcript — VerbatimClick a line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Today, uh January 28th.

0:02

Uh the mayor is in Washington, DC at a mayor's conference right now.

0:06

So she will not be here today.

0:07

We can start with roll call, Gina.

0:09

Did you want to start?

0:10

Gina Francesa, she here.

0:12

Ariel Mendez, he Mike Riley, he him.

0:15

Megan Perkins, she heard.

0:17

Megan Norris, she here.

0:18

Steve Lack.

0:20

All right.

0:21

And first up today, we have a presentation from Ben Duncan, who is online on the equity program structure.

0:29

I'm just gonna uh provide a few opening remarks.

0:31

And yes, uh, want to introduce Ben Duncan with Kearns West.

0:35

Uh the city contracted with Kearns West last October to examine the operations and structure of the city of Ben's equity related functions, services, and programs.

0:43

So council will hear from Ben today, uh the methodology uh that he used, findings and recommendations.

0:50

Uh upon Ben reviewing his recommendations, I'll then share uh the plan of action to implement those recommendations.

0:57

Uh but we'll close with some questions that Ben has for council to help shape his final report and any questions that you may have for Ben or myself.

1:04

Um I just wanted to note that I'm really excited to carve out a new path as in the as the city considers the future of its equity work.

1:12

Uh there's an opportunity to build a greater sense of inclusion and belonging uh through thoughtful and rigorous implementation strategies that focus on structures, policies, practices, and programs to ensure that all employees at the city have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

1:27

Uh equity work is deep and broad and grounded in understanding lived experiences of our community members.

1:32

We'll continue our commitment to creating policies and systems where our community has the opportunity to thrive.

1:37

We know that trust is not built through words alone but through sustained action.

1:41

We also know that there is more work to do to ensure that our organization is welcoming, equitable, and supportive for everyone.

1:47

So with that, I just want to uh welcome Ben into the space and I'll I'll again chime in uh after he walks through his recommendations.

1:55

Okay, well, thank you, Eric.

1:56

And it's uh I I apologize that I'm not there.

1:59

Um I missed Ben already.

2:02

I was there uh not that long ago.

2:03

I I believe uh somebody else is gonna share slides, is that correct?

2:07

Yes.

2:08

You can pull those up, thank you.

2:10

Um, mayor Proton Perkins counselors for the record.

2:13

Uh my name is Ben Duncan, as Eric said, uh consultant with Kearns and West, and really honored to be here uh this afternoon to share my findings and offer some recommendations for how the City of Bend can continue to advance and strengthen its equity work.

2:27

Uh just as a point of introduction, I'll note that I I come to this work having served myself as a Chief Diversity and Equity Officer for Multmac County in Portland, where I live, and had the honor of supporting the governing alliance on race and equity as a founding steering committee member.

2:44

And it really afforded me the privilege of working with and supporting jurisdictions all over the country on how to build up, um, improve upon and leverage structural and organizational governance models to advance equity work for jurisdictions.

3:01

And I'll just say at the outset, Ben, like any city that's growing and seeing demographic changes and you know, having to respond to all of what that means in community has a really unique opportunity to continue to invest in and support equity work.

3:19

And um I'll say you know, I've been really impressed by the passion of staff, of leadership, of community members to to be part of that investment.

3:29

Um I'll also say at the outset is kind of the old adage is that you know this work is a marathon, not a sprint.

3:36

Um, and it's going to be important as you all think about your future structures and implementation to balance the kind of immediacy and the urgency of working towards real necessary equitable outcomes for community while also you know moving at the pace of relationship, the pace of process and structural planning that allows the work to be most successful.

4:00

We go to the next slide.

4:02

I I'm hoping to really utilize the time I have with you all today to align with a few outcomes.

4:10

Um I'll reflect on the scope and methodology, and Eric did a good job of kind of describing kind of what I was brought in to do that really guided this work, reflect on some of the key findings and themes from the analysis that I've done, um, including the identification of core functions that the city has in place and do all of that in service to connecting it to some recommended structural and implementation concepts that uh I really do hope guide your next steps.

4:39

Um finally I'll outline kind of where uh you know at least my work goes from here.

4:44

Um and as Eric said, really close our time together with some space for you to have discussion, uh particularly focused on the role of council and your role in advancing equitable outcomes.

4:56

If you go to the next slide.

5:04

At the conclusion of my presentation, but I didn't want to preview these questions that I hope you all will explore together as elected representatives, right?

5:14

You have an opportunity, and I'd say an obligation, right, for ensuring that equitable outcomes for your constituents are realized.

5:22

And my hope is that while a lot of this work and a lot of my recommendations is really centered on kind of operational and structural decisions that are in the purview and led by the city manager, that it's imperative that you all are also exploring the role you have as a legislative body and the responsibility that you carry to ensure that the decisions you make are informed, that they seek to mitigate disparate outcomes or what we sometimes call unintended consequences.

5:51

And just as importantly, invest in policies that expand benefit to all of your constituents.

5:58

I say that also recognizing and challenging and pushing you all to do so with a focus on ensuring that those who are most vulnerable, those who have the least resource, those who carry the least power, are centered in your considerations and centered in your analysis.

6:35

And to support council as appointed members by you all as a body to be a resource for issues that come before you.

6:42

So we'll talk more about those questions and really hope that it's a good platform for you all to speak to later.

6:49

You have next slide.

6:51

Eric kind of hit this piece on uh scope and purpose, but uh you know, the value that I hope I bring is is really as an independent and objective kind of third party, uh, being able to review the work that you all are doing to try to have a deep understanding of kind of what the existing systems and structures and staffing and strategies, uh, but how that really aligns with where you want to and where you can go.

7:16

And there's kind of two phases, and I'll kind of unpack these a little bit as we go along.

7:21

One being kind of just anal analysis and trying to understand the kind of state of uh you know, the kind of current state, uh, and then moving into what this conversation really represents as part of developing recommendations for accessibility and equity work that really allows you uh to move forward and things that you can adopt in the future to be successful.

7:42

Go to the next slide.

7:45

So I'm not gonna need names.

7:48

Um fact it was important that some people you'll know when I say city manager's office, but um it was important that you know folks I met with had uh some sense of uh uh confidentiality and so we could have candid conversations, and we did.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Racial Equity████████████████████████████████████36%

Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████████████████28%

Transportation Safety██████████████████18%

Personnel Matters████████8%

Community Engagement█████5%

Public Safety█1%

Active Transportation█1%

Public Engagement█1%

Procedural█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Bend City Council Meeting – January 28, 2026

The Bend City Council met on January 28, 2026, with the mayor absent at a conference. The meeting featured a presentation by consultant Ben Duncan on the city's equity program structure, followed by a discussion on transportation standards and an update on the Hawthorne Bridge project. No consent calendar or public testimony was heard.

Discussion Items

Equity Program Structure

Ben Duncan, from Kearns West, presented findings and recommendations from the city-contracted review of its equity-related functions. Key findings included strong existing core functions but a need for more centralized oversight, clear decision-making authority, and consistent implementation across departments. Duncan recommended four high-level areas: embedding equity into decision-making, balancing centralized oversight with decentralized implementation (a “hub and spoke” model), building organizational capacity through tools like the AIM (Assumptions, Impacts, Measures) framework, and embedding community engagement as a core function.
City Manager Eric outlined an implementation plan: moving the equity and accessibility program into the city manager's office, formalizing equity liaison roles in departments as “spokes,” using the AIM tool across all departments (initial focus on four council-identified areas: water rates, wildfire mitigation, home committee, and growth plan), and adding a community engagement position. Eric also proposed expanding Ben Duncan’s contract to help refine the purpose of the Human Rights and Equity Commission (HREC).
Council members discussed the need for internal buy-in from departmental leadership, the importance of supporting the new equity director (the fourth person in this role), and the risk of equity work becoming performative. Councilor Francesa suggested having Ben Duncan provide periodic independent progress reports to council. Councilor Perkins proposed adding an equity impact analysis section to council issue summaries, while Councilor Norris cautioned against superficial use of checklists and suggested a phased on-ramp for mandatory equity reviews.
Councilor Mendez raised the need for a review of identity-based investigation processes within the city. Eric confirmed this would be done in the next 12 months, involving the DEIA task force and HR.
Council agreed to a joint meeting with the Human Rights and Equity Commission in March to discuss their role and relationship with council, with some members suggesting rotating council representation at HREC meetings.

Transportation Standards Update

Operations Chief Russ, Assistant City Engineer Janet Ruby, and City Engineer Ryan Oester presented on the process to update transportation standards, focusing on lowering speeds, improving safety, and addressing community concerns. Three key policy areas were discussed: speed reduction, cut-through traffic, and street section design.
Council expressed strong support for lowering speed targets: 20 mph on local streets, 25 mph on collectors, and 30 mph on arterials (with design speeds set accordingly for new roads). Councilor Perkins emphasized a combination of engineering, education, and enforcement. Councilor Riley supported education over enforcement. Councilor Norris noted that simply lowering posted speed limits does not change driver behavior and that physical changes are needed.
On cut-through traffic, council supported expanding analysis and tools beyond bike/ped safety to address excessive vehicle traffic, as seen in Wood River Village.
For street sections, council directed staff to develop a 50-foot local street standard and a car-free (woonerf) standard. On arterial and collector streets, council preferred moving bike facilities off-road (behind the curb) and narrowing lane widths (from 11 feet) to improve safety and aesthetics, informed by research. Councilor Perkins stressed working within existing right-of-way when possible, and Councilor Norris emphasized flexibility in retrofit situations (e.g., Franklin Avenue).
On intersection forms, council directed staff to explore a preferred standard (e.g., protected roundabouts) with community input, but did not make a final selection due to time constraints. Councilor Mendez requested data on the performance of recently built intersections like Wilson and Third. Councilor Norris highlighted the need to consider pedestrians with visual impairments in design.
Staff will conduct workshops with engineers, emergency services, transit, school district, freight, advocacy groups, and the public, with a council work session in late summer, public comment in fall/winter, and adoption in spring 2027.

Hawthorne Bridge Update

Project manager Garrett and city staff presented an update on the Hawthorne Avenue bridge project. The project is largely federally funded ($32 million) with a $1 million General Obligation Bond contribution. The preferred concept for street-level improvements on Hill to Harriman (west side) is a “promenade” (one-way westbound with on-street parking and a shared pedestrian/bicycle space), which received the most public support at a December open house (~200 attendees).
The bridge alignment has been shifted to a more centered position to create a “people street” concept underneath, but this requires addressing traffic network connectivity in the superblock bounded by Franklin, Greenwood, First, and Third streets. Staff are in conversations with property owners (including the developer of the northeast corner and the bottle drop business) about temporary driveway access until redevelopment, and are exploring improvements to Irving and Greeley streets to maintain east-west connections. Council expressed support for the promenade and noted the potential for the bridge to connect Drake Park to Juniper Park.
The design schedule is tight due to federal funding deadlines: concept and cost estimates in April, Geobond budget discussion in May-June, council update in July, design completion in August, construction starting late 2027 to early 2028. Council approved the direction and requested continued engagement.

Key Outcomes

Council directed the city manager to proceed with implementing the equity program structure recommendations, including hiring a new equity director in the city manager's office, formalizing departmental equity liaisons, expanding the AIM tool, and adding a community engagement position. Ben Duncan’s contract will be expanded to assist with HREC purpose and recruitment. Council will receive independent progress updates from Duncan.
Council agreed to add an equity impact analysis section to council issue summaries, with a phased approach to avoid performative use.
Council directed a review of identity-based investigation processes within the city, to be completed within 12 months.
Council scheduled a joint meeting with the Human Rights and Equity Commission for March 2026.
On transportation standards, council provided direction on speed reduction targets, cut-through traffic mitigation, and street section design (narrower lanes, off-street bike facilities, car-free standards). Staff will proceed with community engagement and return with a final proposal in spring 2027.
For the Hawthorne Bridge, council endorsed the promenade concept and centered bridge alignment, and directed staff to continue design and community engagement, with budget decisions in May-June 2026. The project remains on schedule.

Meeting Transcript

Today, uh January 28th. Uh the mayor is in Washington, DC at a mayor's conference right now. So she will not be here today. We can start with roll call, Gina. Did you want to start? Gina Francesa, she here. Ariel Mendez, he Mike Riley, he him. Megan Perkins, she heard. Megan Norris, she here. Steve Lack. All right. And first up today, we have a presentation from Ben Duncan, who is online on the equity program structure. I'm just gonna uh provide a few opening remarks. And yes, uh, want to introduce Ben Duncan with Kearns West. Uh the city contracted with Kearns West last October to examine the operations and structure of the city of Ben's equity related functions, services, and programs. So council will hear from Ben today, uh the methodology uh that he used, findings and recommendations. Uh upon Ben reviewing his recommendations, I'll then share uh the plan of action to implement those recommendations. Uh but we'll close with some questions that Ben has for council to help shape his final report and any questions that you may have for Ben or myself. Um I just wanted to note that I'm really excited to carve out a new path as in the as the city considers the future of its equity work. Uh there's an opportunity to build a greater sense of inclusion and belonging uh through thoughtful and rigorous implementation strategies that focus on structures, policies, practices, and programs to ensure that all employees at the city have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Uh equity work is deep and broad and grounded in understanding lived experiences of our community members. We'll continue our commitment to creating policies and systems where our community has the opportunity to thrive. We know that trust is not built through words alone but through sustained action. We also know that there is more work to do to ensure that our organization is welcoming, equitable, and supportive for everyone. So with that, I just want to uh welcome Ben into the space and I'll I'll again chime in uh after he walks through his recommendations. Okay, well, thank you, Eric. And it's uh I I apologize that I'm not there. Um I missed Ben already. I was there uh not that long ago. I I believe uh somebody else is gonna share slides, is that correct? Yes. You can pull those up, thank you. Um, mayor Proton Perkins counselors for the record. Uh my name is Ben Duncan, as Eric said, uh consultant with Kearns and West, and really honored to be here uh this afternoon to share my findings and offer some recommendations for how the City of Bend can continue to advance and strengthen its equity work. Uh just as a point of introduction, I'll note that I I come to this work having served myself as a Chief Diversity and Equity Officer for Multmac County in Portland, where I live, and had the honor of supporting the governing alliance on race and equity as a founding steering committee member. And it really afforded me the privilege of working with and supporting jurisdictions all over the country on how to build up, um, improve upon and leverage structural and organizational governance models to advance equity work for jurisdictions. And I'll just say at the outset, Ben, like any city that's growing and seeing demographic changes and you know, having to respond to all of what that means in community has a really unique opportunity to continue to invest in and support equity work. And um I'll say you know, I've been really impressed by the passion of staff, of leadership, of community members to to be part of that investment. Um I'll also say at the outset is kind of the old adage is that you know this work is a marathon, not a sprint. Um, and it's going to be important as you all think about your future structures and implementation to balance the kind of immediacy and the urgency of working towards real necessary equitable outcomes for community while also you know moving at the pace of relationship, the pace of process and structural planning that allows the work to be most successful. We go to the next slide. I I'm hoping to really utilize the time I have with you all today to align with a few outcomes. Um I'll reflect on the scope and methodology, and Eric did a good job of kind of describing kind of what I was brought in to do that really guided this work, reflect on some of the key findings and themes from the analysis that I've done, um, including the identification of core functions that the city has in place and do all of that in service to connecting it to some recommended structural and implementation concepts that uh I really do hope guide your next steps. Um finally I'll outline kind of where uh you know at least my work goes from here. Um and as Eric said, really close our time together with some space for you to have discussion, uh particularly focused on the role of council and your role in advancing equitable outcomes. If you go to the next slide. At the conclusion of my presentation, but I didn't want to preview these questions that I hope you all will explore together as elected representatives, right? You have an opportunity, and I'd say an obligation, right, for ensuring that equitable outcomes for your constituents are realized. And my hope is that while a lot of this work and a lot of my recommendations is really centered on kind of operational and structural decisions that are in the purview and led by the city manager, that it's imperative that you all are also exploring the role you have as a legislative body and the responsibility that you carry to ensure that the decisions you make are informed, that they seek to mitigate disparate outcomes or what we sometimes call unintended consequences. And just as importantly, invest in policies that expand benefit to all of your constituents.

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