Thread by @MelanieforBend

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Ready for City Council meeting to start! (Participating while imbibing is a nice perk of virtual meetings)

Let's go 👇

First up: technical difficulties 😀

But we've got Councilors on camera tonight!

The Council ratifies the emergency declaration extension by City Manager Eric King through May 6. Further extensions could happen. Mayor Russell says that the economic and emotional impacts of this pandemic are big.

Per Mayor Russell, a local task force is being formed to craft a plan to reopen the economy in Bend within the framework outlined by Gov. Brown. More info to come in the next week.

CORRECTION: Moseley is worried that language directing the City to monitor public health when determining "whether to cancel or continue future Council meetings" means City Mgr can cancel Council meetings unilaterally. Brings this up before official vote to ratify declaration.

City Attny Mary Winters mentions the intent of the sentence is that meetings will occur unless state or federal public health information says they shouldn't. It's not about who can cancel but when the City would do that. They decide to amend the sentence to say "Mayor."

Sentence at issue below. With the change to "Mayor" the Council ratifies the emergency declaration.

Now Council authorizes a relief program for water and sewer bills that will assist businesses. Unanimous vote.

Next up: short term rental ban. Usually, there would be a longer process and staff presentation about this, but the process has been condensed during this emergency.

City Mgr King mentions he put out an advisory order on March 25th but didn't feel he had the authority for a ban and enforcement. Says the County govt moving forward with enforcement on a ban has pushed the City forward on this issue. They want to be consistent.

Mayor Russell asks councilors to each give their thoughts on the resolution, starting with Councilor Abernathy. He says it's about balancing a minimal risk with a known impact when we're talking about folks coming here from out of town.

Re: short term rental ban - Councilor Campbell mentions her partner is a respiratory therapist who has worked with COVID-19 patients. Says Council must consider not just risk of infection rates going up but the bad symptoms and the effects on med staff and families of patients.

Re: short term rental ban - Councilor Goodman-Campbell says she has focused on protecting those who call Bend home and wants clear guidance that's consistent.

Re: ban - Councilor Livingston wonders whether the advisory order has been effective. He thinks the data says we have significant amount of compliance. "Goverment doesn't need to act just to act, it needs to act for a reason." "This is a solution looking for a problem."

Councilor Moseley - says he agree with WSJ that "this is a time for politicians" to balance risk in their decisions. Says alcohol consumption is up, 17 million people have lost their jobs, people are at risk of foreclosure, we are pitting people against one another.

More Moseley: "Terribly worried as we proceed on a 'health only' approach on some of these things we risk a depression entirely. As in the Great Depression." Talks about people dying as a consequence of economic crisis. Says short term rentals are safer than hotels with HVAC.

Moseley: has a lot of problems with the short term rental ban. (Clearly.) Says it's xenophobic to single out people from other places with this regulation. (I think. Sorry he was talking quickly.)

Re: short term rental ban - Councilor Piper agrees the decision must be balanced. Talks about laying off folks at his business due to the economic impact. Says there are clear reasons in the City's emergency declaration and the City Mgr advisory order already covers this.

Re: short term rental ban - Mayor Russell says the statistic she was drawn to today is how infectious and impactful this disease is. She wonders whether Bend is better off with or without enforcement. Says Bend is an island in Deschutes County due to the County's order on this.

Mayor Russell says if there aren't 4 Councilors on board with the short term rental ban then she doesn't want to engage in further discussion. Unclear whether she would be in the group of 4.

City Attorney Mary Winters says they have anecdotal information that most hotels and short term rentals are doing the right thing, but if someone isn't following the advisory there's nothing they can do about it. This resolution would provide that enforcement mechanism.

Councilor Abernathy says it doesn't make sense that hotels and B+B's are allowed but short term rentals aren't. Says it doesn't make sense healthcare workers more at risk would be allowed to stay in short term rentals in neighborhoods. He thinks the voluntary approach is working.

Mayor Russell says she is leaning towards supporting it. But if only she, Goodman-Campbell, and Campbell are supporting it tonight the resolution isn't going anywhere. Campbell thinks the discrepancy between short term rentals and hotels can be fixed at a later time.

City Mgr King says they have language prepared to apply this more broadly if Council wants to talk about that tonight. The resolution right now reflects the same thing that the County put in place.

(Note - the exception for healthcare workers is consistent with Gov's order.)

Goodman-Campbell says she doesn't understand arguments against - if many providers are voluntarily complying with the previous order, how is an enforcement mechanism going to cause more economic harm? Worried delay will put us at risk of outbreak when we're trying to reopen.

(Sending some virtual 👏👏👏 for her comment. Gets to the heart of this - it's not fair to allow some folks to continue flaunting the voluntary order, and delay causes a public health risk).

Councilor Livingston thinks we are "coming out of this" already. Says "nurses are taking temperatures because there's nothing else to do." Talks about a short term rental owner he talked to who is afraid she'll get punished even though she is complying (I think, bit confusing)

Councilor Moseley thinks our leaders are being highly reactive and "almost hysterical." Says he hasn't seen a single medical expert that thinks there is any solution to this pandemic besides herd immunity or a vaccine. "We're ripping apart the fabric of our community"

Councilor Moseley says he is not sure what benefit this action would produce. He says even if (people traveling here to stay) caused one person to get the disease, they would have gotten it anyway.

I uh.

Okay.

Councilor Piper says the short term rental prop managers are already taking the appropriate measures. He thinks this is enough so isn't in favor of the resolution.

That's three firm no's on this resolution.

Councilor Abernathy is a no. Recreation towns may be at risk in theory but it hasn't been Bend's experience yet. Worried about consequences when focusing "solely on a medical lens." Note: he earlier said his wife, a doctor, urged him to vote yes on this.

And with that and a few final comments from a couple Councilors, the short term rental ban appears to be dead in Bend. Wasn't tabled, wasn't any agreement to bring it back at another meeting.

Thanks everyone for following along. This was an important decision. I'm with Councilors Goodman-Campbell and Campbell on this. It may appear we are out of the woods - we are not. This may be the most vulnerable time. Council should have taken action tonight.

Final thoughts from City Mgr King: permit activity has been consistent, which is good because we're still in a housing shortage. Infrastructure is taking advantage of quiet roads to begin and complete projects early. City is staying connected to other local agencies.

Final thoughts from City Mgr cont: on economic recovery, they are working to ensure federal and state programs are geared towards our business community to help them start back up. Recovery will be a long road ahead. We want to be prepared when Gov reopens in a phased manner.

City Mgr has asked all departments to propose 5 and 10% budget cuts, which = 10 and 20 million in reduction of expenses. Will come before Council in June. Wants to take early action to reduce our expenses as our revenues will be down due to this emergency.

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