Jonathan Curtis for Clerk · Bend mayor's record

Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler's record

Mayor Kebler is on the November 3 ballot. I'm running for County Clerk on open, honest government, so I looked at her public record. Here are nine of her decisions, with her side and a source for every fact, so you can check it yourself.

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Nine decisions, with her side

  1. Open meetings. On Feb. 17, 2026, she testified and wrote on City of Bend letterhead in support of HB 4177, a bill changing Oregon's public meetings law. Journalists and state ethics officials warned it would weaken transparency. The Legislature passed it 47-4 in the House and 25-3 in the Senate, and Gov. Tina Kotek vetoed it on April 16, 2026. She wrote that the 2023 law it would have revised had proven confusing, and that HB 4177 "offers much-needed clarity while preserving transparency." Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
  2. Surveillance cameras. The police chief and city manager signed a Flock license-plate camera contract in October 2024 without a council vote. The cameras went live June 4, 2025, and the Source Weekly reported that federal immigration agencies, directly or through out-of-state police, made 279 searches of Bend's camera data in the first three weeks, until police switched off a nationwide-search setting they say was left on by mistake. In November 2025 she defended the program on Reddit, passing along the police department's information, and said she had shared residents' concerns with the city manager and police chief. She then backed turning the cameras off on Jan. 7, 2026, and has said any new fixed plate-reader camera contract will go to a council vote with public input. Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
  3. Public involvement. On May 20, 2026, she and the rest of the council voted 7-0 for the first reading of an ordinance that, among other changes, rewrote city code from committee meetings "shall be" an opportunity for public involvement to "are," and added that "an opportunity for public comment is not required by this chapter." The minutes of both votes record no council discussion of that wording, and she voted for final adoption on June 3, 2026 (6-0). According to The Bulletin, she wrote that its editorial on the change got it wrong. The city says committees were never required to take public comment, and she made a similar point on Reddit. The city adds that committees can still choose to allow public comment and that the change aligns city code with state law. The Bulletin agreed those points were correct. Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
  4. An $18 million building. On Sept. 16, 2026, she voted with a 6-1 majority to approve buying the PacificSource office building for $17.95 million, and the council also authorized up to $25 million in bonds to cover the purchase, renovations and furniture. The Source reported that the deal was not discussed at a public meeting until that night. Beforehand, Councilor Gina Franzosa, the lone no vote, said all conversations had been held in executive session and the public had a week to comment before the vote. Kebler said the council kept the real estate talks private until then because going public early could let another buyer step in or drive up the price. The city says buying and improving the building should cost less than one-fifth as much as a new City Hall and administrative campus, which it estimated at more than $145 million, and is not expected to require new taxes, fees or utility rate increases. Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
  5. A road fee never put to voters. In April 2024 she and the rest of the council voted 7-0 to create a transportation fee on city utility bills, without putting it to a public vote. In May 2025 she and the council voted 7-0 to nearly double it, from $5.60 to $10.50 a month for a single-family home. She has said it is called a fee because that is what it is legally, and that it was part of a transportation plan many citizens helped write. In September 2025 she and the council agreed to pause a planned third increase indefinitely. Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
  6. The mayor's pay. In May 2024 she voted to raise the mayor's pay from $19,540 to $50,000 a year, plus a $3,000 health and wellness stipend and the option of city health insurance, starting with the term she is now seeking. The council passed it 6-0, with one councilor abstaining. An independent citizen committee recommended the raise, and she said it would make serving on the council "more accessible to more people." Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
  7. A fee on gas appliances in new homes. On June 3, 2026, she voted with a 5-1 majority to advance a "climate pollution fee" that builders pay for gas appliances in new homes, starting April 2027. City staff's fee table puts it at about $2,000 for a mid-sized home (1,601 to 3,000 square feet) with all gas appliances and $2,972 for homes over 3,000 square feet, with final amounts to be set in early 2027. The council gave final approval 4-1 on June 17, after she had been excused from the meeting. She said the fee is "a way to signal" that "we want those homes to align with our climate goals," and that it will be reviewed to see if it works as intended. It does not apply to existing homes or replacement appliances, and the money goes to a city climate fund. Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
  8. The Hawthorne bridge. In August 2024 she backed a pricier single-tower cable-stayed design for the Hawthorne pedestrian bridge, saying there was value in having it be "a little more iconic." A cheaper steel truss was the most popular design in the city's public survey. In September 2025 the city said ODOT traffic-control requirements and a later construction start would add about $5 million to the cable-stayed design, and the council switched to a new "Broken Top" truss design. The 2024 estimate had not accounted for ODOT's traffic rules, which the city engineer said the city had not looked into deeply, and nearly all of the bridge money is state and federal. Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
  9. A tax break for a project already being built. On Jan. 3, 2024, she voted with a 5-1 council majority to give the 313-unit Jackstraw apartment project a 10-year property-tax exemption estimated at $10.6 million, even though construction began before the developer applied. Only 2 of the units are income-restricted. She asked why building had started early, but said the project met the program's requirements and that if the council changed requirements on an applicant mid-stream, "we're not going to have people take part in programs designed to incentivize what we want." Two weeks later the council paused new applications to the program for review. Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

To be fair: Mayor Kebler has no ethics cases, her financial disclosures have been filed on time every year, and a separate check found no tie between her and Flock Safety or Peter Thiel. Every item above was checked against city minutes, state records and news reports in October 2026.

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