DMAC Meeting #5
The fifth DMAC meeting was held at the La Pine Activity Center — the fourth different location in five meetings. The committee narrowed three draft maps down to one working option, heard the Board had rejected the Missoula model, and confirmed a community listening session for October 16.
Why This Meeting Matters
By October 1, the committee had met in Bend, Sisters, Redmond, and now La Pine — four communities in five weeks. That rotation matters because the whole case for districts rests on giving communities outside Bend a voice. Under the current at-large system, Bend’s roughly 50% share of the county population means Bend voters can effectively choose all five commissioners. Districts would change that, giving south county, Redmond, and Sisters each a commissioner who lives there and answers to the people who live there. Going to La Pine was the committee putting that principle into practice.
Who Spoke
Five people testified during public comment. They came from across the county with different views and different concerns. That is what an open process looks like.
Greg Bryant from Deschutes River Woods described his unincorporated community of 5,600 people. He asked the committee to recognize it alongside the cities already being discussed. Deschutes River Woods is easy to overlook because it is not a city. Bryant made sure it was not overlooked.
Stu Martinez from La Pine said some residents had not heard about the meeting until shortly before it happened. He encouraged better advance notice for future meetings in southern Deschutes County. The committee took the feedback seriously.
Chet Wamboldt from Bend’s Midtown neighborhood stated support for district-based representation.
Tina Lyons, a resident of rural southern Deschutes County, asked about the advantages of district elections versus at-large elections. She wanted to understand what districts would actually mean for her community.
Rodney Cooper submitted comments by email after running into technical issues with Zoom. Staff read his comments aloud for the record. Cooper’s concern was direct: rural Deschutes County would not be adequately represented if Bend’s growth dominated. “What we don’t need is Bend turning into another little Portland that will run the entire county,” he wrote.
The committee also voted to reserve fifteen minutes at the end of the meeting for anyone who arrived late. Another small adaptation to make sure people were heard.
What Happened
The committee had three staff-drafted map options from the prior meeting. They compared them side by side and voted.
A motion to remove Option 3 from further consideration passed by voice vote. A second motion to cease consideration of Option 1 followed. Members noted that Precinct 18’s placement toward the Terrebonne area aligned more closely with Redmond in Option 2 than in Option 1. That motion also passed by voice vote.
With Option 2 remaining, the committee reviewed adjustments on-screen and directed staff to produce a variant labeled Option 2B for the next meeting. Staff confirmed that both Option 2 as originally presented and the new Option 2B would be prepared for continued work.
Then came the community maps. The committee confirmed that four maps submitted by members of the public during prior meetings would be formatted in the same visual style as staff-drafted options. Same scale. Same labels. Same layout. That way, everyone could compare them side by side on equal footing. Community ideas were not second-class options. They were treated exactly the same as the staff drafts.
County Administrator Nick Lelack reported that the Board of County Commissioners had considered the Missoula County model, where candidates must live in districts but are elected at-large by the whole county. The majority of the Board did not support proceeding with that option at this time. The DMAC’s work would continue as planned: real districts with real district elections.
Staff was also exploring American Community Survey data to provide overlays for communities of common interest. And a community listening session was confirmed for October 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Deschutes Services Building in Bend. An evening session so working residents could attend in person or by Zoom.
What This Means
The committee did not treat rural areas as an afterthought. They drove to La Pine. They heard from south county residents in person. They formatted community-submitted maps the same way they formatted their own drafts. They took feedback about meeting notice and folded it into the process.
Under at-large elections, a resident of Deschutes River Woods or La Pine or rural south county competes with tens of thousands of Bend voters to influence who represents them. Districts would give those communities a commissioner who lives among them and answers to them.
The committee went where the people are. That is the opposite of an afterthought.