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Public commenters press Bend council on surveillance, wildfire preparedness and school routes
Summary
During public comment residents urged updates to dark‑sky lighting rules, criticized proposed ALPR surveillance expansion and called for evacuation‑route upgrades and safer school crossings; councilors and staff acknowledged the concerns and noted follow‑up steps.
Several members of the public used the city’s comment period on May 20 to press the council on public‑safety and planning issues.
Surveillance and police response: Jonathan Westmoreland described a recent incident in which a bullet penetrated his mother’s apartment and criticized the police response timeline; he objected to a planned installation of stationary license‑plate readers (ALPRs) funded initially by a $19,000 grant, saying the program could expand under existing contract authority without returning to council or public input. Council staff responded that any new contract requiring authority would come to council and that there would be opportunity for public input; staff also said they would forward his detailed feedback to the police department for follow‑up.
Wildfire preparedness and evacuation routes: Multiple commenters, including Maureen Johnson and Todd Torsen, expressed support for the city’s wildfire awareness proclamation but urged the council to focus more on evacuation capacity—particularly in Southwest Bend where Reed Market is a critical route—and recommended targeted road reconfigurations to provide additional evacuation lanes. Staff and councilors discussed continuing transportation and wildfire‑preparedness work and agreed to explore engineering options and expedite coordination where feasible.
Dark‑sky lighting and neighborhood impacts: Frank Simpson urged an update to the 2004 outdoor‑lighting ordinance to conform to Dark Sky guidelines given anticipated growth in southeast Bend and to reduce light pollution. He suggested the council consider adopting Deschutes County’s recent ordinance as a template.
Council response and next steps: The presiding officer thanked each commenter and staff indicated the police and transportation teams would receive the feedback; staff said the ALPR contract process would include a public component if a new contract is required. Several councilors also said they would follow up on evacuation and school‑crossing safety, and staff noted the Neff Road/Larkspur Path project includes design elements intended to improve school connections.
