Q&A – Friday, Sept 25, 2026

Bernadette for Bend*September 26, 2026
Bernadette Strome for Mayor of Bend, Oregon

Questions are answered weekly on Friday evenings and posted to our blog.

Thanks to everyone that submitted questions, and please continue to follow our progress. Links to our social pages are on this website, you can also request a yard sign, donate to our efforts, or give your endorsement.

Thanks again, have a fantastic weekend in beautiful Bend, OR!

Question from Rush K.

Please address specifically how you feel about the road diet the city has initiated making traffic worse and my extreme concern for fire evacuation should we ever have to.

For example, Thousands of homes are being built along 27th and the city just installed curbs to reduce traffic instead of than adding left hand turn and emergency lanes.

More roundabouts are nice? But they don’t help with the added volume of people and cars. We have plenty of bike safety lanes and islands that took away turn lanes.

I would like to support you, but during your recent interview along with the mayor, you were way too vague just saying better communication is needed. It’s going to take more than that to win this election.

Thank you, Rush

Yes, I agree my interview at The Source was not what I had hoped it would be and there were many reasons for that but I’m not here to defend or make excuses.

Here is my answer to your question – While I do believe evacuation routes should be clearly communicated by our leadership, the infrastructure needs to exist for that to be effective! Right now the transportation SDC’s the City is collecting are going towards these bike lane and sidewalk projects that The City WANTS, instead of toward the infrastructure projects Bend desperately and urgently NEED.

If elected, I want to listen to what the majority of Bend residents actually want and feel is necessary for livability and safe travel. The use and practical application of these transportation fees should be to maintain our existing transportation infrastructure, and to improve safety on our roads.

The City has no business asking for more money, or pushing forward ineffective pet projects that don’t benefit (and I would argue, hinder) the ability for the majority of  Bend residents to commute efficiently and safely to wherever they need to go.

Question from Joanne

What are you going to do about Greenwood Ave. They promised to remove it last August if we didn’t like it. The community said to return it to the original. They refused to listen.

Hi Joann,

Thanks for taking the time to ask about this. The project on Greenwood is something MANY Bend residents are upset about, and I share your concern!

If elected, I intend to honor the original promise of the G.O. Bond and actually listen to our community. We have to keep our roads safe, maintained and effective for all of us. Businesses and residents alike are very frustrated with the lack of humility and willingness to pivot away from what isn’t working.

If I get the opportunity to serve you, please know that we will collaborate with the community, pivot and take accountability for what isn’t working, as well as double down on the most effective ways to actually fix the mess. There will be clear data and reporting available to the public as we monitor the results.

I will not serve a political agenda, Bend is my home, and I will do what it takes to make sure the right thing happens.

Question from Diana
  • How old are you and your 4 children? You are a young single mother of 4. How can you devote yourself to being mayor?
  • What is the name of your businesses? How many employees do you have? What benefits do you provide them?
  • What was/is your position on Caldera Ranch? Did you attend the community meeting concerning that project? What is your position on the development in the SE?
  • How will you eliminate the bikers vs vehicle tension? What will you propose?
  • Since you say you listen to neighbors, are you aware of the position of you non-neighbors. Will you take in the concerns of all Bend residents or just the Larkspur neighbors?
  • Are you capable of disappointing long term residents that complain about growth? And seem to think that you will somehow make new people go away? Do you put the new residents on equal footing with the people who have been here longer?

Hi Diane,

Thanks for reaching out to me. I am not sure I understand your line of questioning here, but I will do my best. You seem very passionate about my personal life, and I will not be answering those questions regarding my children.

I can tell you I will be thirty-seven before the election. I will answer your other questions as they pertain to the role of being Mayor of Bend, which I take very seriously.

I believe all Bend residents should have access to respectfully engage with leadership at City Hall. Right now we don’t have that, and many residents feel shut out of the process.

If elected, I will reinstate open-office hours for City Council and The Mayor’s office, I will engage and facilitate regular town-hall listening sessions, and make it simple and welcoming to any Bend resident who wants to engage respectfully, collaborate with the community, or disagree in a constructive and dignified way.

Question from Thomas T.

I am not a fan of our present mayor and would like to support a pragmatist who shares the values of long time Bend residents and is truly nonpartisan.

Here are some questions:

  1. Do you support the Hawthorne street bicycle bridge?
  2. Do support the Caldera housing expansion?
  3. Do you support narrowing the streets for bicycle lanes?
  4. Do you support continuing the Greenwood experiment?
  5. Do you support expanding the tree protection?
  6. Do you support building a new city hall?
  7. Do you support significant expansion of the Bend population?

Depending upon your responses, I will not contribute and advocate for you. This is not the city I move to nor want it to be.

Lesson one is never elect a lawyer to public office. They have been tainted by law schools with a fair left mind set and they have no real world experience. And this comes from a retired lawyer. I know that of which I speak.

Hi Thomas,

In order to give everyone asking questions fair consideration I’ll answer a few of the questions you’ve asked.

If you look at the website, I have answered many of them on our “vision” page I’ll get right to the point, no I don’t support the Hawthorne Bicycle bridge project as it stands, and I think the majority of Bend residents feel similarly. That isn’t to say that in the future, there wouldn’t be room for a discussion on how to effectively make improvements for cyclists, if it makes financial sense and there is a majority of residents asking for it.

That isn’t what we’re talking about though, the Hawthorne Bridge project is one example of WANTS vs. NEEDS and city leadership shutting down collaboration with the community, as well as neglecting the basic maintenance our infrastructure requires.

Caldera is an example of failure to improve infrastructure and safe evacuation routes using the tools we already have. Caldera Ranch requested for their project to be annexed into the city limits. Annexations come with a developer agreement to map out what is required by the developer, including necessary infrastructure agreements.  SDC’s on new construction should be used for this, and planners/builders need to commit to these crucial safety improvements before any projects can move forward.

Growth happens, we can’t keep people from moving here, but we can ensure safe evacuation routes, and put that responsibility of investment where it belongs.

I do not see a current need for a new City Hall, many city workers are remote several days a week, and The City has been hiring staff at a rate that outpaces the population. If and when a need for that arises in the future, Bend Residents should have a vote.

Question from Bob

I think most people agree we need affordable housing for people in our community. The thing that concerns me, and every other person I’ve met with, is what about the environment, infrastructure, availability of water, stress on our power grid and all the other issues that come with the overbuilding that’s occurring now?

It seems that if we’re going to factor in the quality of life for Bend citizens, we can’t keep building and building like we’re doing now. Most people move to Bend to get away from the big city feel, the traffic, crime and the loss of a tight knit community.

We currently have a city government that pretends to care but does nothing to address these issues.
How would you address this as I know these are the biggest concerns of the people living in Bend now.

Hi Bob,

Thank you for the thoughtful question.
Yes, this is top of mind for many Bend residents, myself included.

In a nutshell, Bend needs to use accurate forecasting numbers to determine the right amount, type, and placement for new construction. Current projections are based off of outdated numbers, instead of using the most recent and steady projections.

Bend needs to conduct its own housing needs analysis, City Hall needs to collaborate with residents to determine the types and placement of new developments / construction, we also need to look at having a development code that requires a mix of housing that encourages prosperity and encourages the kind of community we know Bend to be, instead of massive apartment complexes that have high vacancy rates and create the problems you mentioned.

I don’t have all of the answers, but if I am elected I will collaborate with experienced teams and planners, as well as engage with the community to determine what is right for Bend, and how to make it happen effectively and thoughtfully.

I will be diligent about measuring effectiveness and making that data available to every resident.

Question from Amy

I’m glad you’re running. I just looked at the website and suggest you put your full mailing address on your website under the contact section. Looks like the PO Box is not listed.

Signed up for the emails.

Thanks for running for Mayor. I hope your platform can produce a win because Bend is in trouble.

Warm regards,

Amy

Amy,

Thank you for bringing these details to my attention.

Yes, in our rush to make sure the website was up and running a few of these details had to be updated after the launch. I think you should see we are good to go in the areas you listed, but please let us know if you aren’t able to find the information you are looking for.

Also, thank you for signing up for emails, and please continue to stay up to date on our socials too! Instagram, Facebook and “X” are all places you can stay up to date,  and track the progress of the campaign.

Grateful for your support, and have such a lovely weekend.