At a special meeting held Tuesday afternoon, the Bend City Council narrowed down the list of candidates to six to be interviewed on Friday, March 30 and Monday, April 2. Thirteen candidates filed applications by the March 21 deadline.  The selected candidate will be appointed by City Council to fill the vacancy left by John Hummel, who resigned on March 1. The individual appointed to this vacancy will serve until December 31, 2008.

The Council will hold interviews during a special meeting on Friday, March 30 in the Council Chambers at City Council, beginning at 2 p.m., and at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 2.

The list of six applicants to be interviewed by City Council are Don Leonard, Nathan Hovekamp, Peter Gramlich, Kathie Eckman, Gordon Phillips, and Randy Johnson.  Gramlich, and possibly Hovekamp will be interviewed Monday, and the other four candidates are scheduled for Friday.

Initially council members voted by ballot, listing their top candidates. Kathie Eckman received a unanimous vote of six, while Nathan Hovekamp and Peter Gramlich each received four votes.

Council then voted a second time to pick the top three candidates from the list of individuals who received three votes. The four candidates considered during the second round of votes included Don Leonard (5 votes), Randy Johnson(4 votes), Gordon Phillips (5 votes), and Rockland Dunn (3 votes).

Mayor Bruce Abernethy thanked all thirteen candidates and encouraged them to run for election in 2008. The Mayor also announced he will not be seeking another term after his expires in 2008.