Published 10:00 am Wednesday, May 27, 2026 Our editorial this week about the Bend City Council moving to change city code on public involvement in committee meetings got some people stirred up. City staff requested we write a clarification. Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler wrote that we got it wrong. We disagree. But we decided to write about it again, because maybe we weren’t clear the first time and they make some reasonable points. You can find the original editorial at tinyurl.com/Bendinvolved . The Bend City Council recently took the first vote toward changing various things in city code for committee meetings . Among the changes is the language for boards and committees from “These meetings shall be an opportunity for public involvement in the discussion of issues….” to “These meetings are an opportunity for public involvement in the discussion of issues….” We added the emphasis. The new language also says “an opportunity for public comment is not required by this chapter.” It didn’t say that before.…