Gena Goodman-Campbell, who came close to unseating Republican state Rep. Knute Buehler in 2016, is running for the Bend City Council.

Goodman-Campbell, public lands coordinator for the Oregon Natural Desert Association, said her experience running for the Bend-based legislative seat two years ago convinced her that she wanted to run for city government to tackle local issues, such as transportation and affordable housing. She’s collecting the 150 signatures needed to make the November ballot.

“When I was knocking on doors in 2016, all anyone in Bend wanted to talk about was city-level issues,” she said.

Goodman-Campbell said she appreciates the work the city’s doing to improve housing affordability in Bend but wants to bring more creativity to housing solutions.

She said she’d want to work with businesses and other agencies, including the Bend Park & Recreation District, to further improve housing affordability.

She’s interested in seeing what Bend’s citywide transportation advisory committee, which began meeting earlier this year, recommends for the future of transportation in Bend.

“Any solution should work for everybody in Bend, whether you drive or walk or bike or do all three like me,” she said.

Goodman-Campbell lives off 14th Street and said she’s excited about the way 14th Street is being rebuilt this summer, as well as plans to make neighboring 15th Street a more bike-friendly street.

She said she wants to help small businesses navigate working with the city, including simplifying permitting processes.

Goodman-Campbell, 34, has a bachelor’s degree from Colorado College and studied conflict resolution at American University in Washington, D.C. She’s worked at the Oregon Natural Desert Association for most of the past 12 years, including leading a successful campaign to designate 30,000 acres of land east of Bend as the Oregon Badlands Wilderness in 2009.

She will run against Central Oregon Community College Director of Student Life Andrew Davis and perennial City Council candidate Ron “Rondo” Boozell, both of whom are collecting signatures to make the November ballot.

Bend Mayor Pro Tem Sally Russell, City Councilor Bill Moseley and residents Charles Baer, Brian Douglass and Timothy Heckler are running for mayor. So far, only Russell and Baer, who describes himself as the former president of Earth, have collected the 150 signatures required to make the November ballot.

Nobody has picked up a petition to run for the other city council seat up for election this year, but Mayor Casey Roats has announced that he plans to run for it.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160; jshumway@bendbulletin.com