There are six people running to become the first elected mayor of Bend.

But political onlookers who attend an Aug. 14 debate hosted by the Bend Chamber of Commerce will likely only see three of them. That’s because debate moderators chose to invite only Bend Mayor Pro Tem Sally Russell and city Councilor Bill Moseley to a forum being billed as the city’s “first ever mayoral debate,” eventually extending an invitation to disability rights advocate Brian Douglass after he asked why he wasn’t included.

Jamie Christman, executive vice president of government affairs for the Bend Chamber, wouldn’t say on the record why the chamber chose to exclude some candidates, just that she and two co-moderators chose who to invite and other candidates could ask to be included.

But Douglass, who was invited Thursday after contacting the chamber’s political action committee to ask why he wasn’t included, said Christman told him she couldn’t figure out who all the candidates were.

Mayor hopefuls need to collect at least 150 verified signatures from Bend voters by Aug. 28 to qualify for the ballot. So far, six people — Russell, Moseley, Douglass, security guard and self-described former president of Earth Charles Baer, unemployed probationer Timothy Heckler and retired Abilitree employee Richard Robertson, who has Down syndrome — have begun collecting signatures, but only Russell and Baer have gathered enough verified signatures to make the November ballot.

The chamber debate, scheduled for 5 p.m. Aug. 14 at 10 Barrel East, will happen before the deadline to turn in signatures.

Curtis Vogel, news director at COTV and one of the moderators, said the decision on who to invite depended on who was expected to gather the required signatures.

“From what I could tell, they were trying to project forward who would have signatures gathered,” he said. “… With Bill (Moseley), there’s an assumption that he’s going to get his signatures in.”

Fellow moderator Aaron Switzer, publisher of the Source Weekly newspaper, did not return a phone call or email.

Moseley on Wednesday said he would like to debate with all candidates, although he acknowledged that the chamber could decide who to invite. The chamber’s debates, which cost $20 for members and $30 for nonmembers to attend, aren’t an open community forum, he said.

Other organizations, such as the League of Women Voters, typically host free forums with all candidates.

“I think the community should be able to have choices, and those choices go beyond current elected officials,” Moseley said.

Douglass, before he asked to be included in the debate, said all candidates should have the chance to participate.

“That makes me very unhappy that they did not see fit to invite myself and other candidates,” he said. “When the voters passed the measure to elect the mayor, that passed with 70 percent of the vote. I don’t believe that the citizens of Bend voted to necessarily want to fill that position with a sitting council member. They obviously have invited the two sitting council members.”

He said Thursday that he encouraged Christman to invite all other candidates when she called him.

Robertson and Baer said Thursday they were unaware of the debate, and Heckler did not return a phone call.

Baer, who ran for Bend City Council in 2012, said he was invited to participate in forums then.

“I didn’t know that they were hosting a debate,” Baer said. “I absolutely will attend every single function that I can. Every function that I’m made aware of, I’ll definitely go to if I’m able to.”

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