Candidates for Deschutes County Commission in the Nov. 8 election — Tony DeBone, the incumbent, and Oliver Tatom, a first time commission candidate — appeared side by side for the first time at a forum hosted by the Rotary Club of Bend Wednesday.

DeBone, a La Pine resident and Republican, has served on the commission since first elected in 2010. Tatom, a Bend resident and Democrat, is a clinic manager for St. Charles Health System. Tatom was previously elected to the boards of Central Oregon Community College and the Deschutes Rural Fire Protection District No. 2.

The pair touched on climate change, land use, housing and government procedure Wednesday. The moderator of the forum, Neil Bryant, an area attorney and former state senator, asked the two candidates if they would prefer a five-member, nonpartisan county commission.

Deschutes County is one out of 10 counties in Oregon that make county commission races partisan, meaning candidates must win the nomination of their political parties in a primary election before winners face off in a general election. Usually, candidates are only fielded from the Democratic and Republican parties for the three-member commission.

Both DeBone and Tatom said they supported a measure on the upcoming general election ballot sponsored by the League of Women Voters to make Deschutes County Commission seats and elections nonpartisan. DeBone said the five-person commission would come with more population growth.

The future growth of Deschutes County, and Bend in particular, will be an inevitable issue for whomever is elected. DeBone and Tatom discussed how they would deal with existing growth and prepare for more.

“Do you grow out, grow in or grow more expensive?” Tatom asked. He said, right now, Bend is in the “more expensive” camp. He hopes to change that, if elected, by relying on Oregon’s current land use system that allows for growth but constrains sprawl, Tatom said.

DeBone said his top issues include housing, land use and managing population growth. He said the joint county and city houselessness task force helps to address each of these issues.

Tatom said his top issues are housing, local job retention and wildfire mitigation. This includes “addressing the high cost of housing,” and ensuring proactivity in addressing hazards before wildfire season.

In grappling with the local impacts of climate change, DeBone advocated for a transition to electric vehicles. Tatom advocated for more walkable neighborhoods with a mix of commercial and residential uses, which could minimize traffic he said.

“Let’s manage it. Let’s deal with it. Let’s move forward,” DeBone said. He also said he was excited for the future despite dismal climate change predictions.

Both candidates said they wanted to repair the rocky relationship between the county and city governments.

Several mentions of the Sunday shooting at a Safeway near NE 27th Street and U.S. Highway 20 in Bend underscored a few of the candidates’ talking points. DeBone said the county shined in providing immediate response the night of the attack and adequate behavioral health resources to help deal with the trauma-ridden aftermath.