Before we go any further, this editorial is about Envision Bend. And The Bulletin is a partner of Envision Bend to get the word out about what it is doing.

That said, Envision Bend is asking the city for $80,000. Councilors may decide at their next meeting, which is on Wednesday. Should Envision Bend get the money?

Envision Bend is doing community-wide civic engagement to try to identify a common vision statement for the city.

Bend is going to grow. The idea is to help it grow well.

The challenges the community faces are no mystery. Housing affordability. A transportation system that helps people get around. Helping those who are less fortunate. Building a community that is cohesive and where nobody is left out.

More or less, that’s easy to agree on. It gets complicated when you take the next step and try to identify solutions. People don’t always agree on how to address those challenges or which should get top priority.

Envision Bend could help. It is looking for the places the community can agree and unite and move forward. When we met with Envision Bend representatives, they told us the idea is to try to identify gaps where the city and the community need help and focus attention there.

What Envision Bend finds won’t be a perfect mirror of the “vision” of the community. It is the strongest, broadest effort to get there.

Bend went through this before to create the Bend 2030 plan in 2005-2006. Envision Bend was previously known as Bend 2030. You can’t say Bend 2030 created the OSU-Cascades campus, Riley Ranch Nature Reserve or the bus system. Those things were part of the vision. Arguably the visioning helped keep the spotlight on them.

Now Envision Bend is updating and reimagining what Bend’s plan should be. It is making a determined effort to reach out to people who may not ordinarily be heard.

The city gave Envision Bend $50,000 in 2021. The additional $80,000 would be to cover the final phases of the project. It’s going to do more listening workshops, finalize the plan and monitor it. The goal is also to make a presentation to the Bend City Council in December to help aid the council’s goal setting.

You can find out more about Envision Bend at envisionbend.org. You can tell Bend City Councilors if you think Envision Bend should get the money by emailing them at council@bendoregon.gov.