Melanie Kebler is running for her second term as Bend’s mayor, against opponent Bernadette Strome.

Bend’s mayor leads city council meetings, acts as an ambassador for the city and makes decisions for the city alongside the six elected city councilors. The winner of the election will serve a four-year term.

Melanie Kebler

Melanie Kebler, 43, was first elected mayor in 2022. She served as a city councilor from 2020-2022.

Kebler grew up in Bend and went to college in Michigan before coming back to the West for law school. She worked as a prosecutor for domestic violence and sexual crimes. Kebler then began working for the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center and moved to Bend in 2018. Her daughter attends the same elementary school she went to.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to step up into leadership,” she said about running for mayor.…