Bend City Councilor Rita Schenkelberg is set to resign Wednesday, marking the second resignation announcement in one week for the public body.
Schenkelberg, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, said they decided to leave the council because it has become too difficult to juggle the responsibilities of the council and working full time. Schenkelberg works as a mental health counselor at Forever Family Therapy.
“I am sad to leave,” Schenkelberg said. “It was a hard decision.”
Mayor Sally Russell announced her intention to resign Wednesday,May 11, because she was “exhausted.”
Serving on the council requires more time than just the meetings twice a month, including researching and preparing for those meetings, Schenkelberg said.
But a large part of Schenkelberg’s departure is based on the hostility they have received from the public since being elected in 2020.
“The constant criticisms around my identities make it hard to show up fully,” they told The Bulletin.
Schenkelberg is the first and only person of color, as well as the first openly queer and nonbinary person to be elected to the Bend City Council. Schenkelberg said they receive lots of emails and public comment from the people asking about why Schenkelberg talks about using gender neutral pronouns, their race and sexual identity.
Being misgendered also was tiring, and got especially worse a few months ago when Schenkelberg came out publicly to use they/them pronouns, Schenkelberg said.
“All city councilors receive horrible public comment. It’s just mine is about who I am as a person,” they said.
Schenkelberg also has experienced harassment in person, recalling an incident where an angry community member started yelling at them during a presentation about outdoor homeless shelters at First Presbyterian Church in Bend. Despite there being multiple elected officials at the event, Schenkelberg said they were the only one targeted.
While Bend is often perceived as a progressive place, much more work needs to be done in the community to make the experience of public life sustainable for people of diverse identities, they said.
“We put progressive and having pride flags as the same thing, and that’s not the same thing,” Schenkelberg said.
Fellow councilors expressed sadness and disappointment about Schenkelberg’s resignation on Tuesday.
Councilors Megan Perkins and Anthony Broadman said they would miss the leadership and perspective Schenkelberg provided.
Perkins said she personally was devastated by Schenkelberg’s departure, and applauded Schenkelberg’s ability to break open the city’s bureaucratic process by asking open and transparent questions during meetings.
But Perkins also saw how Schenkelberg was treated differently — and worse — than other councilors. Emails written to the whole body were sometimes addressed to “the council and Rita,” and Schenkelberg’s use of gender-neutral pronouns or sexual identity were the subject cruel or dismissive emails.
“I think that I see this as a failure as a city as a whole and a failure for the City Council,” Perkins said. “I think we need to examine why a queer person of color who rents and has a job cannot sustain the emotional abuse and time constraints of being a councilor.”
Multiple city councilors and the mayor also noted the impact that comes with the perceived increase in rude and vitriolic public discourse being directed at the council.
“I’m very sad there was not an environment on the council or in this city that fostered Rita staying on for the full term, because their voice is so important,” Councilor Melanie Kebler said.
Schenkelberg’s resignation signaled to several council members that it is time to have a serious conversation about structuring a council that can support diverse, younger candidates.
Mayor Pro Tem Gena Goodman-Campbell said she feels the council did everything it could think of to try to support Schenkelberg, but that the council didn’t recognize how challenging it would be for Schenkelberg.
“It really saddens me Rita has had this experience,” she said. “I hope it’s the beginning of changing what leadership looks like for our community.”
With Schenkelberg’s departure, the council will now have 30 days to conduct a public application process to fill the vacancy. If an agreement cannot be reached, the vacancy will be filled via the next election.
(48) comments
The City Council positions should not be about politics or activism. These are non partisan positions. When one applies for this position, it should be understood that when you enter a CC chamber or engage in city business, you need to hang your political party hat at the door as well as your activism hat as this role is about serving our community for the greater good. It is about listening to the public and trying to help our community grow in a functional and connected way. It is not about politics.
I am actually relieved that Rita stepped down although I voted for them. Rita unfortunately missed a grand opportunity to represent the BILAPOC and LGBTQ communities while serving the entire community with grace and diplomacy. Instead Rita went into the position like an activist, usually annoyed with our residents and held an attitude of frustration instead of openness and curiosity creating a divide from the beginning. Rita lacked maturity and diplomacy and failed in not representing everyone as the position calls for. It is extremely disappointing in my eyes for those communities they represent. I believe Chris Piper will listen to our community and is ready and grounded to serve as Mayor. I am an independent but I lean left and Chris Piper with an (R) behind his name has my vote. I know he will leave his party hat and agenda at the door. I have had a few conversations with him as I now vet my votes. He is a stand up guy and understands the role.
I would second the above, except I didn't vote for Rita. People are reacting to councilor Rita's negative and demeaning attitude and statements about the community. Rita is the one who missed an opportunity to do things right. If Rita had practiced what Rita preached, contributed to the council, then I wouldn't complain, but Rita instead kicked a hornets nest and wondered why the many attacks were directed towards Rita.
Respect for those who make the effort to assist our community with the many difficult issues that we face. It takes a lot of will to do under any circumstance, but particularly with so much divisiveness being voiced these days.
Folks who offer solutions and ideas to the complex problems we face, should be celebrated, not demeaned and vilified.
No one should be harassed, but the council should not be surprised that people are frustrated and stressed. I want to yell too about the homeless camp that recently popped up in my neighborhood. They are setting up a commune over there. Dome coddling these people.
It has become commonplace for the right to ridicule those who chose non-traditional pronouns. I too struggle with it, but three things are true. 1) I am able to learn new behaviors. 2) It shows respect. 3) It’s not that hard.
I noticed even Republican operative Jeff Eager wrote in his blog,
“Three well-funded candidates, all of whom identify as women (did I do that right?) will duke it out in front of an electorate“…. One can only conclude the movement to identify gender correctly is, for him, an appropriate subject for a joke.
Whining that “the left” is appropriating language is mean and off point. We all know language is constantly evolving (a decade ago no one would be “googling”), so I lament that the sneering right wing criticism is just mean and intentionally marginalizing.
Spot on comment. Forward looking and progressive. I don't see much from the right side of the fence when it comes to progress, so it appears their mantra is to ridicule and promote fear along with harassment. I realize I'm ridiculing some of the folks here, but I view them as Regresslicans.
Your three points apply equally to the other side, so they are "pointless". If the same thing can be true at the opposite ends of a spectrum, then they are false. I would say it should be easy for those who can't identify themselves to realize others can identify who themselves, it is desirable to be able to identify confidently and that perhaps "they" themselves should learn to adapt to the rest of society's use of pronouns, as it's really easy to do. Pronouns are just words, but they serve a meaningful purpose and when someone tries to neutralize or discombobulate words that have meaning, I will object. What if we all wanted to make up our own ordinal directions, left vs right or subjective versus objective? What purpose is language if we modify it to our personal tastes and then expect everyone else to follow along? This approach seems quite counterproductive for everyone. I am not going to invest my time and energy memorizing everyone's unique pronouns, as they run into the dozens.
Seems that his three points do apply to you Skit.
Their entire qualification that they ran on is being a gay woman of color, then they quit because they can’t handle the work load and community feedback. They were aggressive and condescending towards the citizens of Bend. I am sorry they were bullied by some of the community, but they definitely also bullied the community themselves. Good riddance to a snowflake who can dish it out but can’t take it.
Wow the hate and vitriol idirected at Rita Schenkleberg in these comments by "Transform" is just a minute glimpse into the harasent Rita had to deal on the daily as a leader in our community.
I hope "Transform" gets the mental health counseling they do desperately need ❤️🇺🇲✌️
My interpretation isn't that people hate Rita, it's that they hate how she has hated on the very community she is trying to lead.
Approving a massively unpopular code revision just prior to resigning seems so wrong! I hope that the Council delays the vote on the code revisions until after the two new appointees are sworn in.
Even I were a he/his/her/she/they/we/thee/me/you/thou/sow/ or any other sentient being, the last person I’d see sorry to go would be Rita, followed by Megan, the cookie lady and the 2 soup ladies.
and brenna Visser is an apologist for the entire BCC...she should resign because she is a hack!!!!
Exactly, "sence" when do journalists "loose" "site" (or cite) of the idea that WORDS have meaning? Sheesh!! how can we communicate if we decide to make up our own language? Are we trying to devolve back into chimpanzees?
Even I were a he/his/her/she/they/we/thee/me/you/thou/sow/ or any other sentient being, the last person I’d see sorry to go would be Rita, followed by Megan, the cookie lady and the 2 soup ladies.
Here's an excerpt from Nov 2021 article with the video of this comment:
https://ktvz.com/news/government-politics/2021/11/17/councilors-weigh-pros-and-cons-of-old-bend-neighborhoods-parking-program/
Councilor Rita Schenkelberg became emotional, close to tears, after listening to the speakers.
"I feel embarrassed. Like, I actually feel embarrassed," Schenkelberg said. "Like, listening to people in our community not be able to put their own privilege aside to serve the greater community is embarrassing as a leader."
She said she understands their safety concerns and that the city is working to address them, but that she was "so disappointed" by the "blame and shame of people who need support from the community. I hope for better for Bend."
Rita also acknowledged in that very same statement that she had an "understanding that people may be coming from a place of fear and may want to have more conversations,” saying “I am open to that.”
no love lost for me…. I never mistreated her in any fashion yet she was disrespectful to me by calling me privileged among other things…. Glad she’s going! The rest should follow suit
Sorry Rita feels that way. But I find it interesting that last week, during Sally's resignation announcement , Rita claims to be considering stepping down due to work time constraints and Sally's weak leadership. Also claiming that they never felt supported by Sally. Now a week later, Rita blames her stepping down on the community. Which is it? Progressive activists , who constantly push their agendas, against the will of the majority have no business serving on the city council. Rita , thank you for your service, but honestly you have done the City a favor. Megan Perkins should do the same.
They ALL need to go. I have never seen such utter disrespect from our council members, they could care less about the community they are serving. Only their agenda to turn Bend into Portland is what matters. Why don’t they see that happening?
I thought they were a poor choice for municipal leadership from the beginning. The experience and 'skin' is too thin for the role. There are other ways for their voice to be heard in this city and I hope they will seek them out.
While I have your attention, let me grind another axe: There are too many seats on this council for the amount of talent that want to volunteer for it.
How is it those who choose to arbitrarily nullify language were given the power to do so? Rita doesn't have the right to tell anyone how to speak, which seems quite self centered and arrogant. Who's really being rude here: the person changing language or the person refusing to go along?
If it's a matter of respect, then the respect has to be mutual, not one way, as is implied by telling people what words to use - the disrespect is being initiated by Rita. One can't presume to alter language and demand others follow suit to prove they have respect. Respect is earned, not taken for granted or demanded.
You're being very vague. If you are talking about pronouns it's pretty easy to call people by what they want to be called. It just takes a little practice.
Yes, but when you make an honest mistake, like saying "she or her," you get your butt chewed for being disrespectful.
Really, no.
It is disgraceful the way our city council members and local school board members have been treated by some individuals in this community. Differences of opinion expressed respectfully are expected, but harassment and abuse are totally uncalled for.
Agreed! Thank you for speaking up about the harassment & mistreatment of Councilor Schenkleberg.
Agreed. Those who did harass them are a tiny portion of the Bend population. What bothers me as much as how they were treated is how they cast such a wide net when they denounce the actions of a few. Bend is a wonderful community with a few bad seeds. Unfortunately Schenkelberg is showing themselves to be one the bad seeds as well. Maybe they should look inward as to why they failed our city.
Very sorry to see Rita resign. Her voice was and is still needed.
Completely agree!
[smile]
Their voice is definitely not needed. They represented a tiny portion of the Bend community. They did not have any interest in representing the rest of Bend and openly disregarded the opinions of the majority.
I have never considered Bend a progressive place, but I moved here when the mill was still going strong and those days were outright bigoted.
Wow...that was a long time ago! How little things have changed here in the last 20 years that I have been here.
Rita can point fingers wherever they want but it seems to me an inexperienced 30-year-old quitting because they didn’t know City Council would demand so much time is exactly the reason someone like Rita shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Also, Rita saying they were “embarrassed” by all us locals being rightfully opposed to the current homeless takeover didn’t help their standing any.
[ban]
It’s time for the rest of the Bend city council to listen to the people of Bend and do themselves and especially Bend a favor and RESIGN! We want a moderate council who listens to the people of Bend instead of a bunch of RADICALS who want to push through their OWN AGENDA.
[sleeping]
And what kind of OWN AGENDA would you have in their place?
This is a tough one for me. They and I don't agree on politics but I liked an actual working person on the council. Half of tge others don't work and the other half don't need to work. We are now left with an idle rich city council.
[smile]
While some people may have been rude, others, like me, are very nervous about how to address people who choose to use non-traditional genders. It’s confusing and completely the opposite of what I learned in school. It was disrespectful to refer to someone as “they.” I can’t keep up, so I just say hello and move on.
“Hello! How are you? “ is a good way to start. Times have changed and will continue to. Don’t drop out now!
Lol you can't keep up with a person asking to be called they/them instead of she/her? How do you keep up with anything at all?
So true!
Gosh I have no idea. With a graduate degree, a family, and a thriving business to run, it's just a little hard to figure it all out.
So glad you feel safe enough to ask this question Pottsmandi; you just address them like you would anyone else 😉
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.