If you wanted to, you can watch Deschutes County Commission and Bend City Council meetings from home. That was true even before the pandemic.
Spoiler alert! They tend to be low wattage. Exceptions do happen. Debates can get feisty. Public testimony can be passionate and compelling. A Bend City Council meeting did burst into song. And taxes, zoning, parking, homelessness, policing and other things that can have a major impact