BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler spoke at the second annual CityFest Thursday night and delivered a State of the City address highlighting the city’s successes and what the community can look forward to in the future.

Before the conversation, Kebler said, “It’s about going out into the community and connecting with people so they can connect with our employees and our leaders. We’re all trying to create the best place.”

Employees from city departments such as the Street and Works Administration and the Water and Waste Management Department introduced citizens and answered their questions about how they keep the city running.

The Bend Police and Fire Departments were also on site, which is very popular with many community members.

Local resident Jess Elcan said, “If you even just stroll up to one of the booths, they say, ‘Let me tell you and show you what we do.’ They just started telling us about this fire truck and all the different components and roles and the different people on the team.”

Councilman Anthony Broadman also attended his final CityFest as a council member, as he is running for State Senate in the fall. He says Bend has excelled in the community this year.

“We’re in a very strong position. It’s an exceptionally safe community. Calls to police are at their lowest level in five years,” Broadman said. “We have a world-class response time for fire and EMS. It’s less than six minutes. We’ve built more homes per capita for working families than any other city in the rest of the state.”