Council Accomplishments

On a city council, nothing can be accomplished alone. Moving progressive values forward requires hard work and the help of others on the staff and council. I have championed many efforts over the past six years to reduce our wildfire risk, strengthen city government, move our climate work forward, engage residents in local decisions, and communicate our needs to elected officials in state and federal government. I also served as the Council Chair in 2022 and 2023. The following is a partial list of how I have worked on behalf of Ashlanders since taking office in 2019.

Wildfire

  • Posted regular updates on social media in the days following the Almeda Fire to update residents on what was happening at the City and where people could go for help.

  • Advocated for better communication from the City during emergencies and the implementation of the I-5 emergency ramp at Mountain Avenue.

  • Served on the Ashland Chamber’s Emergency Preparedness Committee to help them develop their Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Toolkit for local businesses.

  • Served as the Council Liaison to the Wildfire Safety Commission where I worked with commission members and the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors to develop the wildfire risk reduction program for home buyers.

  • Supported additional funding in the budget process to support the Fire Marshall position and additional resources.

  • Supported the single role ambulance model that has been very successful at addressing increased call volume and helped us keep our firefighters closer to home.

Housing and Homelessness

  • Catalyzed the development of the Greater Ashland Community Land Trust, which will offer the low-income housing development services so badly needed by our community.

  • Led the effort to request that our Housing and Human Services Advisory Committee develop a Homeless Services Master Plan to provide priorities for Council to focus on in allocating state and federal funding, and developing local programs with community partners.

  • Supported the purchase of the property at 2200 Ashland Street with state grant funding and developed (and serve on) the Ad Hoc Committee that is developing a master plan for the site.

  • Met consistently with local advocates to develop strategies that have made the dusk-to-dawn sleeping lawn at the civic center more effective.

Economic Development

  • Supported the Economic Opportunities Analysis so that the city council has a better understanding of how our economic land is being developed for commercial and industrial purposes.

  • Supported the Affordable Child Affordability Grant Program to increase affordability and access to quality early learning and childcare programs for the benefit of working families.

  • Supported the Business Beautification Grant program as well as new garbage bins to address lack of capacity.

Climate Change

  • Served as the first Chair of the Climate Policy Commission to help it get underway with its work to help the City implement the Climate and Energy Action Plan. After the commission was up and running, I moved into the Council Liaison role.

  • Brought forward a proposal that the Council accepted (4-2 vote) to join the Race to Zero pledge, which aligns with our Climate and Energy Action Plan goals and will bring more resources to our staff to help us implement our plan.

  • Worked with the Climate Policy Commission and the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors to develop the Home Energy Score program to help home buyers assess the energy efficiency of homes in the real estate market.

  • Worked with Representative Pam Marsh to secure funding for Briscoe School to transition from fossil gas to electricity as part of a larger package of building repairs. Currently, Briscoe School is the largest user of fossil gas of all City facilities.

  • Served as Council Liaison to the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission.

  • Advocated for Ashland to incorporate the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Envision framework in designing our new water treatment plant in order to make it as climate friendly as possible.

  • Served on the League of Oregon Cities’ Energy and Environment Committee to prepare legislative agenda items ahead of the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions.

  • Served on the Oregon Department of Transportation Climate Change, Environment, and Resiliency Work Group to assist in integrating climate action into the Oregon Transportation Plan update.

  • Served on the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development Climate Change Vulnerability Advisory Group to assist them in developing a statewide Climate Vulnerability Assessment, which will help Ashland and other municipalities plan and implement actions to reduce climate change-related risks.

  • Successfully advocated for additional funding in the Electric Department to help Ashlanders transition from fossil gas to electricity.

  • Supported the City using the USDA loan program to create a fund that will offer low interest loans to local homeowners and business owners to help them take climate action on their properties.

  • Supported the Climate and Environmental Policy Advisory Committee’s recommendation to develop municipal policies to support the transition off of fossil gas.

Community Engagement

  • Worked with the City Administrator to develop the Council Goals Listening Session and vision statement ahead of the 2019 budget process.

  • Published my bi-weekly Ashland E-news to inform residents about what is happening at the city, what is coming up at future council meetings, and how they can be involved. I have published the E-news over 80 times since early 2021.

  • Advocated for a dedicated communications staff person to inform and engage the community and to communicate effectively during times of emergency. That position was created this year.

  • Supported our existing Sister City relationship with Guanajuato, Mexio as well as our new Sister City relationship with Sviatohirsk, Ukraine.

  • Hosted the annual If I Were Mayor contest to interest young people in local government and civics.

  • Developed a short video from Ashland supporting our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to be played with videos from other Oregon communities in Olympic Village.

  • Spoke at our annual Fourth of July celebration, Flag Day, the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Vigil, dedication of the newly installed historic medallions, and other local events.

Social Equity & Racial Justice

  • Met with local BIPOC leaders to understand their needs prior to drafting the City’s Social Equity and Racial Justice Resolution in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. That resolution identifies concrete actions the City will take to move social equity and racial justice forward and we have made good progress on many of them since the Council passed the resolution.

  • Served on the Advisory Committee for Options for Helping Residents of Ashland. With their effort to transform the old Super 8 Motel into a permanent shelter and services center, Ashland has taken a huge step in the effort to assist our unhoused (and almost unhoused) neighbors.

Advocacy at State and Federal Levels

  • Served on the National Advisory Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to share local government perspectives in the effort to help Administrator Criswell and her team implement the climate resilience elements of FEMA’s new strategic plan.

  • Advocated for federal stimulus funding for local governments and for social equity and racial justice legislation at the state and federal level.

  • Served on the League of Oregon Cities’ General Governance Committee where I advocated for the state to take decisive action to address our behavioral health crisis.

Pandemic

  • Collaborated with staff and council members to navigate the City through the pandemic. Our goals were to maintain essential services (fire, police, water, sewage, electricity, parks, AFN), reduce expenses to accommodate less revenue from lodging taxes, and protect the health and safety of our employees. We accomplished all of those tasks.

  • Developed the Adopt-A-Neighbor with a group of local volunteers and Ashland Parks and Recreation to pair particularly vulnerable residents with less vulnerable neighbors to help with grocery and supply shopping during early days of the pandemic. This program served over 80 of Ashland’s most vulnerable residents until the vaccine became available.

5G

  • Advocated for the City to update its wireless ordinance in order to ensure that we have as much local control as possible to determine how new technologies are integrated into our existing infrastructure.