Two Parks Issues on the November Ballot

Ballot Measure 15-210

First, I love our parks and recreation programs, as most, if not all, Ashlanders do. They are a key element in our high quality of life and a significant part of why many of us call Ashland home. They have served me and my family well and have contributed to my sense of place and community for over 25 years. Some of my fondest memories are from times spent in our parks.

Since the inception of our park system in 1908, parks and later recreation services have been managed by an independently elected body - the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission. It has been separate from the City through a variety of structures during that time, but in the early 90s, state level changes put the revenue for the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission under the control of the city council. Today, much of our parks and recreation budget comes from the General Fund of the City of Ashland (mostly from taxes) directly to the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission, which then directs how to spend the funding and supervises staff to do so.

Ballot Measure 15-210 is a question before Ashland voters regarding whether to put all of the city employees who are supervised by the Parks and Recreation Director (who answers to the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission) under the direction of the City of Ashland’s City Manager (who answers to the Ashland City Council). If this change takes effect, the City Manager will take direction from the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission for the city’s parks, but will take direction for all other aspects of the city’s operations from the Ashland City Council. The City Manager will also have the authority to hire and fire the Parks and Recreation Director, an authority currently held by the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission.

Some decisions are so large that they should be made by the voters, and this is one of them. As a city councilor, I will work to implement whichever decision our community makes in the November election.

Ballot Measure 15-211

In 2016, Ashlanders voted to invest the food and beverage tax in parks capital improvement projects, paying off the wastewater, and large street projects.

The City paid off the wastewater treatment plant debt in 2020 and in the 2021-23 budget changed the way we manage street funding to pay for large street projects with the franchise fees that utilities pay for access to the rights of way on our streets.

The question is whether the 73% of the Food and Beverage Tax that can no longer be spent on the wastewater treatment plant and large street projects should be placed in the General Fund for the Ashland Budget Committee to determine where it should be spent.

Like Ballot Measure 15-210, this is a decision that should be made by the voters. I voted to put this to Ashland voters because I want to know how the citizens of Ashland want the City to invest these funds. It is important to me that I hear what the voters want for an issue as important as this. Either way, I will work to help the community realize its goals for this funding.