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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels October 22, 2004 In Their Own Words Hartzell, Morris face off Editor's note: "In Their Own Words" is a series on the candidates for local races in the November election. A set of five questions by the Tidings editorial board was e-mailed to each candidate, and the results will be printed through Oct. 29. The Tidings' candidate endorsements will run on the opinion page on the day after each race appears in this space. How do you feel about projects downtown, such as the Bemis proposal, the Haines project and tentative plans for the Harrison Parts Co. building? Cate Hartzell: It's essential that Ashland and its downtown not lose its unique character and sense of small town feeling. The pressure to use space wisely to create "compact urban form" can cause people to feel that the scale is changing too quickly. Through education and dialogue, we can ensure mutual private and public benefit. I support preserving our history, emphasizing commercial use downtown, fostering businesses that support living wage jobs and attract day and night use, creating spaces with features that invite people of all ages to gather, and designing infrastructure that makes it easy to get around with fewer cars. Michael Morris: The redevelopment of the downtown has always been a work in progress. The buildings and streetscape are constantly changing. What we owe the citizens of Ashland is a plan of what they can expect to see and what they want to see as their downtown redevelops. This is done through ordinances, the downtown plan, design standards and uniformly applied criteria, all evolving from citizen input. The appeals of the Shasta Building and the Lithia Springs Parking Lot redevelopment both point to a changing view of what Ashland should look like, highlighting the need to review the downtown ordinances. People often speak about defending the "quality of life in Ashland." What is it specifically, and how will you defend it? Hartzell: The notion of Ashland's uniqueness, while not easily defined, is what brought most of us to this community. While vitally precious, our geographic setting, quaint buildings and infrastructure will change over time, and could be replicated elsewhere. What keeps us here and draws others in is our history, the mix of people and income levels, the feeling of safety. It's how we pass levies for students, show up at football games, parades and city council meetings. I work to keep our processes open to the different interests and values our residents hold. If government's accessible, people will maintain their community. Morris: The quality of life in Ashland is a result of people respecting each others views. It has always been the people that have given Ashland its charm. The diversity and involvement of all residents is what needs to be maintained to protect this quality of life. We must reach out to all of Ashland's citizens so everyone has a stake in their town and their views are listened to and understood. This can only be done by building consensus. To attempt this by alliances will only make the city divided and the people feel disenfranchised and left out. How can the city's stated goal of affordable housing be achieved, and briefly, what is affordable housing in your mind? Hartzell: Affordable housing is the ability of a family/individual to meet housing costs without using more than 30 percent of their income. We must use an integrated approach using public and private partnership strategies, as outlined in our Housing Action Plan to provide housing across the income spectrum. We must make housing-related decisions about employment, transportation, city rates, etc. with a commitment to create and maintain balanced housing into the future. An important next step is for citizens to step forward and share in the responsibility of building a community that is accessible to people who fairly represent our country's diversity. Morris: For the city to achieve our affordable housing goals, we must draw together all of the sources of funding, land, and potential existing homes and commit the resources required to meet these goals. The city must utilize the creativity and experience of the people who build homes, the public and private funding and management sources, and utilize available credits and incentives to get homes built. Affordable housing in Ashland is housing that individuals and families that work in Ashland can afford to rent or own, that is distributed about the city and that people would want to live in. What should the city do about the Ashland Fiber Network? Hartzell: The city should build on the excellent technology foundation it's laid. It should expand service to those outside the city limits, and consider service to other Rogue Valley communities. In this way, it can provide even greater value to the community while also expanding its revenue base. It should also explore new technologies, for instance phone, HDTV, citywide wireless Internet, real-time video services and video-on-demand. Just as with its electric and water utilities, the AFN is growing to be an integral part of the functioning of the City of Ashland. Morris: The Ashland Fiber Network is a truly unique resource that the citizens of Ashland own. But like any technology, its present strengths must be utilized for the highest return and best use for the citizens of Ashland. AFN's capabilities need to be aggressively marketed, especially toward what it can do for current and future Ashland businesses. It also needs to be agile and responsive to its customers' needs. The city needs to look at the structure of AFN as it relates to being competitive within the industry and possibly make it a separate entity of the city. What is the most important aspect of this campaign that you would like to highlight? Hartzell: I believe that one of Ashland's strongest assets is our ability to respond to change and innovate in the face it. We are regarded as a leader in the state regarding our municipal creativity. However, national and state economic, social and political trends influence our ability to work together effectively as community members. Yet, if we can tolerate our differences, they contribute to our ability to remain creative. This election could result in changes at the state level that will require proven leadership, skills and commitment. I have those qualities and am proud of my record of tangible contributions to this community over the last 21 years. Morris: Looking at the platforms of the candidates, one might think that this is the most unified city in the country. All the candidates are supporting most of the same programs. So what remain are the personalities involved and how the candidates would operate as councilors. I see my role as a city councilor is to provide the direction for the city using the input from the citizens along with a tempering from the core values and beliefs of the candidate. I feel I cannot possibly be the expert in all the issues facing the city so I will reach out to the people who have this expertise, listen intently and collaboratively help define a direction for the future of Ashland. Once this is done, my role would be more as a servant to enact these visions and to enable those responsible to work out the details to accomplish these goals. 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