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14 apply to fill vancant city council seat Sunday Jan 29, 2017 at 5:27 PM By Julie Akins For the Tidings The volunteer job of sitting on the Ashland City Council is heating up significantly. It went from one applicant in recent weeks to a total of 14 by the filing deadline at 3 p.m. Friday. The vacancy for seat six came from Councilor Pam Marsh leaving after being elected to be a state representative. The process determined by the sitting council in filling the spot would be to take applications, arrange interviews, vote in executive session to narrow down further and have ballots cast at a regular business meeting to finalize. The Tidings brought you the statements of Shaun Moran, Susan Bradley Krant, Gina DuQuenne and Theo White after reviewing their applications. Among the primary concerns listed by all candidates was energy policy and affordable housing. That remains true of the newest group also interested in the vacancy. Five candidates are profiled in this article, and five more will be featured in a future article. David Young, Emily Trivette, Jan Janssen, Louise Shaukat and Tonya Graham gave their answers to what the city needs to take on next and why they want to be on the council as well as a brief discussion of what experience they have in community service when they filled out their applications. Their full responses can be found at http://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=17237. David Young sat on numerous commissions over the years and is currently on the Transportation commission. He identifies as a small business owner and has raised two of his three children in the Ashland School District. “Housing to me is probably the biggest issue for Ashland as the real increasing economic polarization that is a global phenomenon has direct and visually troubling ramifications for Ashland.” Young said on his application. “In my opinion, access to the basic amenities of shelter, food, healthcare and education is the essential first step toward this end.” Emily Trivette is a mother, wife, part owner of a local landscaping business, horse trainer and spin class instructor. Trivette said her key issue is preserving open space and enforcing zoning and building codes to ensure the look and feel of Ashland remains the same. She did not offer specific statements about affordable housing but instead speaks to what she refers to as “the vagrancy problem.” “The vagrants seem to be younger, on drugs or drinking and they gather in our most beautiful and public parts of town.” Trivette continued in suggesting a firm handed approach to those on the homeless spectrum. “I want to find a way for us all to cohabit in a more positive way without being taken advantage of by the vagrants.” Jan Janssen said on his application that he’s a fortunate retiree with the opportunity to help. Janssen wrote that a lack of affordable housing and jobs are the key issues in “growing community” and attracting and keeping young people in Ashland. “My young friends have been leaving Ashland for years. In a more vibrant Ashland, younger people would stay having found a diverse workplace, sustainable incomes and housing that was available and affordable.” He does not give specifics of how he would address his concerns on his application but suggests that as a councilor he would be appointed to serve and in that service he would be looking for ways to address better paying jobs and more housing stock. Louise Shawkat is a registered nurse and wrote about the health of Ashland in terms of its ability to attract diversity. “Lack of affordable housing affects the demographic characteristics of any city, and Ashland is no exception.” Shawkat describes her experience of living in a tourist community and the limits from a lack of diversified employment. “I am very familiar with the economic drawbacks to citizens in a community where job opportunities revolve around tourism primarily focused on theatre, restaurants, lodging and shopping.” She said the lack of higher paying jobs combined with high costs of housing is a crisis. “A diversified community creates richness and energy in our city and the current housing crisis in Ashland is robbing us of the benefits of a diversified community.” Applicant Tonya Graham is the Executive Director of the Geos Institute, a globally recognized entity specializing in environmental monitoring and protection. While she lists affordable housing in her priorities, she has several other elements such as city government vacancies, biennial budget, seismic update, city hall renovations and climate change. Her statement on affordable housing takes in many of the elements she lists as a priority. “My vision for Ashland is that it is a vibrant community that welcomes and accommodates people with a range of incomes and that people who work here can afford to live here. I do not claim to know how to fix these issues, but I am committed to helping find a way to ensure that we have adequate affordable rental stock and that we figure out how to make home ownership more accessible for people with low income in Ashland. “The city needs to continue to address this issue by working directly with this population as well as others in county and state government and in the nonprofit sector to ensure that the City takes on aspects of solutions that are appropriate to its role and function.” There remains five more candidates for The Tidings to profile. Among them eight year council veteran Carol Voisin. Those applications will be in a future issue.