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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels September 25, 2004 Race for council airs laundry By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings The race for one Ashland City Council seat turned ugly earlier this month when an Ashland resident sent a letter urging Tom Giordano, a candidate for position 5, to withdraw his name from the ballot. In a private letter, Philip Lang threatened to bring Giordano's 1997 violation of the Fair Practices Act into the election if Giordano did not pull out of the race. "I was really bummed out," Giordano said. "I was really deflated." Giordano brought the issue to the Daily Tidings in the form of a letter to the editor that has not been published, explaining he did not want to appear to be hiding anything from the public. The violation, which has never been confidential, stems from Giordano's stint on the Ashland Planning Commission in the late 1990s, a position then-Mayor Cathy Shaw appointed him to. Giordano did not follow a new rule within the State of Oregon Ethics Standards which requires officials to remove themselves from a committee meeting and leave the room when a conflict of interest occurs. "In the course of sitting on that commission, you betrayed the public trust by being self-serving and involving yourself in conflicts of interest," Lang wrote in his Sept. 6, 2004, letter to Giordano. "I don't think that someone honored by appointment to an important commission who has betrayed the public trust and their responsibility should then be honored by being elected to public office." Giordano maintains, as he did in 1997, that he was not aware of the rule-change. In the instances he was cited for conflict of interest, Giordano had stepped down from the commission to take a seat in the audience. In February of 1997 he was cited for four of five complaints regarding his conflict of interest, fined and eventually stepped down from the commission because he "just got burned out." "I felt like I wasn't supported by the city and I was being attacked," Giordano said. "But no one ever said I was doing the wrong thing (before the citation)." Giordano, who has more than 30 years of public service behind him, was later appointed to positions on the Historic Commission and Building Code Appeals/Demolition Board by current Ashland Mayor Alan DeBoer. "First of all, we should thank anybody who volunteers for the city," DeBoer said, noting Giordano has not been involved in the community for personal gain. "I have the most appreciation for Tom Giordano. He's served the city well." Giordano has decided he will not quit the race for City Council, although Lang has said he will go public with the information he collected about the ethical violations. "There's something very important in this world called character," Lang said in a phone interview. "The point is this man was appointed to a position of trust. He violated that trust." The race for position 5 will be the most-contested of the three open seats on the council. Giordano, Russ Silbiger and Gary Smith are all vying for the position. Giordano has said he will not bring up the ethics standard violations or Lang's threat during election events. "It should not be a campaign issue," Giordano said. "There are enough other things going on with the city." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams