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Mayor reviews 'State of the City' A full house listens to Mayor John Stromberg's State of the City address Tuesday at the Ashland Community Center. Photos by Graham Lewis / Graham Lewis Fine Photography Thursday Feb 2, 2017 at 2:00 AM By Julie Akins For the Tidings As third-term Ashland Mayor John Stromberg prepared to take the stage and podium for his “State of the City” address Tuesday night, the room at Ashland’s Community Center on Winburn Way was decidedly festive and feisty. Flowers adorned the stage, coffee and snacks filled tables in a nearby alcove and Councilor Greg Lemhouse set the tone for the talk to come. “It’s important to be here and celebrate our victories. There will be challenging times ahead. I know Ashland can rise to the occasion.” Mayor Stromberg started right out acknowledging the elephant in the political room. “Given what’s happened in Washington, how does one create a State of the City? What do we do about Trump?” He spoke of the president in terms of his reality show background and apparent disregard for civil rights before setting up his talk. He told constituents it’s within his and the council’s plan to continue to run the city by principles of governance which value peaceful and non-violent resistance. Then Stromberg got down to business and laid out the work which he sees getting done in the year ahead. “We’re going to finally get our street maintenance and comprehensive street plan done.” He thanked voters for passing the measure in November which allows the city to use overflow food and beverage tax dollars to repair and maintain Ashland’s city streets. He then told his audience the city plans to start work on the new water treatment plant, hire more police officers, finish the climate and Energy Action Plan and begin implementing the 10 x 20 plan which is local, sustainable energy comprising 10 percent of Ashland’s energy by 2020 and getting the railroad property cleaned. The property is the old Union Pacific 20-acre parcel north of A street from Pioneer to 8th Street which was at one time a rail yard. Mayor Stromberg received the most applause for his statements on addressing affordable housing. “We’ve got to tackle housing. I’ve appointed (Councilor) Dennis Slattery to take this on. How do we take care of the homeless, young families and our friends being forced from homes by rent increases? We have to re-think affordable housing.” The mayor also spoke to a long to-do list of preparedness, such as deciding how to handle City Hall, which would not withstand an earthquake event, how to make certain essential city offices and personnel are available when there is an earthquake and continuing the progress of the Ashland Forest Resiliency project to keep wildfires at bay while caring for the forest. In his State of the City he promised a continued and stronger push toward inclusion and diversity. “Its got to be more than an occasional conversation when something happens. We need to make it a core culture.” Mayor Stromberg also spoke to continuing art projects in the city and suggested an ad hoc committee on aging which would would go beyond extended care. “I think it’ll be rejuvenating and exciting. There are contributions and collective wisdom.” Then he ended his talk much as he began by suggesting ways the city of Ashland might view the election of President Donald Trump. “In a strange way it may be an advantage for us. His election pushes us into action.” Stromberg discussed the growing value of community and the understanding that government is important to its people, that as a result of the election people now have the opportunity to examine their own implicit biases and grow beyond them. He suggested Ashland can use this situation of Trump’s election to extend its reach of love for community. After his talk, which ran roughly 20 minutes, the mayor received a standing ovation from the audience which spilled beyond the doorway and onto the front patio. Councilor Slattery ended the evening with a call to citizens. “Democracy works best with engaged citizens and we are engaged. If we look to the east there is a belligerent tone from Washington. I am shocked by the demeaning tone. Let’s make sure we don’t go about using the same tactics.” — Email Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/@julieakins.