Document text
Election letters: Support our kids through levy I am writing to ask for your support for the Ashland Youth Activities Levy. As a parent, educator, and taxpayer, I believe our support for schools is vital in the current economic situation. First, I want to emphasize that this is not an increase beyond what we currently pay but an extension to continue the levy at the present rate. Secondly, at a time where students feel the impact of unstable funding through: increases in class size, decreases in the number of days of instruction, decreases in the opportunities for their education - the people of Ashland have shown their support. The Youth Activities Levy mitigates the impact of these cuts. Finally, the Youth Activities Levy is much more than sports. From foreign language classes to drama productions, from academic clubs to WAMS, the programs supported through the levy touch most of the students in Ashland which impacts all of us through the richness and variety of their educational experience. Please join me in continuing to support our children through the Ashland Youth Activities Levy. Vote yes. Sheryl Lipski, Ashland Editor's note: Sheryl Lipski is a candidate for the Ashland School Board. When Y=E-S Solve the following word problem, assuming E=S+Y: If the Ashland School District receives woefully inadequate funds from the state (S), but may use Youth Activity Levy funds (Y) from the community to support education (E) that helps students develop to their full potential, what happens if Y=0? Answer: Education suffers and students and the community are left out of the equation. Let's keep this equation balanced. We can even rewrite it as Y=E-S. Please vote yes for the Youth Activities Levy. Connie Lynn, Ashland Guest Forum: Get pragmatic with city budget By Jack Hardesty Ashland Citizens for Responsible Government is a recently-formed organization of Ashland residents, all responsible citizens who have lived here for some time and have been active in our community. It's basic premise is that the Ashland city government, however well intended, undertakes projects that are needlessly expensive, not thoroughly examined in terms of long-range consequences, and sometimes unnecessarily burdensome to the taxpayers. The group believes the time has come to take a hard look at how Ashland is run and shift the emphasis from feel-good-ism to pragmatism. Last week The Tidings reported that personnel costs were skyrocketing and the city is dipping into its general fund reserve. To help deal with these problems, CRG has recommended to the Budget Committee four suggestions on ways to reduce the Fiscal Year 2003-04 budget by over $300,000. The first is to eliminate the City Source, saving around $50,000 a year. It is redundant as the city already sends out a newsletter with the utility bills. Moreover, no house organ can give the information citizens really need to know to make informed decisions. For example, the City Source is not going to tell people that the Ashland Fiber Network is still losing money, that it may never break even, and the city may have to swallow the debts over $14 million. There's plenty of information the voters should have, but they're not going to get it from the City Source, which by its very nature promotes the interests of the city government, dealing only with the good news. A related recommendation is not to fund the position of communications manager to a savings of around $80,000 (including benefits) each year. Ashland does not need a highly-paid, full-time communications manager. The city is giving the Chamber and OSF over a third of a million dollars annually for marketing. Also, any citizen can call city officials and get their questions answered. If you can call the information source directly and you've got someone else doing the public relations, why the need for a spokesperson? Our third recommendation is not to fund the position for an affordable housing specialist, saving another $80,000. Putting aside the question of whether a majority of people believe the city has a responsibility to provide affordable housing or should do so, the job can be done at a much less long-term expense by hiring a consultant to identify programs which have been successful and ways to support the program through block grants and tax credits. The grant writing can be done by contract. Relatedly, the city should conduct a proper survey to determine how the residents, especially those who pay property taxes, feel about the issue of affordable housing before creating another permanent position. CRG's last recommendation is not to fund the newly established position of assistant city attorney (estimated over $100,000 including benefits). Where is the need? Contract legal expenses, originally projected to be $24,000 in fiscal 2003-04, are nowhere near those involved in hiring another attorney. Until legal contract expenses increase fourfold, there is no demonstrated need to change the current setup. Three hundred thousand dollars is not a big amount compared with the AFN's debt, but the savings would continue the save the city money over the coming years. In a time when most other communities are tightening their belts, Ashland proposes adding highly paid positions to the staff, continuing to fund a redundant job, and publishing a newsless newsletter. CRG feels that it is time for the city government to show more fiscal responsibility. Co-signers: Dave Dotterrer, Joyce Jarvis, Chuck Catlett, Don Montgomery, Larry Kellogg, Rudy Miner, Beverly Kenefick, Jack Blackburn, John Ouellet and Pete Norvell. Is there hope for Ashland schools? By Bob Kuenzel Ashland No one who pays attention to what is going on around them needs me to tell them these are hard times for Ashland's schools. We face the consequences of a triple whammy: a struggling economy, our legislature's unwillingness to stand behind quality education, and declining enrollment in a district where rising housing prices have made it impossible for many young families to live. In just two years, we've had to cut over 15 percent from an already tight school budget. The results? Larger classes, fewer programs, less offerings, even the closure of a beloved elementary school. We're sending kids home with eight less days of schooling than state standards require this year. And the hard choices posed by such problems are not over - not nearly. These are difficult times for our schools - but there are definitely grounds for hope as well. For one thing, we have a lot going for us: Our schools are still strong, despite major financial blows, and our students still perform well. We still have exceptional and committed teachers, administrators and staff, and families - and plenty of others in our town - who care deeply about our kids. And our community is known for its resourcefulness in pursuing the things we care about. The city's Youth Activities Levy is an excellent case in point. Denied the right our town used to have - and regularly exercised - to provide and pay for the excellence we wanted in our schools, Ashland citizens found a lawful way to put back some of what diminished funding would otherwise have taken away. The levy is a wonderful example of Ashland's creativity in supporting education. It has literally made the difference for our kids between hard times, and the miserable times they'd have to endure without it. The time has come for the levy to be renewed, and I urge all my fellow citizens to send in their ballots -- it's a double-majority election; if you don't vote, you just voted no - and vote "yes." With no increase in tax rates, the Youth Activities Levy will continue to fund sports, arts, music, debate, foreign language, gym, clubs, and more throughout the district. It's invaluable. Say "yes." Even with the levy, of course, our problems won't be over - just better. The fact that these are hard times, though, is precisely why we must do the best we can to help our kids and their schools. The difficult decisions our school district faces in the next few years will often be dominated by business and financial concerns, and many of these will be largely outside our control. How we respond, on the other hand, is up to us. Managing the serious issues ahead won't be easy, but I have no doubt that with the kind of involved and creative citizenry that invented and will soon renew the Youth Activities Levy, and that has last year, and again this year, given so generously to our schools through the Ashland Schools Foundation, we can lessen whatever pain cannot be avoided, and preserve what is best in our schools, for everyone's benefit. Get your ballot in. Vote for the Youth Activities Levy. Work on those darned legislators in Salem. And stay tuned. This ain't over yet - not by a long shot. Editor's note: Bob Kuenzel is a candidate for the Ashland School Board. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -