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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 4, 2005 Wages fail to keep up with costs Low paying jobs aren’t keeping up with high cost of living in Ashland By Alan Panebaker Ashland Daily Tidings As the cost of living in Ashland is rising at a rate exponentially higher than that of the minimum wage, people like Chloe Friedl are struggling to make ends meet. Working at the Senor Sam’s Mexican Grill for $7.50 an hour, Friedl said she seems to spend all of her time working instead of living the life of an average 18-year-old. Chloe Friedl explains lunch choices to a customer at Senor Sam’s in Ashland on Thursday. Friedl is one of many local service workers who are struggling to make ends meet. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings “I’ve seen some really good people go down for things that are out of their control,” Friedl said. “When you fall behind in this town, you’re way behind.” Friedl began to slip behind when she dropped out of high school and got her G.E.D. at the age of 16. She moved out of her parents’ house to live on her own, usually working two jobs to pay rent and keep herself fed. Leaving the nest was a matter of freedom and a power struggle with her parents, she admits. Now she lives in a townhouse in Ashland with her boyfriend and another roommate. They pay $1,075 a month for rent. “Most people my age work for extra money, so they can do stuff,” Friedl said. “I work to survive.” This 18-year-old has lived in Ashland since the age of three months when she was adopted from her birthplace of Korea. After a few years at the Spring Ridge Academy in Arizona, Friedl came back halfway through high school and decided she was ready to break out on her own. Now, after two years of supporting herself, she admits she is slightly bitter about her current situation in Ashland. “Watching this town grow, I hate what it’s becoming,” Friedl said. “When I think of Ashland, I think of the free-spirited community that came together, but now it’s becoming financially impossible for people without degrees or rich parents to live here.” Friedl is not the only one in Ashland working in the food industry who think things are going downhill. Jennifer Cook has worked at Taco Bell in Ashland since 1991. After 15 years, she is now a manager, but recently moved to more affordable housing in Medford. “I have five children,” Cook said. “I can’t afford the space for five kids.” Starting in 1991 making $3.45 and hour, Cook said it has never been affordable for people to live in Ashland at starting-wage jobs. However, the cost of living has far surpassed that of starting-wage income. The good news isn’t really much. Oregon’s minimum wage will increase by 25 cents in January. But despite being among the highest in the nation, it doesn’t approach the level needed to meet living wage scales for Ashland. According to Brandon Goldman, housing programs specialist for the City of Ashland, living wages and minimum wages do not correspond. The minimum calibrated living wage for city employees and contractors is calculated at $11.74 an hour. The National Low Income Housing Commission put the living wage for Medford and Ashland at $12.63 an hour. This disparity puts a drain on the entire community, Goldman said. “With any of these living wages, it’s clear that jobs below put more burden on taxpayers,” he said. “If you’re not receiving a living wage, people are going to make decisions of where they’re going to cut costs somewhere. They’re most likely going to cut out nutrition and healthcare which eventually puts more of a burden on taxpayers.” According to Cook, the lack of a live-able minimum wage, causes even deeper problems for local businesses. Finding good help at low wages in Ashland has always been hard, Cook said but “over the years, it’s gotten worse.” “It’s gotten harder to find good help, absolutely,” she said. “It’s hard to find over-18 people. And because high school kids don’t have to work, they don’t have the same work ethic.” One of Cook’s employees who does have a solid work ethic is Jade Powell. Powell works 40 hours a week at Taco Bell. She leaves her fast food job at 4:30 p.m. and takes the bus to her home in Medford, arriving at 6 p.m. Then she studies at Rogue Community College in the learning center, making it back home at about 8:30 p.m. While Powell admits she struggles, she moved from Hannibal, Mo., for a reason. She has family here and she loves the area. “It’s worth it,” Powell said. “I’d rather live in Ashland, but things don’t always work out the way you want.” DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams