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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 10, 2004 A question for candidates; what about diversity? By John Gaffey Ashland Ashland's unofficial motto: "We honor diversity, we just don't have any," appears to be under concerted attack by the current crop of hopefuls running for city offices. Lack of diversity in town appears to be a plank in everyone's platform. Of course, everyone favors more teachers, police and fire personnel, and students in the community. They're the pandas of the human world: everyone wants more of them. But after the candidates have cherry-picked these gimmes, we'll still have to wrestle with harder choices. Let's see if we can get a broad overview of the problem that may help formulate some questions to pose at upcoming candidate forums At the top, racial diversity has always been lamentable throughout Oregon, and Ashland isn't unique in its shortcomings there. Still, the council can't just pretend that it isn't happening here. Ask what your candidate plans to do about it. Hint: Don't accept "more Latinos working in local restaurants" as an answer. That's just a feel-good sop for the rubes. Ashland's religious base has always been broad. The '80s followers of Mafu, Bagwan Shree Rajneesh, and Reich have been replaced by wiccans, New-Agers and Rastas. (If one doesn't plan carefully, it's possible to experience a little gridlock on the labyrinth.) The traditional, old-guard Christians, evangelicals, Jews and Buddhists seem to be thriving here. On the downside, right-to-lifers are in such short supply. I doubt that there are enough to block even the information kiosk on the Plaza. And, one doesn't exactly trip over Muslims or Hindus around here - surprisingly, given their dominance in the rest of the world. Politically, we're seeing a natural balancing mechanism taking place in the center of our local bell curve. The preponderance of Ashland's traditional Democrats is being offset by solid Republicans as Ashland baby-boomers move their Greatest Generation parents here to live out their golden years. Red-blooded, bourgeois individualists who, in their peak earning years, wouldn't be caught dead living in a socialist hell such as Ashland, are being moved here to ponder what they did to deserve this - and voting Republican to the end. (Question: Does AFN carry Fox News? If not, it seems a burgeoning market opportunity.) So, the center holds, but the edges need work. The anarchists in town are pathetic: a bunch of fair-weather panhandlers or our local, self-conscious nudists. One suspects that there are a fair number of third party supporters still about, but does anyone really want to have any more, given the hash they made of things four years ago? (The local socialists, however, are such well-spoken, harmless anachronisms that it couldn't hurt to have a few more of them.) People living from resource extraction or livestock-raising on public lands aren't really our type, but one or two families for diversity's sake may not be non-sustainable. And while we all love a big SUV, I sense that some of us get a little sniffy about Humvee-owners in our midst ( let's don't get started on the mansion-builders on the hills). Remember: They all deserve acceptance too, I guess. Okay, that's race, politics and religion; that only leaves sex. Do we have enough? Is it varied enough? Do we really want to know what our candidates plan to do about it? Doubtless, I've missed some things: we all have our personal issues to go on about. But armed with a list much like this, I'm sure that we can help our local candidates sharpen their thinking about campaign pledges to address diversity in our community. 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