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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels October 7, 2004 Laws eschews voter's guide By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings A familiar face to the Ashland political scene is missing from the Jackson County Voter's Pamphlet. Longtime Ashland City Council member Don Laws, who is running for city council position No. 1 against challenger Jack Hardesty, decided not to pay the $100 fee to be in the pamphlet. It goes out to approximately 12,000 Ashland homes. Laws, who has been on the city council from 1975 to 1988, and 1990 to present said he made a decision not to spend more than $2,000. With the brochures he is sending out by mail and ads he has put in the Daily Tidings, his budget would go over $2,000 if he was in the pamphlet, he said. As far as he could recall, he has not been in the voter's pamphlet before. Laws said he believes people's familiarity with him, and his other methods of getting his name out should be enough for his campaign. "You have a limited amount of money and this year I made a decision to limit myself to $2,000, and to skip it (the voter pamphlet)," he said. "Whether that's a good decision or not, I don't know. We'll find out." He said being on the council for so long gives him "name familiarity." Laws believes the brochures and ads in the Tidings will reach more people than the pamphlets will. He also has no intention of putting up any lawn signs, calling them a "big expense." "How can a person vote intelligently by how many signs there are with a person's name on it?" Laws said. To connect with voters, Laws said he goes door-to-door, sets up coffee meetings, and puts his phone number and his e-mail in his ads and on his brochures. In the Ashland council and mayors race, besides Laws, only mayoral candidate Joajuin Saloma is not in the pamphlet. Kathy Beckett, Jackson County clerk said the county first released the voters pamphlets in March 1990 during county school elections. The thought was that many community members were unfamiliar with the candidates and the pamphlets would be a good way for voters to make an informed decision. Beckett said it proved to be so popular they continued releasing them during every election. She said the fee for the candidates varies, depending on the size of the city. Beckett said the elections office absorbs much of the cost to put out the pamphlets. She said the fees help offset the cost of producing and sending out the pamphlets to county voters. "We consider it to be a public service... and such a valuable tool for voters," she said. The deadline in Oregon to register to vote is Oct. 12. Hardesty, who was surprised to learn his opponent was not in the voter's pamphlet, said he believes the $100 to be well worth the cost. "I don't think 100 bucks is a lot considering every voter gets it," he said. "It's a worthy tool and it's just pennies per copy." 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