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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 14, 2005 Proposed rule change: everybody into the pool Ashland Charter Review Committee sees value in retiring council positions By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings The Ashland Charter Review Committee narrowly approved making a recommendation that Ashland City Council candidates all run against each other in a large pool. Three council seats at a time come up for election. Currently, council candidates choose which of the positions they will compete for and vie against any other candidates also running for that position. Under the change endorsed by the charter review committee in a 5-4 vote earlier this week, every council candidate would compete against every other candidate, with the top three vote-getters winning office. “My view is the voters get a better chance to select candidates they really want under the top three vote-getters system,” said committee member Don Montgomery, who voted for the change. He said with the current system, voters sometimes must choose between two candidates they don’t like who are running for one position, while two candidates they do like may be running against each other for another position. Residents also have reported that the positions system encourages last-minute entries into races by weaker candidates who want to see who else has entered so they can avoid competing for a position contested by a strong candidate. But some people argue the position system strengthens debate and helps voters understand candidates’ views because the few people jockeying for each position will challenge each other. Carole Wheeldon, a committee member and former city councilor, said she voted against the top-three system in part because it might make it easier to sweep all experienced councilors from office at the same time. “We might find that we can get the whole council voted out because of a wave sweeping the city. It was, for me, a cautionary vote,” she said. The charter committee also said the city charter should not preclude the use of instant run-off voting, which is supported by a group of local residents. Under IRV, voters would rank candidates. If no candidate received more than 50 percent of votes, the least popular candidates would be eliminated and the ranked votes would be redistributed among the remaining candidates until a majority winner emerged. The charter committee plans to go before the city council this summer with recommendations for possible changes to the city charter. Any changes would have to be approved by voters. Charter changes could be on a March 2006 ballot, Wheeldon said. The committee also voted to recommend that the mayor be able to vote during city council meetings, but not have a veto. The mayor currently votes only to break a tie but can veto council decisions. Some residents who have come to charter meetings have said they want the mayor to vote so that he or she must go on the record on all issues. But others said the mayor is better able to serve as the facilitator of council meetings with no vote. The charter committee voted to recommend keeping the current system where the mayor makes appointments to city committees, commissions and boards with council confirmation. Some members had suggested council members should be able to offer candidates for confirmation, but others said councilors already can informally advocate for candidates. During an earlier meeting, the charter committee voted to recommend the city administrator become the city manager and gain hiring and firing authority over city department heads. The mayor and council would still hire and fire the city manager and city attorney. This week, the committee unanimously recommended the council and mayor set the rules for the hiring and firing of staff. The committee has not yet reached a decision on whether councilors should be paid or whether the city recorder/treasurer and municipal judge should continue to be elected. Members of the public are invited to give input on whether the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission should continue to be elected, and whether the parks department should remain independent of the city government, at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Southern Oregon University Stevenson Union Building Redford Lounge. Free parking is available in the SOU parking lot on South Mountain Avenue. 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 Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. 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