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Two familiar faces, one new, ready to take oath By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings A new Ashland City Council takes its turn guiding the city this month, with some obvious differences from the previous council, and unknown changes which will only become apparent with time. Three new councilors - Alex Amarotico, Kate Jackson and Chris Hearn - were elected in November to the six-seat council. But Amarotico is the only truly new member, with Jackson and Hearn having already served as interim members - Hearn for a year and a half. "Even though we've had three elected, only one of us is really new," Hearn said. "I'm excited about the potential for the new year, because this looks to be a council that gets along well and gets a lot done." "I like to think I'm kind of hitting the ground running already," Jackson said, words echoed by Hearn. Hearn, Jackson and Amarotico on Tuesday take their oaths of office as elected city officials, along with newly elected Ashland Parks and Recreation Commissioners Rich Rosenthal and Mike Gardiner. Diane Amarotico already took her oath for the parks post. All six leaders' terms expire Dec. 31, 2006. Both Hearn, 40, and Jackson predicted the main thrust of the council and the city to be directed to the creation of affordable housing - a topic on nearly every candidate's platform in November. "I look forward to working on affordable housing," Jackson said. "It's a critical issue for our sense of community, and the previous actions the city took were just first steps." Susan Reid and Cameron Hanson - two fairly well-defined characters - are now off the council, leaving possible holes in the group's variety of experience and representation. Twenty-year council veteran Reid resigned, taking her knowledge of recent Ashland government history with her, as well as her devotion to statewide electric utility issues which affect the city. "There's a bit of a loss in history, and I value staff and people who have a perspective like Susan's," Jackson said. "But she remains a resource, and (remaining council elder statesman) Don Laws will still be around." "But I was also thinking, am I going to be on the council when I'm 75?" the 50-year-old Jackson added. "It shows how much you give, but at some time you turn it over the younger generation." "Don and Susan both gave us that historical chronological perspective, even though they often had different perspectives on the same thing," Hearn said. "She's going to be a real loss, and somebody else is going to have to pick up the electrical part." Hanson, who lost his bid for re-election while on duty with the Oregon National Guard in the Sinai, represented a specific constituency - the more conservative, business-minded Ashlanders. "Cameron brought a lot to the table too," Hearn said, noting that Ashland breaks down as about two-thirds Democrat or liberal and one-third Republican or conservative, in general. "He certainly projected a typical Republican attitude and there was a lot to that - still somewhat reflected by (Mayor) Alan DeBoer." "The fact that he didn't win re-election showed that maybe his constituency wasn't as big as he thought," Jackson said. "But those of us still on the council are willing to listen to anyone's views." Both Hearn and Jackson said they look forward to the younger Amarotico's input on the council. "Alex is real young and we had a lot of calls to bring a young person on the council," Hearn said. "I think he will do a good job and have some new ideas." "Alex, I think, will bring conservation-mindedness and be really enjoyable to work with," Jackson added. But Amarotico said he doesn't plan to jump in immediately with both feet. "I can't wait to start and it's an honor," Amarotico said, looking forward to taking his oath of office. "But I guess things won't happen drastically and not immediately. It will take some time to get familiar with how things work." Jackson said she doesn't see a major immediate change with the new council, either. Rather, she sees it as undergoing more subtle changes in recent years. "It's evolved over the last two elections, with the election of Cate Hartzell, then John Morrison and the appointments of Chris Hearn and then me," Jackson said. "We still have two women on the council, which is important because women bring a different view on the world and life and reality." 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 -