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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 25, 2005 First responders, far away By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Most of the city's emergency workers live outside Ashland - putting the entire community at risk in case of a major disaster. Firefighter uniforms hang ready for emergency responders to hit the road. Most Ashland firefighters live outside of the city, as has been the case for so long that the city had to drop the residency requirement 10 years ago. Photo by Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings The lack of affordable housing has affected employees at Ashland Community Hospital, the Ashland Police Department and Ashland Fire & Rescue. Hospital officials estimate 60 percent of their work-force commutes, according to Carolyn Johnson, the hospital's director of planning and marketing. So many workers commute that the hospital teamed with Ashland Christian Fellowship for use of the church parking lot for a park-and-ride shuttle service to ease the parking crunch around the hospital, Johnson said. Of the police department's 24 police officers, detectives and community service officers, 17 live outside Ashland. Of all 35 full-time department employees, 24 live elsewhere and are scattered as far away as Rogue River and Eagle Point, according to City of Ashland Personnel Director Tina Gray. At the fire department, 23 of 34 employees live outside Ashland, said Ashland Fire & Rescue Chief Keith Woodley. Those commuting workers drive to work for their regular shifts and also must come in again during call-backs when the fire department is in danger of falling below minimum staffing levels, he said. "That does increase their commute time. During inclement weather, there's the issue of whether they can get here at all," Woodley said. Fire department employees live outside the city because of the lack of affordable housing, a desire to live in a rural setting, a need to be near a spouse's workplace and for other reasons, he said. "A lot of factors go into the decision where someone is going to live, and affordability is just one of those," Woodley said. But he said he has heard some firefighters say they would live in Ashland if they could. The department also was forced to drop its residency requirement more than a decade ago, he said. "It affected our ability to recruit. They would take a look at what we were paying and what the housing costs were, and they would turn down the job," Woodley said. 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 Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams