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Organizers prep for levy push By Amber Fossen Ashland Daily Tidings Youth Activity Levy campaign organizers are preparing to saturate Ashland with information about the levy in time for the May 20 election. Campaign volunteers will canvass the city, call voters and provide information about the levy to local residents in hopes that enough support and voter turnout will allow the levy to pass. Faced with a double majority election, organizers say they will try to inform the public on what the levy provides so that local schools won't have to cut valued programs like sports and drama, among other activities. Ashland residents will be asked to vote on the levy which stands at $1.38 per assessed $1,000 property value raising between $1.5 million to $2 million for the Ashland School District. The levy would maintain activities for the next five years, as opposed to the previous three-year increment. According to Amy Amrhein, Ashland School Board vice chair and YAL campaign volunteer, the levy came about in response to Measure 5 - passed in 1990 -which depleted much needed funding for schools. "It (the levy) was voted in 1994, 1997 and 2000. This is the fourth time we've voted it in. The first two times it was just $1 amount but the last time it went to a rate which was $1.38 (in 2000)," Amrhein said, noting the levy went to a rate when elementary music and physical education were at risk of being eliminated. In 1990, schools received $15.76 per assessed $1,000 in property value. That figure dropped after Measure 5 was passed to $5.00 per assessed property value in 1996, where it remains. Amrhein said the levy was originally proposed by parents in a local booster club when students had to pay to play. The levy has passed by voters every time its reached the ballots. However, campaign organizers remain concerned over the double majority election. "It's my principal concern, getting people to vote," YAL campaign manager Richard Barth said. "It's important for people to remember that it's a double majority election so it's important for people to participate in the democratic process." In order to get the pro-levy campaign off the ground, organizers sent fundraising letters out to select Ashland residents a week and a half ago to help raise the $8,000 needed for mailings and other campaign expenses. The next step is blanketing the town with information about the levy, according to Barth. Campaign volunteers will attend community meetings, site councils and other gatherings throughout April to discuss what the levy means to local schools. Volunteers will also canvass Ashland, knocking on homes April 26 and April 27 and once again on May 3. A week before ballots are sent to voters, information about the levy will be mailed to homes and a Get Out The Vote campaign will commence a week after residents receive their ballots. "We see this tax as an in-fill for state under-funding. If the state were to create stable and adequate funding, this could go away," Barth said. Currently the levy provides local schools with: Music and physical education at the elementary level; athletics, language and sixth grade outdoor education at the middle school; and athletics, drama, debate, brain bowl, music and more at the high school. "It's all those things and more. There's about 20 different athletic activities supported by the levy at the high school alone," Barth said. Barth said if the levy fails to gain voter support, students may have to pay to play. "It (pay to play) stratifies people at the school based on what they can afford and the levy's failure will put more pressure on the class size of core curriculum because students need to go somewhere," he said. 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 -