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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Past Readers Polls Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games Movie Preview October 2, 2006 Letter At Length Letter Submissions Letters should be e-mailed in text-only format to [email protected] . Please include your address and a daytime phone number where you can be reached for confirmation. Letters are limited to 250 words. At Length submissions are limited to 400 words. Submissions may be edited for length, content and clarity. The Tidings gives priority to letters on local and regional topics of current interest. It seeks to encourage thoughtful, well-reasoned leters and to discourage personal attacks, repetitive messages and personal disputes. Form letters are not published in the Tidings, nor are letters identified as having been published in other publications. Support for John Stromberg I hope every Ashlander will give serious consideration to voting for John Stromberg for Council. Besides being honest, honorable and forthright, John is the only candidate to make addressing the City's precarious budget his number one agenda item. The City owes staggering debt from AFN with no current plan to repay. When the meals tax expires, there will be nearly $25 million of future debt payments still owed for our treatment plant. Major increases in taxes and fees will be required to pay these bills, hitting every citizen, especially those struggling to stay in our wonderful town. Yet, the City continues to spend like there is no tomorrow. John is the first candidate to present down to earth proposals to get us started on the path to avoid these ruinous taxes and fees. John is also one of the most civil of our civic leaders. He gets along with and works successfully with people normally viewed as being on opposing sides. That means he can get things done. It also means he has a great chance of winning. Finally, if, like the Tidings, you're tired of politicians with 'hidden agendas,' then John is your candidate. He's led the way in urging the City to follow the rules of open, ethical government and to treat all citizens with respect and empathy. The quality of City Council will dramatically improve with John Stromberg. Randall Hopkins Ashland Current Comments: After you give serious thought to Stromberg, vote for Jackson. Stomberg's belief in "inclusive" government doesn't appear to dissuade him from participating in coffee klatches with other elected and appointed (including self-appointed) civic leaders outside of public view and then shaghai-ing public meetings with pre-determined votes. He is the most personable, and therefore potentially the most dangerous of Ashland's psuedo "progressives" Please vote otherwise if you value Ashland future. enough - ashland, or - October 2nd, 3:14 PM Hopkins, You say that there is 25 million owed for future treatment plant debt. I thought the meals tax was just extended and is now going for the trails in Lithia Park. carol - Ashland,OR - October 2nd, 4:14 PM Mr Stromberg is a wolf (of the Hartzel-Hardesty, obstructionist, talk everything to death kind) in sheeps' clothing. Hiding behind his smile are meetings that take place outside public view where decisions are made by certain councilors and planning commissioners. These ARE NOT in the interest of Ashland or its citizens. If you value carefully considered, open governance, don't vote for Stromberg. You will not get it. Kate Jackson most certainly gets my vote! DPB - Ashland, OR - October 2nd, 4:51 PM Enough, already. John does have meetings with lots of people, elected, appointed, and concerned. Good for him. John works for acceptable solutions to difficult problems. Good for him. He is personable. Good for him. Question: is he an agenda-driven Green Party ideologue or a person democratic in practice as well as profession, responsive to criticism of his ideas, receptive to ideas other than his own, and decent in conduct? Answer: he seems all moderation and good sense. Good for us. Michael L. Hays ( [email protected] ) - Ashland, Oregon - October 2nd, 5:14 PM my, Mr. Hays, aren't you clever to have determined the origins of my name. Sorry, but I think Mr. Stromberg is an agenda-driven Green Party ideologue, a wolf-in-sheeps clothing as another put it, and I don't this he knows Ashland or moderation. He is a clone vote for Cate Hartzell and Alice Hardesty (whom somebody should have challenged) and his election would be bad. You write correctly that "He SEEMS all moderation and good sense"...but he is neither. Bad for us. enough - ashland, or - October 2nd, 6:00 PM Enough said,Mr.enough. Isn't it time for you to go public and tell us who you are? And Mr.DPB, why not show just a little courage and come out of hiding? Bill Street - Ashland - October 2nd, 6:30 PM Who has stolen my name? I though that by giving a bogus name and email address I could happily snipe at anyone I want - with absolute certainty that I could never be found out. Now it is me that has been cloned ! I will now have to dump "enough" and use another one of my many, frequently-used aliases to make certain that Jackson is re-elcted to do my bidding. enough - ashland, or - October 2nd, 6:43 PM Attn Editor...the last post was not by me, the person who has been using the name "enough" on this thread. I would like to you double check the e-mails to which these posts originate and CONFIRM that to the list. Thank you. enough - ashland, or - October 2nd, 6:49 PM Confirmed: the well documented "enough" uses a different -- yet similar -- email than the person who posted the following: my, Mr. Hays, aren\'t you clever to have determined the origins of my name. Sorry, but I think Mr. Stromberg is an agenda-driven Green Party ideologue, a wolf-in-sheeps clothing... Ah, the complications of anonymous internet posts. Have you seen the commerical "man law"? Perhaps we can call it "responder law" don't steal pseudonyms. All agreed say "I" Editor - Ashland - October 2nd, 7:07 PM Randall, in your description of John you mention many wonderful traits for a council member could have. It�s great to mention these; however something seems awry. When I read your description I realized you do a great description of Kate Jackson; When you talk about �no hidden agendas� I think of Kate (not John); about being �honest, honorable and forthright� I think of Kate first (not John); and about fiscal responsibility I think of Kate again (not John). Your letter was great, just got the name wrong, no big deal. Sleepy ( [email protected] ) - Ashland, OR - October 2nd, 8:35 PM Sleepy, are you aka Enough? Snow White ( [email protected] ) - InThe Mine, HiHo - October 2nd, 9:43 PM Hi Snow White, interesting question, but what does that have to to with the council seat in question? Say, while we are of the subject, I wonder if you are Randall? Hmm... Sleepy ( [email protected] ) - Ashland, Oregon - October 3rd, 1:48 AM Apparently whatever it is that I am saying on these posts is getting under the skin of somebody. Mr. Street, the hijacking of my name is hardly an encouragment to come clean and reveal my real name. I will continue to post on the AT Forum, where one logs in with a password. THAT enough is indeed this enough. If others out there have comments to offer, great. Use your own name, not mine. "I." enough (the real enough) - ashland, or - October 3rd, 7:40 AM When you children are finished playing, would you come inside so we can talk about the serious duty of voting? Informed voters driven by civic duty in a desire to better community would likely not need to hide behind aliases, pseudonyms or screen names. Shame on you, Tidings, for allowing this school yard behavior. A number of us have asked you to put more integrity into this forum if it can even be called that. Enough is enough. Bill Bartlett - Ashland, OR - October 3rd, 9:41 AM Mr. Bartlett-I heartedly agree that Ashland needs to discuss the serious duty of voting in this important election cycle. I have repeatedly encouraged the sporadic debate on these pages to relocate to the Forum site, where more give and take is possible (and, now, where you can be assured of to whom you are talking). Screen names are a part of the process but it is the ideas that matter, not the personalities. The Tidings has created this vehicle. Shame on us if we can't use it properly enough - ashland, or - October 3rd, 11:01 AM Bill B - just checked the phone directory, no bill bartlett in ashland listed but there is one with a spelling of bartlet. which are you? is the extra 't' a disguise, oh come out of your closet inquiring people want to know. or are you the new wave of only a cell phone where you can be most anywhere. having lived in this burg for so many years why i ask have only 6 candidates ever knocked on my door to ask for my vote - that is less than 1 knock every 6 years. not very progressive in my book pat - ashland, or - October 3rd, 7:34 PM I gather that the Ashland Daily Tidings forum is fairly new. Forums take awhile before they are 'fine-tuned'. Eventually the paper will sort it out. Meantime, alerting them to problems is helpful provided they don't ignore them, which doesn't appear likely, kathleen - ashland, OR - October 4th, 10:16 AM Will the real enough please raise there hand. Is Mr Street the Librarian for walker he is the only one that appears real. I think a record of meals tax expenses should be put on a tell the citizens where the money is list and featured in the Tidings. It was to be for parks and sewer don't tell me they didn't get enough. I have never seen a city go thru money like they do and found was to hustle more.Do I hear Budget cuts. Ann - ashland oe - October 4th, 9:22 PM what does it matter who I am? Were people responding to the content of my postings, both here and in Forum, I might feel more inclined to go public. At the moment you will forgive me for thinking that the only reason Mr. Street etc. are so interested in WHO I am is so they can more easily dismiss WHAT I say. Let's just leave it at I am somebody who cares deeply about this community, has watched it for years, and is concerned about where a vocal minority is trying to take it in this electio enough - ashland, or - October 5th, 7:22 AM and yes, it is the real enough.. What's amatter Ann, didn't you get the memo from Green Party HQ to henceforth ignore these comment areas and stay low? The idea of actually discussing the issues and agenda is best left until after the Greens win. Given how quiet this area has been for two days, that certainly appears the case at least. enough - ashland, or - October 5th, 12:08 PM The real question, is not who "enough" is but who John Stromberg is. Is he the John Stromberg who wanted to spend 1/2 million an a new downtown plan a few months ago? or is he the John Stromberg who wrote the piece on why the city needs to reduce its' spending. Damn, just when you think you know someone, an election comes around and everyone gets confused. I hate that! Vision - Ashland, Or - October 5th, 11:12 PM Vision..thanks for framing the question properly. I offer my opinion of who the real Stromberg is, and why he is running, on the Forum site under Ashland's Progressive Confusion. This is all about party politics and Stromberg is simply the Green's best shot at getting rid of Kate Jackson's effective voice. I don't buy it, nor, I hope, will Ashland. I keep waiting for the Greens to tell us WHAT they would do better/differently, but nobody answers. enough - ashland, or - October 6th, 7:55 AM enough-the sad truth is that the politicians today find that since they have nothing new, nothing to offer, they can only bash the incumbents. Although 'vision' is correct, there are two separate views offered by Stromberg on the downtown. Waste money another silly city plan, or be fiscally responsible....only trouble is we don't know which position to believe. Stick with the solid representatives who we know where they stand. Steve L. Iverson - Ashland,Jefferson - October 7th, 9:53 AM Mr. Iverson.. Having just returned from the first Council Candidate forum, I agree that bashing what is while offering little in the way of what might be seems to be the standard campaign tactic. This morning potential community leaders gleefully indicated they would 'fire 'em' in reference to City staff, while suggesting Council be involved in incredible detail w/every decision the city makes, based on staff reports. No reasonable alternatives just more and more talk. See Forum for more. enough - ashland, or - October 7th, 11:55 AM We hire experts who go through a very difficult selection process, and tend to have a vast amount of education and experince to run the city. Then a part time group of elected officials want to 'fire em all". Politics is always ugly business. Look for the beautiful people, the kind hearted and compassionate canidates who are running for the right reasons...Christensen and Lemhouse come to mind. Not agenda driven,family and community driven. I'm not a proxie for anyone,just someone with open eyes Steve L. Iverson - Ashland, Jefferson - October 8th, 11:48 AM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.