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COUNCIL CORNER Council Corner: Strategic plan sets goals for city Comment By Pam Marsh DailyTidings.com By Pam Marsh Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Pam Marsh Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Over the past year you may have heard the City Council wrestling with highly charged issues involving overnight accommodations, freeway rest stops, open carry, plastic bags or gray pavers. All of these subjects inspired passionate testimony, incited letters to the editor and occasionally caused a ruckus in the council chambers. These are the headline issues that require — and receive — hours of study and consideration. But you may not know that, at the same time, councilors have been involved in a not-so-obvious effort to think long term and strategically about the future of our community. The intent of this process has been to align our limited resources of time and money with the issues that we believe will be most important to the development of the community. The resulting strategic plan, dubbed Ashland 2020, identifies goals in the broad categories of Government, People, Organization, Environment, Energy and Infrastructure, Economy and Public Safety. The plan is intended to provide long-term guidance, but it will certainly morph as conditions dictate. We identified five priority goals for immediate consideration: Seek opportunities to enable all citizens to meet basic needs. We all want Ashland to be a place where residents thrive. For many of us, that’s a given. But some of our neighbors face tremendous challenges in their efforts to create good lives for themselves and their children. Specifically, the council identified access to mental health services as a critical need. We also targeted policies and programs to make Ashland more affordable, including housing and other pocketbook issues, such as the cost of utilities. This is a goal far beyond the scope of city resources alone. We need to continue to cultivate partnerships with local nonprofit and private entities that can help us achieve ambitious outcomes. Protect the integrity and safety of the watershed. Ashland’s watershed is a breathtaking tapestry of forested mountains. It is also a fragile ecosystem, our recreational backyard, and the source of Ashland’s abundant, clean water. Protecting the watershed requires us to actively manage forest health. Since the initiation of the Ashland Forest Resiliency project we have completed wildfire hazard reduction work on more than 3,700 acres. Our current goal is to identify funding and finish the initial 7,600 acre footprint by the end of 2017. But that’s just the beginning. Long-term maintenance will require an annual investment estimated at $175,000 per year. This is a significant commitment that will likely require an increase in city revenues. How to do that will be a council focus in the upcoming budget process. Market and further develop the Ashland Fiber Network. The initiation of Ashland Fiber Network in the late 1990s positioned the city among the early pioneers in municipal telecom. Nearly two decades later, AFN is immersed in a highly volatile, tremendously competitive market. As a community, we have invested in AFN to ensure that residents and businesses have access to excellent, affordable services operated in the public interest. Now we need to figure out how to protect that investment and best position AFN in the rapidly changing Internet world. Prepare for the impact of climate change on the community. The last two years of drought, forest fire and extreme weather events dramatically announced the onset of climate change. Ashland is a small town, but we intend to do our part. Our Conservation Commission has proposed development of a community climate and energy plan that will be considered in the pending city budget. Evaluate real property and facility assets to strategically support city mission and goals. An ambitious work plan requires that that we use our assets as effectively as possible in the service of the community. The facilities analysis proposed in the upcoming budget will be the first step toward that goal. Intrigued? To see the complete 2015-2017 goals, visit the city council page on the city website. We welcome your comments at [email protected]. Pam Marsh is a member of the Ashland City Council. By Pam Marsh DailyTidings.com By Pam Marsh Posted Apr. 28, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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