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Council candidates run friendly race By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � Opponents in the race to replace Carole Wheeldon on the City Council say they�re running for the seat, not against each other. John Morrison and Mike Gibbs are each campaigning for council seat No. 5 in the Nov. 7 election. Wheeldon, who has held the seat for eight years, is running for mayor. Morrison, 55, is manager of the Rogue Valley Council of Governments� Community Development Program. Morrison says he�s running for City Council because he wants to work to protect Ashland�s quality of life and help forge regional partnerships. Gibbs, 50, owns and operates the Winchester Country Inn in Ashland. He wants to put a wildfire protection plan at the top of the city�s agenda and keep a "conservative" eye on the cost of voter-approved building projects. The candidates say they�re not at odds with each other � "My son works at Mike�s restaurant, his son is in my wife�s class (at Ashland High School)," says Morrison � but each believes he has valuable experience to bring to the council. Morrison has lived most of his life in the south end of Jackson County and about 20 years in Ashland, including the last 12. He cites his commitment and experience with both city and regional committees, such as the Rogue Valley Area Committee on Transportation, as his greatest assets to the position. A member of the Medford Rogue Rotary club, Morrison also serves as a non-resident member of the Talent Parks and Recreation Commission. In Ashland, he is chair of the Siskiyou Boulevard Citizens� Design Committee and serves on the Ashland Traffic Safety Commission and the Ashland Forest Lands Commission. Gibbs is an 18-year Ashland resident and active member of the local business community. He has served two terms as president of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce and is a former president of Ashland Rotary. Gibbs has served on the Ashland Budget Committee, the Ashland Community Hospital Foundation Board, the Ashland Family YMCA Fund-raising Committee and the Darex Ice Rink Committee. "I have a unique blending of community involvement that I feel would be a balance point on the council," Gibbs says. He says he�ll use his experience as a businessman and former budget committee member to help bring in the city�s current building projects on budget and to scrutinize new proposals. "We need to be conservative," Gibbs says. "We need to make sure that we take care of what the citizenry has already voted for." Protecting Ashland from a potential wildfire in the city�s watershed and providing a reliable water supply rank at the top of Gibbs� priority list. He says the city needs a solid plan to create a "zone of protection" in the forest interface. "We saw what flooding can do to shutting down this town for a week or so," says Gibbs, referring to the 1997 New Year�s Day Flood. "With a wildfire, we�re talking about a catastrophic natural disaster that would have a huge impact for a long time." Morrison says he also wants to work to protect the Ashland watershed from fire and erosion, an issue he says is "vital" to the entire community as well as those who live along the forest interface. "I think it�s critical," Morrison says. "And I think it�s critical enough not just to talk about it, but to be on the (forest lands) committee for the last two years." Morrison says his top priority, however, is "working to protect and enhance the quality of life, which is one of the reasons, if not THE reason, most of us live in Ashland." Growth could threaten the city, Morrison says, if allowed to happen too rapidly or without a solid plan. "Are we going to manage growth, or is growth going to manage us?" he asks. "We need to identify what we like about our community and work to improve and protect those areas." For more on Mike Gibbs, visit his campaign Web site: www.mikegibbs.org For more on John Morrison, see his Web site: www.morrisonforcouncil.org Don Laws runs unopposed ASHLAND � Veteran City Councilman Don Laws is unchallenged in his bid for reelection to a seventh term. Laws, an associate professor of political science at Southern Oregon University, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the council in 1975 and has been elected six times since. He is running unopposed to retain council seat No. 1 in the Nov. 7 election. Laws, 64, said his motivation to continue serving on the council is driven by a desire to serve the community and an interest in working with people to solve problems. "Number one is the desire to provide some service to my community," Laws said. "I think every citizen should do that in one way or another. Serving as a city councilor is one way I�ve found that I can do that." During the next four years, Laws said, he wants to work on the ongoing issue of directing Ashland�s growth in a way that preserves the city�s values and quality of life. "It isn�t a question of whether to grow or not to grow because we really don�t have that choice," Laws said. "The question is how we will grow." Tackling transportation issues, Laws said, will be at the forefront of his agenda. A graduate of Ashland High School, Laws also holds degrees from Willamette University, University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Oregon. He has taught at SOU since 1968. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.