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Ashland Wildfire Commission may lose some steam By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Sep 16, 2022 01:46 PM A A City is in the process of reevaluating its commission structure Flags fly above Ashland city offices. [Mail Tribune/file photo] The Ashland Wildfire Safety Commission may be about to lose its direct link to City Council, a change that has raised concerns among some people connected to the commission. Mary Kwart, who volunteers with the commission as a home risk assessor, worries the change may leave the community more vulnerable. “I think it’s the No.1 priority for the community,” said Kwart, who retired after a 30-year career in the fire service, which included work as an incident commander and on fuels-reduction projects with the U.S. Forest Service. “It’s something that affects everybody. Not just people in Ashland that are well-to-do,” Kwart said. “It affects underserved people more. Wildfire safety is one of the most common-denominator issues; it affects everyone.” Dan Dawson, a member of the Wildfire Safety Commission, says that in the past two years the commission has created and refined a training program to make it possible for volunteers to make wildfire risk assessments on hundreds of Ashland homes. Previously Ashland Fire & Rescue did this work, he said, and because it struggled to find time to do it, houses were being assessed more slowly. Over the past two years, hundreds of homeowners have been able to call a volunteer assessor to come to their property and provide a detailed evaluation of the home’s unique risks and what the homeowner could do to reduce those risks, Dawson said. The city is in the process of reevaluating its commissions as a way to streamline efforts and reduce the workload on limited staff. City Manager Joe Lessard has proposed restructuring Ashland’s existing 21 commissions, changing most from commissions to ad hoc advisory committees. Ad hoc committees would no longer be expected to meet regularly but instead would meet when called on by staff. They would also lose their direct tie with City Council. Most of the commissions include a council liasion. The ad hoc committees would report to city staff, who would then report to council. “Wildfire safety is one of the ones that would be, for lack of a better word, demoted,” Dawson said. Under Lessard’s proposal, the Housing & Human Services Commission, Public Arts Commission and Social Equity and Racial Justice Commission would be among those to retain regular meeting schedules and direct ties to City Council, according to meeting materials from May. “I’m as open and progressive as the next guy, but I don’t really think racial equity and diversity are one the same level. They’re critical issues for the city. But they’re not existential issues,” Dawson said. “Wildfire is an existential issue. Our city could cease to exist.” In his mind, he said, every issue passing before City Council, from potential housing developments to infrastructure should be filtered through a conversation around wildfire and potential evacuations. “None of it’s going to matter at all if, in fact, we’re the next Paradise (California),” he said. The proposed commission change is a mixed bag, he said. The new ad hoc status would free the commissioners from adhering to sometimes cumbersome public meeting rules. The staff they would now report to, Ashland Fire and Rescue Forestry Division Chief Chris Chambers and Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator Brian Hendrix, have both assured commissioners they don’t intend for the commission to lose momentum. City Council is expected to discuss the future of Ashland’s commissions during a study session Monday, Sept. 19, according to Councilor Tonya Graham. Graham, the council liaison for the Wildfire Safety Commission, said she requested the study session conversation to address confusion surrounding the city’s commissions. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.