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County to go slow on library plans By ALBERTO ENRIQUEZ Jackson County Commissioners agreed Monday to move forward with a request for proposals on upgrading Jackson County libraries. But they told the Library Advisory Committee that they're not ready to commit to a countywide library construction measure in 1999. Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw told the committee that a solo effort for that city's library may have left the station already -- and could arrive on the ballot by May. "If the Ashland Friends of the Library were to come to us and ask us to put a library bond measure on the ballot, I'm not sure that it's up to either me or the council to say no," Shaw said. The Ashland council hasn't crossed that bridge yet, but it has given a unanimous go-ahead to a request for architect's proposals and an appraisal of property adjoining the current library on Siskiyou Boulevard. Jackson County Commissioner Jack Walker and several members of the Library Advisory Committee said they thought such a solo effort by Ashland first could hurt the chances of a systemwide county library bond in the fall or later. Shaw used materials detailing sheriff's, library and other bond campaigns to counter that notion. "Money measures just don't pass in the county," Shaw said. "County people love city services. They just don't want to pay for them. And Ashland supports libraries by between 2 and 3 to 1." But a solo campaign by Ashland wouldn't necessarily hurt a county campaign, Shaw said. Instead, it could smooth the path to success. Ashland voters, once having passed a city bond, surely would agree at any later date to fold it into a countywide bond that lowered their tax rate, she said. Burke Raymond, county administrator, presented estimates based on a $4.5 million bond for Ashland alone, or a $25 million bond for systemwide improvements, including a new Medford main branch and expanded Ashland library. The solo rate for Ashlanders would be 32 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation over 20 years. Systemwide improvements with Ashland participating would come to 23 cents per $1,000, slashing Ashlanders' costs by 9 cents per $1,000. Shaw said Ashland library backers were especially eager to put the measure on a spring ballot. She said it was a "no-brainer" that November measures were more difficult to pass because tax bills come out in the fall. Further, her own experience in Ashland with three separate bond campaigns have shown that double-majority elections can be won -- in cities. "Passing a double-majority in the county is impossible," she said, following the meeting. "I don't even want to work on a campaign like that." During the meeting, Shaw also suggested her own preference for a library bond strategy. With support strong in the cities -- even within unincorporated White City -- but weak everywhere else, library backers should seek individual city bonds in Medford, Jacksonville and elsewhere. Once a city bond passed, even city voters who opposed it would have an interest in passing a countywide measure to cut their costs, she said. Library Advisory Committee chairman Scott Rayburn emphasized that the committee viewed the Jackson County Library as a system and favored systemwide improvements. However, County Commissioner Sue Kupillas said the committee needed to study Shaw's data and analysis. "We're all very centered on this being a total system, but we really have to look at the way people vote," Kupillas said. "We have to look at reality, folks." Rayburn told commissioners Walker and Kupillas that his committee favored a 20-year bond in September or November for systemwide improvements to all 15 libraries. But Walker said he was not comfortable making such a commitment without first discussing how to proceed on a failed bid to replace the county's antiquated juvenile detention center. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA