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Ashland Community Center project renews council rift over social media By Allayana Darrow Updated: Dec 10, 2021 02:36 PM A A Jamie Lusch / Daily TidingsThe doors and windows are boarded up at the Ashland Community Center on Friday. The Ashland City Council voted down a conceptual proposal this week to invite further discussion about a public-private partnership option for rehabilitation of the Ashland Community Center — renewing divisiveness about the influence of elected officials’ statements on social media. The council was tasked with deciding whether to pause engineering design work on the Community Center and rear retaining wall to invite Allan Sandler to deliver a presentation on his concept for a public-private partnership — an unresolved item from the previous meeting that was held over due to time, according to interim City Manager Gary Milliman. Councilor Stephen Jensen said that in the days leading up to the Dec. 7 meeting the City Council had received an “unusual volume” of email traffic opposing the concept, and alleged Mayor Julie Akins played a central role in cultivating opposition using social media. “Why would the residents of Ashland who have cared for these two public buildings give them away in a private lease to a person who would only pay $1,000 per month for 20 years? Why would we want a single individual deciding who can use our buildings and be able to charge us whatever they want?” Akins wrote in the post. Councilors said the post skewed facts surrounding the issue and contributed to poisoning public opinion about an option still in discussion as “unfinished business” within the council. Many who wrote in thanked Akins for publicly opposing the idea, Jensen said. According to council documents, a monthly lease figure was not defined in the preliminary concept. After reading the social media post into the record Tuesday, Jensen asked for clarification as to where the $1,000 figure came from, to which Akins responded, “it was in an original proposal.” In an email to the council Wednesday, Sandler said he was “insulted” to have been depicted as attempting to take advantage of the city, and denied having offered to rent the center for $1,000 per month — an estimated one-seventh of what the building could bring in as a rental, he said. “I only asked if I could have discussions with the council at a study session,” he wrote. “I never said I wanted to control the space without approval of the council ...” Sandler said the city is neglecting the needs and interests of citizens with disabilities by proceeding without necessary ADA upgrades. “There are so few places for the public to gather. The city has the money and the plan,” Akins wrote in her social media post. “The council voted months ago to follow the ad-hoc committee recommendations — but nothing’s happened. Why? Please help keep these community assets for the community.” Jensen pressed Akins to justify the lack of progress, highlighting recent accomplishments on the project, including the completion of debris cleanup behind the building as recommended by the ad-hoc committee, and securing of a contract with a geotechnical engineer to assess hillside stability. “When the mayor orchestrates a cacophony of community uprising on this, on a matter that the council is in deliberation on, it is not helpful,” Jensen said. Public Works Director Scott Fleury said he has planned another site visit with the engineer for next week, to reassess slope stability and develop recommendations for the retaining wall or a maintenance plan to keep material away from the building rear, and fencing to prevent unauthorized access. As far as remedying structural deficiencies, both the complete truss replacement recommended by Marquess & Associates Inc., and the moment frame installation recommended by the ad-hoc committee have “potential,” Fleury said, but the building official requires structural engineering calculations to approve either option. Work in line with council direction has not stopped, he said. “That was our request through the solicitation document, to develop those structural improvements that would allow the building to be reopened,” Fleury said. “It does not currently address other improvements as far as ADA and electrical, mechanical and plumbing issues that the building has, but purely the structural improvements to open the facility back up and allow public access.” Acknowledging the “outpouring” of emails, Akins said she simply wrote a public post and people decided to write in with their chosen response — defending a right to communicate with her constituency via social media. “It’s letting the community know about something, telling them as their mayor, their elected person, how I feel about it, and then choosing to respond however they chose to respond, which I had nothing to do with.” Akins’ comments on the post reflect a clear message encouraging action. “Please, please write letters, sign up and Zoom in,” Akins wrote in comments. “Make noise. We can even demonstrate at the center. I’m about ready to chain myself to the door.” The city building inspector was “unequivocal in his position” that reopening could not be approved until an assessment of the structural safety of the building was in hand, Jensen said. According to City Attorney Katrina Brown, the city’s possession of two separate engineering reports defining potential dangers increases project liability. Brown previously advised against reopening the building until the roof is fixed. Jensen said city staff “attempted mightily” for weeks to contact the ad-hoc committee’s consulting engineer regarding follow-up work, but contact from the individual ceased entirely. Public Works released a request for proposals Nov. 2 for the roof portion of the project, which closed Tuesday with zero submissions. “When I said nothing was happening, I mean we don’t have an RFP yet back to us with a proposal to fix the building, and we asked to open it ‘as soon as possible,’” Akins said. “Staff took direction, and so far as I know, we need to get on with it. This council already voted, already decided, it’s been budgeted and we keep bringing it back with more ideas, more options, more possibilities.” Councilor Gina DuQuenne said the council did not need to hear from Sandler, and that she agreed with the emails received from constituents opposing his concept. “We voted, we have the money, this is what the community wants, to open up our Community Center, and I am for the people,” DuQuenne said. Councilor Stefani Seffinger said further politicizing the issue implied some councilors are “for” or “against the people” based on their stance on this project — an unfounded characterization, she said. Some emails included rude and inflammatory comments directed at Sandler and council members, with many skewed facts, Seffinger said. Milliman said because no bids were received by the closing day of the request for proposals, the next step is to extend the deadline past the holidays, with the hope that contractors who are currently busy will come forward. Fleury recommended waiting until January to reissue the RFP, to allow staff the time to follow up with contractors and find out why they didn’t propose initially, perhaps due to limited staff capacity, he said. At the Nov. 16 meeting, Sandler’s idea was summarized as a conceptual proposal for Sandler “to lease the building from the city for a period of 20 years, enter into an agreement on continuing public use of the building under the management of Mr. Sandler, with full funding for rehabilitation to be provided by Mr. Sandler, who would set and retain user fees.” The concept described a vision “including, but not limited to” early childhood education, children’s theater productions and classes, and “community events consistent with current facility uses.” The conceptual framework included a 20-year lease to Sandler and complete repair to the building at his expense, including retaining wall installation, full upgrade to building code, installation of fire sprinklers, seismic retrofit and consultation with the Ashland Historic Commission to preserve the building’s historical significance. Upon completion of the upgrade, Sandler would operate the building for the lease balance. According to council documents, Sandler arranged to work with Medford-based Oregon Architecture Inc. for due diligence services on the project. “These are broad strokes of the concept, and details of the public-private partnership would need additional discussion and definition once Ashland City Council interest is better understood,” council documents said. “Mr. Sandler would like the opportunity to talk to the Ashland City Council as a whole, share his ideas for the building, and answer questions. Specifically, Mr. Sandler has indicated an interest to work collaboratively on this project for the benefit of the community.” In a memo from Sandler to the council and mayor dated Nov. 30, Sandler said he agreed with the council’s motivation to open the Community Center as soon as possible, but cautioned that the body’s first obligation is to ensure the safety of residents and visitors. Sandler wrote that he felt compelled to get involved in the project to “satisfy” elements needing attention, namely the poor condition of the Community Center. If private funding is available, Sandler said, the city does not need to spend the money. Sandler said his idea for building use included certain times dedicated for the public to use the facility as a community center, times established for a day care center, with a discounted fee for families below a certain income level, and a children’s theater and acting school — potentially incorporating the neighboring Pioneer Log Cabin. Councilor Paula Hyatt said because of her personal investment in identifying early learning opportunities and the council’s dedication to working on solutions, “it was with good intent” that she listened to and relayed Sandler’s interest in the building. “It was an effort to help the Community Center effort and marry it with a need for early learning; it’s not the only solution for early learning, and it will take many partners to work that solution, but I saw it as a possible step so I brought it forward to talk about,” Hyatt said, acknowledging a lack of sufficient support among the council for the idea. DuQuenne said other opportunities exist in the community for Sandler to apply an interest in supporting early learning, and he could rent the Community Center like any other resident to accommodate a children’s theater program. Councilor Tonya Graham said the council may have missed an opportunity to properly repair an important community building. The concept had yet to be fleshed out before exploration of an idea led to “maligning” of the issue and its stakeholders in the public eye, she said. “The way this conversation has developed in the community has made it to where we may very well be squashing people’s desire to bring forward creative ideas for how we might solve some of our issues here at the city,” Graham said. “We know that the solution that we are moving forward with is inadequate,” Graham continued. “It is not dealing with our ADA requirements, our electrical and plumbing, nor is it bringing this building up to code, and this is a long term, permanent building for this city. … I think it’s a sad day in our community when we can’t entertain a conversation.” Reach reporter Allayana Darrow at [email protected] or 541-776-4497.