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Ashland City Council and mayor to lose health care benefits By Morgan Rothborne Nov 13, 2022 12:45 AM A A Flags fly above Ashland city offices. [Mail Tribune/file photo] Ashland city councilors and the mayor will lose their city paid health insurance in December. The loss of the benefit has sown confusion, anxiety and for some a sense of disrespect. In August, councilors were told — per a decision from City Manager Joe Lessard — they would have to start paying for their health insurance, which was previously offered at no cost, Councilor Stefani Seffinger explained. In October, Lessard told them they would lose their benefits entirely come December. There is a common misconception in Ashland that City Council is a paid position, Councilor Gina DuQuenne said. But councilors receive only a yearly stipend of $350, before taxes. But with that small check comes an employee number for each councilor, and all the other employees of Ashland have health benefits. Mayor Julie Akins said she didn’t know service on council came with health care until she first served in that body four years ago. “It made me feel a modicum of respect. It was part of the contract, it says we can’t pay you but we appreciate you, you do this work and this is what you’ll get in return,” she said. Seffinger said she was told she would be losing her health care the same day she learned her husband had a serious medical condition. All their arrangements for their medication were through her insurance. She said the surprise and confusion around this situation has been traumatic. “I’ve given everything I had to the city of Ashland for 11 years. I was on the Parks Commission, on council, it sort of feels in a way like a slap in the face,” she said. Because she did not run for reelection, she would have lost her benefits in January, so for her the pain was a moment, but the loss is greater than herself. “It’s not just about me, this is an issue that effects who is still serving and who may serve. This could change the population of who serves in the future,” Seffinger said. DuQuenne echoed that sentiment, saying she believes that council has too long been populated by retirees and people of Medicare age. “It’s people who are preparing to exit life. This is not why I’m here. I’m here to open the door. We need to bring young minds and experience to council. I would hope this would go to the voters, let the people of Ashland decide,” DuQuenne said. Akins classified the problem as a dilemma for the community to consider. The loss of this benefit may make it difficult to attract young, working family voices to council when the workload required of either mayor or council already makes it difficult to serve and make a living. DuQuenne said she works in her available time outside council. For her, the workload of council is about 20 to 25 hours a week, but it all depends because the hours can be erratic. There are four council meetings per month, but the occasional executive session can mean meetings that last hours, and normal council meetings are often extended to 9:30 p.m. Councilors and the mayor may need to spend time studying before meetings to prepare for the proposals and resolutions they discuss and vote on, such as the recently passed Wastewater Master Plan. Councilors also answer emails and phone calls from Ashland residents. In a few months, councilors will put in extra hours crafting the city’s budget. Akins estimated she spends about 30 hours a week in her role as mayor. She freelances and works with clients mornings and evenings to make ends meet. In general, she said, it’s full-time jobs that offer benefits, jobs that are unattainable for councilors already donating half their waking hours. “To be asked to work without a salary, without benefits, that’s a real hardship,” Akins said. The decision to revoke health care benefits from city councilors comes after months of re-examination and reinterpretation of Ashland’s sometimes arcane City Charter by interim City Attorney Doug McGeary and City Manager Joe Lessard. What started as an attempt to unravel the issues of authority related to Ashland’s Parks Commission has expanded, Seffinger said. The charter has raised questions before, she said, from the authority of APRC to the status of the city recorder as an elected official. Attempts to ascertain the charter’s true meaning are, as in the case, sometimes stymied by the city’s imperfect record keeping. Dating back to some time in the 1960s, there was a document codifying fringe benefits for council. Akins said she has already done some work attempting to understand the legality of revoking council’s benefits based on that document. But though the existence of the document is known and referenced in other places, the source document itself is missing. City Recorder Melissa Huhtula has been searching for it for weeks, Seffinger said, but she wonders if it will ever be found. Lessard was not immediately available for comment. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.