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Ashland, SOU, schools work toward joint crisis plan By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Dec 07, 2022 03:20 PM A A Flags fly above Ashland city offices. [Mail Tribune/file photo] The city of Ashland, Southern Oregon University and Ashland School District are working on a joint plan to be more efficient in the face of a crisis. The idea is the brainchild of Ashland City Manager Joe Lessard, who presented the partnership Monday to Ashland City Council and Mayor Julie Akins as an agreement in its infancy. Right now, he explained, this is three entities united by a broadly drafted memorandum of understanding reflecting a shared focus on the need for a coordinated response to future emergencies. “In our case ... if we wanted to assemble our EOC (emergency response center), we would probably be through the event, and we still wouldn’t be able to stand up our EOC. What we’re trying to do — particularly through the fire season of the summer — is trying to set up a more robust, possibly turn-key operation so we’re not trying to assemble, but we’re actually implementing,” Lessard said. “This is really a first big step that acknowledges when an emergency happens we can’t be silent; we have to be connected at the hip to address it, and not just in terms of trying to avoid or prevent an event but to manage an event and to manage recovery,” Lessard said. Each of the entities would staff for disasters in their own campuses, Lessard said, but the city of Ashland has a primary role to coordinate the three phases of a crises — prevention, the event and recovery. Under the tentative plan, Ashland would provide an emergency operations officer and potentially a communications officer while SOU would provide a facility where people could gather and shelter together. There are facilities in Medford already, he said, but Ashland is a natural central organizing point for the south end of the valley. The plan could lead to connecting with Medford, Talent and Phoenix. The partnership is limited to Ashland School District, the city of Ashland and SOU for now, Lessard said, but he hopes for greater regionalization, and he has reasons to hope. At meetings between these three entities, Talent’s police chief has been in attendance, and the Jackson County emergency operations officer attended once with a presentation. “At this point we’re really in the first steps. ... Further collaboration depends on what are the logical next steps.” Lessard said those steps include hiring an emergency operations officer. Ashland is reviewing candidates for that position now. The person would bring their expertise and guide the three entities in building a revised and refined emergency response plan and system. In this process, other partners might be identified and sought out. Rick Bailey, SOU president, said the partnership dovetails with preexisting intentions. “It fits very nicely with what the superintendent and I were doing with our organizations. The way I envision SOU, we are your university. So what are the ways we can partner with our hometown more?” said Bailey. The university’s recently announced project to produce all of its own electricity isn’t only to save on costs or go green, he explained. It also has a benefit of folding into a greater plan to be as resilient of an institution as possible. “When — and it’s not if but when — there is another big crisis, we have a massive single dining facility, we have the Lithia Pavilion, we have Student Health and Wellness ... located very close together. If we also have energy independence, it could serve as a very resilient hub no matter what the challenge is,” Bailey said. The Lithia Pavilion is one possible place for an emergency operations center, he said. “One of the things we saw in the Almeda Fire is where some of those gaps were and that we are really one large community, in the context on an emergency, so I’m very glad to see this moving forward,” Councilor Tonya Graham said. Akins and the council approved Lessard moving forward with the project. A more finalized plan will be presented during the 2023 budget season, he said. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.