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Mayor makes her mark Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw is leaving after 12 years in office, during which she gained a reputation as a strong leader who advocated controlled growth, and was a champion of numerous civic projects, especially ones in which the environment was a factor. She chose not to run for a fourth term, and will be replaced Tuesday by Mayor-elect Alan DeBoer. Ashland's Shaw leaves legacy of controlled growth By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � Cathy Shaw cleaned out her office, packed up her plaques and moved into the new millennium without the word "Mayor" preceding her name. First elected in 1988, Shaw � then known as Cathy Golden � was the first woman to be mayor of Ashland and, at age 35, the youngest person ever elected to the city�s top office. In her 12-year tenure, she chaired hundreds of City Council meetings, championed numerous civic projects and replaced all of the city�s department heads � three positions twice. "I can�t imagine what more I would want to do," Shaw said last week. "I can�t imagine." After three terms in office, Shaw didn�t run for re-election in November. She�s stepping down, passing the gavel � though not in person � to mayor-elect Alan DeBoer, who will be sworn in Tuesday. "I respect her, and look forward to sitting at her desk," said DeBoer, who ran against Shaw in 1996. Shaw, meanwhile, is looking forward to not sitting at her desk, with its second-story view of the downtown Plaza. She�ll be working 2� days a week in Salem as a legislative assistant to Rep. Alan Bates, an Eagle Point Democrat whose campaign she managed this fall. Shaw said she may also spend some time working on a third edition of her book, "The Campaign Manager: Running and Winning Local Elections," which she says is now used at 100 universities. Surprisingly, perhaps, the 47-year-old Shaw said she has no plans to run for future office. "I was in the perfect job at the perfect time in the perfect town," she said. "You don�t mess with odds like that." Shaw said most of her efforts over the past dozen years have been based on a belief that growth is inevitable; her mission was to help the community identify the effects of growth and work to mitigate those effects. Supporters say her growth-management work is one area where Shaw leaves a legacy. "The kinds of things that she championed will leave a permanent mark on Ashland in terms of how we have chosen to shape ourselves as a city," said outgoing City Councilwoman Carole Wheeldon, a friend of Shaw�s and an Oak Street neighbor. Much of Shaw�s stamp is with regard to the environment: She worked to implement the city�s open space program, protect flood plains from development, encourage recycling and to promote infill development rather than expanding the city�s boundaries. "It�s just crucial that a person in the mayor�s position be the one who is thinking about the future," said Wheeldon. "I think she did a very commendable job of that." Of course, not everybody agrees. Brent Thompson, a former councilman and planning commissioner, said he agreed with Shaw�s projects � such as the open space program � when she was first elected, but said Ashland now needs to attack growth, not accommodate it. "She needed to finish her thinking on the issue of growth to understand that livability and the doubling of the U.S. population are mutually exclusive concepts," he said. "Her vision was good, as far as it went, but to truly preserve Oregon as people want it to be means we can�t continue growing as we are." Still, others say Shaw�s leadership has been "quite visionary," particularly in terms of the Youth Activities Levy, which taxes city residents to fund extracurricular programs and recreational activities � programs that would have been lost to funding deficits brought on by state ballot Measure 5. "It�s a stroke of genius," said Amy Amrhein, co-chair of last spring�s YAL campaign. Amrhein said the activities levy (approved for the third time in May) owes much of its success to Shaw�s campaign expertise. "She�s a very good campaigner," Amrhein said. "She�s just very, very good. "She understands how to win, and she�s willing to go the absolute distance that it takes." Alan Bates, who had Shaw run his campaign for representative of State House District 52, said she gave better campaign advice than he got from the state Democratic Party. He also credits Shaw for his 20-percent margin over Republican Jane Hunts. "I don�t think I won by that margin because of me or because of Jane," Bates said. "I think that�s a direct result of something Cathy Shaw did." Bates describes Shaw as insightful and intelligent, a tireless worker and "powerful, strong woman." "She�s just a pleasure to be around," he said. "And I say this because she�s on my side. "I know she rubs people wrong sometimes because she�s so strong � but that�s Cathy Shaw." Indeed, Shaw�s strong personality has rubbed a few folks wrong over the years. Some critics have called her brusque, while others say she can be downright rude. "Overall, she had positive benefit for the community," said Russ Silbiger, an Ashland political watchdog. "Even on issues that I agreed with her, I often disagreed with the method she used to achieve her goals." Silbiger criticized Shaw as having a "vote now, iron out the details later" approach. She tended to take shortcuts, not disclose all the information that was necessary and "there were times when she cut people off inappropriately," he said. "I think in the long run, it damaged what she tried to accomplish." Shaw said her role was to move the meeting along and encourage action. "It�s not my intention to be abrupt," she said. "It�s not my intention to make the public think I�m trying to hurry them through." Wheeldon described Shaw�s leadership style as action-oriented � she gets things done. "In the mix, it�s necessary to have somebody who�s pulling and somebody who�s resisting," Wheeldon said. "Cathy is a person of action, and I think that exemplified her tenure, and I think that she will be missed. "There aren�t many people in public life who are as dynamic as she is." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.