HomeMy WebLinkAboutSusan Bradley Krant
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Susan Bradley Krant
994 Stone Ridge Ave.
Ashland, OR 97520
Ashland Mayor and City Councilors
c/o: barbara.christensen@ashland.or.us
City Recorder
City Hall, 20 East Main Street
Ashland, OR 97520
Re: Vacant City Council Seat Position 6, Letter of Interest
I ask that you consider my application for appointment to the vacant city council seat and pursue a
discussion or other interview with me. I have answered the questions posed, below, and have attached my
resume to this memorandum to assure you of my interest in serving as a City Councilor. As an attorney
who has practiced law for over 30 years, and as a business owner running a law firm in the downtown, I
have seen firsthand the growth of issues which need to be addressed in Ashland as a city, as well as in
Jackson County in the Courts. I have seen where our judicial system can help, but where local action
through City government can accomplish much more, which I hope to be part of as a City Councilor.
1. What are some of the biggest issues I see facing our City?
Ashland needs affordable housing for those who live and work within our city limits and needs to
attract diverse individuals and families to make their homes here in the future.
Ashland needs to address the downtown homeless problem from the root cause approach, rather
than responding to effects impacting the rise in homelessness in Ashland. This approach requires
creativity, compassion, long term (rather than band aid) solutions, and should be achieved through
partnership with Ashland police, businesses, and charitable organizations. The solution should
include shelters and essential services to the homeless on a year round basis, and a way to
encourage homeless individuals to congregate in hospitable areas away from crowded sidewalks
and downtown businesses, while also addressing the deeper needs of children who are homeless in
Ashland.
Ashland will need to build and fund a safe structure to house its city services in a forward thinking,
fiscally conservative, and environmentally responsible manner, while selecting an option that
improves and grows downtown business and cultural offerings which will appeal to our locals and
visitors alike.
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The City Council and many City departments are, at present, dominated by individuals primarily of
similar backgrounds and ethnicity. In order for Ashland to reach its potential in the 21St century,
the city needs to appeal to members of all racial, social, and economic strata. The City should
encourage through policy and actions a variety of rich programs which incubate opportunities for
all of its residents and visitors to share their lives, creativity, loves, passions, and working hours in
an accepting, just, and equitable culture together in a whole community, not in self-selected
factions. If this last issue is addressed in depth at a city level, rather than superficially, with a long
term commitment by the city, the three problems mentioned above would likely find significant
resolution.
2. What is my primary motivation in seeking appointment to the City Council?
Something has got to change. The recent election taught me I need to get off the sidelines and be
willing to participate in politics and use my power and influence as an educated woman with a big
heart and inquisitive mind for greater good than just helping myself, my family, my "pet" causes,
and my clients. I want equality for women, respect for all humans, safe and affordable healthcare
for all, and I want a government at all levels to look different than the people who are elected at
present. Simply put, we need more estrogen, more color, more love, and less concentration on the
mighty dollar reflected in our political representatives so that the good of everyone is paramount,
not the good of the few or the powerful. There truly is enough for everyone, but not for the greed of
everyone. One way greed manifests itself in politics is political representatives who hesitate to
relinquish power once elected, becoming career politicians, leaving the rest of us feeling that we
could never stand a chance of serving effectively in government at any level. I am taking a chance to
say that I want to try something different and be uncomfortable doing something I have never done
before, but which I feel with dedication I could do well for a period of time before passing the torch
to someone else to make their own contribution to our local government.
3. Describe Community and City Activities I have been involved in recently.
I was extremely active in the Ashland Public School system when both of my boys attended
elementary, middle, and high school in Ashland. As a parent, I volunteered extensively in the
classroom, in sports programs and fundraising, as a chaperone, in scouting, and sharing my passion
for artistic creation with Ashland students in classes in which my children were enrolled through
the years. Now that I have been an empty-nester since 2014, I have expanded my volunteer
commitments and service on working groups locally and statewide, both as a citizen, community
member, and as a member of the legal community. Since 2014, some of the work I have done has
included serving on the statewide board for the Oregon Women Lawyers, as well as locally as the
President of Rogue Women Lawyers, and as an attorney I also volunteer as a mediator for eviction
cases in the Jackson County Courts. I am past secretary of the Ashland Independent Film Festival,
and served on that creative and inspiring organization's board. I have recently been appointed to
the Oregon State Bar Advisory Committee for Diversity and Inclusion. I also serve as an elected
member of the House of Delegates for Southern Oregon in the Oregon State Bar. Locally, I am a
member of an informal women's leadership group, and served on the founding board of Shine a
Light, an Ashland non-profit designed to bring awareness and funding to programs designed to
assist victims of human trafficking. I am most excited about my beginning work as the leader of a
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sub-caucus of the Jackson County Democratic Party working on community organizing and
activating to promote Immigrant Rights and Social justice; this group is at an incipient stage, having
been formed just recently after the November Elections through a community forum. In the past, I
helped the Ashland High School as a volunteer Aspire Counselor and also as the Career Day
Coordinator. I am passionate about Ashland, my husband and I chose to live here because of its
highly rated schools for our children, and chose to remain in Ashland after our children grew up
and moved away because of the wonderful community, culture, and friendships we have found in
Ashland. I have not served on any commissions or committees at the municipal level, nor have I
held any government office whatsoever, but I feel I am ready to participate and be fully engaged at
this point in my life.
4. What do I see as the role of city councilor?
The city councilor should listen to, seek out, and welcome difficult conversations and input from the
varied and, sometimes, oppositional residents, workers, business owners, students, and visitors,
while paying particular attention to obtaining input from the diverse perspectives of individuals,
communities, and organizations voicing the needs of persons who have been underserved and
underrepresented to date. The city councilor working to make Ashland rich in opportunities for
many people, businesses, and organizations should dedicate herself to intensive education, reading,
participation in forums, informal listening sessions, and other outreach opportunities to learn
about the way the city can create true equity for different, sometimes powerless, racial, social, and
political voices. The city councilor should advocate for programs, policies, administrative acts, and
municipal regulations which go beyond mere constitutionality, and reach for justice in fact in our
small, but amazing community, through the policies, programs, and policing it pursues. The city
counselor should appreciate that working cooperatively through open and inclusive exchange of
ideas and options for problem solving in local government requires excellent compromise and
collaboration skills, while always pursuing ethical decision making in government. The city
councilor should strive to achieve administrative and programmatic goals which are achievable,
sustainable, and worthy of the investment of precious city resources of time and money. The city
councilor should not pursue a personal agenda that does not reflect the desire of the community.
The city councilors, whether nominated or elected, should be reflective of the community as a
whole, accordingly, I feel appointment of a woman to the council for this seat is essential and is the
reason I have sought this position, which I hope will be a role model for participation in
government to the young women and people who are the future of our town.
Thank you for taking the time to carefully review and consider my letter of interest. I am happy to
answer questions or clarify any information submitted and would be proud to serve as a City Councilor at
thi exci 'ng time in Ashland.
Ho efully,
usan ra ey ant
Susan Bradley Krant: Employment, Activities, and Associations:
Law Practice:
Anderson Bradley Krant, P.C. Shareholder and Partner, 2006 to Present. This firm is one of two solely
women-owned legal firms in the Rogue Valley. The firm was founded by Carolyn Anderson and Susan Bradley
Krant in April, 2006. Susan practices in the area of litigation, estate planning, guardian and conservatorship
establishments, estate litigation, and representing elder clients and family members through legal transitions
dealing with capacity and other care matters. Susan has a dual license to practice law in Oregon and
California. She has presented lectures on elder law and legal ethics to the Jackson County Bar, National
Business Institute, and other organizations. She has practiced law for nearly 30 years, focusing on elder law
and estate planning for the past 10 years. Susan has been licensed to practice law in California since 1987
and in Oregon since 1999. Susan graduated from Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco (1987) and
from Occidental College, Los Angeles (1984).
Legal Organization Affiliations:
Rogue Women Lawyers, Oregon Women Lawyers, Jackson County Chapter, Past President, 2013-2016,
Member 2006 to Present.
Oregon Women Lawyers, Board of Directors, January 2014 - May 2016, Member 2013 to Present.
Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED) Mediator, Jackson County Courts, 2009 to Present: Volunteer two
afternoons each month to mediate landlord/tenant disputes before trial.
Research Assistant, Jackson County Courts, 2001: Volunteered in Oregon Circuit Court, Jackson County, as
Research Assistant to Judge Daniel Harris (ret.).
Member, Jackson County Bar and Southern Oregon Estate Planning Council.
Delegate, House of Delegates of the Oregon State Bar, 2013 to Present.
Member, Oregon State Bar, 1999 to Present.
Member, California State Bar, 1987 to Present.
Community Volunteer Affiliations:
Ashland Independent Film Festival, Board Member, Secretary, 2014 to 2016.
Ashland Women Leaders Group, 2014 to Present.
Shine a Light: Secretary, Founding Board Member, 2014-2016
Career Day Coordinator: Ashland High School, 2012: Organized approximately 100 professionals and
business people to speak to students during 4 sessions, at this annual high school event.
Mock Trial Instructor: Ashland High School, 2009-2010.
Yreka Soroptomists: "I'm Special" Coordinator, 1999: Coordinated self-esteem and career choice seminar for
8th Grade Girls in Siskiyou County, California. Member at large and Board Member, 1998-2000.
Volunteers in Parole (VIP): Attorney mentor to parolees (1987-1988)