HomeMy WebLinkAboutMark Haneberg
Mark Haneberg, J.D.
657 Prim Street
Ashland, OR 97520
mdhaneberg(iDgmail.com
(541) 488-4719
February 28, 2018
City Recorder
City Hall
20 East Main Street
Ashland, OR 97520
Melissa. huhtala(a)ashland.or.us
RE: Letter of Interest
Council Position #3
Thank you for taking applications for the vacant council position. Please accept mine. I live in
Ashland. I have been a resident for 25 years. I am registered to vote.
Primary motivation:
Before the election of Donald Trump, I could scarcely believe what I discovered in Jackson
County when as an attorney I represented tenants living in housing that could kill them and their
children. There is a pervasive and underlying meanness in a legal system that tolerates and encourages
unsafe drinking water, dangerous electricity, fire hazards, vermin, poisons, toxins and other disease
hazards in housing. 1 mention Trump because his bullying tactics and compulsive need to "win" at any
cost are similar to the practices of some Jackson County judges, attorneys and police. It's an age-old
problem of the privileged enforcing their privileges at the expense of humanity-particularly at the
expense of poor children. The conditions I saw, the suffering, and the aggressive tactics used to deny
justice, health and basic needs broke my heart. I think many people in Ashland have never seen the
harms that are inflicted upon their neighbors. 1 think many people in Ashland do not realize that
dangerous housing-and no housing at all-not only breeds disease and despair but is a substantial
factor that drives inequality. I would like to do everything possible to stop this exploitation, misery and
social injustice.
Biggest issues:
1. Smoke Pollution
In 2017, 665,000 Oregon acres burned and $454 million was spent on firefighting. Two of our
largest fires, Chetco Bar and Eagle Creek, were the nation's top-priority fires in August and September.
OSF lost about $400,000 in refunds for outdoor performances canceled because of smoke. The festival
laid off a dozen employees as a result. The smoke reached levels hazardous to human health. The front-
page headline of the September 7, 2017, Daily Tidings read, "SMOKE-SMACKED." The subhead:
"Rogue Valley going on four weeks of fire-fueled, smoke-shrouded misery." I believe the beauty,
liveability and economic prosperity of Ashand is damaged when the air is a dense, dangerous fume.
Mark Haneberg, J.D.
657 Prim Street
Ashland, OR 97520
mdhaneberg@gmail.com
(541) 488-4719
2. Housing
In 2017, the median price of a home sold in Ashland was $421,500. The land component of the
price of a home continues to inflate, and Ashland land costs about $1 million per acre. Ashland prices
exclude people who work here. This is a matter of social justice. With regard to housing, Ashland has
become exclusive and fundamentally unjust.
Recent community and city activities:
Most recently, I was on Team Ashland. I learned that our city has the highest standards of safety.
The water supply, for example, is managed and maintained to be pure and reliable. The fire department,
for a second example, trains constantly and identifies and uses the best practices and techniques.
The new tools of technology enable skilled employees to map and document all the city's
infrastructure and systems, and thereby make maintenance, repair and upgrades as cost effective and
efficient as possible. In short, I learned that Ashland is really a special place because of its excellent
employees. And, as those employees pointed out, Ashland is really a special place because of its
citizens and its generous citizen volunteers.
Role of the City Councilor:
I believe the primary role of any elected or appointed official is to do everything possible to
ensure the safety of all citizens. I mean safety in its broadest sense. People, for example, should not be
subjected to hazardous smoke pollution even if it means owners of forests must manage their lands to
minimize wildfire hazards. People should be able to find and afford safe housing in a good location
even if it means slumlords must repair their rentals and earn a more modest return on investment, and
even if it means 20 acres of poor-quality "farmland" must be used to achieve this realization of social
justice. Future generations should inherit a fully functioning natural environment that supports life in
its fullest and healthiest expression, even if it means we must curb our reliance upon fossil fuels and
internal combustion engines and adopt clean, renewable energy instead.
A councilor should preserve these and all aspects of public safety. To that end, a councilor
should listen, facilitate, educate and encourage. In the short time available for this appointment, I
would encourage council to enact code language and policies to facilitate an implementation of
statewide land-use planning Goal 10 that actually works-so that Ashland may have "adequate
numbers of needed housing units at price ranges and rent levels which are commensurate with the
financial capabilities of Oregon households." My experience in law makes me ideally suited to
interface with the state sovereign to help solve our housing crisis. Ashland and the Rogue Valley are
different from the Willamette Valley, and the housing crisis can be solved with different policies here
than would be appropriate there. Laws should be tailored to community when one-size-fits-all creates a
mismatch and a fallacy. My experience in law also makes me suited to suggest to the federal sovereign
that forest lands currently mismanaged to produce hugely destructive wildfires should be managed as
healthy forests instead.
Mark Haneberg, J.D.
657 Prim Street
Ashland, OR 97520
mdhanebergOgmail.com
(541) 488-4719
i
Finally, a councilor appointed for a short term to replace a popular, successful and well-
respected councilor should be cognizant of the privilege afforded by the appointment, maintain
continuity, be a caretaker, and facilitate the proper functioning of the council and the city to the fullest
extent-because the November election will be upon us shortly and will afford our citizens the
opportunity to select a candidate for the next full term.
Thank you,
Mark Haneberg