HomeMy WebLinkAboutGeorge Kramer
From the Desk of
GEORGE KRAMER
386 North Laurel Street, Ashland, OR 91520
541-482-9504
george (a) preserveoregon.tom
27-February-2018
Ashland City Council
C/O Melissa Huhtala (via e-mail)
Melissa.huhtala(n,ashland.or.us
RE: Council Position #3
Dear Mayor Stromberg and Members of the Ashland City Council,
Please consider this my letter of interest in filling the current vacancy in Council Position 43, with a
term to expire on December 31, 2018. It is my intention to run for election to council in November
2018.
The following responds to the four questions as detailed in the position announcement.
What are the biggest issues facing the City?
Ashland continues to be faced with issues related to its work-force housing supply, affordable
housing and homelessness, all of which are, in my opinion, linked with economic development.
We need to continue looking for creative solutions such as the Transit Triangle plan that encourage
and incentivize other-than-SFR residential development. We must also work to expand the
economy beyond tourism and government to create family-wage job opportunities. I believe we
can do this by promoting high-tech, medical, and clean industries in addition to the staples of
tourism and service jobs. We must continue to re-assess our planning process to minimize
obstacles to creative and appropriate residential and commercial development.
Additionally, Ashland's budget process has become overly fractious. The City needs to improve
how it prioritizes its budget and how it communicates, both to address public concern and more
importantly to assure a sustainable future. Both these issues, housing and budgets, in the largest
sense stem from an over-arching need to bring the city together to develop a broad-ranging vision
of what we want Ashland to be in the next 20 years. We must work creatively and collaboratively
to craft programs and policies that can help to move us toward our larger community goals.
What is your primary motivation for seeking a vacant Council seat?
I have lived in Ashland for over 35 years and can't imagine living anywhere else. As you know, I
have been engaged in and with city government in many forms and it seems high time for me to
step up and play a more active and direct role. I am a creative, collaborative, problem-solver and
bring a wide range of experience to a task. I think that I have the background and skills that would
be appropriate to a council seat and hope that I will have the opportunity to put those skills to use to
strengthen our community.
G. Kramer, Letter of Interest, Feb 27, 2018
Page 2
What Community and City activities have you been involved with recently?
I was appointed to the Ashland Historic Commission in the early 1980s and resigned as its Chair
when I returned to graduate school at the University of Oregon. In years past I have been on
multiple special-function committees including the City's public facilities committee, the Ashland
Fire Station #2 committee, the bond committee for that fire station and, most recently, the Ad Hoc
Committee on City Hall. Professionally I have worked for the City on multiple occasions,
including writing all four of Ashland's National Register District nominations, as part of the library
design team and many other projects as well. Most recently I worked with staff and helped design
the restoration of the Lithia Fountain and Pioneer Mike.
As a community member I have been involved with multiple issues, from the "Maximum House
Size" ordinance to working with the Festival to save Carpenter Hall. I currently serve as the Board
President of the Ashland Emergency Food Bank and have been active in that organization for many
years. My wife Joyce and I are longtime supporters of the Ashland Food Project, the Ashland
Public Library and other regional non-profits. Outside of Ashland I serve as a gubernatorial
appointee to the Oregon Cultural Trust Board of Trustees and am the former Chair of the Oregon
Heritage Commission, as well as service on several state and national professional groups.
What is the role of the City Councilor?
I believe the volunteer council's primary role is working collaboratively with the City's
professional staff and the community as a legislative body to evaluate and establish policy for
Ashland. It's council's role to listen and determine the community's priorities, and then, working
within the limitations of time and money, help craft workable solutions that help Ashland achieve
those goals. I appreciate that Council has other duties, including its quasi-judicial role and
supporting staff and commissions, but believe that Council is, and ought to serve as, the focal point
for the city's direction on the issues before us. In the end, the Council's collective wisdom
represents and reflects the interests and concerns of Ashland's residents. It is also, I believe,
Council's role to maintain a realistic expectation of what the City cannot do and to educate the
public on the limitations that the city faces. I believe process is important. Not every decision is
universally popular, nor does every constituent always get what they want. But I do see Council as
the mechanism by which Ashland can achieve and maintain a practical, achievable, sustainable,
community for a broad, diverse, and changing citizenry.
1 look forward to discussing these issues with each of you as the council moves through this
decision in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
George Kramer
386 North Laurel Street
541-482-9504