HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-03-12 Economic Development Policy Group_MIN
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY GROUP
March 12, 2010
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MINUTES FOR THE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY GROUP
March 12, 2010
Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way
CALL TO ORDER
Russ Silbiger called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. in the Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way.
Policy Group Members Present: Staff Present:
Russ Silbiger Jim Klein Adam Hanks, Project Manager
John Stromberg Tom Bradley Martha Bennett, City Administrator
Ric Holt Annie Hoy April Lucas, Admin. Assistant
Mark Marchetti John Fields
Absent Members:
Wendy Siporen Pam Hammond
Dean Cropper Emile Amarotico
DeeAnn Everson Laurie Gibbs
PROCESS UPDATE/LOOK AHEAD
City Administrator Martha Bennett explained the group has identified approximately 50 potential
economic development strategies and suggested they add any final ideas to the list before they
start narrowing this down. She explained the goal is to end up with 6-8 strategies, and clarified
the overall plan should take between 5 and 10 years to complete.
REVIEW/DISCUSSION OF DRAFT STRATEGY
Staff presented the draft Vision statement and asked for the Policy Group’s feedback.
Mr. Marchetti commented that the draft Vision statement might be too long. Ms. Hoy agreed and
stated for her organization, a vision statement is something you can fit on a t-shirt. Additional
comment was made that the draft statement was too status quo. Ms. Bennett explained staff was
attempting to provide justification for the strategies that have been presented.
Mayor Stromberg stated they are trying to envision what this community will be like in the
future, how it will be different from today, and how it will focus on economic development. Mr.
Holt commented that traditionally, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Southern Oregon University,
and the Ashland Hospital have been the City’s biggest employers. He questioned whether they
wanted to stay with this model or bring in a different strategy. Mr. Holt voiced his support for
Ashland focusing on sustainable businesses and stated the City could become a leader in this
area. He stated there are new types of industries out there and suggested Ashland look beyond its
three main employers and tourism to attract new businesses. Ms. Bennett explained staff was
trying to capture the notion that these key industries are still valuable, but the City would like to
focus on different areas as well.
Mr. Marchetti commented that vision statements often end up saying the same thing, as all cities
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY GROUP
March 12, 2010
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want to be livable and have a vibrant economy. He stated he did not see much that was new in
the draft Vision statement and recommended they get beyond the boilerplate version of the
vision statement and decide what they are going to do to make this statement unique.
Mr. Holt noted the importance of making sure quality of life, sustainability and economic
development work together. Councilor Silbiger commented on the reality that the hospital and
healthcare are going to be big issues in the future. He stated the growing Hispanic community is
also a reality that will happen. Mr. Holt suggested new businesses and entrepreneurs could meet
that need, and asked if there are other businesses that could compliment those changes.
Mayor Stromberg asked the group to consider a shift in the quality of life notion. He stated
qualify of life has been short hand for amenities, but he believes there is something else going on
is Ashland. Mr. Stromberg stated there is something about Ashland that is quite unique;
something deeper than the amenities and he believes it is because this is what a real community
feels like.
Ms. Hoy presented her suggestion for the Vision statement: “Ashland has a prevailing spirit
where small is beautiful, all voices have value, visitors are welcome, and cutting edge ideas
germinate and grow.”
The group briefly discussed land use conflicts, such as wanting to limit growth, yet provide
affordable housing. Comment was made that the City will need to change how we approach
these problems, and there are going to be tradeoffs. Comment was made that the City needs land
use changes that increase diversity, not the population. Ms. Bennett noted that she has worked in
communities where growth is a strategy, and does not believe this is what Ashland wants. She
added we are not pursuing growth, we are pursuing resiliency.
Mayor Stomberg commented on the disconnect between the students of SOU and the
community.
Mr. Marchetti shared his concerns about the concept of selecting a community. He explained
most people he knows selected a city based on where a job was, and stated if a community has
jobs to offer, people will follow. Mr. Hanks noted that the Technical Advisory Committee also
had concerns about the lack of jobs in the Vision statement.
Mr. Bradley noted the word small keeps coming up and asked what they meant by this. He stated
6-8 employees is the key size and questioned how Ashland will encourage these small groups of
people. Mr. Holt commented on creating jobs, and stated the labor markets are changing and jobs
are being created by individual activity. He recommended Ashland create an economic social
environment that will be attractive to these types of individuals.
Mr. Fields commented on the process in terms of policy and implementation, and questioned if it
would be better to scale down the vision statement. He stated government might be one of the
obstacles and they need to discuss what it will take for them to move this through the process and
put into the strategy what is realistic. Mr. Holt agreed and hopes they will talk about redefining
the role of government since the old model does not fit with what they are proposing.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY GROUP
March 12, 2010
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Mayor Stromberg stated he likes the substance in the Vision statement. Mr. Klein recommended
the City consider how it fits in with the rest of the region. Ms. Bennett clarified that these are not
just going to be City of Ashland action items, and stated other local entities are going to be called
upon. She also noted they are not going to want to lose some of the traditional values, but agreed
that there are things they will want to change
NEXT STEPS
Staff explained they would compile the latest input and email it out to the group. Mr. Hanks
noted the proposed strategy submitted by Mr. Holt would also be submitted to the group.
NEXT MEETING
Staff indicated it will likely be three weeks before their next meeting, and April 2 and April 9
were proposed as possible dates. The group briefly discussed and selected April 2 for their next
meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
April Lucas, Administrative Assistant