HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-0101 MAYOR'S ADDRESSMAYOR'S ANNUAL ADDRESS
(Transcribed from a
January 1, 1977
tape recording)
In preparation for this evening~ I didn't write out an address to
read, but will base my remarks somewhat on history and somewhat on the
future. The first thing I would like to say in relation to the past
year is several personal things relating to the past Council. I would
strongly reco~send to this Council that action be taken to express our
appreciaLion to Councilman Allen who is DO longer on the Council, and to
Councilman Hoffarth who quit once, and then later returned. I think our
thanks were expressed the first time, and maybe we don't need to a second
time, but I think something we very quickly forget is that the people
who have served on the Council and the committee make the majority of
things that happen here possible. (We probably make the majority of
the mistakes, but the majority of work is probably done by those people).
I think if we reflect back on last year (because it becomes really
a catalyst for this year) that there were accomplishments. Completion of
the airport master plaq was in my opinion a major accomplishment. Major
progress was made in the last year on the Comprehensive Plan and more pro-
gress must be made this year. The citizen involvement has been outstand-
ing, the effort of the Planning Commission has been superb, and again I
give them thanks for their past service and our desire for their continued
service. We are also nearing completion of the 208 Study which was initiat-
ed by a prior Council. Many of these things will have tremendous impact
upon our deliberations and decisions within the next year. Having been on
the Council for a period of time, you very quickly realize that no one
year stands alone, and in order to look at the future we have to look at
the past but I think we have to look much broader than a year or we're not
serving the City in our best capacity.
Another project that I think will be extremely important to the City
of Ashland is the Feeder line project, which is now nearing completion.
I think this leads me into part of the things I want to speak to relating
to major impact for next year, one of which is our electrical energy supply
contract. We should be aware that this feeder line construction project
now places our electric utility in a position to provide the services to
the citizens of Ashland to at least the year 1985 or beyond, without the
need of further major construction projects.
This Council should also continue to look at -the fiscal control that
has been exerted, and one which I personally hope we will continue to
exert, with the aim of providing the basic services of the City as a
priority at the most reasonable cost possible. I don't think we should
ever get to the point where we are so fiscally tight that we're not doing
the things that we should do. We must have a continual review process
that will insure us that those services that are being provided are basic,
and at the least dollar cost possible. Through the implementation by the
last Council of the User Tax, we now will receive equity in the application
and receipts of Federal Revenue Sharing dollars. I think the action of
that Council was a wise one, but I think it has ~lso thrust the responsibil-
ity on this Council which may be even more difficult to cope with, and that
is the expenditure of those funds. I think this is going to take far-
sightedness and I have no recommendations at this point as to what the
be, but it is something this Council will need to address
priorities should
itself to.
In that vein,
I would hope the Council would very strongly consider
at a very early point, even without completion of the comprehensive plan,
working on a public works priority ranking. Perhaps the most appropriate
time would be at the completion of the comprehensive plan, but with the
completion of the 208 Study, and a variety of funding programs
available through the Federal government and State government,
may be necessary now. -2-
becoming
this plan
We have discussed the concept of a Justice'Center and a variety of other
things, and I think at this point it has become a necessity that such a
public works construction priority program be established and adopted by
the Council, and that we vigorously pursue the implementation of that plan
based upon the needs of the community.
Our Electric System Study was completed this past year. We now have
the renegotiation of the energy supply contract 4 years hence, and it is
important that we begin immediately investigating all possible alternatives
of future energy sources. This will allow a period of time for study
before completion of our current contract, and will enable us to continue
with uninterrupted service, but again at a cost which hopefully will be
reasonable to the consumers of Ashland, and hopefully less than other
cities can provide.
The Franchise for Cable TV comes due this yea~, and we have had a
comm~te~ working on a new agreement, and it would be my opinion that we
must push forward wj. th that. The completion of the comprehensive plan
should become a reality this year. It will mean many additional hours
of work for the Council, and it is also going to mean many hours of work
for the citizens making ~heir thoughts and feelings known, so that this
plan does reflect basically the wishes of the citizens of Ashland, I'm
sure there will have to be give-and-take, and there will have to be
trade-offs, because all parties won't be satisfied in every part. But
this is our master plan and our guideline for the future, and I person-
ally feel its one of the most important things that we can do within
the next year.
I think action related to the Lithia Mill site is obvious and
evident, that through the completion of the public works priority list-
ing (or even without the completion of that) a decision must be made on
whether the Lithia Mill site should be designated for public buildings.
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We have a six months purchase option, and I don't think we should wait until
five mon~s have passed before we give due consideration to that purchase
proposal.
I think another problem that faces the Council (and I will be making
later proposals on this) which has not recently been the responsibility
of the Council, but one that I would hope they would be cooperative in
looking at, is the re-estab]_ishment Of a committee to reactivate the
downtown development plan. Many improvements we see have occurred through
the efforts of a downtown development committee. I think the improvement
of Guanajuato Way and the Downtown Project stand as two outstanding con-
tributions that came from that committee over a recent period of years, and
it is my hope that the Council would consider at a later date a request
that this committee be re-established. We can then begin looking at things
not on a comaunity basis, but on a project basis, realizing that we have
traffic problems dow]~town that are related to our economy, and that we
have areas within the City where improvements should take place.
I think we have the capability of maintaining the aesthetic quali-
ties that we have, and l!roviding one of the most liveable cities in the
State and probably in t'"e United States, while providing the growth and
the economic base which provides liveability and income to the people who
reside in this area. With the possibility of decreasing job opportunities
in two of our major industries, the tia~e~ industry and the college, it is
imperative that the City be looking to ways and means in which the people
who live in this community will have an opportunity to earn a living which
is compatible with this community. I personally don't think that everything
that is classified as economic growth is distasteful to all people. While
we recognize that we do have a problem - we also have a reservoir of talent
based on our unemployment rate. We have a shortage of jobs, and the County
Economic Development Commission is
try and a compatible economic base
looking towards bringing compatible indus--
to this area.
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think that we, as a city. should be looking towards that which we want
and that which we want ~:,.reje<:'..
There are quite a f,.~ether~,reas I could speak about,
but looking
at the clock I have pretty well extended my time, but perhaps this fulfills
the requirement in th,:. e~.~..~:~a~ i do so. There are some additional
thoughts I'll be sharin~?'~-:~.~. i.n the future, and I have pointed these
things out, not that yo~%~le~.~e~,~ have them pointed out, but to emphasize
that this Council and our committees must look forward to a year of coopera-
tion a year of positive direction for the betterment of
the City of Ashland.
all citizens of
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