HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997 Flood Article #15 flood harm
BY DANI DODGE .'
of the Mail Tribune
' 'ASHLAND --A strong get~out-the~vote
effort paid off,for Ashland flood bonds
Tuesday, the second time in three months
the issue 'went' before voters:~
. Fifty-three percent of re'giste~ed voters
East ballots in Tuesday's election, and 58
.percent voted for a $1.25 million bond issue
to repair flood damage to streets, parks and
public services. The vote was 3~297 to 2,257.
· "I think the citizens of Ashland under-
stand that we sustained a great deal of
damage at a great expense, and thankfully
the majority believed in paying to fix it up,"
Other election
news inside:
Fire District 5
passes its fire
bond, but other
money
measures fail,
some because
too few people
voted. Page 2A.
said Mayor Cathy Gold-
en. "It's gratifying that
citizens who lived
through that supported
the city in this effort."
The city put a similar
measure on the March
11 ballot, 'but it failed
because of a Measure
47 rule that requires a
50 percent turnout for
approval of money
measures. Only 47 per-
cent of the Ashland
elec{orate returned ballots in the March
election; of those, 54 percent favored the
bond. That bond measure also asked for
more money :-- up to $2.6 'million.
Couhbilman Doff Laws was thrilled with
the voter turnout in this election.'
"It's a big relief," he said. "It allows us to
continue providing the services that Ash-
land citizens want and to fix up our parks
and other flood damage. I'm delighted."
' January flooding caused $2.2 million of
damage to Ashland. The bond money will
be combined with other sources bf funding,
including federal matching grants, federal
.highway funds and private' 'parks donations,
to pay for repairs to parks, roads and sewer
and water systems.
:- The amount of bond money necessary for
~epairs could be as little as $808,000, but
the city won't know for sure until after some
preliminary work is done on the Winburn
Way Bridge, which was wiped out in the
flood. A public hearing will be held before
the council decides on the final amount of
the bond, but it will not exceed $1.25 rail-
Mail Tribune 5/21/97
MT file photo
DAMAGE Aerial photo shows flood damage to Ash-
land Plaza after New Year's Day flood. '
Ashland
from Page 1A *
lion.
Golden said the election
never felt like a sure thing.
Vocal people in the community
said the city should pull money
from other funds and services
to fix the flood damage. And as
of Friday, the percentage of
ballots returned was the same
as the Friday before the March
election.
This despite an effort since
March that removed about 300
people from the voting rolls
who had either moved or died.
"Once I saw we had the same
numbers (as March) I was in a'
panic," Golden said. ·
But instead of letting up,
Golden organized nearly 70
people into a phone' bank that
has operated every evening
since Friday.
twice as big,lan effort as
March's get-oui,the-vote.
· I m sure ~.a.t g.e.t~utrt,Ji~
vote ,~ade a s~gm,~cant ~mr
pact, Laws' :s~id.
called a lot'of peopJe".!niY~
that ~till h/id ,their ballots .an.'~:
mdre than 90 'p~reent .~ 'aid they';=.
would get them~in."