HomeMy WebLinkAboutTidings Forum-charter review
August 16, 2004
Tidings Guest Forum
By John Enders
In coming months, the residents of Ashland will have an uncommon and very important opportunity to review and
learn about how their city is governed, and, if it is deemed advisable, to affect changes to that governance. I want to
invite the people of Ashland to take advantage of this opportunity, to help Ashland hold onto those ways that make it a
unique small city and possibly to add new ways that might make it even better.
One of the City Council goals for 2004-05 was to review and update, if necessary, the Ashland City Charter. In May,
after months of discussion by the Mayor and City Council, a Charter Review Committee was formed. Ten citizens
were appointed to review and update, if necessary, the City Charter.
I am pleased to have been elected to serve as chair of the Charter Review Committee. My friend, former councilor
Carole Wheeldon, is vice-chair. The committee has met three times since early July. One of our greatest challenges
was to find a day and time that was convenient for all ten committee members and for the public. Our regular meeting
schedule will begin on Thursday September 16 at 7:00 p.m. in council chambers at 1175 East Main Street. We will
meet regularly on the first and third Thursday of the month from that date forward. Once we complete our task the
committee will report its recommendations to the City Council, then disband.
While we are eager to jump into the work, at this point we are moving slowly. We are getting to know each other and
learning to work as a group. We recognize that in order for us to successfully accomplish our assigned task it is
essential that we work well together. In the Charter review process we will be examining the possibility of significant
changes to how the city government does its business, and because of that no doubt there will be some bumpy roads
ahead. We want to feel comfortable working with each other before we get to the hard stuff.
We have had much discussion on the pros and cons of engaging the services of a charter review consultant. While we
have not yet made a decision to enlist such services for the duration of our work, we all agree we would benefit from an
educational presentation on the importance of a Charter review and update, how a consultant might help in the process
and the various methods of approaching a review.
We have invited Tom Sponsler to make the presentation. Tom has years of experience in local government and has
assisted numerous Charter review committees in Oregon. Tom is also the author of the Model Charter for Oregon
Cities, prepared for the League of Oregon Cities and released in January of this year. Tom will make this educational
presentation for the committee and the public on Thursday, September 2 at 7:00 p.m. in council chambers. I am writing
on behalf of the committee to invite the public at large to attend this presentation. I know we will all benefit hearing
from someone who has assisted other communities in this important work.
In addition, we invite you to attend our regular meetings, if not in person then by watching the meeting on RVTV
Channel 9. The Charter Review Committee agendas, minutes and meeting packets can be accessed online from the
left-hand column on the front page of the city’s web site. Go to www.ashland.or.us for more information. In addition,
on-demand video of our first meetings, as well as a complete list of those serving on the Charter Review Committee,
are available there.
Please feel free to contact the committee by e-mail at charter@ashland.or.us.
The committee members are intent on having a balanced, thoughtful, public and entirely transparent charter-review
process that leads to solid, widely understood and logical conclusions and recommendations. We hope you will come
along with us for the ride.
Sincerely,
John Enders, Chair
Ashland Charter Review Committee