HomeMy WebLinkAboutAFN Committee Recommendations
From: IIRichard Barthll <rmb@barthfamily.com>
Date: Tue May 3, 2005 5:42:06 PM US/Pacific
To: <morrisoj@ashland.or.us>, <hardestyforcouncil@charter.net>, <russcity@mind.net>, IIICate Hartzell'lI
<cate@mind.net>, IIIAlex Amarotico'" <alex@standingstonebrewing.com>, <chearn@davishearn.com>, IIIKate
Jacksonlll <KateJackson@opendoor.com>
Cc: <AIDouma@aol.com>, <rmb@barthfamily.com>, !IIJim Teece'" <jim@projecta.com>, '''Gino Grimaldi'"
<g rimaldg@ashland.or.us>
Subject: AFN Advisory Committee Recommendations
To: Ashland City Council
From: Rick Barth, Allen Douma,JimTeece
Subject: AFN
As citizen members of the AFN Advisory Committee we would like to offer you our observations and recommendatons for a future course
of action.
AFN has a long history of technical success and financial short falls, We believe that AFN can continue to provide a valuable service to the
community. We think that AFN should be used to substantially enhance communication to and involvement of citizens in
theAshlandcommunity, particularly in city government. However, that can only occur if AFN is on sound financial footing. Unfortunately, that
does not appear to be the case and so the remainder of this memo focuses on financial matters.
In brief, we believe council should establish an Oversight Committee simultaneously with reorganizing the AFN management structure on a
temporary basis.
A purpose of the Oversight Committee is to firmly establish the current financial status of AFN and projections for t1e next two years. In
addition, this committee would identify the most reasonable scenarios with regard to what can be done with AFN in the future and develop
the underlying rationales for each, both operationally and financially.
The Oversight Committee's charter and operation must be different from the past operation of the Advisory Committee. It must be
authorized by council. Its voting members must be either council members or citizens appointed by council. Meetings should be public,
noticed, agenda published, minutes recorded, and staff required to be responsive to requests for information.
We agree with the AFN reorganization memo fromGino Grimaldibut only on a temporary basis. We believe that council should consider
AFN management structures that are part of the scenarios presented to the Council by the Oversight Committee and eventually select one
as part of that process.
Hiring a permanent AFN manager now only makes sense if council has made a final decision on AFN's being a utility managed by the city
but subject to competitive price pressures and that it will part of the Finance Department. We do not think that the Council should make that
commitment until it has had time to further deliberate the findings of the Oversight Committee and the citizens of Ashland have developed
greater understanding and appreciation for what AFN has to offer.
Even though we do not believe that a permanent manager should be hired at this time we do believe that some restructuring of AFN
management must occur now. We suggest that a temporary manager be hired who will keep AFN running in its current form while the
longer range plan is developed. We further suggest that the city actively look for qualified current community members who can fill this role.
Since the position would be advertised to be temporary then the temporary manager could work with the oversight committee, council, and
staff to decide on the long range plan.
In summary, we believe that the council should take the following course of action:
Establish an Oversight Committee and charge them to:
Prepare a financial report describing the current state of AFN
Prepare a planning report for long term AFN operations and finances.
Proceed with AFN reorganization:
Hire a short term manager who reports to Lee Tuneberg
Using the reports from the oversight committee decide on the long term AFN structure.