City elections full of questions

At 5 p.m. on Aug. 16, the opportunity for candidates to run for Ashland City Council closed.

A 5:01 p.m. the individual battles were just beginning, but the war looked all but over.

Despite four of the six seats up for re-election, the progressives have won the city council. Mayor John Morrison has lost it.

Councilor Cate Hartzell has two more years in office. Her strongest ally during her 2004 campaign was Alice Hardesty, who is now assured of keeping her newly appointed. She's the only candidate running unopposed.

Together, Hartzell and Hardesty will lead a strong progressive council. They need only two seats among the other three to have a permanent majority. Each of the three seats offers candidates who closely align with Hartzell and Hardesty, who based on the previous two local elections must be considered the early favorites. Progressive candidates dominated last year's school board and the 2004 council election.

Eric Navickas who is running for seat 2 said it best: "With me, there will be an opportunity to move forward with a progressive agenda."

The agenda however, is less than clear.

In the past couple of years, Hartzell was often involved in groups of three councilors — just enough to avoid a quorum and thereby exposing their meetings to public scrutiny — meeting privately about specific issues like the Ashland Fiber Network, funding for the Chamber of Commerce and affordable housing. Different members of the city council were invited to these meetings. Morrison was not. Once this new council takes office, Morrison may find it hard to get invited to the council meetings. Should progressive candidates like Navickas, John Stromberg, Nick Frost or Randy Dolinger, get elected, it is a lock he will never cast a meaningful tie-breaking vote.

The progressive agenda will lead for the next two years. It will behoove voters to know what this agenda is.

Again, Navickas is most helpful, admirably offering a clear definition.

The progressive agena starts with "diversifying Ashland's economy," away from tourism and toward "small, green industry." The agenda includes increasing affordable housing, jobs for the homeless and environmental protection — which most assuredly includes efforts to halt the expansion of the Mt. Ashland Ski Area. It values community policing and a slow-down of development.

The campaign for city council is just beginning, but the progressive agenda is dominant among the candidates and those we'd consider favorites.

Barring a major shift of political will, progressives will take over the city council in January and their agenda will make a lasting change on the city.