Council seat 4 race heats up

As the election season winds down, candidates are working to distinguish themselves in the heated and crowded race for City Council seat four.

Three relative newcomers to the political spectrum are challenging incumbent Kate Jackson.

John Stromberg, Nick Frost and Bruce Harrell all have at least one thing in common. They all claim Jackson is a politician who represents political insiders.

Jackson points at her tenure on the council as a defining qualification.

"I'm running on my experience," Jackson said early on in an interview Wednesday.

Jackson has spent more than 20 years on local and regional boards and commissions. As a city councilor, she votes with the majority more often than not. She brings an opinion and conversation to the table on most issues.

Jackson voted to continue giving a stipend to the Ashland Chamber of Commerce and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She voted to ratify a separation agreement between former Ashland Chief of Police Mike Bianca and the city. She voted to lease Ashland Fiber Network cable television service to a private business. She voted to develop a Public Arts Master Plan for the ity for $10,000 but wanted to delay a costly new downtown plan.

Jackson's husband and campaign committee member Chuck Keil touted her experience as Ashland's representative to the Bear Creek Valley Regional Problem Solving Committee as proof that she is connected with Ashland's role in the greater community.

"Something that really sets her apart is Kate's realization that Ashland does not live in a vacuum," Keil said.

How to run the show

John Stromberg, an Ashland Planning Commissioner and retired organization and management consultant, doesn't share Jackson's belief in how government should work.

Stromberg says his 27 years of experience bridging gaps in his career more than makes up for his comparatively brief tenure in Ashland city government.

Earlier this year Stromberg and fellow planning commissioner Michael Dawkins held public meetings at the Ashland Library to talk about infill development. Some members of the community criticized the meetings. Jackson said working within the traditional process is the way to get things done in government. She said meeting with citizens outside the usual process can leave them disillusioned.

"Working outside the process is unproductive," Jackson said.

Stromberg wants the community involved as early and often as possible. When he lived in Eugene, he won an award for building a public and private partnership.

"Left to its own devices, city government becomes an insider system," Stromberg said.

He wants to take advantage of the intelligent and thoughtful people who live in Ashland to help make decisions, Stromberg said.

"I want to make a connection with the community in informal sessions when an issue comes up on the horizon," he said.

While Stromberg worked for a year on the process of creating a new downtown plan for Ashland, Jackson said the 1999-2000 plan by consultants David Evans and Associates, Inc. could be revised without having to hire new consultants.

Stromberg said he would oppose fluoridation of the city's water supply and any measure that would allow for a ski area expansion that would affect the Middle Branch of the East Fork of Ashland Creek. He is a supporter of Mike Bianca — who endorsed Stromberg — and wants to implement the PERF Report (an outside consultant's recommendation of how Ashland should adopt community policing).

One of Stromberg's main goals, he said, is changing the city's budget approval process. Instead of city staff approaching a budget committee with a pre-created budget for the coming year, Stromberg said starting with a "flat" budget from the previous year and asking staff to recommend additions would provide more accountability and "trim the fat."

Newcomer Nick Frost

At 33 years old, Frost is nearly 20 years younger than his three opponents. His platform of a sustainable economy runs closer to Stromberg's than Jackson's. Recently, Frost came out with a new campaign flyer accusing both Jackson and Stromberg of being insiders who rely on experience and spending for their campaigns.

Frost said Jackson is running on an "experts agree ... everything is fine" platform. He said Stromberg has spent more money than any other candidate in years.

Stromberg had raised more money than any other candidate in this race according to a mandatory filing earlier this month. The planning commissioner had raised $5,415 by the first filing. Stromberg said he imposed a cap of no more than $100 contributions per person on himself. Candidates will file twice more before final finances are calculated.

Frost wants to trim the city's budget by cutting new expenditures like increasing the City's water capacity or buying new vehicles. He wants to give more tax breaks to support local farmers and people producing renewable energy locally.

"In the end, the answer to most of these questions is that if we localize the economy, we have a stronger economy," Frost said.

Harrell on fiscal responsibility

Local attorney Bruce Harrell hasn't spent more than $100 on his campaign this election season.

"I'm relying on democracy," Harrell said. "I'm not using money."

At candidate forums, Harrell shined with colorful metaphors and jokes.

He likens the city to people trying to make additions to a house when the infrastructure is falling down. Harrell said the city needs to rebuild its house.

His top priority is making the city financially sound before adding new services. He wants to cut the budget by about 5 percent. He is against any real estate transfer tax or other new taxes. He said the city needs to support its essential services and get rid of some of the fluff. He doesn't think the city should spend money on a downtown plan, but he said the tourist draw is essential to the local economy.

Harrell said he wanted to put himself out to the community as a forthright, honest candidate — which he said he has done.

If elected and taken to task on cutting the budget, Harrell said he will talk confidentially with people in middle management rather than department heads because he "believes sergeants know a whole lot more about how things work in the army than generals do."

Harrell's alternative option of heavy fiscal responsibility is the most cut and dry of all the candidates for seat four, he said.

"I tried to be as concrete as possible with my proposals," Harrell said.

Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.