Council Goals

At Tuesday's meeting, the City Council approved their 12 - 24 month list of goals. Thanks to the wide variety of input submitted in August and September of 2009, the Council was able to add to, refine, and clarify quite a few of the goal approved last year. Thank you, again, to everyone who took the time to submit their feedback regarding the goals.

As you can see below, Council has set some challenging and exciting goals for itself:

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2010-2011 CITY COUNCIL GOALS

OVERVIEW
The City Council has set goals for the next 12 to 24 months to continue Ashland’s history as a community that focuses on sustaining itself and its people. To us, sustainability means using, developing and protecting resources at a rate and in a manner that enables people to meet their current needs and also provides that future generations can meet their own needs. The City of Ashland has a responsibility towards sustainability in six primary areas:
o Economy
o Environment
o Social Equity
o Municipal Organization
o Public Facilities
o Partnerships


ECONOMY
Develop and implement a comprehensive economic development strategy for the purpose of:
o Diversifying the economic base of the community
o Supporting creation and growth of businesses that use and provide local and regional products
o Increasing the number of family-wage jobs in the community
o Leveraging the strengths of Ashland’s tourism and repeat visitors

Develop an implementing strategy for funding infrastructure and public facilities for economic development projects.

Increase the clarity, responsiveness, and certainty of the development process.


ENVIRONMENT
Develop an integrated land use and transportation plan to increase the viability of transit, bicycles, walking and other alternative modes of transportation; reduce per capita automobile vehicle miles traveled; provide safe walking and bicycling routes to home, work, shopping and schools; implement environmentally responsible design standards, and minimize new automobile-related infrastructure.

Adopt an integrated Water Master Plan that addresses long-term water supply including climate change issues, security and redundancy, watershed health, conservation and reuse, and stream health.

Implement specific capital projects and operational programs to ensure that City facilities and operations are a model of efficient use of water, energy, land, and other key resources.

Adopt land use codes, building codes, green building standards, and fee structures that creates strong incentives for new development that is energy, water, and land efficient and supports a multi-modal transportation system.

Develop a strategy to use conservation and local renewable sources to meet Tier 2 power demands.

Plan for low-water years by:
o Implementing a public information and technical assistance campaign that encourages summer time conservation.
o Consider the options for a summer time surcharge to encourage efficient irrigation practices prior to June 1, 2010.


SOCIAL EQUITY
Complete the sale of a portion of the Clay Street Property to Parks and Recreation and decide whether to develop or sell the remaining land. *This goal was modified

Facilitate efforts to address homelessness by:
o Replacing services previously provided by ICCA.
o Developing an emergency shelter for minors.
o Better connect services available in Jackson County to Ashland's homeless.
o Ensure Jackson County's 10 Year Plan addresses the specific issues faced in Ashland.


ORGANIZATION
Develop plan for fiscal stability, manage costs, prioritize services, and insure key revenue streams for the City and Parks & Recreation.

Address issues the stability of the organization including employee recruitment and retention; succession planning; and effective and increased use of citizen volunteers.


PUBLIC FACILITIES
Develop a plan to replace Fire Station #2.

Define a long term strategy for the Ashland Fiber Network that improves its financial viability, provides high quality services to residents, and promotes healthy economic development.


PARTNERSHIPS
Foster strong collaboration of the local community, City, State and Federal leaders in efforts to improve the health of the Ashland watershed through reducing fire hazards and restoring forest health.

Advocate for the long-term viability of rail service to and through Ashland and encourage the use of rail through land use, transportation, and economic development planning.

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So, what do you think about the adopted goals?

2010 Census

The U. S. Constitution mandates a Census of the population every 10 years in order to achieve an accurate assessment of the number and location of people in each state. The Census population counts determine the number of seats your state occupies in the U. S. House of Representatives. Accurate counts are integral to ensuring fair and equitable representation in Congress.

Census counts also determine the amount of state and federal funding communities receive for the ten year period between counts. The federal government uses the census numbers to allocate $400 billion each year to local, state, and tribal governments to fund infrastructure and services such as; hospitals, schools, senior centers, bridges, sidewalks, roads, emergency services, social services, and community development.

Since 2000, the City of Ashland has received over $ 2.2 million in Community Development Block Grant funds, has shared in over $1.2 Million a year in public works and infrastructure funding through the Medford MPO, and received a variety of funds to support programs that provide services for seniors and other vulnerable populations. All due to the data provided through the Census.

The goal of the decennial Census is to count everybody, count them only once, and count them in the right place. Census data is an important tool for historians, genealogists, demographers, policy-makers, and countless others. Data gathered during census counts is used to write grant applications, advocate for causes, and to recognize and analyze trends in demographic and socio-economic developments to provide a basis for future planning. Census data enables researchers to trace family trees, it provides important information about socio-economic change over time, and is a means for recording the statistical plight of the common American for perpetuity.

With just ten minutes of your time, answering ten questions will guarantee that you and your family; receive fair and equitable representation in the democratic process, assure that a fair apportionment of your tax dollars go to support necessary services in your community, and to ensure your place in the history of America for posterity.

For more information about the 2010 Census, please click here.