COUNCIL POSITION 4
Jill Franko
Bob Kaplan
What is your position on planning and building infrastructure in Ashland, specifically related to outdoor recreation?
Jill
The progress of mountain biking in Ashland has been stagnant or regressed for several years. We used to have mountain bike races end in town, now they are terminated at the reservoir. The usage of trails throughout the watershed has increased however no additional funding or expansion has been allowed.
We need to change the stagnation and lack of progress to evolve with the times. This means approving necessary trail expansion for hikers and bikers throughout the watershed to increase safety and improve the outdoor experience. In addition we need to encourage mountain bike races to the extent that the trails and ecological landscape tolerate them. In order to host races, events, and expos in Ashland we will need to expand public restrooms downtown, provide access and ability for camper vans to park in Ashland, and expand neighborhood access points to trails throughout the city.
We need to improve cooperation with local law enforcement to allow and help facilitate various outdoor events through town: including potential road closures, detours, or escorts. We also need to add safe bike parking for road, electric, and mountain bikes. Hiring a grant writer for the city would benefit multiple internal departments but also help in acquiring various grants to implement robust and sustainable trails for mountain bikers and increase our access to funds for other outdoor projects and infrastructure.
Bob
I’m no expert in planning or building infrastructure for outdoor recreation, but one of the main reasons my wife Lorrie and I moved to Ashland was its access to nearby hiking and biking opportunities.
I’m a long-time road cyclist and sometime amateur racer, and my trusty blue De Bernardi fixed-gear bike is how I mostly get around town. But riding trails is new to me. Fortunately my friend and neighbor, Ashland Woodlands and Trails Association president Torsten Heycke, took me under his wing to explore the watershed’s forest roads and trails on my gravel bike. Wow! And humbling....
All this to say I’m very much in favor of building and maintaining high quality outdoor recreation infrastructure for Ashland’s residents and visitors. It’s another one of those things that makes Ashland special! I’d love to hear about specific ideas. I was happy to see the pump track by the dog park got fixed.
Was that done by Parks and Rec? Did RVMBA have a hand in it? And I know there was some talk about another pump track in the new dog park on the south side of town, but I don’t know what’s been decided.
With OSF cutting performances in 2023 and recovering from COVID losses, do you have any specific ideas related to maintaining and/or increasing tourism revenue in Ashland?
Jill
As Ashland slowly moves out of the pandemic we have to embrace a broader depth of economic solutions to bring revenue into our community. This needs to include outdoor recreation in all its forms.
We have to diversify our economy with a multitude of tourist revenues. Tourism needs to expand to yearlong arts and culture content alongside outdoor recreation, including but not limited to local mountain bike races, expos, and family outdoor adventures. We need to bring our parks back to the beauty and quality we all love and expect, while expanding the diversity of outdoor experiences beyond just parks. As communities change we need to make sure that families are being included in the evolution of our town. Increasing variety and access to mountain biking for kids increases the health, wellness, and lifelong relationship with nature and the outdoors.
Bob
OSF’s success over the years has been good for Ashland, but it’s never a good idea to “put all our eggs in one basket,” so I strongly support diversifying our economy by continuing to develop other tourism assets and other economic sectors as well. I don’t have any real expertise in the tourism market, butlooking around it seems to me that Ashland has so much else to offer tourists in addition to OSF, including other cultural, culinary, and recreational attractions. And seeing who’s coming to Ashland these days, it looks like we’re already doing it! I think it makes sense to combine forces and target tourists who are looking for an experience that includes “all of the above,” rather than expecting one organization or tourist sector to carry the whole load. I think there’s pretty good data showing that recreation opportunities are good for communities’ economic health, and I would be excited to see expansion of cycling and hiking trails as part of that...road biking too!
What is your overall impression of mountain biking and hiking in the Ashland Watershed, both in regards to tourism and as a local amenity for residents?
Jill
I love that we have trails available for those that love to mountain bike and hike. As much as we can encourage a relationship with the outdoors in whatever form people find engaging, I welcome it. We naturally have amazing world class trails for both hikers and bikers. We have to lean into this innate trait and expand on the potential without exploiting our resources.
Providing funding for organizations to manage the trails for this added benefit is crucial in building the proper infrastructure so that all impacts are considered. Without proper funding for these organizations we are at greater risk of the trails being improperly maintained. People travel from all over the country to visit our parks, hike our trails, and mountain bike. In less than five minutes from multiple points throughout the town you can be in the forests hiking or biking and come out to enjoy a nice dinner downtown.
There are not many places in the world where you can enjoy world class trails, world class dining, world class theater, and world class wine. All of that combined is what makes Ashland such a beautiful and amazing place to live.
Bob
I think the Ashland Watershed is a terrific resource for Ashlanders and visitors alike. I’ll never have the bike handling skills on gravel or trails that I have on the road, but it’s hard to match the clean and joyful feeling of that first spring ride around the watershed on 2060 with snow patches still nestled in the shady corners. Young mountain-biking friends from Bellingham came to Ashland last summer for a destination wedding that included a group ride from Mt Ashland through the watershed and into downtown on the morning of the wedding. We’ve already got something pretty terrific, and I’ve got to believe there are ways we can make it even better while respecting all user needs and modes.
What do you know about the Ashland Watershed Trail network, specifically city trails and alignments?
Jill
Our watershed is complex and meanders through many different public and private lands. The Sustainable Trails Plan runs through land managed by APRC, Forest Service, private land ownership, TID, and the city of Ashland. To properly increase, manage, and care for the trails we will need to build relationships with these various groups to coordinate efforts. The more we can minimize the point of contacts for each organization the more efficient we can be in moving forward. The Sustainable Trails Plan runs through land managed by APRC, Forest Service, private land ownership, TID, and the city of Ashland..
Bob
I know a bit about the trail network, and as I said, I’ve done some of the trails with Torsten. I don’t know what you mean by city trails and alignments but it sounds intriguing. Is it designed to expand access while minimizing conflict with other users? I’d be in favor of that as we need to be respectful of all the ways folks recreate in the watershed.
What is your opinion on the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association's Sustainable Trails Plan?
Jill
The sustainable trails plan is robust and well presented. It considers concerns, addresses all aspects of the community, and provides details on how to implement. I am supportive of the sustainable trails plan and understand that we need to remove the barriers to progress. RVMBA managed to do all of the hard work. Now let's break through the red tape that is stifling this project and move forward. We need to hire a grant writer for the city to handle all the various grants available to implement not only robust and sustainable trails for mountain bikers but to increase our access to funds for other outdoor projects as well.
Bob
I’ve had many discussions with Torsten about progress on trails projects in the watershed, including two new potential downhill routes off Wonder. Torsten thought I could manage climbing lower Wonder on my gravel bike with 38mm tires; I sure would have appreciated a way to bail out early! I appreciate the work that went into the Sustainable Trails Plan as a tool for dialogue and hammering out the many details ahead to carry it out. [BTW, after that experience on Wonder, I swapped out my 38s for 42mm tubeless, which give me a bit more confidence!]
What is your position on Ballot Measures 15-210 and 15-211 regarding City of Ashland/Ashland Parks and Recreation structure?
Jill
These measures are not about our parks, this is about who reports to who. Your parks will be better sustained and managed with proper oversight. The parks commission will still make specific decisions around funding and provide oversight for the city manager. This will decrease the overall liability for the city. Our workers comp went from 700k to 1.9million due to employee lawsuits against APRC, and because the insurance carrier does not see how to provide proper oversight for employees with the format it is currently under. This is simply about oversight and accountability, not about our amazing parks, which we all love. This change in oversight will also help to remove the red tape that is preventing progress with mountain bike trails. I will be voting yes on both measures and believe all citizens should support them as well. APRC has had autonomy for many many years.
They have been successful in expanding and growing the parks available in the community during this time. In recent years they have been more focused on expansion rather than taking care of the parks we have now. Yet APRC in the recent biennium budget receives 25+ million, that is more than our fire (20 million) and police (15 million) departments, yet our existing parks are in disrepair. We all love and value our parks. They are so necessary and foundational to what we all believe is important in a community.
That is why it is time to move the parks under the city manager as we voted to do with the city manager form of government.
Bob
I’ll be voting no on both ballot measures because I think they’re a distraction from addressing the real issue Ashlanders need to decide. Over 110 years ago, Ashland set up an independent governance structure and funding for our parks. The Parks Commission lost its earmarked levy in the mid-1990s as a result of statewide ballot initiatives, and we muddled through instead of asking Ashland voters whether or not they wanted to create an independent Parks District to mimic the old arrangement.
We voted in 2020 to move to a strong City Manager form of government, explicitly exempting management of staff in the parks and recreation department, but still didn’t take on the fundamental question of how we want to manage our parks. Today, our separately elected Parks and Recreation Commission still has the mandate to manage our parks and recreation programs, and it must compete for funding with Police, Fire, and general administration, so it’s not surprising to see a tug-of-war when budgets get tight. As I’ve been talking with people around town, I hear a lot of frustration with some of the management decisions in Parks and Recreation, which is also an implicit criticism of the Commission’s oversight. I don’t think further muddying management responsibility for these assets and programs will fix the problems people cite, and it will only add further complexity to an already muddy situation.
So I’ll vote “no” on both measures this time and hope for a more direct and clear cut ballot measure next time around following a thorough presentation and discussion of all the pros and cons of each option.
What is your vision for Ashland?
Jill
We are a community that invests in its people and acts as responsible stewards of the land, water, and air. We offer ways to work, parent, retire, learn and live affordably while supporting healthy ways to commune, exercise, find purpose, contribute, and grow so every citizen can reach their full potential. We not only welcome all individuals into our community regardless of how they identify, we focus on creating an environment where everyone feels safe.
Bob
It’s hard to say in just a few words, but I’ll be working for a vibrant, resilient, and caring Ashland that works for everyone. That means expanding and diversifying our local economy–including cycling and other recreation opportunities; protecting everyone, but especially our most vulnerable residents from the negative effects of our changing climate; and rebuilding and celebrating our sense of community solidarity after a stressful two years of “social distancing.” I’ve been knocking on doors since mid-August to introduce myself to Ashlanders (2,300 so far as I write this on October 4th) because I want to hear everyone’s ideas about making Ashland a better place to live, work, play, and visit.