Five Reasons to Oppose the Ashland City Hall Bond

Attend the council meeting on Tuesday, February 18 at 6:00pm

http://www.ashland.or.us/Agendas.asp?Display=Agenda&AMID=7493

The bond includes four additional line items for funding.  These have other funding sources that citizens are already paying to have these structures maintained.  The solar array is not viable. The cost for relocating the current staff can be mitigated by renting office space on Ashland Street where there is parking and bus service.

The five reasons to oppose the Ashland City Hall Bond are these:

            (These are specific to the city hall costs $7.6 million.)

  1. The city refuses to get a second opinion from a restoration architect.  Only one architect has been consulted and presented the costs, that architect has very little experience with historical buildings.
  2. The city has failed to get a geological analysis of the soil upon which the city hall is built in order to determine the seismic risk.  This analysis will directly affect the costs.
  3. The city refuses to separate the demolition costs from the rebuilding costs.  This is important because it will affect the final costs and will be more accurate.
  4. The city has not taken a poll as to where the city hall should be located nor looked at creative designs for the use of the space.  How many citizens actually use the city hall or enter the building in a month or year?  Why must it be downtown?
  5. The city uses fear of lawsuits should an earthquake injure city employees or the public. The city has insurance to cover such lawsuits AND this fear is based on the “big one” which begs the question about other city buildings and structures and their safety in an earthquake. The city owns Briscoe School where 30-40 children and teachers reside daily! What about their lives that are in danger?

The City Council must tell the staff to do more work in order to bring this bond to the public.  Don’t insult the intelligence of the Ashland voter with this half thought through bond measure.

Chronicle Staff