To: Ashland Mayor, City Councilors, and City Manager,

The plan to put both Food and Beverage (FB) tax initiatives on the ballot as an either/or vote is flawed. It takes away the citizens’ choice of keeping the FB unchanged. This strategy must be corrected before the next meeting so that the reading of the city manager’s initiative can be performed to meet the timeline for the ballot. 

It is not in the best interests of Ashland for the city council to put a ‘citizens’ initiative on the ballot when the city manager has developed one that is better for the City’s road back to fiscal sustainability. 

Requiring citizens to gather a minimum number of petition signatures as evidence of widespread support is essential to justify the expense of putting it on the ballot and the additional election demands. Waiving the signature requirement as a stance for citizens’ rights is disingenuous. No rights have been taken away. 

When Councilor Moran asked for information on who were the supporters and their numbers, no one, not even other councilors, could answer. Letters of support were received but how many? A handful? Hundreds? It takes thousands of signatures to meet the minimum threshold. 

Where were said supporters at the July 5th meeting when the issue was on the agenda? The meeting room should have been overflowing with supporters. Only APR Commissioners and committee members were present. Also, no one showed up to speak (in-person or on zoom) in favor of the initiative. When I have been involved in issues that concern citizens, meeting rooms were overflowing and many people would speak on the issue. There is no evidence of broad support. 

It is evident to me that those councilors who support approving both initiatives on the ballot, do not truly support the city manager’s effort to put more flexibility in the budget in order to balance the City’s priorities as emergency expenditures occur. 

Sue Wilson
Ashland