ASHLAND, Ore. – All six Ashland City Council candidates participated in a public forum on October 16th to answer questions from the public.
The American Association of University Women hosted the non-partisan forum where members of the public asked questions about the issues facing Ashland.
They covered affordable housing, how the city council can support local businesses, and how they would resolve conflicts in the city council if elected.
Jim Falkenstein had this to say about affordable housing in Ashland, “We need to make sure that the people who work downtown are able to live in the city of Ashland, so I’m going to look at making some more housing opportunities for our workers.”
On the topic of local businesses Jill Franko said, “We need to have an impact with marketing so that we are not only diversifying our economy but bringing people here, our businesses downtown are saying just bring the people here that’s all we need.”
Tonya Graham closed out her statement about resolving conflicts by saying, “Sometimes we have to take a step forward and require that people take responsibility for their actions, those are difficult conversations, but I am willing to have them.”
This was the only time voters will be able to see and ask questions of the candidates all in one place.
Organizers say this forum was held to inform the public about each candidate to help them decide who will be filling the three council seats.
Tonya Graham is the only incumbent city councilor.
The six candidates are running for 3 positions:
Position 2: Joy Fate and Tonya Graham
Position 4: Jill Franko and Robert Kaplan
Position 6: Jim Falkenstein and Eric Hansen
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.