{"id":1723,"date":"2024-12-10T10:06:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T18:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/?p=1723"},"modified":"2024-12-10T17:52:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T01:52:18","slug":"trickle-down-economics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/2024\/12\/10\/trickle-down-economics\/","title":{"rendered":"Trickle Down Economics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ashland\u2019s bid for a Water Treatment Facility faces uncertainty<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
Owen Johnson<\/div>\n\n\n

Ashland\u2019s city hall overlooks Siskiyou Boulevard, the town\u2019s main street. It is in the heart of the downtown area, just steps away from Lithia Park. It is an unassuming building, empty and shuttered by six o\u2019clock on most nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Tonya Graham sat behind her desk last month, preparing for her first full term. Reams of paper were piled from floor to ceiling in the hallway. Binders full of budget proposals shared shelves with Richard Florida\u2019s \u201cThe New Urban Crisis.\u201d The steady stream of foot traffic two stories below could be heard through the closed windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mayor Tonya Graham. ~ photo by Owen Johnson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To begin her term, Graham is focused on bills that passed on the local level in the recent election. However, she is apprehensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re particularly concerned about the things that we need the federal government to help us with,\u201d she said. She felt that the re-election of Donald Trump may become an obstacle in the path of the city’s goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of her main concerns is the quality of Ashland\u2019s drinking water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the ballot this year was Ashland Measure 15-234<\/a>. The bill proposed the authorization of $75 million in revenue bonds to finance the construction of an improved water treatment plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill generated a strong response from constituents and passed with a vote of 7,785 to 2,842<\/a>. The current water treatment plant was constructed in 1948,<\/a> and it is vulnerable due to its age.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Councilor Bob Kaplan was elected in 2022. He views the replacement of the plant as a pressing issue. Prior to settling in Ashland, he led the development of environmental infrastructure in Mexico and Haiti during his time as the president of the Inter-American Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt seemed like I could have something to offer with my background,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe water treatment plant has old technology. It is not able to treat some of the kinds of contaminants that we’re faced with these days,\u201d said Kaplan. \u201cIt’s vulnerable to being overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility currently struggles with properly filtering cyanotoxins out of the water supply. These toxins enter Ashland\u2019s water through algae blooms<\/a>, and Kaplan worries that contamination would be dangerous. \u201cIt\u2019s been increasing over the last few years,\u201d he said, \u201cif you’ve got cyanotoxins that are not treated, it\u2019s poison. You can\u2019t drink that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current plant operates in Ashland Creek Canyon. It was built to take advantage of Ashland\u2019s natural watershed. While cordoned off with iron gates, the plant is visible from several of the popular hiking trails that run throughout Rogue River National Forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dean Silver, an outspoken detractor of 15-234, believes that the project will harm the city in the long term. His online group called Don\u2019t Drown Ashland In Debt<\/a> had their perspective featured in Ashland\u2019s voter pamphlet<\/a> this year. \u201cThe current water treatment plant is still viable,\u201d said Silver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silver believes the plan voted on this election season will be detrimental to the city long-term, calling the plan misguided and misleading. \u201cI thought it was outrageous that the city would approve such a debt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Councilor Bob Kaplan disagrees with this perspective. He does not feel the project misuses the city’s budget. \u201cOur debt per capita is very low,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’ve got a very high credit rating for a city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
City Councilor Bob Kaplan. ~ photo by Owen Johnson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the measure passing comfortably, Mayor Graham warns that the project may be affected by the federal budget cuts promised by the Trump administration. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if there\u2019s going to be an impact to the funding levels,\u201d Graham said. She worries that the programs that fund these initiatives will be affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measure 15-234 will rely on up to $75 million dollars of EPA funding<\/a> to complete the project, as shown on page 246 of the March city council minutes<\/a>. Without federal funding, the city does not have the means to build a new treatment plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaplan is optimistic that the project will be completed as is. \u201cI’m not as concerned. I don’t think it’s high on the target list,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaplan, instead, is focused on other potential impacts of the political landscape. \u201cThe Trump administration changed air quality standards last time,\u201d he said. \u201cThey could change water quality standards that water companies have to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an Ashland City Council meeting on December 2nd<\/a>, Director of Public Works Scott Fleury presented a study on the changes to the cost of rates and services this project would require.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked if federal budget cuts would affect the project by City Councilor Dylan Bloom, Fleury assured the council that the money for the project was already allocated. \u201cWe are meeting with the EPA team on Monday next week,\u201d he said, \u201cour expectation is to close in early Spring of next year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashland\u2019s bid for a Water Treatment Facility faces uncertainty Ashland\u2019s city hall overlooks Siskiyou Boulevard, the town\u2019s main street. It is in the heart of the downtown area, just steps away from Lithia Park. It is an unassuming building, empty and shuttered by six o\u2019clock on most nights. Mayor Tonya Graham sat behind her desk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"top_category":[],"class_list":["post-1723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-post-election","pmpro-has-access"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/City_Council_Exterior_1-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Owen Johnson","author_link":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/author\/owen-johnson\/"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/City_Council_Exterior_1-scaled.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1723"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions\/1728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1723"},{"taxonomy":"top_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oregonjournalismlab.org\/Election24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/top_category?post=1723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}