Councilors will revisit proposed resolution in August

By Paul R. Huard for Ashland.news

The Ashland City Council voted Tuesday to further consider a 2 percent cost of living adjustment and improved benefits for non-union city employees, citing the need to seek more public input and deal with what they called misinformation about the proposed changes in compensation.

Council members voted 5-1 to reexamine the cost of living adjustment (COLA) and benefits package during the first city council business meeting in August, which would be their next opportunity to vote on the enabling resolution. Currently, the city calendar indicates that meeting will be Aug. 5.

City Councilor Eric Hansen cast the lone “no” vote, saying the package was an essential part of a successful effort to stem high turnover at the city and retain quality employees who provide excellent service to the public and maintain the basic city services people expect. 

The other councilors also repeatedly praised the quality of city employees and the work they perform, but questioned whether it was the right time to hold a vote because of the need to educate the public further about the proposed pay and benefit changes.

Council members lamented what they characterized as misinformation about the package that had been perpetuated by a post on a local website they and City Manager Sabrina Cotta accused of erroneous reporting on the issue that prompted the call for further discussion with the public. For example, they said claims that City Council members would receive a pay increase are unfounded.

The package is the result of a “comp and class” study that compared compensation and classification of Ashland city employees to their counterparts in similar cities throughout Oregon. The city had not performed such a study since 2008.

The plan recommends that non-union city employees be placed in a new salary schedule on the step closest to their current salary without a decrease. All employees whose placement into the new salary schedule would result in an increase of less than 3 percent would automatically be moved up one additional step. Originally, the plan recommended that the changes would be implemented on July 1 if the resolution had been passed Tuesday.

The plan also recommends additional 2 percent COLAs for non-union employees by July 1, 2026 and 2027.

According to Cotta, the overall cost for employed full-time equivalents over the next fiscal year is estimated at $518,000 in salaries and $330,000 in fringe benefits.

She added that an additional 2 percent for the following fiscal year could result in an estimated total of $528,260 in salary and $336,600 in fringe benefits.

“The city budgeted 2 percent, so this would be an additional 2.8 percent in salaries and 1.1 percent in fringe benefits that would need to be accommodated in the first year,” Cotta wrote in response to a question emailed Wednesday about the proposal’s fiscal impact.

If approved, the package would be retroactive to July 1.

In other council news

During public comments, homeless activist Debbie Neisewander kept her promise to provide what she called “supporting documentation” after accusing the Ashland Police Department of practicing entrapment against unhoused occupants of the city’s “night lawn” camping area.

Neisewander made the accusation during Monday’s City Council study session, which included the annual use-of-force report by Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara. “So tonight, I am going to give you my annual report,” she said.

The packet contains information drawn from police records that she says proves what she called “overenforcement” is used by officers, resulting in citations that the homeless cannot pay and that lead to 30-day bans on using the night lawn.

During an interview, although Neisewander expressed disappointment that she was unable to give council members individual copies, she said individual council members expressed interest in the document.

“My next step is to go out on the night lawn and make sure the folks are OK and help them with the resources they need,” Neisewander said. “That’s what I do. This is the advocating part. I do outrage. But I’m also doing the advocating. And it’s overwhelming. Trying to dig up all this data when I shouldn’t have to. But I do not believe in the civil expulsions that the (police) chief presented.”

During the meeting, Councilor Derek Sherrell also took the oath of office. In a three-to-one-to-one vote, council members appointed Sherrell on June 3 to the vacant seat on the Ashland City Council.

He was one of eight applicants who vied for the position. His term ends December 2026.

Email freelance reporter Paul R. Huard at paulrhuard@gmail.com.