City Council rated on environmental protection

The City Council received a score of 70 percent on its environmental voting record, and half the councilors earned perfect grades on a scorecard released today by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters.

Overall, the council voted to further protect the environment on eight of ten issues tracked by the league over the past four years. The 70 percent passing score was based on the aggregate number of votes.

Councilors Alice Hardesty, Cate Hartzell and Eric Navickas received perfect scores for voting pro-environment on every issue included in the report while they were in office.

The league assigned failing marks to councilors Kate Jackson and David Chapman, with scores of 40 and 50 percent, respectively. Councilor Russ Silbiger finished in the middle of the pack with a grade of 70 percent.

"We see the council as doing OK, but we can really do much better," said Mat Marr, Jackson County chapter organizer for the league. "Any community would say we could do better, but especially in Ashland, where we strive to be a leader on conservation and sustainability issues. Seventy percent doesn't make it a leader."

Issues analyzed on the scorecard included watershed protection, water conservation, affordable mass transit and the city's solar pioneer project, which allowed residents to invest in solar panels.

The trend of the council seems to have become more anti-environmental since the 2006 election, said Katy Daily, the league's state political organizer. Six of the 29 votes before 2006 were judged to be anti-environment, while 12 of the 32 votes since the election have been anti-environment.

Since the election, it seemed the council was less able to reach consensus, and when Mayor John Morrison provided tie-break votes, he voted against the environment in both instances, Daily said.

Marr said the trend can be easily reversed.

"All it takes is a few more councilors acting on the values they talk about, and we'll suddenly have a much higher score," he said.

Councilors respond

Councilor Silbiger said he felt it was unfair to perform analysis on a simple yes or no vote rather than examining the motivation behind the decision.

"Yes, I voted against Solar Pioneer II, but I also showed an example that would have provided a better conservation benefit for the city," he said. "If you're being judged on a 'yes' or 'no' rather than a 'why,' it may make it easier for some people, but it doesn't make it easier to show how you're being responsible."

Jackson and Chapman were unavailable for comment on their scores this morning.

Hartzell, who will receive an automatic endorsement for the upcoming election based on her perfect score, attributed her record to taking a precautionary approach toward the environment. She said she believed all the councilors have the intent to protect the environment but can be swayed by the details.

"I really hope that this scorecard moves us in the direction of better protecting the environment rather than arguing about the scorecard or about the council," she said this morning. "We deal with so much, sometimes I forget, and I think it is useful to monitor all the different kinds of things that we vote on."

This is the first year the league has issued a scorecard for the Ashland City Council. The group has been grading the state legislature on their environmental voting record since 1973 and local governments since 1999. They plan to continue evaluating Ashland's council every two years.

The evaluation was done by a local volunteer committee, analyzing votes on a cross-section of environmental issues that presented a clear choice on whether or not to protect the environment and were viewed as important by a range of environmental groups. The committee chose the votes without knowing how individual council members voted.

The league uses the results, along with interviews and a questionnaire, to endorse candidates for office. Although Hartzell was automatically endorsed, it is possible for her opponent, Greg Lemhouse, to receive a dual endorsement.

Endorsements for mayor and council positions will be released before the Sept. 8 voters' pamphlet filing deadline.

The league has already endorsed Jim Olney for Jackson County Commissioner and Peter Buckley for Oregon State Representative in House District 5.

The entire scorecard will be posted at www.olcv.org/accountability.

Staff writer Julie French can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 227 or jfrench@dailytidings.com.