Oregon League of Conservation Voters Announces Jackson County 2008 Endorsements

Immediate Release:
September 10, 2008

Contact: 
Mat Marr, Jackson County Organizer, cell: 541-324-3592 

OLCV Endorses Conservation Candidates for Ashland City Council

Ashland, OR:  The Jackson County Chapter of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) announced their endorsements for the Ashland City Council today.

The Oregon League of Conservation Voters is the independent political voice for Oregon’s environment and their seal of approval provides voters with critical information as they decide who will represent them locally and who they will send to Salem.

For Ashland City Council, OLCV has endorsed:

Ashland City Council Position 1 – Carol Voisin
Ashland City Council Position 3 – Cate Hartzell
Ashland City Council Position 5 - Russ Silbiger

Russ Silbiger and Cate Hartzell earned endorsement in their campaign for reelection. Carol Voisin received OLCV’s endorsement to replace Alice Hardesty, who is retiring. Candidates answered a questionnaire on conservation issues and were interviewed by local Jackson County OLCV volunteers.

Carol Voisin is familiar to Ashland from her run for Congress in 2006. Her commitment to environmental and conservation values combined with her passion for affordable housing will make her a strong addition to the City Council.

With her extensive professional experience in consensus-building, Voisin is the addition the city council needs to come together. Carol Voisin will be a much needed unifying voice on the City Council rebuilding Ashland’s legacy of leadership on environmental issues.

Voisin’s opponent in this election was the only candidate who declined to participate in OLCV’s endorsement process. The Jackson County chapter of OLCV reviewed questionnaires from and interviewed all 13 candidates that applied for endorsement.

Ashland voters have elected Cate Hartzell to the city council twice. Her experience in strategic planning will serve the city well in her next term. Hartzell’s work to protect clean drinking water is noticed by residents every day.

In her interview and response to the questionnaire it was clear that Hartzell is a conservation champion. Hartzell earned a 100 percent rating on OLCV’s Environmental Scorecard.

Councilor Russ Silbiger takes environmental concerns very seriously. He plans to continue to take strong environmental positions in his next term in office.

The Jackson County Chapter of OLCV is looking forward to Silbiger’s continued leadership on energy efficiency and sustainability.  He will make sure that the money we spend on sustainability has a good return for the community. Silbiger earned a 70 percent on OLCV’s scorecard.

“We know that there are a number of conservation issues that Ashlanders agree on. One is the importance of electing Jim Olney to the Jackson County Commission. Another should be returning these two fine City Councilors to office and sending Carol Voisin to join them,” said Mat Marr, Jackson County organizer of OLCV.

“We are confident that these three great candidates will work responsibly with returning councilors David Chapman, Kate Jackson and Eric Navickas to further Ashland’s conservation values in the next two years,” said Gaia Perinchief Carney, steering committee member of the Jackson County Chapter of OLCV.

After interviewing all seven candidates for Mayor, the Jackson County Chapter of OLCV felt each brought a unique and insightful approach to conservation issues. However none of the candidates stood out as the clear environmental choice and OLCV is not endorsing a candidate for mayor at this time. The Jackson County Chapter looks forward to working with the new mayor to ensure clean air and water and efficient land use planning for Ashland.

The complete list of OLCV endorsed candidates in Jackson County are:

Jackson County Commission

Jim Olney, Position 2

Ashland City Council

Carol Voisin, Position 1
Cate Hartzell, Position 3
Russ Silbiger, Position 5

Oregon House of Representatives

Peter Buckley, District 5

Lynn Howe, District 6

The complete list of OLCV endorsed candidate is available at www.olcv.org/elections.

The Oregon League of Conservation Voters is the independent political voice for Oregon’s environment; a non-partisan organization made up of thousands of Oregonians who care about protecting Oregon’s water, air, farms and forests.  For over 35 years, OLCV has been educating citizens on how their elected officials vote on environmental issues and helping elect pro-environment candidates.

For a complete list of OLCV’s endorsements, scorecard ratings, and more information call 503-224-4011 or visit www.olcv.org.