About 40 Ashland residents protested outside the city council chambers on Tuesday night, ahead of a vote on new pay packages for union and non-union employees, including management.
The signs read, “Services not management raises,” and “Fiscal responsibility first.” Many of the protesters voiced frustration over the city cutting services while increasing the pay for some city employees by up to 19%.
Ashland resident Alex Sol said the city’s priorities are broken.
“Power brokers and the wealthy elite that run this community have run slipshod over the budgets," Sol said. "Control of the narratives, control of where tax dollars are prioritized in an unbalanced way."
Protesters pointed to a series of rate hikes and a new utility fees the city approved in May. Despite a new $5 parks fee, they noted that the Parks and Recreation Department is cutting services, including shorter hours at the splash pad and pool, fewer trash cans and reduced irrigation. The city said the parks fee is needed to pay for the salary increases.
“They can't just say, add fees for this, this and this without the input from the residents here,” said Karen Hill-Wagoner, a resident who volunteers to cook community meals. “We have a lot of people who live on fixed incomes, and they keep adding fees on, plus they want to take services away.”
The city council meeting was packed with residents, almost all of whom were there to discuss the proposed salary raises.
The city is overhauling its entire salary schedule for management and non-union employees, based on a compensation study comparing Ashland’s pay to similar cities in Oregon.
The study found that most positions lag behind market averages, even after several cost-of-living increases in recent years.
“What we didn't really consider was the fact of the market pressures on certain positions being so high that they would be significantly behind even with those COLAs,” said City Manager Sabrina Cotta. “Most likely due to the fact that we haven't had a comp & class since 2008, and so there's been no market adjustment for any position as industry has changed.”
The average raise for the 92 unrepresented employees under this new salary plan is 5%. But some positions, including the fire chief, human resource coordinator and some park technicians, will see a double-digit increase in their salaries.
The three union contracts — which saw raises of 5% for IBEW Electrical Workers, 4% for IBEW Clerical Workers, and 3.9% for the LiUNA Laborers’ Union — were less contentious. The council approved them on a 4-2 vote.
The council deadlocked 3–3 on the pay raise for unrepresented employees, so Mayor Tonya Graham cast the deciding vote — and the resolution passed.
Councilors who opposed the raises cited concerns about long-term fiscal planning. Councilor Jeff Dahle said comparing Ashland's wages to those of other nearby cities is flawed.
“Cities vary widely in their structure, level of services and staffing models,” Dahle said. “More importantly, Ashland offers so many positive intangibles that contribute career value and quality of life that can only be found here. These cannot be measured on a spreadsheet, but they matter greatly.”
Dahle said his main reason for opposing the salary increases was the city’s lack of comprehensive, long-term financial modeling. He said the city assessed how the raises would affect the budget over the next five to 10 years — or how those costs would affect residents.
“My vote tonight is not a vote of disrespect, displeasure or lack of confidence at all,” he said. “Rather just the opposite. It’s a vote for stability, resilience and the compassionate care and concern for the long-term well-being of our employees and our citizens.”
Councilor Dylan Bloom, who also opposed the plan, said the city council rushed to approve the package without fully exploring alternatives. He proposed keeping some positions on the old schedule and transitioning others to the new one — a suggestion that failed to gain support.
“We are actively considering service level reviews, office consolidations, budget restructuring and long-term financial modeling,” he said. “Those decisions should inform compensation policy, not follow it.”
Bloom also noted that this compensation package includes parks employees, who are currently in the process of unionizing. If a union is formed, those employees will begin negotiating a new contract, potentially rendering part of the plan obsolete.
“We're putting the cart before the horse, and we have no plan of how we're going to pay for some of this if those changes happen,” he said.
The city manager has identified more than $2 million in savings to help cover raises. The budget, approved in June before negotiations were finalized, originally anticipated a 2% raise for all staff. The salary increases will be retroactive to July 1.
Supporters of the raises said the city needs to offer competitive pay to retain staff.
“There are tough times ahead, we know that,” Graham said. “And that is actually why I support this. Because when a community is faced with difficult times, you don't want to be in the middle of significant leadership transitions. You want steady hands at the wheel.”
Lina Adams, a resident who spoke in favor of the salary increases, said the city has not reviewed its pay system in more than a decade.
“These are the people who keep our water clean, maintain our roads, ensure our public safety and manage the essential functions of our city government,” she said. “When we fail to offer competitive pay, we compromise our ability to attract and retain the best and the brightest for these crucial roles.”
After the meeting was over, Bloom said the outcome was largely what he expected. He had hoped for more compromise but said other councilors were unwilling to budge.
