Loss of health care for Ashland mayor and council tied to city charter [Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.]

Nov. 18—Ashland City Manager Joe Lessard said the decision to discontinue health insurance coverage for City Council members and the mayor is connected to a wider upheaval from the creation of his job.

"It's an interesting time; it's sort of like making this transition has raised a number of issues, and this is just one of them that's popped up that's very unexpected," he said.

"The charter is a legal document that we have to abide by — myself, council, everyone that's working for the public good has to abide by it. We have to have a clear understanding of what it allows us to do and what it doesn't allow us to do," he said.

That clear understanding is missing, only becoming a little murkier as Lessard and acting City Attorney Doug McGeary continue to examine the charter.

If you look at section three of article three in the Ashland City Charter, said Lessard, it talks about compensation of elected officials.

"The provision says any change in the amount of the present compensation received by elected officers, except for the recorder and municipal judge, shall be submitted to the vote of the people," he said.

He interprets this text as a mandate that Ashland's residents have to approve compensation for elected officials. A look back at past city budgets shows health care benefits listed as fringe benefits. The line referring to elected officials compensation is separate. But benefits are a form of compensation, he said.

Councilors say they were told in August they would have to start paying for their health insurance, previously offered at no cost. Then in October, Lessard told them they would lose their benefits entirely come December.

"It's a question of what the voters authorized, and we're trying to verify that, and the information we have now is inadequate. We're trying to do the research to answer that question," Lessard said.

Dating back to some time in the 1960s, there was a document codifying fringe benefits for the council. Mayor Julie Akins said she has done some work attempting to understand the legality of revoking the council's benefits based on that document. But though the existence of the document is known and referenced in other places, the source document itself is missing.

Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at mrothborne@rosebudmedia.com or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.

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