Joint Ashland City Council and Parks & Recreation Commission meeting highlights governance confusion, project missteps, and looming budget concerns as the city pauses its search for a new parks director

By Damian Mann for Ashland.news

Friction over the role of parks director and the handling of recent projects sparked debate during a joint meeting of the Ashland City Council and Parks & Recreation Commission Wednesday night.

The resignation of Parks Director Rocky Houston on Jan. 28 provided the impetus for the discussion about the Parks Department’s role in the city.

“You guys have to be working together,” said Johan Pietila, city attorney. “The left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing.”

He said there are legal risks in not working together and urged greater communication.

“There’s just one city,” he said. “There’s not two bodies here.”

Ultimately, both councilors and commissioners vowed to work together and rely more on Public Works to keep park projects on track.

The council and parks commission agreed to hold off searching for a new parks director until there is more clarity about the director’s role.

But the two bodies balked at the suggestion from legal staff that they have more joint meetings.

“I don’t understand that, but I don’t think we can do it on a practical level,” Parks Commission Chair Jim Bachman said.

As to working more closely with the city, Bachman said, “We are working on these governmental confusion issues … We’re already moving in that direction.”

Councilor Gina DuQuenne thought holding more joint meetings was also impractical.

“We can barely get through our meetings as it is,” she said.

DuQuenne suggested resurrecting a requirement spelled out in the city Charter that requires monthly updates from the parks department.

“A monthly report would go a long way,” she said.

Mayor Tonya Graham seemed skeptical about more meetings.

“I don’t see it functionally working,” she said.

She said an ordinance passed in 2025 lays the groundwork for greater collaboration between the city and parks, but the details are still being developed.

“We’re just getting our feet underneath us,” she said. “In my mind, there is a pathway for all those elements to come together.”

Against the backdrop of the discussions, more mystery was added to the reasons behind the former parks director’s resignation.

Parks Commissioner Justin Adams said he didn’t want to get into personnel issues, but expressed concern that they were behind much of the discussion.  

“There were deficiencies in individuals that are getting assigned to a whole department that I’m also concerned about in the presentation,” he said.

He also said the Charter clearly spells out the unique role the Parks Department plays in the city and cited a 2022 ballot measure that overwhelmingly rejected a city charter amendment to put the city manager in charge of all city employees, including those in the parks department, instead of answering to the Parks Commission.

“I’m wondering how the proposal tonight is consistent with the Charter and the will of the voters from the last election,” he said.

Carmel Zahran, deputy city attorney, presented a number of issues with parks and touched on Human Resource concerns.

With Human Resources, she said the city has made strides over the past year.

“But the potential, if there is division, is that we are not treating employees the same way. We want employee complaints to get handled the same way, we want equity the same way, we want people to behave in the same way,” Zahran said, without specifying the basis of the complaints.  

Other than human resources, Zahran said there is concern about the mismanagement of capital projects and about governmental confusion over who is responsible for it.

She cited as examples the Ashland Rotary Centennial Ice Rink, which didn’t open this season; deficiencies in the bidding process for East Main Park; and whether a makeover of Winburn Way should be an effort of both Public Works and the Parks Department.

She said the issues with these projects have created confusion about which governmental group is responsible, with the council and other departments having to field questions about, say, the ice rink.

Jordan Rooklyn, deputy city manager, said, “We need to come up with some operational changes to be more successful.”  She said the city has faced challenges over the past year, prior to Houston’s resignation.

Rooklyn said the parks director’s role in Ashland is “unique” because the person reports to the Parks Commission but must work more closely with city departments.

She said finding a candidate for parks director who can effectively navigate reporting to the Parks Commission while also working closely with the city will be challenging.

Earlier in the meeting, Ashland resident Cori Frank also pointed to the defeat of the 2022 ballot measure that would have changed the leadership of the Parks Department.

Despite the results of the measure, she said the discussion at the joint meeting appears to heading toward that end.

“I don’t want to see that happen,” she said. “I’d like to see our residents vote on things.”

Councilor Eric Hansen said he appreciated the spirit of the council and parks commission working together.

“I love it that we have two separate bodies,” he said.

In other business, the council and parks commission got a rundown on the budget.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the fund balance was $88.8 million, which was $1.9 million or 2.1% lower than the previous year, according to Interim Finance Director Bryn Morrison.  She provided a worst-case budget scenario showing the city running out of funds to maintain current service levels starting in 2026-2027.  

By 2027-2028, the city would be looking to cut more than $6 million to balance its budget.

Some of the worst-case scenarios that could lead to this budget cliff include a natural disaster that would require significant city expenses, large increases in health insurance costs, or lower property tax collections.

Morrison said the county has indicated property tax collection from last November is at 93%, down from 96% the previous year.

In a best-case scenario, Morrison’s forecast indicates the city would see a negative balance starting in 2030-2031.

Morrison said the city continues to make headway on delinquent utility accounts.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the total amount owed on all utility accounts was $5 million.

Of that, $1.4 million is on a payment plan, and $1.2 million is now subject to delinquent processing.

Morrison said there are currently 454 low-income customers who have qualified for the utility assistance program, but none have so far requested the required energy audit.

If they don’t complete the audit within two years, they will no longer qualify for the program.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.

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