Charisse Sydoriak, Keith Swink and Tom Giordano receive awards for their service to the city

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Because the list of Ashland’s accomplishments in 2024 would be too long to read out loud, she would have to stick to the highlights, Mayor Tonya Graham said Wednesday, starting off her annual State of the City address in a packed Rogue River Room in Stevenson Union at Southern Oregon University.

Some 300 people filled nearly every chair, with a number of city staff standing by. She apologized for her thin, strained speaking voice, as she was audibly recovering from an illness and said her first objective would be “not to squeak.” 

Graham succeeded in an eloquent delivery of optimism for Ashland as a city unto itself and a part of a wider world, beginning with a laundry list of accomplishments from the city’s various departments. 

Ashland Fire & Rescue responded to 5,916 calls for service —  up 9% from last year — and saw continued success with its single-role staff. In 2023, the department received a call it could not answer due to staffing limitations every 1.2 days, while in 2024, the department only reached this limitation roughly every three days. 

The Ashland Police Department responded to 24,990 calls for service and, along with AF&R, provided additional support to nearby Talent through mutual aid agreements, while also reviving the school resource officer program, assisting in the response to a fire at Exit 14 and ensuring the safety of Ashland’s beloved parades and events.  

The city hired Judge Ryan Mulkins to oversee its municipal court, which processed almost 2,000 cases and implemented a new online records search program. 

For emergency preparedness, Ashland has 50 additional signs marking evacuation zones throughout the city, updated evacuation zones, held preparedness events throughout the year and stood up the joint operations center for three incidents with a continual effort to improve communications for emergency situations. 

The Community Development Department continued work on Climate Friendly Communities, supporting the development of a land trust, processed over 1,100 building permits and over 3,800 inspections while supporting the creation of the 2200 Ashland St. master plan and the homelessness services assessment. 

The city has made strides to improve its communication with the public including a column in Ashland.news, a column in Sneak Preview, and newly instated office hours for the city manager’s office. 

For the second year in a row the staff turnover rate remained at 8%, a rate Graham said was statistically normal for an organization of this size. Over 40 open positions were filled, including filling the previously vacant city manager’s position with Sabrina Cotta and hiring Jordan Rooklyn as Deputy City Manager. The utilities department is also now fully staffed. 

The city also secured over $6.1 million in grants. 

The Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission supported the creation of new events such as the Summer Sounds Concert Series and Blackstone Audio’s Rock the Knoll, while also supporting the city’s many parks and open space properties. Over 46 event applications were also processed for private events, while over 19,000 people participated in Senior Services programs. Through the recreation division, more than 1,200 hours of programs and classes were available to Ashland residents of all ages in 2024. 

In the coming year, the city will continue the roll-out of expanded Ashland Fiber Net service, complete the water rate study, seek out grant funding for the water treatment plant project, continue an enforcement focus on the south side and downtown, install wayfinding signs to help visitors discover more of Ashland, and continue renovations for Pioneer Hall, the Community Center and the 2200 Ashland St. building, Graham said. 

At the close of her speech, the mayor said she wanted to “talk about something in the room.” 

“The larger world is changing rapidly in ways that are frightening and unpredictable and they threaten many of the values we hold in Ashland. I won’t list the many ways that this is happening, we all know what that story is. But many people in our community are frightened, they are concerned for their neighbors, for their planet,” she said. 

The city is primarily responsible for supporting the “nuts and bolts” of essential services and quality of life in Ashland, but it is not immune to larger changes at the state or federal level, she said. The city is working to stay abreast of those changes to respond accordingly. Graham encouraged residents to think along the lines of a sports metaphor drawn from years of playing and coaching her children in basketball. 

To learn to play, first one learns to dribble the ball, she said. It can be hard for new players to learn to dribble without looking at their hands.

“If you’re looking at your hands, you can’t see the play, if you can’t see the play you can’t make the play. As we go forward in this next year, one of the important things for our community is going to be important for us is going to be to keep our heads up and our eyes forward. … We don’t know what the future holds, but that’s OK, we know who we are,” she said. 

The mayor received a standing ovation for her speech, then presented Ashland residents with awards for their public service. 

Charisse Sydoriak was given the James A. Ragland award for her tireless work in wildfire mitigation. Sydoriak has donated more than 3,000 hours in service to protecting Ashland from wildfire, including  co-authoring a $250,000 grant to update the city’s community wildfire risk plan and completing over 300 wildfire risk assessments. 

Sydoriak and her husband Walter are also appreciated for frequently opening their home to musicians traveling to Ashland to perform. 

Upon the receipt of her award, Sydoriak first asked her fellow volunteers in the WRAP program to stand up for recognition, then led the room in a few seconds of silence for the loss and destruction caused by wildfires in recent years. 

Wildfire Division Chief Chris Chambers thanked Sydoriak for her unflinching continuous problem-solving in the face of growing wildfire risk. 

“If we’re a dynamic duo, she is certainly Batman and I am Robin in this relationship. … Her dedication is incredible to behold,” he said. 

The Alan Bates Award was given to Keith Swink and Tom Giordano for their respective service on the city’s Historic Preservation Committee. Both contributed decades of experience in architecture and a love of history to preserve and protect the unique character and charm of Ashland. 

Community Development Director Brandon Goldman said, as he began his career in planning decades ago, Giordano was a wealth of knowledge, insights and instilling the understanding that “community planning can be deeply rewarding.” 

While Swink could not attend the event, Giordano took the podium and the plaque in his hands and declared himself overwhelmed. He has stepped back from working with the city for a while, he said, but was “glad to see the city is still in good hands.” 

The full list of the city of Ashland’s accomplishments in 2024 will be available on the city website “in the coming days,” Graham said. The full speech and event is available to watch on RVTV. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].