ASHLAND — The Ashland Chamber of Commerce will host a luncheon next week for chamber members and voters to learn about levies and candidates on the ballot.
The Oct. 21 event will focus on candidates running for seats on Ashland City Council and Ashland City Schools Board of Education.
The event will also feature representatives to speak on behalf of four different levies on the ballot.
Chamber members pay $20 for the luncheon, which includes a boxed lunch. Non-members pay $25. Renae Osborn, the chamber’s director of programs, said registering for the event is required.
“You will only get in the door if you registered ahead of time,” Osborn said.
Register here for the 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. event, which is slated to take place at UH Samaritan’s Medical Center Auditorium at 663 E. Main St.
Candidates and issues
The luncheon will feature Ashland City Council candidates for its 4th ward: Angela Woodward and Zachery Casler.
The Fourth Ward of Ashland encompasses the northern portion of the city, delineated roughly by Main and Sandusky streets and Cleveland Avenue.
The seat’s term runs for four years and pays $8,928.27 annually.
There are four candidates for three open seats on the Ashland City Schools Board of Education. They include incumbents Gina Deppert, Pamela Mowry and John Teevan and challenger Noah Gangi.
Richard Brindley is running for an unexpired term on the school board. He’ll be at the chamber’s luncheon, too.
The luncheon will also feature representatives to speak about the following levies.
Mental Health & Recovery Board of Ashland County
The organization has a replacement levy on the ballot. If approved by voters, the levy will replace a five-year tax with a 10-year, 1-mill levy that was originally passed in 2001.
The property tax levy is expected to generate $1.9 million annually, a figure that represents around 28% of the board’s revenue.
If passed, the owner of a home valued at $100,000 will owe around $35 a year. Currently that figure sits at around $21.31.
Read more here.
Ashland County Parks District
The Ashland County Park District wants to expand education programs and park maintenance through a renewal levy that includes an increase of 0.3 mills.
The existing property tax levy is 0.5 mill that renews every five years. Ashland County Auditor Cindy Funk said the levy brings in roughly $700,000 annually.
For a residential property with a market value of $100,000, the existing levy costs homeowners $11.28.
Read more here.
Ashland City Schools
The Ashland City Schools district is one step closer to placing a permanent improvement levy on the November ballot, following board approval of a resolution declaring the levy necessary Monday night.
The levy is a 1.25-mill permanent improvement levy renewal, which means it will not generate new funds for the district. It goes to voters for renewal every five years.
Read more here.
City of Ashland Police and Fire, and Street Department
The city is asking voters to approve two separate renewal levies. They will support operations and projects in Ashland’s police, fire and street departments.
Read more here.
The luncheon’s format
Osborne said the luncheon is not a debate.
“It’s just a time for those participating to give reasons why they should be elected,” she said.
She said the luncheon’s format will allow for candidates and levy representatives to give brief presentations. Following presentations, the chamber will move into a brief question and answer session.
Questions can be submitted by registered attendees ahead of the luncheon. Osborne said attendees can submit questions for candidates via email.
“We’ll send out a reminder to those who registered and if they have a specific question they can submit it via email,” she said. “The chamber will look through those and choose the ones we think are most relevant.”
Candidates and levy representatives will not be aware of the questions before the start of the event, Osborne said.
“The whole purpose of this is to make sure the community is informed on who’s running for local offices and why they should be voting for issues and levies on the ballot,” she said.