Tonya Graham’s state-of-the-city address praises progress on housing, wildfire preparedness and climate action, while recognizing Debbie Neisewander and Dennis Slattery for community service
By Damian Mann for Ashland.news
Ashland Mayor Tonya Graham touted a long list of city accomplishments and gave community-service awards to two locals during a Wednesday, Jan. 21, town hall at Ashland High School’s Mountain Avenue Theatre.
Debbie Neisewander, a well-known advocate for the unhoused, received the James M. Ragland Memorial “Volunteer Spirit” award.
“On a daily basis, Debbie can be found helping people pack up their gear on the dusk-to-dawn lawn, providing emergency supplies, helping them get to appointments, and connecting them to resources,” Graham said.
Dennis Slattery, a former city councilor and local volunteer, received the Alan Bates Public Service Award.
“Dennis worked to have the council create Indigenous Peoples Day, and I recall us working together with community leaders in the wake of the murder of George Floyd to draft the city’s Social Equity and Racial Justice Resolution,” Graham said.
Mayor Tonya Graham highlights recent achievements by city departments during the town hall meeting Wednesday evening. Ashland.news photo by Bob Palermini
About 100 showed up for Graham’s state-of-the-city address, including councilors, Parks commissioners, Oregon Sen. Jeff Golden, Oregon Rep. Pam Marsh, city officials and Joseph Hattrick, Ashland schools superintendent.
Graham cited the city’s ongoing efforts in 2025 to streamline services, improve efficiency and inform the public through greater outreach, e-news and transparency.
During her speech, Graham provided a laundry list of achievements.
Graham addressed the controversial pay increase for city employees approved last year.
“Some people think we go for the Cadillac compensation package,” she said. “We don’t do that.”
Instead, she said the compensation package falls in the mid-range compared to other cities, a range she likened to a “Prius.”
The city of Ashland held a town hall featuring a “State of the City” address by the mayor and presentation of public service awards Wednesday in Mountain Avenue Theatre at Ashland High School. Ashland.news photo by Bob Palermini
Projects such as the remodel of Pioneer Hall and the Community Center have been completed, and a shelter at 2200 Ashland St. was also remodeled and is now open.
Wildfire risk reduction is a top priority for the city, with efforts continuing to reduce the fuel load in forests, develop strategies to evacuate the city in an emergency, and help residents lessen fire risk around homes, Graham said. The city held its first-ever evacuation drill last year, with 300 residents participating.
The city’s electric utility has been replacing wood poles with fire-resistant fiberglass poles, Graham said.
Financing for the new water treatment plant has been lined up after months of uncertainty from the federal government, she said.
“Climate change is the greatest threat to our planet,” said Graham, who is also executive director of the Geos Institute, an Ashland nonprofit working on building climate resilient communities.
To help address that concern locally, new homes can’t install gas appliances, and the city also offers free home energy audits.
Looking ahead, Graham said the city will continue its efforts to attain long-term financial stability.
The sister city relationships with Guanajuato, Mexico, and Sviatohirsk, Ukraine, have also been strengthened, Graham said.
Many city department personnel, including Kelly Burns, Ashland emergency preparedness manager, spoke with residents in the lobby before Wednesday’s town hall meeting about steps they can take to prepare for wildfire. Ashland.news photo by Bob Palermini
During the awards presentation, Graham said Neisewander had been appointed to two ad hoc city committees. Neisewander, who was told earlier about receiving the award, has been at odds with the council over issues.
“She said she would still come to the council when we got something wrong,” Graham said. “I didn’t expect anything less.”
Graham praised Neisewander’s compassion and efforts for the unhoused. She said Neisewander reviews court dockets to inform people living on the streets when they have a court date and helps them address outstanding warrants.
“I am in awe of that spirit in Debbie,” Graham said.
Neisewander seemed taken aback by the praise.
“Wow,” she said, pausing for a moment. “Thank you for all the kind things you said.”
Debbie Neisewander speaks after receiving the city’s James M. Ragland Volunteer Community Service Award for her work with people experiencing homelessness in Ashland. Ashland.news photo by Bob Palermini
Neisewander said the award is really about all the efforts of individuals and organizations working together for the unhoused.
“It takes all of us to turn crisis into stability,” she said.
After the town hall, Neisewander was praised by Betsy Ragland, who lives near Eugene and is the daughter of James Ragland, who served on the council and the Ashland Planning Commission before his death.
“He was a visionary to everybody,” Ragland said. “He was a get-the-work kind of guy.”
She remembered a neglected plot of land sitting next to Ashland Creek on Water Street.
“We started picking weeds,” Ragland remembered.
Her father approached the landowner.
“He talked him into donating it,” Ragland said.
The little park was called Bluebird after the birds that visited there, she said. Ragland said she was happy to return to Ashland to see the same kind of community spirit alive and well that she remembered from her childhood.
Ashland City Manager Sabrina Cotta kicks off the 2025 city town hall at Ashland High School’s Mountain Avenue Theater. Ashland.news photo by Bob Palermini
Graham also praised Slattery, who has been active in the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, a professor at Southern Oregon University’s School of Business, Dennis served on the SOU Board of Trustees for four years and currently serves as the Faculty Senate Chair.
“Dennis has a real heart for young people,” Graham said.
She said Slattery also has a special role in the annual Festival of Lights, making a point of not mentioning what that “special role” could be.
“The world needs more Dennis Slatterys,” Graham said.
Slattery said, “I am overwhelmed.”
A close friend of the late Sen. Alan Bates, Slattery said that because of this friendship, the award is “meaningful at that level.”
He said he first came to Ashland when he got out of the Navy and thought he’d stay for six months.
“The more I got involved in stuff, the more I got asked to do stuff,” he said. He likened his fondness for owning a house that you work on for years, when suddenly you realize it’s not just a house but a home.
Debbie Neisewander received the James M. Ragland “Volunteer Spirit” award Wednesday, Jan. 21. James Ragland’s daughter, Betsy Ragland, was on hand for the ceremony at Ashland High’s Mountain Avenue Theater. Damian Mann photo for Ashland.news
He said he’s worked with indigenous people along with his father, going on hunting trips together in Alaska.
“My father and the elders told us the most important job is to leave the campground better than you find it,” Slattery said. “I left my campground — my community — a little better than I found it.”
At the conclusion of her speech, Graham said she spent her first six years on the council and could count on five things: government officials respecting the law at all levels, the federal government honoring its contracts, respect for Congress’s authority to spend tax dollars, remaining neutral on economic decisions, and the three branches of government honoring their oaths.
“These five things can no longer be counted on, and that reality has serious consequences for us here in Ashland,” Graham said. “It is not enough to cross our fingers and hope that the trajectory of our nation magically shifts. Magical thinking is not our friend.”
She said the city needs to remain vigilant, and that the erosion of the rule of law will eventually “land at our feet.”
The city needs to continue to hold itself to a high standard, both individually and collectively, in spite of these headwinds, and respond appropriately, Graham said.
“So, let’s not add to the strain,” she said. “Let’s be kind to each other. Let’s commit to doing our best to show up in a positive way, and cut each other some slack when our best efforts to hold ourselves together fall short.”
Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected].
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Ashland town hall gathering, awards presentation on tap Wednesday evening (Jan. 19, 2026)
Wednesday’s town hall included the showing of a 15-minute video about city accomplishments over the last few years.
