City of Ashland reflects on accomplishments of 2023, in particular the new Leadership Team that is now in place.
Over the past year and a half, the City has worked to build the Leadership Team, which is now complete. Many of these important roles were filled internally.
The City’s Leadership Team is comprised of nearly a dozen individuals, in addition to the City Manager, the Deputy City Manager and the City Attorney. The leaders represent the following City departments: Community Development, Electric and Conservation, Finance, Fire & Rescue, Innovation &Technology, Parks & Recreation, Police and Public Works.
Each leader brings a high level of skill and professionalism, while supporting the City’s Vision and Values and the Council’s priorities. Strong leadership is vital in implementing policies that improve the lives of the citizens of Ashland.
Between 2022 and 2023, four leadership roles were filled by internal candidates, following various forms of considerations, which included internal and external recruitments, and national recruitments overseen by recruiting firms. The internal candidates were:
Brandon Goldman in Community Development
Molly Taylor in Human Resources
Jason Weger in Innovation & Technology
Alissa Kolodzinski as City Recorder
The benefits of hiring from within include institutional knowledge, morale, speed to productivity and more. Also in 2023, the City hired a new Finance Director, Mariane Berry who came from Rogue Community College as the Director of the Business Office.
“The City is lucky to have such an amazing leadership team and I am lucky to have their support and guidance and very much enjoy working with all of them. I value their subject matter expertise, dedication and eye toward excellence in their service to the City. Over the last 22 months the City has brought in a lot of key staff including knowledgeable and professional department heads to lead this City into the future. I look forward to all that we can accomplish together,” stated Acting City Manager, Sabrina Cotta.
The Leadership Team meets weekly and presents before Council on a regular basis. Many Department leaders work with Commissions or Advisory Committees who assist the Council in shaping policy for Ashland. For more information on the City, visit ashland.or.us.
BIOS of City of Ashland Leadership Team
BRANDON GOLDMAN
Brandon Goldman, with a 25-year career in urban planning and housing development, currently leads as the Director of Community Development for the City of Ashland. Throughout his professional roles as Ashland Planning Manager, Senior Planner and Housing Program Manager, he has fostered strong collaborations with the community, aiming to develop Ashland into a place that meets the varied needs of all its residents. Beyond his professional responsibilities, Brandon remains engaged in local initiatives, having held board positions at the Southern Oregon Housing Resource Center, the Ashland Community Land Trust (ACLT) and the Ashland Art Center. A graduate of Southern Oregon University, he is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). MOLLY TAYLOR
Molly Taylor has been with the City of Ashland for almost 16 years. She began her career as an Account Clerk I in Utility Billing. After five years in Utility Billing, she was promoted to Senior Financial Technician in Payroll where she worked for nine years. In early 2022, she stepped into the role of Human Resource Analyst, where based on her extensive knowledge of City bargaining contracts and benefits, she quickly developed into her Human Resource (HR) experience. She is now a Human Resources Certified Manager and was promoted to Director of Human Resources in October 2023. In her short time in HR, Molly has recruited and hired 75 employees and helped reduce the turnover rate by 10% from 2022. Molly aims to continue to increase employee morale by streamlining employee benefits, offering health & wellness clinics, training and employee appreciation. In her spare time, Molly is an active board member of North Medford’s AAU Basketball program. She also enjoys following her daughter around to her various high school basketball and softball games as well as her son’s soccer activities. JASON WEGNER
Jason Wegner is the Director of Innovation and Technology for the City of Ashland, where he oversees Geographic Information Systems (GIS), asset management, information systems and the Ashland Fiber Network. Employed by Ashland since 2007, he previously he served as the GIS Manager prior to starting his current role in August 2022. He brings 30 years of experience in local government in the Rogue Valley, having worked for Jackson and Josephine counties previously. He is a Certified GIS Professional as recognized by the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) and a graduate of Southern Oregon University. ALISSA KOLODZINSKI
Alissa Kolodzinski started her career in public service at Southern Oregon University where she worked for nine years. After being the Grants Coordinator and assisting in the Budget office, she became the Executive Assistant to the Library Director. She is most proud of her work mentoring students and watching them grow into their careers. After spending two years as the Assistant Payroll Manager at SOU, she worked for the City of Medford as the Assistant to the Facilities Director. Her favorite part of that position was being the administrator assigned to the Rogue X project and visiting the construction site every week. Alissa has worked for the City of Ashland for just over a year, currently as the City Recorder and Management Analyst in the City Manager’s office. She obtained both her Bachelor in Business Administration and Master in Management at Southern Oregon University. Alissa spends her off time enjoying the many outdoor activities Rogue Valley has to offer. MARIANE BERRY
With 30 years of experience in Finance and business ownership, Mariane Berry is the Finance Director for the City of Ashland. While in Corporate Finance, she held roles in Accounting and Treasury and owned a Treasury consulting firm serving Fortune 500 companies in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to joining the City, she was the Director of the Business Office at Rogue Community College. She received her Bachelor in Accounting from Seattle University and has held a number of board positions with various regional chapters of the Association for Finance Professionals (AFP) and Bay Area nonprofits. She is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and is completing her Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO) accreditation. She has lived in Ashland full-time for 16 years, and together with her husband, raises her kids in the Ashland school district. TIGHE O'MEARA
Police Chief Tighe O’Meara grew up in Detroit, Michigan where he attended both the Detroit Waldorf School and Detroit Public Schools. Chief O’Meara graduated from Hillsdale College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and went on later to obtain a Master in Management from Southern Oregon University. Chief O’Meara worked for several smaller agencies in Hillsdale County before returning to Detroit to join the Wayne State University (WSU) Police Department. He worked for the WSU Police for 13 years, serving as a field training officer and instructing in several areas of law enforcement. He was promoted to Sergeant, then Lieutenant, before leaving the WSU police department to join the Ashland Police Department in January of 2010. Since joining the Ashland Police Department, Chief O’Meara has served as a Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant and as the Deputy Chief over both the operations and support divisions of the department. He has attended several advanced police schools including the International Association of Chiefs of Police Leadership in Police Organizations School, the Oregon Executive Development Institute’s leadership school, and most recently the Senior Management Institute for Police held at Boston University. LESLIE ELDRIDGE
Leslie Eldridge has been an Environmental Science and Policy Senior Instructor at SOU for the last 6 years. Her previous professional experience spanned over a decade of work on environmental policy, natural resource management, protected areas and planning. Her professional master’s degree from UC Santa Barbara is in Environmental Science and Management, with a focus in Conservation Planning and Natural Resource Management. She has worked for the US Senate Commerce Committee as a Congressional Aide and Environmental Fellow, as well as spent almost a decade working for the National Marine Sanctuary program to protect and manage CA coastal parks and marine protected areas. Before going back to school for her graduate degree, Eldridge worked as a professional mariner, serving as captain and mate aboard oceanographic research vessels and large traditional sailing ships in Alaska and both coasts of the Americas. Leslie lives in Ashland with her husband and two young boys. They enjoy outdoor opportunities in Ashland such as mountain biking and running the trails! SCOTT FLEURY
Scott is a husband and father to three daughters who all live on a farm in the Rogue Valley. Scott was born in California and spent a majority of his youth growing up in the Central Coast. Scott attended Cuesta Community College and transferred to Chico State University where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He started his professional career as an engineer for an aerospace company. In 2005, Scott and his wife relocated to the Rogue Valley from California to be closer to family and start one of their own. This is when he began a career in the Public Works field. Scott first started as an engineering technician with the Josephine County Public Works Department before coming to work for the City of Ashland in 2006. Scott has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility within the Public Works Department over the past 17 years culminating with becoming the Director of Public Works in 2020. Scott is a registered professional engineer in the State of Oregon. RALPH SARTAIN
In June 2021, Ralph Sartain became Ashland Fire & Rescues’ (AF&R) 15th Fire Chief. He came to AF&R as the Fire Marshal from Medford Fire Department in 2017. Chief Sartain is a veteran of the United States Air Force and a graduate of the Managing Officer program from the National Fire Academy. He obtained his Paramedic degree from Rogue Community College, and an associate degree in Fire Science from Columbia Southern University. He also went on to receive a double bachelor’s degree with honors in Fire Administration as well as Fire Investigations. Chief Sartain is married to Suzanne, the love of his life for 28 years. They raised a daughter and son here in the Rogue Valley and welcomed a new son into their life when their daughter Mikayla married Westin. They also enjoyed watching their son Elijah graduate college and the Ford Asset program becoming a Certified Ford Master Mechanic. Chief Sartain has worked in all aspects of emergency services since becoming a volunteer firefighter in Minot, North Dakota in 1991. After leaving the Air Force, he got his start in the Rogue Valley as a volunteer firefighter for Fire District 4 in Shady Cove. He was then hired by the Veterans Administration as a firefighter. He was also a volunteer firefighter for the City of Talent and worked at Mercy flights both as a ground and flight paramedic as well as Medford Police before returning to his true calling in the fire service. Chief Sartain looks forward to leading AF&R into the future with all of the changing elements of the Fire and EMS services. TOM MCBARTLETT
Tom has been the Director of Electric since 2015. He has worked in the electric industry for over 25 years. In 2022 he served as Board President of Oregon Municipal Electric Utilities Association (OMEU), and currently serves on the board of directors for Northwest Requirements Utilities (NRU) and the OMEU. Tom is originally from Colorado. He moved to the Pacific Northwest in the early 2000s. He enjoys spending time with his daughter and on many summer Saturday nights they can be found at the Southern Oregon Speedway cheering for other City employees who race cars at the speedway.
