Mayor Tonya Graham moved to promote Cotta from her role as interim city manager, which she has held for six months. Before that, Cotta was the acting city manager after Joe Lessard鈥檚 resignation in October. She also previously served as deputy city manager.
鈥淚 have worked with her for those last two and a half years, and I can personally attest to her skills, her hard work ethic and her integrity, and also her care for this community,鈥� Graham said.
The Ashland City Charter states the mayor may appoint a city manager with confirmation from the city council. According to meeting materials, the role is a budgeted position and the appointment will have 鈥渘o significant impacts鈥� on the city鈥檚 budget. Cotta will now work with the city attorney to finalize an official employment contract.
The councilors voted 6-1 to appoint Cotta to her new position.
The only opposition came from Councilor Gina DuQuenne, who suggested the city ought to conduct a more thorough hiring process.
鈥淚 feel like we would be doing a disservice to the community of Ashland if we did not try to get the best person with the best experience for this position,鈥� DuQuenne said. 鈥淚t very well might be Ms. Cotta, but I don鈥檛 think that we should limit ourselves.鈥�
Other councilors pointed to Cotta鈥檚 work, saying her focus on communication, emergency preparedness and accessibility were evidence enough for them to make a decision.
鈥淭his community of over 21,000 deserves better than this body rolling the dice with their futures when we have the answer right in front of us,鈥� Councilor Jeff Dahle said.
According to Cotta鈥檚 resume, her accomplishments include establishing a joint emergency operations center, improving ambulance and firefighter services, helping create Ashland鈥檚 homelessness master plan and starting a program to ensure the city is fairly paying its employees.
鈥淢s. Cotta is vested in our community, its sustainability and its long term viability,鈥� said Councilor Paula Hyatt. 鈥淪he brings to her work guiding principles of collaboration, communication and efficient, effective operational execution.鈥�
Cotta also intermittently served as the human resources director and finance director for the city in 2022.
She has 15 years of experience working in local governments in Oregon, Colorado, Illinois and Arizona.
