Unrue declares run for city commission
Feb. 16—EDITOR'S NOTE — This is one of several stories spotlighting candidates for Ashland City Commission. More expansive stories are planned leading up to the primary election.
ASHLAND Former businessman Fred Unrue has announced he is running for Ashland City Commission.
Unrue, 64, opened Fred Unrue Preowned Cars in Ashland in 1983 and ran it until selling it in 2016. Along the way, he said he has made many contacts with business owners, residents and city employees. He said he believes his experience running a business and his familiarity with the area will enable him to work well with others.
"I know a lot about the city and about the structure of the city and you just learn these things over time," Unrue said. "I live in downtown Ashland so I see everything that's going on. ... I'm really concerned about the direction our city's going in and nobody seems to want to talk about industry anymore." He said he continued to run his business while industry around him shut down. "The economy was very different. I was really pleased I had enough staying power."
One issue for Unrue: the rising costs of living and doing business.
"I want to advocate reining in on power and gas companies to help our citizens," he said. "I envision reductions in premiums versus all the price increases we keep getting. ... I'm working on some things. We need to put together coalitions to battle these corporations."
He said he's concerned about the idle AK Steel/Cleveland Cliffs site.
"We've got a 750,000-acre site sitting down here and nobody wants to talk about it," he said. "Nobody seems to know and nobody's talking about it."
Unrue also said he has concerns about the roundabouts and traffic in downtown Ashland, calling starting construction near the holiday season "a terrible decision" that should have waited until January. He also questioned truck traffic on Winchester.
"I guess they want to keep them off Winchester, which is absurd. Those trucks can't go through the alleys," he said. "At some point there's going to be a lot of dysfunction with this. I watch people park and they've having difficulties backing into parking spots. It's going to be a fiasco."
He also noted he opposed the recent $33,000 raise for City Manager Mike Graese. "We could have taken that and helped the business owners pay rent for a couple of months," Unrue said. "They lost their whole Christmas season. There should be a fund set up to help people with water bills who need help from time to time. ... In our current situation, there are people struggling to keep their utilities on."
Unrue said he is fiscally conservative, noting he is in the local chapter of the nationwide group Restore Liberty, which is active in promoting liberty and conservative candidates.
Unrue graduated from Russell High School in 1977 and has two years of vocational training. He has two daughters, both of whom are businesswomen in Ashland, and a son.
(606) 326-2661 — lward@dailyindependent.com
