Dan Ruby for Ashland City Council
Press Kit
Resources for journalists, editors, and media covering the 2026 Ashland City Council race.
High-resolution press photo. Free to use for editorial coverage of the 2026 Ashland City Council race.
Download PhotoCandidate at a Glance
- Race
- Ashland City Council, Position 4
- Election Date
- November 2026
- Party
- Nonpartisan
- Hometown
- Ashland, Oregon
- Occupation
- Educator & Nonprofit Leader
- Key Issues
- Affordability, Housing, Schools, Fiscal Responsibility
Official Bio
Dan Ruby is a lifelong educator, school board member, housing advocate, and nonprofit leader running for Ashland City Council in 2026. He has spent his career building institutions that serve Ashland's most pressing needs — from the classroom to the boardroom.
As a co-founder of Sunstone Housing, Dan helped launch permanently affordable housing in the Rogue Valley, bringing together community partners, public funding, and private investment for real results. As a member of the Ashland School Board, he has fought to protect educational quality while navigating difficult budget realities.
Dan is running for City Council because he believes Ashland's best days are ahead — but only if the city makes smart, honest decisions about affordability, housing, public safety, and fiscal responsibility. He lives in Ashland with his family and has deep roots in the community he is asking to serve.
Key Positions for Media Reference
Making Ashland More Affordable
Many Ashland households are working but have little or no savings — feeling the pressure of increased rent, gas prices, healthcare costs, and groceries. Dan supports rethinking utility assistance programs to help people who make too much to qualify for benefits but are still struggling to make ends meet, and will bring innovative policy models from other small Oregon cities that are working to make housing more affordable for workers, families, students, and seniors on fixed incomes.
Housing and Homelessness
Dan serves on the City of Ashland Housing and Human Services Advisory Committee. He helped found Sunstone Housing Collaborative, focused on innovative solutions to provide affordable housing for working families and educators in Ashland, aligned to the City's long-term goals. He also built partnerships for transitional housing with health and human services for survivors of the 2020 Almeda fire. Dan supports legislative and policy reforms that expand housing options at every price point.
A Responsible, Transparent City Budget
As a member of the Ashland School Board and Budget Committee, Dan helped shape a turnaround of dire district finances to a path of long-term sustainability — cutting expenses and overhead while preserving community values and student services. He has supervised complex multimillion-dollar annual budgets for university departments, colleges, and nonprofits as both an executive and trustee. He will bring that discipline to City Council.
Health, Safety, Wildfire, and Climate Resilience
Dan supports the City's Climate and Energy Action and Community Wildfire Protection plans, and will work with council colleagues to implement them while navigating the tradeoffs between limited resources and the urgency required. He also understands that the city can help foster new and stronger partnerships to preserve healthcare access and better coordinate services between local providers.
Supporting Schools, SOU, and the Next Generation
Dan is a lifelong educator who believes thriving schools and colleges are the vibrant heart of a community and major drivers of economic opportunity. He will work to ensure the city supports the Ashland School District transformation process and SOU's vitality plan in concert with the City's strategic plan — because we're all in this together.
Working Together and Governing Well
Dan knows what makes governing bodies effective: shared goals, clear roles, transparency, good communication, and accountability. He brings values of collaboration, curiosity, and reliability, and understands that the strongest policy comes through civil discourse from diverse viewpoints. As a school board member, he helped recruit and hire Ashland's new superintendent and shares responsibility for productive, regular evaluation with aligned aims.
Media Contact
For interview requests, additional photos, statements, or background information, please reach out directly. We aim to respond to all media inquiries within 24 hours.
[email protected]