IBEW Local 280 will have entirely new leadership as a result of recent union officer elections. In mail ballots counted June 2, members elected Drew Lindsey as business manager, rejecting two-term incumbent Tim Frew by 136 to 119. And for all other officer positions, no incumbent ran for re-election, and candidates were elected unopposed. All told, about 270 ballots were mailed in.
Local 280, headquartered in Tangent, Oregon, represents about 1,100 electricians in construction and sound and communications in nine counties in Central Oregon and the Southern Willamette Valley. Business manager is the one elected office that is also a full-time paid position.
Lindsey, 51, is a 22-year IBEW member, and has been a Local 280 officer previously. He was vice president under business manager Jerry Fletcher, and then president during Frew’s first term. For six years, he also taught classes for first year apprentices at the IBEW training center.
Lindsey grew up in Lebanon, Oregon, and raised two daughters as a single father, one still at home. He joined IBEW after 12 years as a Teamster member working at what is now the NORPAC cannery. His younger brother John Lindsey used to work as a pipefitter in Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 290 and now is a Linn County commissioner.
Lindsey says as business manager he plans to concentrate on collective bargaining. He also hopes to increase attendance and involvement in the union, and set a friendlier and more unifying tone where members don’t get divided. “I’d like people to shake hands at union meetings. If political differences are there, we can’t let them divide us.”
For his part, Frew plans to go back to the tools and work as a union electrician.
Also elected besides Lindsey were: Mark Crenshaw, president; Brian Samp, recording secretary; Rob Jackson, treasurer; Executive Board at-large members Jeremy Kroon, Michael Popish, and Mike Williams; and Examining Board members Christopher Bate and Randy Saltmarsh. No one was nominated for the position of vice president, which will remain vacant, along with a third Examining Board position, until an appointment is made.
Three out of the six candidates won positions as International Convention delegate — Tim Miller, Bill Kisselburgh, and Tom Baumann.
The new officers begin their three-year terms July 16.
