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Ballots are being mailed out May 1 for Oregon’s nonpartisan school board and special district elections. These elections tend to have very low turnout — as low as 34 percent. That means even more than usual, union voters can make a difference.

If a candidate is listed in bold below, they’ve been backed by at least one labor organization. To keep the list short, union-endorsed candidates who are running unopposed are not listed. Sometimes unions didn’t agree: In some races, more than one candidate got support from at least one union.

Below are endorsed candidates for school boards, community college boards, special district boards, and bond measures, with the districts listed alphabetically. Following each candidate name is a list of union endorsers and a link to the campaign web site, if they have one. [Acronyms are listed in a legend at the bottom.]

Also listed at the end are union member graduates of the Oregon Labor Candidate School who are running.

DON’T FORGET: Ballots must be received (not postmarked) by May 21!

School districts

Greater Albany Schools

Position 3 Michael Thomson UFCW, WFP

Centennial School District

Position 7 Amanda Schroeder retired VA service rep and AFGE local president NOLC

Eugene (4J) School District

Position 4 Gordon Lafer LCCLC, UFCW, WFP

Position 5 Martina Shabram LCCLC, UFCW, WFP

Position 7 Deanna Chappell Belcher UFCW, WFP

Forest Grove Schools

Position 4 Chelsea Shotts UBC

Gresham-Barlow Schools

Zone 7 Amanda Orozco-Beach NOLC, UBC, WFP

Hillsboro Schools

Position 4 See Eun Kim OEA, OSEA, PCCFAP/PCCFCE, UFCW, WFP SKforOregon.com

Lake Oswego School District

Position 1 John Wallin UFCW, OSEA wallinforlosd.com

Measure 3-547 SUPPORT Five year local option levy to pay for teachers and educational programs, first increase in the District’s local option levy since 2004, from $1.39 to $1.64 per $1,000. OEA, OSEA

North Clackamas Schools

Position 3 Libra Forde WFP

Oregon City Schools

Position 2 Anna Farmer OEA, OSEA

Position 5 Steven Soll OEA, OSEA

Position 6 Emma Lugo OEA, OSEA, WFP

Position 7 Pamela White OEA, OSEA, UFCW, WFP pamela4schools.com

Portland Public Schools

Zone 2

Michelle DePass NOLC, OEA, UBC depassforpps.com
Shanice Clarke PCCFAP/PCCFCE shanice4pps.com

Zone 7 Eilidh Lowery NOLC, OEA

Zone 3 Amy Kohnstamm UBC, OEA

Salem-Keizer Schools

Position 2 Raul Marquez Guerrero MPYCLC, UBC, UFCW, WFP

Position 4 David Salinas MPYCLC, UBC, UFCW, WFP

Position 6 Chuck Lee UBC, UFCW

Springfield Schools

Position 1 Todd Mann LCCLC, UFCW, WFP

Position 2 Michelle Webber UFCW

Tigard-Tualatin Schools

Position 2

Gigi Olguin UFCW, WFP gigiolguin.com
Ben Bowman OEA, IAFF Local 1660 BenForSchools.com

Reynolds School Board

Position 6 Ana Gonzalez Muñoz UBC, WFP

West-Linn Wilsonville Schools

Position 2 Chelsea King Martin UFCW, WFP chelseakingmartin.com

Position 4 Jordan Ferris UBC,UFCW, WFP facebook.com/JordanFerrisforWLWVSchoolBoard

Community colleges

Clackamas Community College

Zone 4 Chris Groener UFCW

Lane Community College

Position 7 Lisa Fragala LCCLC, UFCW, WFP

Linn-Benton Community College

Position 6-7 Tony Lapiz UFCW, WFP

Mt Hood Community College

Position 6, at-large Courtney Helstein NOLC, UBC, UFCW, WFP CourtneyHelstein.com

Position 7, at-large LaVerne Lewis OEA, MHCCFFA, UBC facebook.com/lavernelewisformhcc

Portland Community College

Zone 3 Michael Sonnleitner incumbent, retired PCC instructor NOLC, PCCFCE/PCCFAP, UBC, WFP

Special districts

Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue

Position 4

Robert Satterwhite retired firefighter/ paramedic and IAFF member IAFF
Randy Lauer Teamsters Local 223 randylauer.com

Position 5 Brian Clopton IAFF

Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation

Position 2 Wendy Kroger UFCW WendyKrogerforTHPRD.com

Position 3 Ashley Hartmeier WFP, PCCFAP/PCCFCE ashleyhartmeierprigg.com

Position 4 Heidi Edwards NOLC, PCCFAP/PCCFCE, UBC, UFCW, WFP Heidi4THPRD.com

Position 5 Tya Ping WFP, PCCFAP/PCCFCE tyaforthprd.com

Willamalane Parks & Recreation

Chris Wig LCCLC, UBC, UFCW, WFP

Forest Grove Fire District

Measure 34-286 SUPPORT Tualatin Valley Fire District Bond Renewal renew an emergency services levy for Fire and Emergency Medical Services at $0.45 per $1,000 assessed value for five years, supports at least 92 of 432 TVF&R firefighters and paramedics NOLC

Clackamas River Water District

Position 1 Tessah Danel Roofers facebook.com/tessahdanelforCRWcommission

Position 2 Naomi Angier retired Multnomah County librarian and member of AFSCME Local 88 UFCW

Port of Columbia County

Position 1 Steven Hanson UFCW, WFP

Port of St. Helens

Patrick Trapp UBC

Bond Measures

City of Corvallis

Measure 2-123 SUPPORT AFSCME

City of Hood River

Measure 14-65 SUPPORT AFSCME

Measure 14-66 SUPPORT AFSCME

Lane County

Measure 20-299 SUPPORT Lane County Courthouse Construction Bond. LCCLC, UBC

Polk County

Measure 27-129 SUPPORT AFSCME

Oregon Labor Candidate School alumni running for office

Oregon unions want members to run for public office, because no one can represent the interests of working people as effectively as working people themselves. To help them win, a group of unions founded the Oregon Labor Candidate School seven years ago to train union members in the mechanics of political campaigns. Over a dozen alumni now hold elected office, including seats in the legislature, city halls, and school boards. Six more graduates are on the ballot this May 21. Two ended up running for office unopposed: Alex Diaz Rios, a high school social studies teacher for Beaverton School District — and member of Oregon Education Association — is running for Portland Community College Board. And Denyse Peterson, a Portland Community College administrative assistant and AFT member, is running for re-election to the Multnomah Education Service District Board. Here are the other four:

Michael Sonnleitner is a retired political science instructor at Portland Community College and a longtime member of American Federation of Teachers. He’s running for re-election to the Portland Community College Board.

Heidi Edwards works in recruitment, community outreach, and student and workforce development at Portland Community College, where she’s a member of American Federation of Teachers. She’s running for Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Board

Chelsea Shotts is a special education support worker for Newberg School district, and a member of Oregon School Employees Association. She’s running for Forest Grove School Board.

Jordan Ferris is a registered nurse and a member of Oregon Nurses Association, where she works as a nursing practice consultant. She’s running for West Linn Wilsonville School Board.

Legend

AFSCME American Fed. of State, County and Municipal Employees
IAFF International Association of Fire Fighters
LCCLC Lane County Central Labor Chapter
MHCCFFA Mt. Hood Community College Full-Time Faculty Association
MPYCLC Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter, the local AFL-CIO
NOLC Northwest Oregon Labor Council, the local AFL-CIO
OEA the local affiliate of the Oregon Education Association, which represents teachers
OSEA the local affiliate of the Oregon School Employees Association, which represents school support staff
PAT Portland Association of Teachers
PCCFFAP/PCCFCE faculty and classified locals of AFT at PCC
Roofers Roofers Local 49
UBC Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters
WFP Oregon Working Families Party (union-backed minor party)

A union guide to Oregon’s May 21 election