Delegates to Oregon AFSCME elected at-large officers in a special re-run election held Oct. 25. The leadership vote first took place at the public sector union’s statewide convention in May, but the results were challenged on a number of grounds and a new election was scheduled. The second vote didn’t change the outcome. Incumbent executive director Joe Baessler outpolled challenger Rob Martineau 16,213 to 5,161. Martineau is president of AFSCME Local 189 at the City of Portland. Incumbent president Fred Yungbluth also faced a challenge in the May election from Local 328 chief steward Sarah Curtis, but Curtis was since suspended from union membership, a decision that’s being appealed. That left all positions except Baessler’s uncontested the second time around. Elected by acclamation were:
- President Fred Yungbluth
- First Vice President Joe Moore
- Second Vice President Charlie Peirson
- Treasurer LaRece Rivera
- Secretary Meridith Hickman
- Equity and Inclusion Officer Ira Bailey
Baessler, 50, went to work for Oregon AFSCME in 2006 as a political coordinator. In 2023 he was appointed executive director when the union’s board removed executive director Stacy Chamberlain following a complaint about her treatment of subordinates. His election is the first since the union council changed the rules to have an elected executive director instead of one appointed by the board.
