Familiar names fill candidate list for May election - East Oregonian

March 23, 2019 at 10:56AM

Out of 122 seats up for election in May, only six seats, or 5 percent, will feature a competition between two candidates.

In some communities, there will be no choices on their ballot beyond the write-in box.

Contested elections

Among the competitive elections, there are plenty of familiar names and prominent community figures.

In Echo, school board member Connie Caplinger is running for another term against Emily Spike.

A former executive assistant for Umatilla County, Caplinger was fired by the board of commissioners in 2013 amid disagreements over a county-wide reorganization.

Caplinger isn't the only incumbent school board member in Umatilla County with a challenger.

Umatilla School Board member Toby Cranston drew an opposing bid from Jennifer Armstrong, the co-owner of Encore Wellness 4 Life, a Umatilla medical clinic.

The clinic also has connections to a Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors, where Encore operations manager Kelly Payan is running against incumbent Fred Sheely.

Mark Keith, the co-owner of Encore and Armstrong's husband, is running for a different seat on the board.

In Stanfield, Stanfield Public Library Director Cecili Longhorn is running for an open school board seat against Jim Griffin.

The seat is being vacated by Terry Monkus, who drew attention in 2017 when the then-cheerleading coach accused Monkus of berating her and the cheerleaders for a lack of enthusiasm during a championship loss by the Stanfield High School boys basketball team. Monkus said her comments were not directed at the cheerleaders but were overheard by the coach.

Other contested elections include one for a seat on the Athena-Weston School Board, where incumbent Jennifer McClure-Spurgeon, who's also the sitting mayor of Weston, will face Shannon Hoehna, the owner and food safety consultant for SH Consulting in Weston, and the Umatilla County Fire District Board of Directors, where incumbent Spike Piersol is getting a challenge from Sebastian Sanchez.

New faces

In other elections, newcomers should breeze toward election without facing an opponent.

Mason Murphy is running to replace longtime Pendleton School Board member Dave Krumbein.

Murphy co-owns the Pendleton bar 40 Taps and was charged with first-degree theft in 2015 for allegedly taking the doors from the old St. Anthony Hospital demolition site without authorization.

Murphy's attorney said it was a misunderstanding over who his client purchased the doors from and the case was eventually dismissed when Murphy agreed to a civil compromise.

At Blue Mountain Community College, Jane Hill is continuing her return to local politics by running for a full term on the board of education.

Appointed to the board in May 2018, Hill served on the Pendleton City Council from 2012 to early 2016, resigning to take a job as the legislative affairs manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Other newcomers who will fill open seats include William Markgraf, who will replace BMCC board member Bob Savage, and Keri Standley, who will replace Randy Schuening on the Pilot Rock School Board.

Empty seats

Not every seat in the May election will have a listed candidate.

In 20 seats, including one seat on the Pendleton School Board, no one filed for election.

Since Michelle Monkman didn't file for her Zone 6 seat on the Pendleton School Board and no one filed to replace her, write-in votes will now determine Monkman's successor.

Whoever wins the most write-in votes will be offered the seat, but if that person declines, the school board will be able to appoint someone to fill the seat.

The write-in process played out in 2017, when no one filed for an open Hermiston School Board seat and Mark Gomolski won the seat with 14 write-in votes.

While the Stanfield School Board does have one competitive race, local election observers will also have an eye on a $14 million Stanfield School District bond election.

If passed, the district would receive a matching $4 million grant from the state and the combined proceeds would go toward a new middle school and career technical education facilities at the secondary school, and further renovations of the elementary and secondary schools.

Elections for all special district seats and the Stanfield school bond will take place on May 21.