Six file for Oakridge School Board seats, creating three contested races amid district turmoil

By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald — Five newcomers and one incumbent filed for election to seats on the Oakridge School Board prior to Friday’s filing deadline for the May 18 elections.

Pleasant Hill will have three uncontested candidates up for election. Lowell will have one uncontested candidate and one two-way race.

By contrast, voters in the Oakridge District, after months of stormy controversy over its superintendent of schools, will be deciding a trio of two-way races. The outcome could potentially decide the fate of embattled Supt. Reta Doland, who has weathered prolonged criticism from teachers and parents but has so far had school board support.

Oakridge School Board Chairman John Weddle is not seeking re-election to Position 5 on the board. Two Oakridge-Westfir medical professionals have filed for the seat — Clem Pope, an emergency room physician assistant, and Charles “Charlie” Ross, a physician and university professor.

Oakridge board member Tami Edmunds did not file for re-election to her Position 3 seat. It will be sought by candidates Lisa Samuelson, a school bus driver, and Stacy Tindall, a teacher and counselor.

Susan Hardy, a former teacher and Oakridge incumbent in Position 2 on board, filed for re-election. She will be opposed by August Reed, a certified nursing assistant.

In Lowell, retired teacher James Chapman has filed for re-election to Position 4. He will be opposed by Jerry Valencia, owner of a construction company. Jason Prenevost, an electrician, has filed for Position 2, now held by Board Chair Joyce Donnell, who is not seeking re-election. Michael Galvin will be unopposed for re-election to his Position 3 seat on the board.

At Pleasant Hill, board member Stephen Hammond, a social worker, is unopposed for re-election. Drew Gottfried, a credit union director, and Rusty Rexius, co-president of a forest byproducts company, are running unopposed for two other positions on the school board.

In all three Highway 58 school districts, the school board positions carry four-year terms. Ballots for the May 18 election will be mailed on April 29. Before that date The Herald will seek interviews and publish profiles of all candidates in contested races.

Herald Editor Doug Bates is a retired newspaper journalist who lives in Oakridge.