More than 100 candidates filed for seats on 45 local government boards or special service districts in Lincoln County as of the 5 p.m. deadline Thursday, with a couple of local races drawing multiple candidates.
The May 18 election will be conducted by mail ballot.
Incumbents, as usual, face little opposition on governing boards for the Oregon Coast Community College, several ports, and road districts. For large districts such as schools or the college, board positions are elected by geographic zones. The full list of all board openings and filings is available on the Lincoln County elections website.
But two of three positions on the Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue board in the Waldport area will be contested, as is a seat representing Waldport and Yachats on the Lincoln County School District board.
The Central Coast Fire board will get a new chair in July, when new board members are seated. Chair Tim Grady of Waldport did not file for re-election to Position 1 on the board. Buster Pankey of Waldport, who is also seeking re-election to the Port of Alsea board, was the only one to file for Grady’s position.
Fire Board member Peter Carlich of Tidewater faces a challenge from Todd Holt of Waldport for his Position 2 seat. Position 3 incumbent Dave Brooks of Waldport will face off against Kathryn Menefee of Tidewater and Greg Dunn of Waldport. Dunn is also on the Waldport City Council.
The fire board has been embroiled in controversy before and after the departure of its former Chief Gary Woodson, who was put on administrative leave in December and then given a three-month severance in February.
Three seats on the Lincoln County School Board are up for election, including the Zone 5 seat covering south Lincoln County covering Seal Rock, Waldport, Tidewater and Yachats. Amanda Remund of Waldport is not running for re-election. Filing for the position were Senitila McKinley of Waldport and Eric Goss of Yachats.
Rick Booth, who was appointed to the Waldport City Council in January to fill the term of Mark Campbell, was the only person to file for that position, which goes until Dec. 31, 2022.
The Seal Rock Fire District Board, which has also been engulfed in disputes over its chief and volunteers, has contested races for two of its three positions up for election. Position 1 incumbent Larry Hanson is being challenged by Paul Rimola, and Position 4 incumbent David Oliver is being challenged by Michael Burt and S.D. “Skip” Smith. The only person to file for Position 5 was Al Anton. Incumbent John Soltau is not seeking re-election.
In the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District, where four of five board seats are on the ballot – Ed Hallahan, Betty Johnson, Donald Tucker and Drew Tracy – did not have anyone else file for their positions.
The Port of Alsea, where three of five board positions are on the ballot, also did not see anyone file for seats held by Pankey, Joe Rohleder and Chuck Pavlik, who are all seeking re-election.
Three incumbents on the Oregon Coast Community College board – Chris Chandler, Rick Emery and Alison Nelson-Robertson — filed for re-election and will face no challengers.
Several small special service districts – water and road districts – had no one file for open board seats. If a board seat is not filled via an election, then a majority of the service district board can fill it by appointment.
There are four local option levies on the May ballot, including a five-year levy for the Seal Rock Fire District.
