A freshly painted ballot drop box in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley
The filing window is now closed for the May 18 special district elections. Here are the candidates running for local office that will be on Gales Creek residents’ ballots.
The Forest Grove School District has three open seats.
Brad Bafaro, a former nonprofit executive director, is running for Position 1, incumbent Valyrie Ingram is running for position 2, while Mary Whitmore, a retired teacher, and Mark Everett, a former Forest Grove School District board member, are running for Position 3.
Portland Community College Zone 7, which encompasses far west Washington County and beyond, has two candidates running for the seat — Reiko Mia Williams of Portland, a former assistant principal of prior government experience, and Kristi Wilson who currently works as the City of Hillsboro’s Youth Workforce development manager.
Education isn’t the only institution whose board members are involved in an election race. Several fire district board of directors seats are open, too, including two positions on the Banks Fire District board, two on the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection board, and three on the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue board (TVF&R).
Cleo Howell, a Gales Creek resident and director for 12 years on the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection board, is running unopposed for his seat on Position 1 on the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District board.
Incumbent Terry Lewis, who listed a Dilley address as his residence, filed to run for Position 3, as did Richard Gale, a Gales Creek resident and owner of Gales Creek Towing.
Read more candidate filings for every Washington County special elections race here.
This story has been updated with two new candidate filings added by the Washington County Election Office, Richard Gale for Position 3 on the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection board, and Valyrie Ingram, running for Position 2 on the Forest Grove School Board.
