Local elections used to be (and should be!) about local people already invested in helping better our communities, and then taking official roles to continue that work. In Newberg/Yamhill County in recent years, we’ve been dominated by partisan politics with people who want to bring a national agenda and/or reward the people they are close to.
It’s time to return to making it about public service for the good of all.
I personally know four local people running for office. All of them have already been active in making our community better, and I heartily endorse them all.
Dr. Jeri Turgesen has been a hero of mine for almost a decade. Through her job as a psychologist and through countless hours of her personal time, she has served the students of our community with suicide prevention, training and supervising of countless counselors, and helping bring a school based health center to life. I heartily endorse her for Newberg City Council, District 3.
Elise Yarnell Hollamon is the longest serving member of the Newberg City Council. I’ve also had huge respect for the way she supports our community in all kinds of ways over the last decade. I’ve worked closely with her on the school based health center, seen her support the local shelter with amazing energy, watched her advocate for businesses, and countless other things in addition to serving on the council. She’s worked across party lines for solutions that make common sense. Vote for her in District 1.
Tyson Butler is someone I’ve known for a couple of years and highly respect. His priorities are the common good of our community: livability, working together, and emphasizing neighborliness and mutual respect to solve problems together. I support Tyson in District 5.
Finally, Bubba King is running for Yamhill County Commissioner. He was just a few votes shy of hitting 50% in the May primary and winning outright. I believe this race is incredibly important, as his opponent has been the perfect example of local politics not based on community service, but on creating a network of county, city, and school board candidates who focus on funneling resources to people who are on their “side.” They fight culture war battles, instead of working for the whole community, and have actively refused government funding for mental health and other key supports in our community. Please vote for Bubba for Yamhill County Commissioner.