UMATILLA COUNTY — Born and raised in Chicago, Mark Gomolski, 62, was only 10 when he lost his father to a heart attack. With his mother under the pressure to financially support their family, Gomoslki tried to apply for a permit so he could legally get a job at age 14.

Gomolski was denied the permit, but resiliently wrote a letter to the editor of Chicago Today detailing his situation. Chicago City Hall eventually got wind of the letter, and it ended up in front of the mayor at the time.

The mayor then sent a member of his staff to contact Gomolski and his mother to set up a meeting, where Gomoslki was told he’d be getting his permit and an opportunity to work for the city.

“He had told me back then that as long as he was mayor, I would have a job in the city,” Gomolski says. “As a 14-year-old trying to help support your family, that leaves an impression.”

As a candidate for Umatilla County commissioner, Gomolski is running to work for the people and give back to the community that he now calls home.

“People need a commissioner who will listen to them, help them when possible and who will not forget them,” he says. “I will not forget you.”

Gomolski is one of five candidates in the May 19 primary running for the opening on the county’s three-person board of commissioners that’s being left by incumbent commissioner Bill Elfering, who isn’t running for reelection after eight years in office. The primary’s top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff in the November general election.

Gomolski started working for the city of Chicago by cleaning up the streets and parks on his weekends and summers. He worked his way up the ranks until he was hiring other youth workers, and eventually working on employment and training for the mayor’s office.

From there he shifted into a role with the Cook County government in Chicago, where he served on boards and worked on special projects. He spent 30 years with Cook County and again worked his way up the ladder until he was in upper management as a maintenance superintendent overseeing staff and projects throughout the county.

“I think that gave me a very good understanding of how to work with others and get things done,” Gomolski said. “And I also saw how budgets can make or break you.”

Gomolski moved to Umatilla County seven years ago and today is retired in Hermiston, where he’s served for three years on the Hermiston School Board and been a member of the Hermiston Hispanic Advisory Committee.

While he may come from the big city, Gomolski could feel the genial and friendly atmosphere of Umatilla County was right for him from just about the first moment he arrived. While making himself comfortable at his new home, Gomolski said he had neighbors and strangers jumping at the opportunity to help him paint his house in his first weeks here.

“I fell in love with this community from day one,” he says. “It was just like stepping back in time.”

So Gomolski stepped right into volunteering with his church and Hermiston’s Agape House, which offers food and other resources to those in need.

“There’s no way I could not give back to the community I’m a part of,” he said.

Gomolski also served on the county’s charter review committee and was Elfering’s campaign manager during his 2016 bid for reelection, during which he says he saw the burgeoning opportunity for economic development on the horizon with the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

The depot is in the process of being transferred into a three-way partnership with Umatilla and Morrow counties and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and Gomolski thinks it could be ripe for bringing in manufacturing jobs in the wind and solar energy industries.

“That’s a really good thing I’d like to see be completed,” he says. “Economic development is going to go on big time there. And if (companies) don’t come here, they’re going to go somewhere else.”

But in order to guarantee those companies choose Umatilla County over anywhere else, Gomolski favors offering tax incentives and deferments when possible.

“Economic development has many issues but one of the best levers to get companies to come here is tax deferment,” he said. “If we’re going to make breaks, try to make sure that the county can get as much as we can for as long as we can. But we do sometimes have to make breaks in order to get companies to come here. It’s just a fact of life.”

Gomolski says he’s also committed to better connecting with the county’s Hispanic population and would like to bring some ideas that he found successful while working with those communities in Chicago, such as art fairs for young Hispanic artists to showcase their talents and sell their work.

“It’s a great opportunity for the artists and it’s an opportunity to showcase Hispanic culture to the part of the population that doesn’t really know about it,” he said.

Gomolski also hopes to work with Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan and Commissioner John Shafer to improve the county’s access to mental health care, which he said is currently substandard with Lifeways.

“The county should be responsible to make sure that we can get the best mental health facilities,” he said.

While much of his experience is in government work, Gomolski feels he embodies the average, everyday working individual and is striving to represent those like him in the 2020 race for Umatilla County commissioner.

“I’m just an average guy trying to do what’s right for my community,” he says.

Mark Gomolski

Age: 62

Residence: Hermiston

Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois 

Years in Umatilla County: 7 years

Highest level of education: Two years at St. Xavier College in Chicago

Occupation: Retired 

Quote: “I’m just an average guy trying to do what’s right for my community.” 

This is the third in a series of stories in the candidates for Position 3 on the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners.