Shumake

PENDLETON — Voters elected a couple new faces to Pendleton area government Tuesday, and then promptly rejected its asks for more funding.

Public relations specialist Sally Brandsen became one of those new faces after she won her election for the open Ward 2 seat over Walla Walla, Washington, land use planner Melissa Shumake.

Both campaigns were quietly run by necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Brandsen said she thought her positive campaign resonated with the voters of the North Hill district.

Shumake said she was glad the race was contested, adding that one-candidate races were undemocratic, before vowing to stay involved with Pendleton city government.

“I’ll be back,” she said.

Neither candidate thought they would run when former Councilor Scott Fairley was the incumbent, but his sudden death in early January created an opening for the first-time candidates.

The council appointed former Councilor Chuck Wood to fill Fairley’s seat through the end of the year, and although he’s enjoyed his second stint on the council, Wood said Wednesday that he intends to follow through on his promise to step down early to make way for the winner of the Ward 2 race.

Wood said there isn’t a definitive date for his resignation, but conversations between himself, Brandsen and Mayor John Turner point to a transition sometime in September. Brandsen’s full four-year term will start in January.

In the only other contested race, Ward 3 incumbent Dale Primmer handily turned back a challenge from retiree Larry Anderson.

Going into the race, Primmer said he felt good about his first term and the support he built from constituents, noting that he received more votes this year than he did in 2016.

Anderson didn’t have any harsh words for his opponent, saying Primmer was “one of the good ones” on the council.

Anderson said he entered the race for the south Pendleton ward to raise awareness about the city’s spending habits rather than any issue he had with Primmer.

“If I wasn’t running, I probably would’ve voted for him,” Anderson said.

Retired U.S. Forest Service administrator Kevin Martin ran unopposed for the open Ward 1 seat, and he’ll replace the retiring Becky Marks next year. Turner and at-large Councilor Paul Chalmers both ran unopposed and easily won second terms Tuesday night.

Voters reject tax measures

Pendleton voters were not as kind to the two tax measures on their ballots.

Similar to 2015, residents handily rejected a 4-cent gas tax proposed to fund street repair. Pendleton city officials hadn’t placed much optimism in its passage after the pro-gas tax political action committee pulled its support in late March as the pandemic set in.

That didn’t stop the No Pendleton Gas Tax PAC, a group funded by gas station owners and oil distributors, from raising $11,700 to defeat the tax.

As of Wednesday, nearly two out of three voters cast a ballot against the gas tax.

Despite the setback, Turner has said that the council is still invested in raising more than $1 million in additional funding for street repair.

The fall of the gas tax wasn’t reflective of a regional trend. Milton-Freewater renewed a public transportation levy, the Echo Fire District passed a $500,000 bond and Boardman passed a bond of its own for water and wastewater facilities.

One glaring exception was a general operations levy for the Pendleton School District.

After voters approved and renewed the levy several times since 2000, the levy was narrowly defeated on Tuesday,

As the school district prepares for deep cuts in state funding, school officials will have to figure out how to make up for the loss of $300,000 in revenue the levy generated.