HERMISTON — For the first time this election cycle, candidates for Umatilla County commissioner met in person to make the case to voters this November during a candidate forum at the Hermiston Community Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Long-time county fair board member Dan Dorran, first-place finisher in the May primary, and Three Percenter HollyJo Beers, who finished second, were also joined by Pat Maier, a Hermiston businesswoman who finished third but is running as a write-in candidate.

The candidates offered different perspectives on the county’s response to COVID-19, their priorities for building a stable economy, along with their ability to represent the county’s communities of color.

Beers and Maier each critiqued Umatilla County’s handling of the pandemic and the current commissioners’ decision to follow mandates imposed by Gov. Kate Brown.

“I would have tried harder to help the small businesses and make things a little more open,” said Beers, who held a maskless protest outside the county courthouse in Pendleton in August and spent the summer working on the most recent failed campaign to recall Brown.

Maier argued that the county’s leadership was “wrong” and failed its Latino and Hispanic populations by not communicating guidelines quickly enough in Spanish and “Mexican dialects” or funding agricultural workers to stay home when sick.

While declining to criticize the county directly, Dorran said he would have liked greater communication and transparency from the beginning of the pandemic, and suggested forming a small economic recovery committee to assist the commissioners in prioritizing next steps of recovery.

All three candidates said the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s public safety budget should be protected from any pandemic-necessitated cuts. Dorran also highlighted the need to protect the Umatilla County Public Health Department’s budget.

“If we’re talking immediate shielding, I would protect that to make sure that we flow through these times that we’re in right now and come out on the other end,” Dorran said.

To build and maintain a stable economy, Beers focused on keeping local projects contracted to local businesses, and said she’d like to help small businesses get back on their feet and address the county’s roads.

Without offering a solution, Maier said the county needs to eliminate the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) debt it has accrued. When asked about capital projects, Maier said the county should prioritize working in streams to mitigate future flooding risks, as she’s done in forming a citizen work group in response to flooding at Camas Creek.

Dorran advocated for the aggressive pursuit of grant funding, and suggested a test area for electric trucks on the westside of the county similar to how Pendleton is used as a test area for Unmanned Aerial Systems. He also pushed for the county to make use of the junction of interstates 84 and 82, which a study showed receives as much daily traffic as any point along Interstate 5.

“It really boils down to a collaboration of setting priorities with all 12 cities of Umatilla County and what their needs are and how to address them,” he said.

The candidates were each asked their opinions on the county’s adoption of a resolution titled “Stance Against Racism, Discrimination and Social Injustices in Umatilla County” in August. The resolution included a declaration that the board of commissioners believe that racism exists in Umatilla County, they respect peaceful protesting and recognize the importance of contributions by people of color.

After previously being dismissive of systemic racism as a local issue, Dorran said he’s since had conversations with and learned more about the issue from leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, its board of trustees and Hermiston City Councilor Roy Barron.

“The major component of the future is for everybody to listen,” he said.

Maier likened the oppressions and injustices of systemic racism to her experiences as a businesswoman and being kicked off a youth baseball team as a teenager.

“Women have seen as much discrimination as anyone,” she said. “I think what you have to do, whether you’re white, black, pink, yellow or green, you have to stand up and be counted … systemic racism right now, I don’t really see it that way.”

Following up on statements made earlier in her campaign that the CTUIR were “the most racist people” she’d encountered, Beers disagreed with the ordinance because she believed it violated the Civil Rights Act, while suggesting it was somehow “denigrating” white people.

“Lots of people are discriminated against in a lot of different ways,” she said. “But you can’t make ordinances — or in this case a resolution or a policy as they made — because it is not equality for everyone.”

A self-described “Constitutionalist,” Beers used her closing statements to assert that she would never violate the Constitution and that she wanted to be a voice for people in the county.

“I would ask that you vote for me if you want somebody who can speak for you,” she said.

The forum was Dorran’s first chance to speak publicly following his arrest for driving after consuming alcohol at a golf tournament and colliding with another vehicle in Umatilla on Sept. 26.

The arrest wasn’t brought up during the forum, but Dorran instead focused heavily on optimism and his “three-legged platform” of economic development, transportation and infrastructure and creating a more livable county.

“I’m the biggest optimist out there,” he said. “I get accused of being over-optimistic, overconfident of this county, my passion for this county and what our future holds.”

Throughout the night, Maier trumpeted her experiences as a businesswoman as reason for her being the best option, despite being a write-in candidate.

“Every day takes leadership,” she said. “Every day it takes work to run a successful business that’s been going for over 17 years.”

Voters will have Dorran and Beers to decide between on the ballot this Nov. 3, while Maier will hope enough voters aren’t satisfied enough with either choice to put her name down instead. The winner will then start a four-year term on the board of commissioners in 2021 beside commissioners John Shafer and George Murdock.

For a video of the full forum, visit youtube.com/watch?v=2tXh-751jAs on the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube channel.