I am writing today to encourage you to vote for Patrick Gregg for Position 7 on the Pendleton School District Board of Directors. As someone who served many years on this board, I believe Patrick embodies the qualities necessary to be an excellent school board member.

School board members must be able to focus on what’s best for our kids while keeping in mind what’s best for the teachers, the community, and the budget. They must be able to work with people who don’t agree with each other, and they must dedicate a lot of time to this board alone.

Patrick has experience with kids; he has children in the district and is a Cub Scout leader. He has served on several nonprofit boards and helped manage budgets. He is a business owner and understands the importance of being fiscally sound. He has worked in mediation to calmly and without judgment reconcile conflicts between people with differing views. Patrick has done his homework, and he knows that this job takes a lot of time and effort. He is willing to put other activities aside and focus on becoming an informed and informative school board member.

It’s not enough to want what’s best for kids. School board members have to wear many hats, and I believe Patrick is both willing and able to do that. Join me in voting for Patrick Gregg, Position 7 Pendleton School District Board of Directors.

Michelle M. Monkman

Pendleton

The East Oregonian does not run endorsements of more than 400 words.

The East Oregonian will institute a deadline for letters to the editor, so we can be fair with all the letters we receive and allow for responses before Election Day, if necessary.

We run local letters of endorsement on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please submit your endorsement letters to the editor by 5 p.m. Friday, May 7. You can email them to editor@eastoregonian.com, or mail them to East Oregonian, c/o Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, 97801.

We will publish our last letters on Saturday, May 15. Any letters received after the deadline will not run. Election Day is May 18.