It is great to see so much interest in our Hermiston School Board. In the 12 years that I have served on the board, I have never seen so many candidates run to serve the students and families of the Hermiston School District.

Even though each candidate brings their own strengths and qualifications, I believe Brent Pitney has earned another term. He has a strong background in construction at a time when our school district is heavily involved in building new schools, and his expertise is highly valuable.

It would be unfortunate to lose his experience and training as our district moves towards normalcy again.

Ginny Holthus

Hermiston School District Board of Directors

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. on 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, OR 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.