Written by Aaron Knapp, Newberg Graphic

New faces on CPRD, rural fire board, Newberg school directors stay on

Residents of the Newberg and Dundee area will see changes on two local governing board after two newcomers won seats in last week's elections.

The Chehalem Park and Recreation District will say goodbye to decades-long board member Mike McBride for newcomer Lisa Rogers after a cordial campaign, while newcomer Lindsay Berschauer decisively made her way onto the board of the Newberg Rural Fire Protection District, driven by concerns for area's future for fire service.

Newberg School District

Newberg School District's Board of Directors will not see a change to its makeup, as chairman Todd Thomas easily withstood a challenge from newcomer Ines Peña in the district's only contested race.

Unofficial election results from Yamhill County indicate Thomas took a commanding 62 percent of the vote in the race for Zone 4 of the district.

Thomas said he was wavering on whether to run for re-election this year, but he gained resolve to seek another term as he saw public attitudes shifting over the past year as well as difficult financial times ahead for the state.

"I'm a firm believer in public education and I think it needs to be supported at all levels and maybe even more so now," he said. "We're having to make some cuts and hopefully we can keep doing what we're doing in spite of the financial challenges that we have."

Meanwhile, incumbents Ron Mock and Bob Woodruff, of Zones 1 and 5 respectively, won re-election in uncontested races.

Chehalem Park and Recreation District

With three seats up for election on the CPRD Board of Directors pitting three incumbents against two challengers, relative newcomer Rogers managed to win the most votes, earning about 25 percent of votes cast, according to unofficial results.

Incumbents Mike Ragsdale and Pete Siderius held on to their seats ahead of fellow incumbent McBride and challenger Beth Koschmann.

Rogers, a Newberg resident and deputy director of CASA of Oregon who played an important role in the district's efforts to build a new pool, never took issue with the current direction of the board, but ran in order to bring a new perspective and add diversity to the board.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to participate with the rest of the board on what's going on with the (CPRD)," Rogers said, noting that she would like to review the district's succession plan with so many longtime employees and delve into the district's plans for the Chehalem Paddle Launch, Parrett Mountain and trails.

McBride, who had garnered the fewest votes of the five candidates according to unofficial totals, explained that he had forgotten he was up for re-election and barely managed to file by the deadline. He did not have enough time to submit a statement for the voter pamphlet, which he thought may have cost him the election.

Nonetheless, the 35-year veteran of the board was confident Rogers will "do a great job," and noted his readiness for someone new to take his place.

Although he listed off a number of things still left for the district to do, McBride noted that the district has earned the trust from the community in the past few decades, which he said is evidenced by residents being willing to donate their land to the district.

"We've done a lot of really good things. I just really feel really proud to have been a part of the Chehalem Park and Recreation District and we've seen a lot of changes," McBride said. "For people to give us land and stuff like that because they know that we're going to help benefit the community, I think that speaks a lot about what we've been able to accomplish."