Othello candidates gather for meet-and-greet
Othello School District Superintendent Pete Perez, seated left, discusses the Othello School Board with school board candidate Chris Baginksi, standing left, Lighthouse Café Program Director Angela Kudsk, candidate Aaron Gerber, seated middle, and candidate Isauro Pruneda Jr., seated right, during Monday’s meet-and-greet event at Lighthouse.
GABRIEL DAVIS/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Othello general election candidates converse among themselves and with members of the public during Monday evening’s meet-and-greet event hosted at Lighthouse Café.
OTHELLO — Political candidates in Othello gathered at Lighthouse Café for a meet-and-greet event Monday evening to allow members of the public a chance to meet the candidates in person.
Kelli Camp, an incumbent running for Othello School Board Position 1, organized the event and invited all the other Othello candidates on the ballot.
“In the past, the Chamber of Commerce has done a candidate thing…but Thalia (Lemus) is running for the School Board and she is the president of the Chamber of Commerce this year,” Camp said. “She kind of felt like it was maybe a conflict of interest to be coordinating that and so there wasn't really going to be anything that happened.”
Camp said the Lighthouse Café was willing to stay open after their normal hours in order to host the event for the public and provide refreshments.
“We did something similar to this, I think it was last month, but it was with a state senator,” said Lighthouse’s Cafe Manager Samantha Garza. “It was kind of just like an open-to-the-community event, and it went over pretty well.”
Garza said the turnout for the previous event was good, but that Monday’s meet-and-greet had an even higher turnout.
“At first it was a pretty packed house,” she said. “I had to turn on the AC, it got too hot in here.”
Garza said that as a member of the public, what she appreciated about the event was the ability to have all the candidates in a room and ask them questions and get to know more about them.
“I think it was just nice of them to be open and available if anyone had any type of questions,” she said.
This week’s event began with all candidates present giving a brief introduction and explanation of why they chose to run for office.
After the introduction, the event switched to an open house format, allowing the public to speak with the candidates and for the candidates to meet one another.
Othello resident Jake, who declined to give his last name, said he came to the event to hear more about the candidates’ platforms.
“I wanted to get an insight into what they want to happen, and also … just to see what they wanted to add on,” he said. “To kind of see where they want to go with it. To see what's already in place and what's not or what needs to be changed.”
Owen Olsen, who is running against Homer Montemayor for Port of Othello Commissioner, explained what brought him to the event.
“I felt like it was a good opportunity to kind of meet some more members of the community and tell them what my message is and what I think I can offer the community and the commission,” Olsen said. “It was good to meet some new faces and especially meet the other candidates.”
Olsen said he was glad Camp reached out to him about the event and set it up.
Angela Martinez said she attended the event to support several people she knows running for office, including her mother, Elaine Wade, who is running unopposed for Hospital District 3 Position 3.
“I think it's been really, really nice to actually put a face to a name for a lot of the people that are running, because, especially when you're looking on the ballot, to try and kind of put a face to a name and have a history of what they're running for or why they're running, It's quite nice to have that,” Martinez said.
Wade said she came to meet more members of the public, and that there were quite a few community members at the event.
“They came and, you know, they're interested in knowing what's going on,” she said. “I think they all feel that Othello has the opportunity to grow, and it's kind of nice to see the new faces out here and get some positive input.”
Gabriel Davis may be reached at [email protected]. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.
Othello Candidates:
Owen Olsen – Port of Othello Commissioner District 1
(509) 431-3140
Homer Montemayor – Port of Othello Commissioner District 1
(509) 989-2571
Elaine Wade – Hospital District 3 Position 3
(509) 480-2882
Sue Long-Hosek – Hospital District 3 Position 5
(509) 989-0066
Kelli Camp – Othello School Board Director District 1
Contact form available at kellicampforschoolboard.com
Aaron Gerber – Othello School Board Director District 1
Thalia Lemus – Othello School Board Director District 5
(509) 346-7700
Isauro Pruneda Jr. – Othello School Board Director District 5
(509) 750-2877
Eugene Bain – Council Position 4
Darryl Barnes – Council Position 4
(971) 258-1106
Danae Valdez – Othello Council Position 5
(509) 331-9787
Mark Snyder – Othello Council Position 6
(509) 331-6725
Angel Garza – Othello Council Position 7
(509) 989-0555
