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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2007)
Farra elected secretary-treasurer of Transit Union Local 757 Tri-Met streetcar operator Evette Farra has been elected secretary-treas- urer of Portland-based Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757. She out-polled five other candidates in a race to fill the unexpired term of Tom Wallace. Wallace resigned in February after admitting to stealing money from a special fund set up to help pay child care and elder care expenses for Tri- Met employees. He is now facing a federal criminal indictment. After Wallace’s confession, he re- signed and the Local was placed in trusteeship by the international union. Ken Kinoshita, a member of the Local 757 Executive Board, was named in- terim financial treasurer, serving until the special election. He finished sec- EVETTE FARRA ond in the balloting, 214 votes behind Farra. Farra, 37, grew up in the Portland area, graduated from Vancouver’s Mountain View High School, and met her husband at Multnomah Bible Col- lege. In 1993, she became the first in her family to work at Tri-Met, where her mother, step-father, and husband also now work. Farra’s past experi- ence as a business owner in real estate will help in her new position, she said. “It’s a little more involved than bal- ancing a checkbook,” said Farra, who ran for the post against Wallace in 2006, “but it doesn’t take a financial degree.” To bone up on union financial management, Farra will fly to the union’s Washington, D.C., headquar- ters in late October for a week-long training. Local 757 has 4,127 members in Oregon and Southwest Washington, and Tri-Met is its largest employer. Fi- nancial secretary-treasurer is one of the local’s top elected positions, along with president and vice president. Farra will serve out the remainder of Wallace’s three-year term, which ex- pires June 30, 2009. Broadway Floral for the BEST flowers call 503-288-5537 1638 NE Broadway, Portland Southgate Mobile & RV Park 7911 SE 82nd Ave. Portland, Oregon Spaces Available up to 35’ 503-771-5262 Rain Forest Boots Made in America! Try a pair on, you’ll like them. Tough boots for the Northwest. AL’S SHOES 5811 SE 82nd, Portland 503-771-2130 Mon-Fri 10-7:30 Sat 10-5:30 Sun 12-6 PAGE 4 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
