SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021 | 9A
May 18 Special
Election
Candidates
Candidates were asked to answer the following questions: 1.) What would you identify as the
opportunities and limitations of this position? 2.) What do you see as your most important objectives for the upcoming
term? 3.) What do you anticipate being the biggest challenges for the upcoming term? 4.) What do you identify as unique con-
cerns to your district and how would you address those issues?
— Siuslaw School District #97J —
LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
• Director Zone 1 —
– Mark Boren
– Holli Johnson
– Thomas Jennings
DIRECTOR POSITION 4
DIRECTOR POSITION 6 AT-LARGE
Two candidates
Th ree candidates
LANE EDUCATION
SERVICE DISTRICT
• Director Position 6 At-Large —
– Rose I. Wilde
– Rich Cunningham
MAPLETON FIRE DEPARTMENT
• Director Position 1
– Ronald G. Thompson
• Director Position 4
– No candidate
• Director Position 5
– Diana Scoville
MAPLETON SCHOOL
DISTRICT #32
• Director Position 1
– Andrea Milbrett
• Director Position 2
– Mizu Burruss
• Director Position 4
– Marilyn Fox
MAPLETON WATER DISTRICT
• Commissioner Position 1
– Bryan Moore
• Commissioner Position 2
– No candidate
PORT OF SIUSLAW
• Commissioner Position 1
– Terry Duman
• Commissioner Position 2
– Robert Ward
• Commissioner Position 3
– Mike Buckwald
• Commissioner Position 5
– Bill Meyer
SIUSLAW PUBLIC
LIBRARY DISTRICT
• Director, 3 Positions:
– Sandy Kuhlman
– Susy Lacer
– Colin Morgan
SIUSLAW SCHOOL
DISTRICT #97J
• Director Position 2
– John M. Barnett
• Director Position 4
– Brian Lacouture
– Maureen Miltenberger
• Director Position 6
– Jesse Chapman
– Larry Martindale
– Kady Sneddon
SIUSLAW VALLEY FIRE
AND RESCUE
• Director Position 1
– Tim Mendolia
• Director Position 2
– Laurie Heppel
SWISSHOME-DEADWOOD
RFPD
• Director Position 3
– Kristi Guse
• Director Position 4
– Suzon Murray
• Director Position 5
– Aradia Farmer
WESTERN LANE AMBULANCE
DISTRICT
• Director Position 3
– Adam Holbrook
• Director Position 4
– Vanessa Buss
• Director Position 5
– Mike Webb
Brian Lacouture
Maureen Miltenberger
S
iuslaw School District has a sev-
en-member board of directors,
with each position serving a four-
year term.
The Siuslaw School Board has
three seats open for this election,
positions 2, 4 and 6. Position 2 is
held by incumbent John Barnett,
who is running unopposed to re-
main in his seat. Position 4 has two
candidates, Brian Lacouture and
Maureen Miltenberger. Position 6
has three candidates, Jesse Chap-
man, Larry Martindale and Kady
Sneddon. Learn more at www.siu-
slaw.k12.or.us.
— LACOUTURE —
Brian Lacouture and his wife
arrived in Florence with a small
pickup-load of belongings nearly
20 years ago, and it didn’t take long
to call Florence “home.” They now
have four wonderful kids.
After graduating high school in
Las Vegas, Nev., in 1997, Lacouture
chose to serve a two-year church
mission to the Dominican Republic,
where he was able to become fluent
in Spanish and learned to love the
people and culture.
I am a local general contractor.
I enjoy taking advantage of service
opportunities within the communi-
ty. There is still a great deal of pride
seeing the different projects around
town that I was able to assist with.
Working with the youth in our town
through cub scouts ,Boy Scouts,
youth groups, and coaching was a
fantastic experience watching young
men and women develop their tal-
ents and skills.
Florence is a fantastic place with
fantastic people that my wife and I
are grateful to have our family be a
part of.
1. The opportunities of course
are to be able serve the youth in our
town. Albeit behind the scenes, I
hope to help in the steering of the
future success of our youth.
The limitations as I see it now
(not having previously been on a
school board) are having to navigate
the multiple outside agencies and
regulations that “must” be adhered
to while trying to make effective
decisions on the local level for our
particular kids.
2. I would like to help curb the in-
filtration of dangerous curriculum
into our schools
I believe the educational expecta-
tions of our youth are too low, and
that raising them will better equip
them for future success and achieve-
ment.
I am tired of our kids being used
as pawns for political parties and
corrupt agendas.
I want to assist in the process of
having parents’ voices heard.
3. Currently, from the outside
looking in, what seems to be an in-
surmountable challenge is the effort
to please everyone and everything.
I do not envy those who are trying
to make that happen nor do I really
Jesse Chapman
look forward to doing it, but I am
more than willing to get my hands
dirty to get the job done.
4. Knowing that there are budget-
ing issues, hiring practices, facility
concerns, state and federal guide-
lines and a multitude of other issues
that will constantly arise, the largest
concern that I see is that of and for
the individual students. The loss of
critical thinking skills is a travesty. I
would like to steer back, even if it is
a complete U-turn, to a more classi-
cal style of education. Showing our
kids HOW to think not WHAT to
think will lead them to greater fu-
ture success and allow them to be-
come leaders in our society to help
balance and make right the world
we live in. Math is hard — GOOD,
let’s keep that bar high and help our
kids clear it. History has really tragic
errors and hard truths — GOOD,
let’s learn from that not hide it. Sci-
ence has become a political weapon
— NOT GOOD, let’s get back to
learning and seeing all the awesome
wonders that this world has to offer.
Let’s show our kids the wealth of
opportunities afforded them if they
choose to participate.
— MILTENBERGER —
Maureen Miltenberger began her
career as an educator teaching 6th
grade in Yachats after graduating
from OSU with a degree in elemen-
tary education. She has spent sever-
al years as a substitute teacher and
tutor, as well as being the Homeless
Children’s Liaison for the Molalla
River School District.
She was the executive director of
a community action agency in Ida-
ho that oversaw several programs
including Head Start, food banks
and several other assistance pro-
grams. She also directed a self-suffi-
ciency program in Oregon City that
addressed issues such as physical
and mental health, education and
employment to help families move
out of assisted government housing.
I feel that my career as an educa-
tor, administrator and advocate has
prepared me to become a member
of the Siuslaw School Board where I
can work as a member of a team to
provide a well-rounded education
to all of our students, regardless of
their background and learning abil-
ity.
1. The opportunities provided
to a member of a school board are
endless. We become advocates for
each of our students. We use our
expertise to follow our district’s mis-
sion and to become aware of current
policies and regulations. We also
implement new policies to improve
our schools.
Even though board members
oversee the larger responsibility of
the operation of the district, a mem-
ber is also able to become involved
with projects where their interests
and expertise are best utilized.
I am excited about using the ad-
vanced technology that will soon
be available to our entire district as
Larry Martindale
a way expand distance learning as
a valuable continuing asset in our
district.
The limitations are working with-
in existing guidelines and budgets
but still have the ability to use our
resources in the best possible way to
provide for all of our students while
always keeping an eye on long-term
goals for our district’s future.
2. One of the most important
objectives is to increase graduation
rates in our district. The Student
Success Act is a great asset to imple-
ment achieving this objective. We
need to continue to work with Lane
ESD and LCC to assure that our stu-
dents receive the best support pos-
sible so they can achieve their goals
in the academic world or in tech-
nology, the arts and wherever they
choose their futures to be.
Another objective is to make sure
that all of the negative effects on
education caused by the pandemic
are addressed by the board and the
district.
3. One of the biggest challenges I
see for the next few years is helping
our students deal with the long-term
effects of the pandemic. Students are
currently being transitioned back
into the classroom, getting vacci-
nated and seeing friends and family
members they haven’t been able to
see for months. What we may not be
able to see immediately is the lon-
ger-term impact that the pandemic
may have had on many of our stu-
dents.
Students have been without the
support systems they had before the
pandemic, whether that is friends,
athletics, art, music or just being
able to leave the house for a period
of time. Also many of our students
may have lost loved ones or know of
someone who has.
I see the job of board members,
staff and parents as being aware that
these issues may be having a pro-
found effect on how well students
advance in their remaining years in
our district. We need to have addi-
tional counseling and a wide choice
of subjects available to each of our
students, so as they return to the
classroom they are able to immerse
themselves in the best course possi-
ble for them.
4. One of the issues that I was
made aware of when I was substi-
tute teaching in our district several
years ago was the condition of the
buildings in which our students
are spending a significant amount
of time. A recent tour of the high
school has shown me that the situ-
ation is worsening with each school
year. I am aware that the Siuslaw
Facilities Committee is currently
working on a plan to address these
issues in all of our schools. If elected,
I would like to become a member of
the committee so that I can directly
assist in making all of our schools
seismically safe, with monitored en-
trances and with the ability to pro-
duce nutritional, hot meals on-site
at each school. I have had previous
Kady Sneddon
experience with the redesigning and
renovation of a building for a public
agency. I would like to repeat the joy
I experienced is seeing that to fru-
ition again in completing projects
that provide all of our students with
the best environment to learn in.
— CHAPMAN —
As a Siuslaw High graduate and a
native resident, it is Jesse Chapman’s
deepest desire to return back to his
community what they have invested
into his life.
So, after becoming a Vietnam-era
Veteran and majoring in theolo-
gy at Eugene Bible College, much
gratitude is in order for the educa-
tion received at these institutions of
learning.
However, since those days, our
education system has been hijacked
by a radical left-wing element that
promotes an anti-Christ social-
ist agenda as orchestrated by the
teachers’ unions. As a result, chil-
dren have become their hostages,
morals have become non-essential,
and parents have become intimi-
dated. Admittedly, not all educators
agree with their union leaders, but
have also found themselves en-
trapped by an oppressive, self-serv-
ing
government
bureaucracy.
As a board member, I plan on do-
ing something about it.
I am endorsed by Oregon Right
to Life.
1. Re-open the debate over the
need for the re-institution of the
freedom to pray that was stripped
away in the fall of 1962. We have
the opportunity to assist in a new
course correction for the schools
starting with fundamental freedoms
and values.
2. Removing the current oppres-
sion of schools and curricula by con-
sidering creative alternatives. There
are about 127 Charter Schools in
Oregon, with about 37,000 students,
and growing. Charter schools give
parents and students choice.
3. Getting people to think outside
the box.
4. Kids dropping out of school at
increasingly higher rates. But who
can blame them? Kids are smart
and they know when something is
wrong in the neighborhood.
Biological boys can now compete
against girls in sports; math is now
a racist subject; and according to
Critical Race Theory, if you’re born
white you are automatically consid-
ered racist! More local control is the
answer.
— MARTINDALE —
Larry Martindale is a lifetime Or-
egonian. For 38 years, he served in
elementary middle and high school
as a teacher, educational consultant
and administrator, with the last 28
years at the administrative level. For
13 of those years, he served here in
the Siuslaw School District.
See SIUSLAW page 10A