HERMISTON â Two new faces will be joining the Hermiston Board of Education and two incumbents kept their seats in the May 18 election.
According to results posted by the Umatilla County Elections Division after 10 p.m. on May 18, incumbent Brent Pitney was defeated by Sally Anderson Hansell.
Pitney, who works for Knerr Construction, was appointed to the board in 2018. He garnered 36.7% of the 2,843 votes cast. Anderson Hansell, an attorney at Anderson Hansell PC, received 63%.
She described herself as âdeeply humbledâ by the results, and said she looks forward to learning more about what is going on in Hermiston schools.
âI think the election tells me that the community is looking forward to more and better communication from the board and administrators, as well as enhanced transparency as far as decisions go, and the reasons for those decisions,â she said.
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Liliana Gomez
Liliana âLiliâ Gomez, running for Position No. 3, is a Hermiston native and a records specialist for the Hermiston Police Department. She said she has always had an interest in education, including serving as a tutor during her teenage years and teaching English overseas. She is on the Hermiston School District budget committee.
Now that students have returned to school full time, Gomez said she believes it is important for the district to focus on studentsâ mental health and be proactive about having resources available for students as they return.
âWe all know that this took a toll on every single person, adults included, and no doubt this took a toll on students,â she said.