UCC board members defeated

Updated May 20

Two members of the Umpqua Community College board of directors were defeated Tuesday by a pair of retired instructors.

Longtime college nursing instructor Sharon Rice received nearly 60 percent of the votes cast in the Zone 4 Roseburg race as she defeated board Chairwoman Helga Conrad.

Rice, 71, who taught at the school for 24 years, received 952 votes to 371 for Conrad. Chuck Van Sickle, the third candidate in the race, received 298 votes in unofficial final results from the Douglas County Elections Office.

“I’m thrilled to death,” Rice said Tuesday night. “People are concerned about the direction of the college and I think this vote reflects that.”

Both incumbent candidates graciously accepted the results.

“I think that Sharon Rice is a nice lady and she’ll do a fine job,” Conrad said. “I’m of course sad that I lost, but I think she’s very capable of taking on the job and I wish her the best.”

Conrad said she was surprised and attributed the defeat to a tough year and her position out front as board chairwoman.

In the next weeks before stepping down, the current chairwoman said things she wants to see accomplished include a response to the union regarding the vote of no confidence in UCC President Blaine Nisson and completing the president’s evaluation.

Conrad said she has enjoyed working with her fellow board members and would be watching and concerned as to happenings on campus. She also hoped to see the new programs stay in place and keep moving forward.

Only 22.6 percent of Douglas County’s eligible voters cast ballots in the election. Altogether, 14,639 out of the 64,589 registered voters returned their ballots.

“We were expecting something in the low 20s, based upon past elections,” Deputy Clerk Patty Hitt said.

In the Zone 5 South County UCC board race, longtime board member Del Blanchard lost to Bob Bell, who spent 30 years at the Winchester college as an instructor and in instructional support.

Bell, 66, a Dillard resident, received 1,159 votes to 826 for Blanchard, who has spent 32 years on the board.

“Del Blanchard relied on his name recognition in Myrtle Creek,” Bell said. “I went around to areas where people hadn’t been contacted before, including Dillard, Winston, Green, Lookingglass and Olalla.”

He said many of the people he spoke with questioned what was going on at the college, which has been engulfed in disputes between the school’s administration and faculty and other employees.

Blanchard, 81, said he wasn’t surprised by the results as Bell “treated it like a public office instead of a public service,” with campaign efforts and signs that Blanchard said he didn’t do.

The longtime director said all the board members and candidates were well qualified for the job.

“I think the school will go on just fine,” he said. “They’ve got good leadership and I’m just one member of the board.”

In the Zone 7 at-large race, Vanessa Becker defeated Gary Galbick 6,332 to 4,193. She received 60 percent of the votes cast in the race.

Becker, the executive director of Battered Persons’ Advocacy, previously taught as an adjunct professor at Linfield College in McMinnville.

“I’m delighted at the results,” she said. “The overall message is that people are concerned about the college and they want a change.”

Current Zone 7 board member Elaine Cheney did not run for re-election.

Nisson said he didn’t necessarily see the turnover as a public comment on the direction of the campus, adding that the college has served the community well over the last few years throughout areas of the campus, whether it be the transfer degree programs, career and technical training or the developmental education programs.

Nisson said his role in relation to the board, which is to work with whomever was elected, wouldn’t change.

“I work for the board and take direction from the board from their collective effort,” he said this morning.

The newly elected members will begin serving in their new positions after July 1.

All three leading candidates spent Tuesday evening celebrating at the Mark V restaurant in downtown Roseburg. They walked to the Douglas County Courthouse to check on the results before heading back to the eatery.

First version

Two members of the Umpqua Community College board of directors were defeated Tuesday by a pair of retired instructors.

Longtime college nursing instructor Sharon Rice received nearly 60 percent of the votes cast in the Zone 4 Roseburg race as she defeated board Chairwoman Helga Conrad.

Rice, 71, who taught at the school for 24 years, received 952 votes to 371 for Conrad and 298 for Chuck Van Sickle, in unofficial final results from the Douglas County Elections Office.

"I'm thrilled to death," Rice said Tuesday night. "People are concerned about the direction of the college and I think this vote reflects that."

Only 22.6 percent of Douglas County's eligible voters cast ballots in the election. Altogether, 14,639 out of the 64,589 registered voters returned their ballots.

"We were expecting something in the low 20s, based upon past elections," Deputy Clerk Patty Hitt said.

In the Zone 5 South County UCC board race, longtime board member Del Blanchard lost to Bob Bell, who spent 30 years at the Winchester college as an instructor and in instructional support.

Bell, 66, a Dillard resident, received 1,159 votes to 826 for Blanchard, who has spent 32 years on the board.

"Del Blanchard relied on his name recognition in Myrtle Creek," Bell said. "I went around to areas where people hadn't been contacted before, including Dillard, Winston, Green, Lookingglass and Olalla."

Many of the people he spoke with questioned what was going on at the college, which has been engulfed in disputes between the school's administration and faculty and other employees.

In the Zone 7 at-large race, Vanessa Becker defeated Gary Galbick 6,332 to 4,193.

Becker, the executive director of the Battered Persons Advocacy, previously taught as an adjunct professor at Linfield College in McMinnville.

"I'm delighted at the results," she said. "The overall message is that people are concerned about the college and they want a change."

Current Zone 7 board member Elaine Cheney did not run for re-election.

All three leading candidates spent Tuesday evening celebrating at the Mark V restaurant in downtown Roseburg. They walked to the Douglas County Courthouse to check on the results before heading back to the eatery.

Roseburg School Board

Incumbent Theresa Lundy defeated challenger Ben Frasier 2,951 to 1,465 in the Position 2 race.

Another current board member, Dan Huff, defeated Jared Castle 2,749 to 1,654.

Local ballot measures

All three community measures passed.

Oakland voters approved a $775,000 bond for maintenance items and other improvements 498 to 328.

Oakland city residents also favored a new city charter 126 to 75.

In Gardiner, voters passed a five-year option tax to pay the operations costs of the Gardiner Sanitary District by a tally of 55 to 4.