Last Wednesday, April 28th, the West-Linn Wilsonville community held another forum for this year’s school board candidates. On May 18, drop boxes will close and community members will have voted for these new members for the school board. 

There are currently five candidates left, with three positions to be filled. Running for Position One is Louis C Tyler, who is a business owner. Position three also only has one candidate still running: Kirsten Wyatt, a Nonprofit Director. 

Position five -the only position with multiple candidates still running- includes Seiji T Shiratori, Kelly Sloop, and David D Jones. Shiratori is a Policy Director at the Oregon Department of Revenue, Sloop is a registered pharmacist, while Jones works in Equity Referral Services.

On Wednesday, the forum was controlled by different WWEA Representatives in the district. At the beginning of the forum, each candidate was given three minutes to introduce themselves to all those listening over Zoom while generally pleading their case as to why they would be a good fit as a school board member.

After introductions, all five candidates were asked the same four questions, where they each had two minutes to respond. The different questions they were asked touched on all sorts of things that we see in our schools and our communities, such as how they would hear different voices throughout the community, how they would take responsibility in problematic situations, and their involvement in the District Equity Team.

Ballots are being sent out to the community between Thursday, April 29th and Monday, May 3rd. If you plan to vote, make sure you have either mailed your ballot by May 12th or have dropped it in the various drop boxes in the community by Election Day, May 18th!