PACIFIC COUNTY — Last week’s candidate filing period proved to be a busy one for dozens of local elected offices that will appear on this fall’s ballot, and particularly on the Long Beach Peninsula.

In all, 66 candidates filed to run for more than 50 positions across Pacific County during the annual May filing period, which began May 5 and wrapped up on May 9. That total includes four who filed to run for Ilwaco mayor, as well as multiple candidates filing for several school board and port commission seats on the peninsula.

Ilwaco mayor

The list of candidates seeking the office includes Mike Cassinelli, the city’s current mayor. Cassinelli, 82, is seeking his second consecutive term as mayor and fourth overall, after previously serving from 2009-17 before winning election again in 2021.

He will be joined on the August primary election ballot by three other candidates: Don Berger, Eddie Hillard and Michael K. Mathis. The two candidates who win the most votes during the primary election will advance to the November general election.

Berger, 83, served previous stints on the city council and planning commission, and ran for a council seat in 2023. He has recently been involved in a legal dispute with the city over his effort to remove trees near the Ilwaco Airport.

Hillard, 24, is owner of Drop Anchor Seafood & Grill in Long Beach. He established the restaurant, formerly a Dooger’s location, after graduating from Ilwaco High School in 2019.

Mathis, 71, is the owner of Ship Wrecords and Moor, a used records store in Ilwaco. He previously worked in construction in Portland before moving to the area about eight years ago.

Ilwaco, Long Beach council

Meanwhile, of the combined five seats up for grabs on the Ilwaco and Long Beach city councils, none will be contested.

In Ilwaco, incumbent councilor Dave Cundiff, 72, was the only candidate to file for his seat, while it appears that a pair of newcomers, Annie Vela and Richard Rubio, will join the five-member body.

Vela, 30, is the Director of Operations at the Dylan Jude Harrell Community Center. A University of Puget Sound graduate, she previously served in a number of roles at the Ocean Beach School District, including data coordinator.

Rubio, 78, currently serves on the city’s planning commission and previously ran for a seat on the council in 2023. Before moving to Ilwaco in 2021 with his wife, he last served as a government relations officer for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in California.

In Long Beach, both incumbent councilors Patrick Reddy and George Coleman are running unopposed for re-election to new four-year terms.

Reddy, 62, was first elected in 2021 and previously ran for mayor in 2023. He has owned and operated several local businesses with his wife, Stacy.

Coleman, 76, was also first elected to his seat in 2021. A local musician, he previously worked as a software architect before his retirement.

School board

While city council races figure to be a snooze, all three school board positions up for election at the Ocean Beach School District will be contested.

Two of the three incumbents declined to seek re-election, including Tiffany Turner, who was first elected in 2017 and currently serves as the board’s chair. Nansen Malin, elected in 2021, also did not file to run for a second term. Four candidates are vying for those two seats: Erik Svendsen and Samantha Hernandez Ortega are running for the District No. 3 seat held by Malin, and Faith Forster and MaryAnne C. Murray are contesting the District No. 4 position held by Turner.

Svendsen, 50, owns and operates North Jetty Brewing in Seaview with his wife, Michelle, which they opened in 2014. He also previously worked as a certified public accountant for nearly two decades in Vancouver and Astoria.

Hernandez Ortega, 31, owns and operates Wild Roots Salon in Seaview. A 2012 IHS graduate, she received her associates degree from Clatsop Community College and is professionally licensed as a cosmetologist and nail technician/manicurist.

Forster, 42, was born and raised in Astoria and now resides in Ilwaco. A University of Oregon graduate, she serves as the student access services coordinator at Clatsop Community College and previously worked at the Astoria School District and Tongue Point Job Corps Center.

Murray, 71, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and president of Balance Beams Wellness, a Long Beach practice she founded. She previously served nearly four years as the chief medical officer for psychiatry at Willapa Behavioral Health.

One current board member who is running is Carolyne Perez, an Ocean Park resident who was appointed to her District No. 5 position in 2024 following John Holtermann’s resignation and is running to serve out the remaining two years of the term.

Perez, 36, graduated from Ilwaco High School in 2005 and works at Pacific County Voices Uniting, a nonprofit that supports local marginalized groups. She has previously worked at IHS and the county health and human services department.

Running against Perez is Joan Porter, who moved to Ocean Park with her husband about 10 years ago. Porter, 78, previously headed up a committee that supported the passage of OBSD’s levy proposal in February 2024, and has also been involved with the Ocean Beach Health Foundation.

Port commissions

The peninsula’s two port commissions each have one seat up for election this year, with two candidates filing to run for each of the seats. Butch Smith is seeking another term on the Port of Ilwaco Commission, but is being challenged by Guy Glenn, Jr. Incumbent Bill Derion is also seeking another six years on the Port of Peninsula Commission, and is facing a challenge from John Oakes.

Smith, 60, has served on the Ilwaco port’s board since first winning election in 2013. Owner of Coho Charters & Motel, he also serves on the Pacific Fisheries Management Council and as president of the Ilwaco Charter Association.

Glenn, 52, served as manager of the Port of Ilwaco from 2013 — and added management of the Port of Chinook to his duties in 2016 — until 2021, when he resigned and said he needed to “make a change and stand in my own values.” He has served as executive finance manager for the Port of Columbia County, in Oregon, since 2023.

Derion, 55, is one of the members of the Port of Peninsula Commission who has been a target for recall — or resignation — in recent years over alleged mismanagement of the port’s operations. Derion, who co-owns Mermaid Inn & RV Park in Long Beach, has served on the commission since 2018.

Oakes, 72, is vying for the seat held by Derion. He co-owned a commercial fishing business on the peninsula with his wife, Debbie, for more than 45 years, and also owns a small cranberry farm.

 

CORRECTION: Svendsen and Hernandez Ortega are running for the school board seat representing District No. 3 that is currently held by Malin. Forster and Murray are running for the position representing District No. 4 that is currently held by Turner. A previous version of this article had the two seats mixed up.