Election 2023 Cramer wins re-election to North Santiam School Board

By James Day

North Santiam School District board member Erin Cramer was re-elected to a second term in Position 2, Zone 2 inthe May 16 election. He defeated challenger Amy McKenzie Watts.

Cramer, who had 59.32% of the vote to 40.18% for Watts as of press time, was first elected in 2019. Watts was making a second try for a board seat. Results don’t become official until certified June 12.

Three other incumbents were running unopposed: Mike Wagner (Position 4, Zone 3), Mark Henderson (Position 5, at-large No. 1) and Coral Ford (Position 6, Zone 2).

Three other board members, Chair

Alisha Oliver (Position 7, at-large No. 2), Laura Wipper (Position 3, Zone 2) and Mackenzie Strawn (Position 1, Zone 1), do not face the voters until 2025.

Cramer is the director of medical clinics at Santiam Hospital. Watts is a web designer and former sixth grade teacher at an outdoor science school in California who also has served on the Stayton Planning Commission.

Cramer told Our Town that his incumbency “helped because people understand that I’ve been doing the job, and bring a familiarity about the district and its business to the group. However, I’d also like to think that my history of engagement and service in the community would have served my candidacy just as well, had I not been an incumbent.”

Looking ahead Cramer said “we will tackle goalsetting in the summer as always, but I see one key issue being a desire to better engage the parents and community about the schools, communicating with them and including them in more effective ways. We will continue to promote the academic, social, and emotional growth of our kids, and we will also look toward their future needs in terms of facilities. Staff development and retention is also a key component of success. There’s really no resting in the effort to do best by our kids and communities.”

Watts noted that “if you look at the voter turnout, I think that the race between Erin and I was a very good thing for the community in general. It gave people a choice, whereas the other races on the ballot only had one candidate, which I think possibly discourages voter turnout.”

Watts had to limit her campaigning because of family issues. “I believe if I had been able to fully campaign that I would have had a chance at winning this board seat,” she added.

Watts said she plans to stay involved in community affairs and hopes to catch on with a county committee such as the Marion County Soil & Water Conservation District, the Marion County Solid Waste Management Committee, and the Marion County Water Quality Advisory Committee. Here is a list of of Stayton-area races in which candidates were unopposed:

Aumsville Rural Fire Protection District: Joshua Phillis (Position 1), Wayne Kuhl (Position 4) and Odas Coleman ran unopposed and were elected.

Stayton Fire District: Incumbent directors Michael Odenthal and Russ Strohmeyer ran unopposed for Positions 2 and 3, respectively, and were re-elected. Sublimity Rural Fire Protection District: Tyler Butenschoen (Position 1), James Heater (Position 2) and Ralph Fisher (Position 3) ran unopposed for the three seats and were elected.