Kotek names four Union County residents to state boards

Four Union County residents were tapped for state boards that can influence everything from Eastern Oregon University’s direction to how Oregon reviews major power projects and regulates pharmacies and funeral services. Gov. Tina Kotek sent more than 265 appointments to the Oregon Senate on May 22, including Zharika Skebong, Denice Calderon, Kevin Loveland and Thomas Maslo.

If confirmed, Skebong would join the Eastern Oregon University Board of Trustees, where members help steer the university’s governance and long-term priorities. Calderon was named to the Energy Facility Siting Council, a seven-member volunteer body that the governor appoints and the Senate confirms. That council reviews large electric generating facilities, high-voltage transmission lines, gas pipelines, radioactive waste disposal sites and other major projects, decisions that can reach far beyond Salem and into rural communities like Union County.

Loveland was nominated to the Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board, which says its mission is to protect public health, safety and welfare through licensing, inspection and enforcement in Oregon’s death-care industry. Maslo was nominated to the Oregon Board of Pharmacy, which regulates pharmacy practice and drug distribution in the interest of public health, safety and welfare. For Union County residents, those appointments matter because state boards often decide the standards that shape daily life long after a local vote is cast.

The Senate still has to act. The executive appointments process sends nominations to the Senate Committee on Rules and Executive Appointments, where they can be bundled into en bloc confirmation votes. A January 23 post from the governor’s office said the Senate Committee on Rules was scheduled to consider nominations during the 2026 legislative session.

The appointments also reflect how much responsibility now sits with boards and commissions across Oregon. The governor’s office says the state has more than 250 boards and commissions, and those bodies are built to handle policy areas ranging from education and conservation to consumer protection and health care. In that system, local names from La Grande can carry statewide weight.

Eastern Oregon University’s trustee structure dates to a 2014 legislative change that gave Oregon’s regional and technical universities independent governing boards. Loveland’s name also appears in Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board minutes from January 2025 and January 2026, suggesting at least one of the Union County picks was already operating inside the board system before this latest round of nominations. With the Senate’s confirmation vote still ahead, Union County’s influence on several state oversight panels was placed squarely in the pipeline.