ENTERPRISE — Only a couple dozen people showed up April 27 for what was deemed the smallest turnout for a candidate forum yet.

The Rotary Club of Wallowa County, the Wallowa County Stockgrowers and the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce sponsored the forum, which was to give voters the opportunity to hear and meet candidates in the May 20 special election.

A race for a seat on the Enterprise School Board is the only contested contest in the county. Farmer Rowdy Smith and Dr. Nick West are squaring off for that seat.

Two other seats are on the ballot without being contested — Heather Melville and Justin Jones seek election to those seats.

But voters got to hear from Smith and West. Each gave a bit of an autobiography and told where they stood.

“If you’re looking for someone who has an agenda, per se, or something particularly passionate about, that’s not going to be what I’m here for,” West said. “I value the school board and the school as this wonderful nexus between various elements of the community. … I just want to come with this willingness to learn. I can’t really foresee what different issues or situations that might arise. But what I can do is my entire passion and interest wherever it might be there are so many different people and so many different ways. … Especially in the post-COVID era we can talk about some issues we’re concerned about and in three, four, five, six, seven months, those can totally change and different steps and policies are going to be really hard to adapt to. I come to you just willing to learn and to serve.”

Smith, too, said he doesn’t come with an agenda and just wants to serve.

“Like Nick, I have kids coming up as well and I’d like to do my part,” he said. “You can’t have an agenda. You just have to do what you can in certain areas.”

He did say he has what he believes is valuable experience.

“I was born and raised here in Wallowa County, I have experience working for the city of Joseph, working on grants, small-town politics, meetings and that, so I’ve got a pretty good background in that.”

The Wallowa County Chieftain asked Smith and West additional questions after the forum about possible changes from the federal level, including the possibility of cutting funds for Head Start. Both said they are in favor of continuing to support Head Start but unsure to what degree the local school board has any influence.

President Donald Trump aims to abolish the federal Department of Education and turn education back to the states. In such a case, Oregon would be responsible for its own Head Start program.

The two candidates also answered questions about the case before the U.S. Supreme Court that involves a Maryland school district not allowing parents to opt-out their children from lessons involving LGBTQ-inclusive books to students. Critics of the opt-out said that leads to high absenteeism, but parents wanted to have more control over what their children are being taught.

The Supreme Court could hand down its ruling in June.

“I anticipate our school would abide by their ruling,” West said. ”I would like to clarify that I do not support the mandated reading of any specific collection of books. My personal conviction is that all students, regardless of their background, should feel valued and supported. I am also aware that there are currently very few books of this nature available in our local school library.”

Smith does not want such material in the local school.

“I would be in favor of us not having them in the classroom,” he said. “I would be in favor of being transparent with the parents and letting them know.”

The ballot also has a number of uncontested races.