An anonymous Facebook page has popped up with posts calling out a Hermiston School Board candidate for past tweets that are critical of Hermiston.
The page Voterhermiston has been uploading screenshots of tweets from 2020 and earlier posted by Nazario Rivera, who is running against James Hurst for Position 7 on the Hermiston School Board.
The cover photo of Voterhermiston is a screenshot of a tweet from Rivera posted June 3, 2020, which reads, “So many trash people reside in Hermiston. The thought is kind of scary, tbh. People are showing their true colors during all these difficult times.”
Another post on the Voterhermiston Facebook page is a screenshot of a tweet by someone else calling Hermiston an “embarrassment” with “redneck Trump supporters.” Rivera retweeted it.
A tweet posted by Rivera from June 2019 reads, “Damn eastern Oregon is literally the worst.”
Rivera apologized for the June 3, 2020 tweet in an emailed response to questions posed by Northeast Oregon Now. He said around that time of the tweet, a group of outside agitators came into the community with “the intent to sow division and create fear.”
“I reacted passionately because what I saw did not line up with the Hermiston that I know and love,” Rivera said. “My June 3, 2020, tweet was wrong and inappropriate, and for that, I am truly sorry. That experience taught me that social media is not the way to heal a community – action is.”
Rivera, who serves on the district’s budget committee, said he has “dedicated my life to connecting low-income families to crucial medical and social services, and (is) honored to serve on the school district budget committee that was instrumental in helping prioritize facility projects.”
Rivera’s Twitter page was recently de-activated. On May 5, Voterhermiston showed a screenshot of what appears to be Rivera’s Twitter page indicating it no longer exists.
On May 5, Voterhermiston posted the following:
“When you nuke your Twitter because you know what you said about the people you are trying to represent is disgraceful! Do the right thing and drop out! Don’t worry we got the receipts boo! : )”
Rivera, who is a community health worker at Good Shepherd, said he took down his Twitter page because he said he realized it was inappropriate to engage in partisan issues.
“The school board is a non-partisan board of community members that is focused solely on its stated goals,” he said.
Rivera said he does not know who is behind Voterhermiston, but suspects it might be “an outside agitator attempting to distract from the real issues of supporting our students and community. The Hermiston that I know and love values collaborative discourse, not hatred and attacks.”
Voterhermiston’s Facebook page only identifies the owner as a Hermiston resident, and a Hermiston High School and Oregon State University graduate.
The page appears to have been created on May 5 – which is the first and last time Voterhermiston posted anything. All the posts appear to be directed at Rivera only.
Rivera said despite the attacks from Voterhermiston, he has encountered a lot of support for his candidacy.
“Everyone that I have spoken to about my experience, qualifications, and goals for running for school board has been incredibly positive,” he said.
