Van Bergen ready for clerk post

The next time there’s an election in Yamhill County, Brian Van Bergen will be in charge of counting the ballots instead of being on them. 

The Newberg native won his bid for the non-partisan position of county clerk with 27,942 votes.

He ran unopposed after incumbent Becky Stern Doll removed her name from the ballot for missing a filing deadline established by state statute, disqualifying her from a general election ballot that was heading for the printer.

Stern Doll mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign.

Van Bergen said he enjoyed the campaign and is looking forward to taking office in January. He isn’t wasting time, though, he said: he is already delving into the Board of Property Tax Appeals training manual. 

“BOPTA starts right when I get in to office. I’m going to dive right in,” he said. “We have an election right around the corner as well. A special election that I’m quite confident some cities will have measures on, so starting in March we’ll be getting into the next election cycle.” 

He said he also plans to improve the elections website and start the process of getting caught up on the Commissioners’ Journal. 

A Newberg native, Van Bergen graduated from Amity High School, and then earned a bachelor’s degree in management and business information systems from George Fox University. 

He is currently serving as account manager and digital store front manager for the Lynx Group in Salem. He previously served in various capacities with Times-Litho in Forest Grove, and as general manager at Printistry in McMinnville.