Matt Scarfo
Union County Commissioner, Position 2
Second-term incumbent seeking a third consecutive term after the 2016 voter-approved limit was held unconstitutional. Subject of OGEC Case 25-708ECF.
Last updated August 9, 2026. Public-corpus sources are linked below; internal research references are labeled without a public link.
Key facts
Role narrative
R. Matt Scarfo came to La Grande in 1995 on an Eastern Oregon University baseball recruitment from Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from EOU in 1997-98 with a BS in Business/Economics and began bartending at Benchwarmers Pub & Grill while finishing his degree. Around 2005 he purchased Benchwarmers and the adjacent LongBranch Bar & Eats from Patti and Mark Hankel, the previous owners.
Scarfo was first elected to the Union County Board of Commissioners in 2018, defeating John Lackey, and took office in January 2019. He ran unopposed for a second term in 2022. On January 22, 2025, he joined a unanimous board vote directing county counsel to petition the circuit court for a validation proceeding on Ordinance 2017-01 -- the voter-approved term-limits ordinance that would have barred him from running for a third term.
Judge Thomas Powers ruled the ordinance unconstitutional on August 25, 2025. Scarfo announced his third-term bid on September 11, 2025, the same day candidate filing opened. Jim Mollerstrom -- chief petitioner of the original 2016 measure -- filed an ethics complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission in November 2025. On February 6, 2026, OGEC voted 7-0 to authorize an investigation of possible ORS 244.040(1) and ORS 244.120(2) violations. The vote was not a finding of violation, and OGEC's final-disposition portal showed no published disposition for case 25-708ECF as of August 9, 2026.
Scarfo has cited the Union County Fairgrounds wastewater project as a principal accomplishment and as a reason for seeking another term. The project received $2,539,405 in state lottery-bond funding through HB 5006 and SB 5531, signed by Governor Tina Kotek on August 7, 2025. Groundbreaking was November 14, 2025.
Boards & affiliations
Union County Fair Board
Commissioner liaison
Profile snapshot retrieved Apr. 7, 2026
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdEastern Oregon Counties Association
Union County delegate
Profile snapshot retrieved Apr. 7, 2026
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdCity of La Grande Urban Renewal Advisory Commission
Member
Term expiration 12/31/2028
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdEOU Presidential Search Committee
Community representative (Union County Commissioner / EOU Alumni)
Profile snapshot retrieved Apr. 7, 2026
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdBuffalo Peak Advisory Committee
Commissioner liaison
Profile snapshot retrieved Apr. 7, 2026
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdCenter for Human Development
Commissioner liaison
Profile snapshot retrieved Apr. 7, 2026
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdUnion County Animal Shelter
Commissioner liaison
Profile snapshot retrieved Apr. 7, 2026
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdPublic Safety Committees
Commissioner liaison
Profile snapshot retrieved Apr. 7, 2026
source: players/matt-scarfo.mdBusiness entities
RM Scarfo, Inc.
Business Corporation (Oregon)
- Registry #:
- 26202895
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Jan 10, 2005
- Address:
- 210 Depot St, La Grande, OR 97850
Parent operating corporation for Benchwarmers Pub & Grill. Holds OLCC F-COM license #6060/373729.
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdScarfo BW, LLC
Limited Liability Company
- Registry #:
- 135818896
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Sep 5, 2017
- Address:
- 210 Depot St, La Grande, OR 97850
Uses the same address as Benchwarmers; the reviewed filing does not define 'BW.'
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdScarfo LB, LLC
Limited Liability Company
- Registry #:
- 135812790
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Sep 5, 2017
- Address:
- 208 Depot St, La Grande, OR 97850
The reviewed registry mirror associates the 208 Depot St address with The Long Branch; it does not independently establish current operations.
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdScarfo Lot, LLC
Limited Liability Company
- Registry #:
- 135823599
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Sep 5, 2017
- Address:
- 210 Depot St, La Grande, OR 97850
Shares the Depot Street address; the reviewed filing does not establish the entity's operating purpose.
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdScar-Cross Mountain, LLC
Limited Liability Company
- Registry #:
- 134166495
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Jul 11, 2017
- Address:
- 62004 Clearwater Rd, La Grande, OR 97850
The reviewed registry mirror lists 62004 Clearwater Rd as the legal address and 210 Depot St as the mailing address; it does not identify the entity's operating purpose.
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdRMS-WL Properties LLC
Limited Liability Company
- Registry #:
- 215591595
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Jul 31, 2023
- Address:
- 62004 Clearwater Rd, La Grande, OR 97850
Formed while Scarfo was serving as commissioner; the reviewed filing does not define the initials.
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdBenchwarmers Pub & Grill
Assumed Business Name (DBA)
- Registry #:
- 24451890
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Sep 29, 2004
- Address:
- 210 Depot St, La Grande, OR 97850
DBA under RM Scarfo Inc. Listed for sale in May 2021.
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdThe Long Branch
Assumed Business Name (DBA)
- Registry #:
- 24452096
- Status:
- Active as of Apr. 1, 2026 (registry mirror)
- Filed:
- Sep 29, 2004
- Address:
- 208 Depot St, La Grande, OR 97850
DBA for Longbranch Bar & Eats.
source: players/scarfo-business-entities.mdRelated corpus files
Public Markdown sources are citizen-auditable on GitHub. Any internal research references are identified below and intentionally are not exposed as broken public links.
Matt Scarfo -- full profile
Biography, business interests, political career, ethics case
players/matt-scarfo.md
Scarfo business entity registry
All 8 Oregon SOS filings, registered agent analysis
players/scarfo-business-entities.md
January 22, 2025 board minutes
Unanimous vote authorizing the validation petition
meetings/2025-01-22-full-minutes.md
Candidate campaign finance (ORESTAR)
Scarfo 2018, 2022, 2026 cycle transactions
players/candidate-campaign-finance.md
OGEC investigation timeline
Case 25-708ECF procedural history
news/ogec-investigation-timeline.md
NETWORK_INDEX
Canonical atomic facts and cross-references
NETWORK_INDEX.md
News coverage
- Mar 19, 2026East Oregonian
Letter: Union County commissioners were deceptive
- Mar 13, 2026The Observer (La Grande)
Oregon ethics group moves to investigate a Union County commissioner
- Sep 22, 2025OPB
Think Out Loud: Union County ballot initiative -- term limits
- Sep 7, 2025The Observer (La Grande)
Court deems term limits for Union County commissioners unconstitutional
- Jan 27, 2025The Observer (La Grande)
County questions constitutionality of term limits for commissioners
Ask the Union County corpus
The Union County research engine can answer specific questions about Matt Scarfo and the broader term-limits story. Answers cite indexed leads and expose linked verification sources where available.
- “What businesses does Matt Scarfo own?”
- “What is OGEC case 25-708ECF?”
- “Who voted to challenge the term-limits ordinance?”
Valor Investigates -- levi@valorinvestigates.com