On Tuesday, June 11, there will be a special election to fill a vacancy on the Augusta Board of Education. This election is important to all Augusta residents whether you have children in our school system or not.

I am supporting Amanda (Bartlett) Olson. Amanda served previously on the school board and served with distinction. Her leadership was noted and appreciated by her fellow board members and by the City Council, on which I was serving.

In addition to this, she was co-chair of the Friends of the Lithgow Library and helped raise some $3 million towards its renovation and expansion. Today, we have a beautifully restored and expanded library.

Lastly, as executive director of the Augusta Housing Authority, she selected the abandoned Hodgkin School and remade it into 47 units of modern and safe affordable housing for our elderly.

Amanda has worked to make our city a better place. That’s why I am supporting her for the school board.

Patrick Paradis

Augusta

(The writer is a former city councilor for Augusta’s Ward 3.)