School Committee member last ran for mayor in 2017.
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LEWISTON Ron Potvin has announced his intention to run for Lewiston mayor.
According to a campaign announcement, he is running on the platform of “Unity, Education, and Solutions.”
Potvin serves as the Ward 6 School Committee member, and has served previously as a city councilor and School Committee member in Auburn before moving to Lewiston in 2014.
In 2017, Potvin was vice chair of the effort to defeat the Lewiston-Auburn merger referendum. He is semiretired, working as a correctional officer for the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office since 2001.
Potvin’s platform is based on what he feels are essentials to the success of Lewiston.
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AUBURN The number of people taking out nomination papers for this year’s election is lagging behind previous election cycles, so far.
As of Thursday, nine people had taken out papers to run for the 15 elected seats. All seats are up for election every two years.
According to City Clerk Sue Clements-Dallaire, at this time two years ago, some 25 people had taken out papers.
“(That’s) much different from what we’ve seen so far this year,” she said.
Earlier Thursday, Mayor Jason Levesque became the first official candidate for mayor, announcing he will seek a third term. Asked about the low numbers of candidates, Levesque said he wasn’t sure yet.
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LEWISTON After more than 90 minutes of discussion, the City Council narrowly approved next year’s $93 million school budget with a 4-3 vote Tuesday.
The vote came less than a week after the School Committee shuffled its budget figures in order to reduce the local tax impact, and highlighted a fractured relationship between members of the City Council and School Committee.
Councilors were at odds over the spending plan, with some arguing that year-over-year increases to the school budget have led to stagnation for municipal services, while others said students need the support now more than ever.
Councilor Zack Pettengill, who voted against the budget, said, “I never thought I’d see the day when the community doesn’t support the schools, but I’m not hearing from anyone who supports it.”
“The risks in these measures are future impacts,” he said.
Using relief funds for recurring expenses would mean that money would not be carried forward and would have to be included in future budgets.
“I am very, very concerned about the level of relief funds being used this year ($3.5 million), but I wanted to provide an opportunity for you to alter your budget,” Langlais told the committee.
He wrote in a memorandum to the committee that its members could use an additional $200,000 in relief funds and an additional $500,000 in unexpended carryover funds, leaving $1 million.
Committee member Ron Potvin said this action would be “spelling disaster” for the school district.