I am writing in support of the reelection of Shahidul Mannan for Select Board. In my capacity as a School Committee member during his first term as a Select Board member, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Shahidul and have appreciated his sometimes out-of-the-box thinking to help us arrive at a budget that both meets the needs of our students and schools, while being sensitive to the fiduciary responsibility to our town and taxpayers. He has been and continues to be proactive in looking for ways to foster fiscal responsibility and sustainability while searching for solutions to issues that are pressing to residents, including space constraints at the schools, challenges with town water, economic growth and public safety.

He has stepped up and served the town in some form of volunteer role since he first moved to town more than a decade ago, including key roles on the Growth Study Committee, the Elementary School Building Committee and the Appropriation Committee. He has never been one to sit on the sidelines when he saw a need he could fill. As a colleague in elected town government, I appreciate his commitment to One Hopkinton and working together to find solutions, and I hope you will join me in supporting him on May 19 at the Annual Town Election.

— Nancy Richards-Cavanaugh, Hopkinton

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