A heartfelt thank you to all of our public servants that make Orcas a safe and loving environment in which people of all ages can thrive. Our island village helped me raise my four children, three of whom are now off island passing on the gifts of community building they learned here.

Tony Ghazel has been one of their greatest teachers.

In addition to the countless hours he has served on the school board, I have seen Tony cheering for our kids in all sports (he referees for soccer); Tony organizes fundraisers and is the first to show up to help at events. Ghazel is out in the community listening to the concerns of the students, the parents of our students and our taxpayers.

Not only does Tony Ghazel operate from a deep core of integrity in our community on Orcas, he takes his role as a school board member to another level by advocating for our school in Olympia.

What sets Tony apart is that he has spent years building relationships in Olympia. Tony works with Senators and Representatives to keep them aware of the struggles small districts, such as ours, face and deal with. Our school district has greatly benefited from Tony’s perseverance in the face of budget cuts over the years.

More than 80 percent of our funds come from Olympia and our federal government. Tony recognizes the importance of being engaged with Senators and Representatives to ensure that mandates are funded, and the legislation that helps our district and others are well crafted and advanced into the legislative session.

We need Tony Ghazel, a person of high caliber and a seasoned representative from the Orcas Island School Board to be our voice in Olympia.

Please join me in voting for Tony Ghazel.

Lynsey Smith

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