By SENTORA RODRIGUEZ, Ranger Reporter:
Three seats will be up for grabs on the Amarillo College board of regents this May. Jay Barrett, Michele Fortunato and Dr. Neal Nossaman all have terms ending this year. Nossaman said he will be stepping down from the board, while Barrett and Fortunato are running for re-election. Both have filed for a possible seat.
The AC board of regents is responsible for major decisions on campus, hiring a college president being its biggest.
Nossaman said he has decided to step down to focus on his optometry practice but still plans to stay involved with AC.
“I have seen a lot of positive changes going on at AC. I feel like AC is on the way to being a world-class school,” Nossaman said.
Fortunato and Barrett both have a long track-record of community service. Both said they plan to run a Facebook campaign so they will not need to raise or spend any campaign money.
“I do not want people to have to spend money on this election by supporting candidates who would all be good candidates,” Fortunato said. “I am going to let my record speak for itself.”
Barrett plans to use social media sites like Linkdin, Facebook and Instagram. He has already started posting to his Facebook campaign and said so far he has received a great response.
“I am going to be posting things on social media where I can reach a variety of people in our community,” Barrett said.
The board of regents holds meetings every fourth Tuesday that are open to the public. Wes Condray, director of communications and marketing, said students are more than welcome to attend and that the meetings are informative. “They talk about all sorts of things that are happening at the college that are forthcoming and stuff that has already happened,” Condray said.
AC students will get a chance to voice their opinion on Election Day, May 6. Students who are legal residents of Potter County and registered to vote will be able to participate in the election.
Leave a Reply