GREENE — The town will have a new selectman and a new Maine School Administrative Unit 52 director following Tuesday’s election.

In an unusually competitive selectman election with two seats and five candidates, two-term incumbent John Soucy and challenger Amanda Leclerc came out on top.

Leclerc will serve her first term on the Board of Selectmen after edging out four-term incumbent selectman Donald Bedford by just 10 votes. Soucy was the top vote-getter with 415 votes. Leclerc received 225; Bedford, 215; Sheldon Bubier, 213; and Robert Hack, 149.

In another election twist, Anthony Shostak upset longtime incumbent MSAD 52 director Yuri Kowalski, winning the seat by a vote of 384-265.

Shostak has been a regular attendee at MSAD 52 board of directors meetings this year, speaking out against masks in schools and advocating for a tighter budget.

“I will advocate for policies that promote transparency, accountability, parental authority, safety, and academic excellence so that parents, students and taxpayers with no children in the system can all enjoy renewed confidence in our public schools,” Shostak wrote in a campaign flyer.

“As a conservative, I support political neutrality for schools and oppose their abuse for the promotion of political agendas,” he added.

Shostak and his wife have lived in Greene for the last 25 years and have two children in the MSAD 52 school district. He is the education curator for the Bates College Museum of Art, according to their website.

Leclerc is the owner and director of Stepping Stones Early Learning Center in Greene and a seven-year member of the Leavitt Area High School Field Hockey Boosters. In a Sun Journal questionnaire, she listed balancing the budget and bringing relief to taxpayers, as well as town communication, as her two priorities.

“One idea is to bring businesses to the town, such as a coffee or pizza shop,” she wrote. “In the past, similar businesses have been denied and this needs to change to help decrease the tax burden on citizens.”

“Communication is especially important to me,” she added. “I would love to help implement a plan to improve communications within the town. It is important to find a way to allow citizens’ voices to be heard and for them to have input prior to and during the decision-making process.”

In addition to his role as selectman, Soucy is also the fire chief for the town of Greene.

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