To the editor:

Portsmouth’s Multi-Purpose Senior Center is about to get a new building and 54 units of affordable senior housing, funded without new costs to taxpayers, thanks to efforts led by Portsmouth town staff and Church Community Housing. The board elected this year can help carry that momentum forward to best serve Portsmouth seniors.

Five candidates are running together because we share that goal: Ray Davis, Frederick Faerber III, Conley Wake Zani, Mark Katzman, and I.

Ray Davis spent 40 years as a social worker and substance-abuse prevention leader for Newport County and Caritas, Inc., earning honors including a Lifetime Achievement Award from RI Rally 4 Recovery.

Frederick Faerber III, a CPA with an MBA from URI, has served Portsmouth in elected office for over a decade, on the school committee since 2012 and the water and fire district for six terms, and chaired the Portsmouth Redevelopment Agency.

Conley Wake Zani, a Harvard MBA, helped raise about $1 million for the Common Fence Point Arts, Wellness, and Community Center, as well as help refurbish VFW Hall in CFP, runs her own consulting firm, and leads one of Rhode Island’s largest inclusive Zumba fitness programs.

Mark Katzman, a lifelong Portsmouth resident, built a career as a critical-care nurse and nurse educator, and wants to help modernize the center’s communications, including bringing the newsletter online.

And I’ve spent more than 40 years practicing primary care internal medicine in Rhode Island, including 25 years at Brown Health, while also serving four terms on the Portsmouth Town Council and leading the R.I. Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Together, we want to pursue every available grant, help members who no longer drive get to appointments and participate in activities, and keep the center’s finances and communications directed at providing member-focused services.

If you’re a senior center member, please vote between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday, June 22, at the senior center for: Davis, Faerber, Zani, Katzman, and Ryan. To learn more about us, see our biographies posted at the senior center. Thank you.

J. Mark Ryan, MD

Portsmouth