Dear Editor:

In the four years I’ve known Chris Johnson, I’ve been impressed time and again by his hard work, his abilities to solve problems and get people to work together, and his keen interest in learning about new opportunities for Maine.

One example of problem solving is the months that he worked when first elected to bring together officials from three Maine state departments to help the town of Waldoboro, its shellfish committee, and the Medomak Valley Land Trust to improve the water quality of the Medomak River — a win-win solution for many stakeholders.

The biggest winners are the clammers whose livelihood depends on the Medomak because improved water quality means they will lose fewer days of work due to closures.

Chris’s drive to learn about new approaches, new technologies, and emerging opportunities is exemplified by data farming. This emerging industry stems from commercial and government interest in the exponentially increasing amount of data becoming available.

It’s not yet known if data farming will be in Maine’s future. What is known is that Chris went out of his way to learn about data farming long before many of us even heard about it, and he has already given thought to its possibilities, drawbacks, requirements and potential for Maine.

Equally impressive is Chris’s interest in learning more about complex challenges facing Maine people. These are the “wicked problems” that have no simple solutions, yet he seeks ways to tackle them. Sometimes finding big solutions, and sometimes finding the small things that can be done that have the most leverage and bring progress.

So much of what Chris does isn’t on his resume, but he works every day to help small business thrive and to help all Mainers build better lives for themselves and their families. He is running clean, he is green, and he sure has my vote!

Lorraine Anderson

Newcastle