THERE ARE CERTAIN PEOPLE who come into your life that you realize just fit. I met Mary Haffner back in 2000 when our children's school had been covered in a toxic cloud from a pesticide drift from a neighboring orchard, an incident which I've written about a few times here. My daughter and other children became ill.

Enraged, I alerted every media outlet I could find. The story ended up on the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

Enraged, Mary organized parents, held meetings and helped spearhead legislation later carried by then-Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson to stop this from happening again.

Used to operating independently on various activist endeavors, we discovered each other one day with a mutual exclamation of "OK, you were the one who did that. I was wondering."

Three years later Mary called me to co-chair a group she wanted to start to raise money for the Ventura Unified School District. Save Our Schools raised thousands of dollars, sponsored many education rallies and helped bring our highly successful School Resource Officer program back to our campuses.

In 2005 my friend told me she wanted to run for school board here in Ventura and I enthusiastically agreed she would do a fine job. In the past four years she has already been elevated to the position of president. I am proud of her accomplishments and I heartily support her re-election.

The only school board member with children in the district, Mary is a devoted mother of three who manages to do it all and do it all well. An attorney, Mary has also been a strong voice for sustainability and environmental stewardship. As a board member, Mary helped to draft Ventura Unified's Green Schools Resolution -- a statement of Ventura Unified's commitment to sustainability and the promotion of policies and actions that help our district tread more lightly on the earth.

In alignment with this philosophy, Mary serves as the board representative on the Ventura Unified Green Schools Committee and is the Chair of the Ventura County Regional Energy Alliance.

In these tough budget times for our schools, she has shown exemplary leadership. And Ventura schools have weathered this storm better fiscally than most surrounding districts. Our API scores have increased every year since 2002.

But on a more personal note, she has been a wonderful friend. Like any two strong, independent women, we've had our little spats, but we always find our way back to each other because in this life you always need somebody who really understands you.

On Nov. 3, cast your vote for Mary Haffner and by doing so you will also be helping the children of Ventura.

For an interview with Mary on CAPS-TV, go here.