Your vote counts. Be wise how you use it
By Will Collette
If you’re the kind of person who does their Xmas shopping on
Xmas Eve, or mails in their tax return on the evening of April 14, this article
is for you.
As of Monday after early voting ended, 2323 of Charlestown’s 6805 active registered voters cast their ballots either by mail or through in-person early voting. On
its own, that’s a big turn-out for a non-Presidential election. Tomorrow, it’s up to the remaining 4,482 to decide whether to go to the polls
and, if so, to decide how they will cast their ballots.
To find out WHERE you need to go to vote, CLICK HERE.
From a Progressive Charlestown standpoint, many of those
decisions are clear and at the federal and state level, we should follow Donald
Trump’s call for us to vote like he’s on the ballot…and vote for Democrats,
especially US Rep. Seth Magaziner, and Helena Foulkes for Governor.
At the town level, the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee
supports three outstanding Democrats for Town Council:
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| Left to right: Town Council President Deb Carney, Cynthia Drummond and Jill Fonnemann. Endorsed Democrats. |
Charlestown Residents United (CRU) is a bi-partisan PAC that
has held the Council majority for the past four years. They defeated the
Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) and it’s corrupt and inept leadership in
2022 and have since delivered competent, fiscally responsible, no-drama
government. Their Council slate:
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| Charlestown Residents United's endorsed slate for Town Council |
In my opinion, the CRU incumbents – Deb Carney, Craig Marr
and Steve Stokes – have earned re-election. Jill Fonnemann is also one of my
favorites – I supported her first election effort in December’s special election to fill the Council term of the late Rippy Serra. I don’t know much
about Republican Matt Westover, other than he gave negative answers to the
Womenx Project’s survey on women’s rights issues.
Democrat Cynthia Drummond (D) is on the town Democrat’s list
but not on CRU’s list. She IS featured on the CCA’s endorsement list as if she
was the top of the ticket.
Because this seemed contrary to Cynthia’s interview remarks to Alex Nunes that she wanted to steer clear of the CRU-CCA rivalry and only
seek the town Democratic endorsement, I asked her this:
COLLETTE’S QUESTION:
[F]rom the CCA campaign material, it looks like the CCA
is touting you as the top of their ticket. Did you give the CCA your consent
for them to market you so prominently?
Second, the CCA is notorious for demanding loyalty from
all their endorsed candidates not just to their platform but also to every
directive from the leadership. They purged their very first Council [in 2010] when the
CCA decided to make a 180-degree switch of position on wind energy going from
positive support to total opposition. Were you asked to pledge your
loyalty to their platform? To their leadership?
CYNTHIA’S RESPONSE:
When I decided to run, I stated that I would not be
accepting endorsements from either the CCA or CRU. I did not want to become
embroiled in the rivalry between the two PACs, which I often find distracting
and unnecessary. The CCA accepted that I had declined their endorsement,
but asked if they could still support me, which I agreed to. Then I learned
that for CRU, CCA support amounted to what they considered to be an
endorsement, and that CRU would, therefore, not support me.
For the record, I have known Deb Carney for more than a
decade and I did reach out to her before announcing my candidacy. We have
always gotten along well, and I believe she has done an excellent job as
council President.
The CCA has never demanded loyalty or anything else from
me and I have declined to take part in their campaign activities such as
canvassing or envelope stuffing. Consistent with that effort, I went door
to door last Sunday with my neighbor who is a Republican and not
affiliated with either PAC. The CCA has put me at the top of their ticket,
which I am fine with.
I take Cynthia at her word that she is not committed to the
CCA. Throughout her years as a journalist covering Charlestown politics, I felt
she has been honest and forthright.
Cynthia isn’t the only candidate the CCA has given an
unsolicited endorsement. Council member Steve Stokes (CRU-R) received the CCA’s
“conditional” endorsement, a dubious honor he never sought. The Democratic
candidates for Chariho School Committee also did not seek the CCA’s
endorsement.
Indeed, Democrat Holly Eaves rejected the CCA's unsolicited endorsement and asked the CCA to remove her from their website, which they have done.
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I urge voters to reject the CCA's Ruth Platner
for Planning and her crony Bonnie Van Slyke
for Council. |
For the Planning Commission, I recommend you vote AGAINST
the CCA slate, especially CCA founder and Planning Commissar-for-life Ruth Platner. She’s the architect of the CCA’s sleezy land deals, cover-ups,
financial screw-ups, and persistent use of phony issues to scare voters. Bring the CCA's mailer with you to the polls and don't vote for their Planning Commission slate
Among the Charlestown Town Questions, I urge you to support
Question 6 to approve funding for construction of a new unified Chariho District
elementary school on the site of the existing Charlestown Elementary. It’s needed
badly. Since Hopkinton and Richmond often vote against investment in Chariho, Charlestown
voters need to get this referendum passed.
I also urge you to vote YES on Question 7. This question is
bitterly opposed by the CCA because it would cut the current six-year staggered
terms for Planning Commission members to a staggered 4-year term. The CCA says
the 6-year terms are necessary so commission members for continuity on major
projects. I say “WTF?”
This is the CCA saying the quiet part out loud – that they use
the Planning Commission to talk projects to death and run out the clock on the
funding developers hope to use. Six years for Planning to complete its work on
projects is four years too long. The CCA knows that projects with government funding
face deadlines and that investors in private projects will not wait 6 years for
a final decision.
Charlestown is the ONLY Rhode Island municipality that still
elects its Planning Commission. All other towns appoint their planning boards.
The state enacted
legislation in 1972 in an effort to de-politicize planning decisions. In
Charlestown, the CCA has ensured that planning decisions are hyper-politicized,
if not outright corrupt. While holding on to an elected board is the real problem with Charlestown’s
planning, voting YES on Question 7 is a step in the right direction.
Re-elect incumbent
state legislators EXCEPT ONE
Senator Victoria Gu, Reps. Megan Cotter, Carol McEntee and
Kathy Fogarty have done a terrific job and will hopefully win re-election in
landslides.
One incumbent deserves defeat: state Senator Elaine Morgan
who represents the northern half of Charlestown. She has embarrassed her
district and the state of Rhode Island with her MAGA-inspired antics.
Instead, I strongly recommend her opponent, Democrat
Samantha “Sam” Wilcox, the effective Richmond Town Council president. Unlike
Morgan, she has the skills and intelligence to actually help her district that
spans northern Charlestown through Exeter.
Finally, I recommend you vote to approve four of the five state
bond proposals. They meet important infrastructure needs and will create jobs.
I am skeptical about Question 3 and voted against it. This bond
measure will put millions more into infrastructure at Quonset Point. While I’m
sure this measure will create jobs, especially in construction, the Quonset
Point Development Corporation has made a lot of dubious choices, such as support
for asphalt and hazardous waste disposal. The QPDC, a quasi-governmental
agency, has also stonewalled local officials seeking more information on the
now-stalled sludge incinerator project.
The businesses at Quonset are pretty profitable, especially
Electric Boat. Isn’t it time that they, not the taxpayers, finance the
continuing build-out at Quonset? If taxpayers are going to continue pouring in millions,
we need an expanded role for the community in decision-making and a lot more
transparency. Send the right message: Vote NO on state Question 3.
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