UPDATED: Who is running and who is not

Changes coming for Charlestown town government

By Will Collette

The November 3 election will bring change to the make-up of Charlestown’s town government. At minimum, there will be a number of new faces. There might even be a change in control.

Two of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) town council members, Council President Virginia Lee and Julie Carroccia will not be running for re-election.

Council Vice-Chair Deb Carney, one of the founders of Charlestown Residents United (CRU) will be running as an endorsed Democrat. CCA Party members Bonnie Van Slyke and David Wilkinson are also seeking re-election.

CRU is also endorsing Democrats Scott Keeley and Jodi Frank and Republicans Grace Klinger and Stephen Stokes for Town Council.

The CCA Party will be fighting to keep its control of Charlestown
in the November 3 election

The CCA Party rounds out its slate for Town Council with Sheila Andrew, Cody Clarkin and Susan Cooper.

Jacob A. Wolfgang is also listed as having filed to qualify for the ballot to run as an independent for Town Council. I don’t know if he has a relationship with either of Charlestown’s political action committees or political parties.

The CCA Party candidates for the supposedly non-partisan Planning Commission are Gordon Foer, Walter (Peter) Mahony, Ruth Platner, and Frances Topping.

Howard T. Stephens and Patricia A. Stamps have filed papers to also run for Planning Commission under the CRU banner. 

In case you didn’t know: Charlestown is the only municipality in Rhode Island that elects its Planning Commission or Board. These are appointed positions everywhere else.

“Abuse of Process”

Planning Commissar Platner and Commission blasted for outrageous demands

By Will Collette

Platner gets the bird

Rarely to you ever see the most powerful politician in Charlestown, Planning Commissar Ruth Platner (CCA Party), get publicly taken down for her typical abuse of power…and then see her back off. But that’s exactly what happened at the February 26 Planning Commission meeting. The occasion was Part Two of the Planning Commission’s auto-de-fe of Arrowhead Dental which is before the Planning Commission with its plans for a major expansion.

You can watch this whole exchange on Clerkbase (click here and go to the five minute mark. It runs till 1:22). If you find you can’t make the link work, you may made to use the “secret” fix to get around this flaw in the system. For a description about how to get around Clerkbase’s access flaw, click here.

Most Charlestown residents know about Arrowhead, one of South County’s largest dental practices located near the junction of South County Trail and Route One. Cathy and I have been happy and loyal patients of Arrowhead (and specifically of Dr. Nectara Stefano) since we moved to Charlestown eleven years ago.

Arrowhead is one of Charlestown’s largest employers. They were the first recipients of Charlestown’s Hometown Hero Award for their annual Dentistry from the Heart Day where they treat hundreds of local folks for free. Their practice is sleek and modern. Their interior is pleasant and comfortable. Their grounds are beautifully landscaped.

So naturally, that makes them a great target for Platner and her plucky Planning Commissioners to rake over the coals now that they want to expand. They are also being used by Platner as the first big test case for the town’s controversial dark sky lighting ordinance.

Planning Commission decides NOT to change proposed mining law, even though they admit it NEEDS changes

Let the Town Council do it. Riiiiiight.

By Will Collette

The mother of all quarry blasts. Ordinance #362 will prohibit
mine blasting in Charlestown

The Charlestown Planning Commission voted unanimously to send its  Ordinance #362 on to the Town Council for consideration even though they acknowledge it is full of defects and omissions.

That's a shame because Ordinance #362 is actually a pretty good step forward to deal with the problem that quarries and sand & gravel pits are largely unregulated in town. The town’s landscape is dotted with dangerous inactive and abandoned sites that are the legacy of years of allowing such businesses to operate without the requirement that they reclaim the land.

I wrote a detailed analysis of  Ordinance #362 earlier (click here to read) where I praised significant portions of the draft but also noted that this draft contained several significant flaws and omissions.

In case you missed it: Monday night, the Council takes up measure that will affect local businesses

New shrubbery ordinance triggered by ANY project that requires a building permit

Charlestown in the good old days - aerial view shows Route One (bottom)
and 1a (middle). Notice all the lush forest and shrubbery

By Will Collette

Charlestown has 9.4% unemployment and fewer and fewer local jobs as small businesses close or move because of the town's notorious anti-business reputation. 

Just what Charlestown needs are two more ordinances designed to make life hell for small business as Planning Commissar Ruth Platner (CCA) pursues her vision of Charlestown in the "good old days" (whatever and whenever those were).

She can’t get away with simply passing an ordinance banning all businesses in Charlestown, so instead, she uses these ordinances to inflict a death by a thousand cuts.

In this article, I’ll give you a summary of what happened at the September 9 Council meeting on two new ordinances (one on shrubbery, the other on parking) and will get into the detail behind the first of the two, Ordinance #359 which I call the “Shrubbery Ordinance” (yes, I know it's officially called "Landscaping," but I never miss a chance to do a homage to Monty Python).  

I’ll do the same for its companion, Ordinance #360 on Parking in a separate article tomorrow. Both ordinances will come up again at the Council's next meeting on October 7.

Planning Commission continues special, kid gloves treatment of Whalerock developer

Votes 4-1 to grant preliminary approval to carve-out of two house lots from the Whalerock property

Another step closer to slaying the monster

By Will Collette

The Charlestown Planning Commission under the leadership of Commissar Ruth Platner continues to give special treatment to the proposal by Whalerock wind project partner James Barrows to carve out two house lots from the 81 acre Whalerock site before the town buys the remaining acreage.

There are probably a hundred projects that have crashed and burned, or have been altered beyond recognition, when they came before Platner’s Commission. Many projects died a slow and painful death of a thousand cuts as Platner and her Commissionaires nit-picked them into oblivion.

But because the Barrows’ subdivision proposal is the linchpin – indeed, it is the deal-breaker – for the deal for Charlestown taxpayers to buy the Whalerock site for $2.1 million, this development is getting extraordinarily gentle and rapid treatment.

Charlestown voters have spoken

A big night for the CCA

By Will Collette

Well, Town Council Boss Tom Gentz and Deputy Dan Slattery will be returning to the Town Council in their old slots, and now they have a third CCA true-blue in George Tremblay who will have to vacate his Planning Commission seat to take a seat on the Town Council. 

Democrat Paula Andersen, a first time candidate, also won a Council seat coming in third. She will be the first Democrat on the Town Council since 2008.

Councilor Lisa DiBello will also return, in her own manner, to the Council.

Incumbent Gregg Avedisian was defeated. The bottom finisher was Jim Mageau.

Planning Commissar Ruth Platner also won re-election to a new six-year term which will mean she can run her string on the Commission to 22 years if she serves out her term. She is joined by CCA candidates Gordon Foer (who was re-elected) and newcomers Connie Baker (who can’t tolerate meetings longer than 90 minutes) and Jan Knost. 

Democrat Brandon Cleary, a professional firefighter in Cranston, won the fifth slot. Brandon will be the first Democrat to sit on the Planning Commission in many years. [Readers - if you remember the last Democrat who served on Planning, please post a comment or send an e-mail with the name and year].

Here are the numbers posted on the Secretary of State's website:

Promises, promises

The winning CCA candidates haven’t done such a hot job of fulfilling the promises of the CCA platform. How well have they kept their own personal promises?

Part 1: Actions speak louder than platforms
Part 2: “We have met the enemy and he is us”
Part 3: CCA family values
Part 4: Whose interest does the CCA serve?
Part 5: Science or pseudoscience?

By Linda Felaco

As I’ve shown in my review of the 2010 campaign literature of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance,[1] the winning CCA candidates not only have not done much of anything they promised to do, but they actually did some of the very same things they professed to be so “disappointed” in the previous council—all hand-picked by the CCA—for having done.

And yet they somehow managed to maintain the faith of their overlords on the CCA steering committee, since the CCA is letting them run for reelection rather than replacing them with a new slate like they did in 2010.

Batting order determined for Planning Commission candidates

Can’t tell the players without a scorecard

By Will Collette

Charlestown is the only town among the 39 cities and towns of Rhode Island that still elects its Planning Commission. State law requires planning boards to be appointed, to take the politics out of the process, but Charlestown insists it has the “grandfathered” right[1] to keep electing its Planning Commissioners.

While you can never reasonably expect to take the politics out of Planning, Charlestown is the only town that actively and deliberately makes its Planning Commission a totally political animal. And we have paid the price. But since this is the system we have, expect a lively contest for election to the Commission with the candidates arranged on the ballot in the following order:

Planning Commission covers its “B-List” at July 25 meeting

Road bond refund, light poles, open space and affordable housing

By Will Collette

After a short hiatus, Charlestown’s version of political root canal, the Planning Commission, returned to action on July 25. Barely.

The Commission assembled a quorum with four of its seven members present. They actually lacked the three member quorum they needed to approve their last set of minutes (you have to have attended the meeting to vote to approve the minutes).

On board for the July 25 meeting: Planning Commissar Ruth Platner, her top lieutenant Linda Fabre (who is moving out of Charlestown), George Tremblay (who has his eye on a Town Council seat) and Alternate Joann Stolle, who brings her style sense and shingle collection to the table. Stolle’s term is up in November, but she is not running for re-election.

Gordon Foer, who is running for re-election, was not present. Neither was Jim Abbott, another member whose term is up but is not seeking to return. Kathryn O’Connor was also absent.

Yes, Michael, there is a Republican Party

Declarations filed for continued Charlestown Republican Town Committee

Plus, the CCA announces its slate

By Will Collette

On that other blog, Mike Chambers wonders if there is a Charlestown Republican Town Committee (CRTC). In his own peculiar fashion, he ruminates over where the Republicans might be.

As usual, he doesn’t do his homework very well, since the CRTC has been around for a long time. He just didn’t know where to look for their names.

So, to help straighten him out, here’s the list of Charlestown Republicans who have just declared their membership in the Charlestown Republican Town Committee, and have been endorsed to serve in the new term that begins on January 1:

The List

Lots of candidates to choose from - 12 for Council, 10 for Planning

By Will Collette

The deadline to file a Declaration of Candidacy was 4 PM yesterday. This morning, we found out who filed.

Fasten your seat belts, Charlestown. 

Here's the List:

Election scorecard so far

Declarations deadline at 4 PM

By Will Collette

As of lunchtime, a healthy number of candidates for Charlestown office had filed their Declarations of candidacy. Incumbent Rep. Donna Walsh (D) will face Tina Baker Jackson (R) for the House District 36 seat.

Three incumbents have declared for Town Council so far - Boss Tom Gentz (CCA), Deputy Dan Slattery (CCA) and their ally, Lisa DiBello who has declared she is running against Progressive Charlestown. Thanks to her attack from the Council podium on Monday night and the Westerly Sun's page 1 coverage yesterday, Progressive Charlestown readership jetted up by 40%. Thank you and please keep the insults coming!