Linda Lyall: Vote for Proven, Effective Leadership on November 6
The following letter was published in local newspapers and is reprinted here with permission of the author Linda Lyall. Linda Lyall is a candidate for Chariho School Committee in the 2018 election.
Julie Carroccia, Virginia Lee, Bonnie Van Slyke, David Wilkinson, and Bill Wilson are proven leaders whose education, experience, and integrity prepare them to best represent you as Charlestown Town Councilors.
These candidates are dedicated to well-managed, responsive, civil, and open government. They are not affiliated with any political party or interest. They listen carefully to everyone and consider all points of view as they strive to represent the interests of all residents of the town.
These candidates are committed to keeping taxes low and the quality of life high. They possess strong financial and management backgrounds and understand the long-term fiscal impacts of local government decisions. They work to provide municipal services that keep us safe, to support the schools that educate our children, and to assure our town’s financial affairs are in good order.
These candidates are the community leaders in long-range resource protection and community planning, and they can also take an activist role. They rallied thousands of RI residents and led the fight to stop the Federal Railroad Administration’s plan to bisect Charlestown with two new rail lines and again to block Invenergy from taking our water by tanker truck caravan to cool the turbines of a power plant in northern Rhode Island. They continue to work diligently to protect the scenic quality of Route 1 from inappropriate state proposals.
These candidates remain vigilant in protecting our irreplaceable environment. They have scientific backgrounds and work to safeguard assets such as our groundwater, the source of our drinking water. They are committed to protecting our diverse coastal and inland resources that collectively sustain wildlife, provide some of the best recreational opportunities on the East Coast, and make our town such a unique and treasured place to live. They are working to protect farmland and to secure national Wild and Scenic River status for the Pawcatuck River, which will protect the river, open up access to federal funding, and provide increased awareness of recreational opportunities the river provides.
These candidates guide development of our community. They value our natural and scenic resources and the tourism economy they sustain and the strong connection between protection of our natural resources and our low tax rate. They recognize that Charlestown’s economy depends on tourism attracted to our abundant natural and scenic resources and that those resources need to be safeguarded, not just for tourism, but also for the health, safety, welfare, and high quality of life of year-round residents.
We need to continue to elect candidates to town government who understand the connection between our environment, our economy and our tax rate and who are willing to do the hard work to protect all three. Who you elect for local office will affect our tax rate and will shape the landscape and character of the town, now and into the future. Please cast your vote for Julie Carroccia, Virginia Lee, Bonnie Van Slyke, David Wilkinson, and Bill Wilson on November 6th.
