Tom Gentz: A Vote For Bonnie Van Slyke Is A Vote For Strong Town Council Leadership

The following letter was published in local newspapers and is reprinted here with permission of the author Tom Gentz. Mr. Gentz is a past President of the Charlestown Town Council.

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Bonnie Van Slyke is a hard-working, knowledgeable Charlestown Town Councilor running for reelection. Always prepared, Bonnie provides guidance to the Town Council and Charlestown residents with expertise based on her intergenerational roots. In addition, her previous six years on the Town Council listening to citizens gives her an important perspective of important town wide issues and an extensive knowledge of governmental processes and procedures, including Robert’s Rules of Order.

Bonnie’s dad, George Bliven, was instrumental in the decade-long fight to defeat the plan to construct a nuclear plant on the decommissioned US Naval Auxiliary Landing Field. When the property was awarded to Charlestown for recreation in 1979, her father devised a way to finance the development of the property and rallied members of the community to help with the work, turning a 227-acre eyesore into Ninigret Park—the heart of resident recreation in Charlestown.

Bonnie has served as Town Council liaison to the Parks and Recreation Commission for six years, encouraging the Commission to focus on recreation town wide. In addition to improvements to Ninigret Park, she has championed improvements in Clark Memorial Park in Columbia Heights and Wicklund Park next to the Charlestown Elementary School. Bonnie is a Town Councilor for the entire Town of Charlestown.

Prior to being a Charlestown Town Councilor, Bonnie was an officer and a member of the Board of Directors of what is now the Frosty Drew Science Observatory and Science Center, working to maintain our dark skies—an important asset for the town, drawing visitors from far and wide to see the Milky Way, planets, and stars— and important to our health, our rural way of life, and the wildlife of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. Charlestown has the darkest skies between Washington, DC, and Boston. When you look at the Milky Way from your home or attend a stargazing event at Frosty Drew, thank Bonnie for her many years of work as a Frosty Drew volunteer.

As a Wellesley College Economics major, Bonnie brings a sound perspective on the cost/benefit analysis of proposals for responsible development and employs her skills as the liaison to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission, with Bonnie’s support, has updated the decades-old Town Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan, once adopted, will support maintaining the rural character that all Charlestown residents love.

Bonnie worked as co-liaison to the Budget Commission and contributed to the recent budget that passed successfully. The volunteer Budget Commission meets twice a week for three hours from December to April to compile the Town’s Budget for presentation to the Charlestown voters. Clearly, Bonnie’s record of service speaks volumes about reasons Charlestown voters should give her their support.

We need the knowledge and access to the Town’s history that only Bonnie can bring to the Town Council. A vote for Bonnie Van Slyke is vote for superior judgment and performance. I endorse Bonnie Van Slyke.

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