Elections Should Be About Issues And Qualifications, Not False Attacks
As our local elections near, elected Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) members of the Town Council, Planning Commission and others in Town Government should be proud of the civil, open, and well-run local government that has been achieved amid one of the most politically divisive times in our nation’s history and a global pandemic of tragic proportions.
The Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) has promoted our candidates by listing their qualifications and many achievements and their commitment to Charlestown’s low tax rate, beautiful environment, natural resource–based economy, and our children’s future through support of quality education.
By contrast our opposition has based their campaign on attacking CCA with claims that are deceptive and completely false. We know little of what they are for, only what they are against. Even their name, “Charlestown Residents United,” is a misnomer, when their tactics serve to divide.
We have rarely mentioned Charlestown Residents United (CRU), but a recent postcard CRU mailed to local households was so full of false statements that we must respond with a list of truths.
- Charlestown’s tax rate is already one of the very lowest in the state and we are committed to keeping taxes as low as possible.
- It is CRU that has wanted to increase the size of the budget surplus. The CCA-supported members of the Town Council campaigned during the June 2020 budget vote to use the excess surplus to pay down some of the town’s Police Pension liability. CRU wanted to use the money to grow the surplus for an as-yet-unknown project. Happily the voters sided with CCA and not CRU, and the money was budgeted for the police pensions.
- Open space purchases have been based on natural resource protection and the land’s ability to provide public access to hiking, waterfront or other recreation. Locations of purchases are based on protecting groundwater quality or important wildlife habitats or corridors, the presence of rare or endangered species, or an opportunity to expand an already existing preserve that serves those same purposes.
- The town’s funding partners in land purchases have been The Nature Conservancy or the RI Department of Environmental Management. Neither of our partners will fund purchases that exceed market value. Landowners do occasionally offer land at inflated prices, but those projects are declined.
- The people best qualified to serve Charlestown have been appointed to boards and commissions. Charlestown is fortunate to have highly qualified people apply.
For those who support continued civil, honest, and open discourse in local government, we strongly urge you to support the Charlestown Citizens Alliance candidates. These candidates will provide responsive government, quality schools, and needed services—not empty promises to fix problems that do not exist in Charlestown.
The CRU postcard only said two true things: that the election is November 3, and that early voting begins October 14. Please vote! There are many ways to vote: You can vote by mail; you can vote early at the Town Hall (Monday–Friday from 8:30–4:30); and you can vote at your polling place on November 3. Make a plan and make a difference!
The banner image is a photo of a hiking trail in the Patricia Sprague Forest Preserve. The 27 acre property contains a floodplain forest, vernal pools, and approximately 1600 feet of frontage on the National Wild and Scenic Pawcatuck River. The property was purchased by the Town of Charlestown with $341,250.00 from the town’s open space bond fund. The remainder of the purchase price came from a $258,750.00 RIDEM grant. To ensure that the property is always managed for wildlife protection and public access, RI Department of Environmental Management and the Charlestown Land Trust jointly hold a conservation easement. The Nature Conservancy, the Wood Pawcatuck Watershed Association, the Salt Ponds Coalition and the Charlestown Land Trust all supported the acquisition. Only two people spoke against the acquisition and they are among those currently critical of the town’s open space projects. Some things never change.
October 12, 2020 @ 4:42 pm
Many thanks CCA for all that you have done and continue to do.
It is such a terrible shame that our politics has sunk to such a low low level.
Thank you all for keeping your dialogue and rhetoric honest and respectful.
I sure hope that the voters of Charlestown recognize this and vote for the CCA endorsed candidates to continue the honest and good government that the town has had for the last 10 or so years.
October 12, 2020 @ 4:09 pm
Base your reports upon facts, not false statements or “half statements”, and the rest will fall into place. Whether we like it or not, Charlestown politics has not always been based upon facts, so a response such as this does not surprise me at all. I’ve been out of the Charlestown political arena for many years now, however I can remember when there was something called “The whisper campaign”! What was the whisper campaign!!???? The whisper campaign was when one or two politicians would go out into our small community and start, ever so quietly, spreading a falsehood or rumor about another politician or accuse a certain politician of doing something that was underhanded or something that the politician would benefit from. Soon in our “small” community that “whisper” would grow into a “fact” that was discussed at the dinner table, to the local coffee cliques, to the newspaper. And…..of course if it’s in the newspaper it has to be true!!
In my opinion this council has done a great job for the citizens of the town as well as for the town itself. I am registered as “unaffiliated”, and I will tell you that you have my vote; and, I will encourage others to vote the same way. I believe that this council has maintained its “Independent” status and I am glad to see that. Keep doing what you are doing. Keep addressing falsehoods as you have done with this letter, and base your reports back to the community with “facts” not fiction and you will do well in November.
October 12, 2020 @ 1:09 pm
Wish you all the best! You’ve got my vote!
October 12, 2020 @ 7:57 am
In all my years of public service, I have never seen anything as blatantly dishonest as the message from the Charlestown Residents United (CRU) candidates that came to my home last week as a mailer. The statements and implications made were outrageous, unbelievable, and egregious. The message was an insult to the many people who work hard on behalf of Charlestown. I never thought anyone in Charlestown would have to comment on such bald-faced lies as perpetrated by the CRU candidates.
October 12, 2020 @ 6:22 am
Thank You.
I only ask that whomever is voted into the town council that they continue to do the following:
Please keep the public informed in a timely manner that allows the public to respond.
Please be fiscally responsible which includes paying down current and future debt when possible and maintaining the towns infrastructure.
Please listen to the public’s concerns.
Please maintain the look and feel of Charlestown. We don’t need new or major franchises moving into the town. They are accessible 15 minutes either side of Charlestown. Small business should be encouraged.
Please keep a fair and balanced approach to the environment and keeping our environment safe and clean.
Quoted from “You as a Public Official”. Please remember who you serve.
“Holding a public office is an act of service to the public – that is,
service to all the residents of a city or town, not just those who
share your views or those who voted for you. It is a challenge that
requires every office holder to rise above the fray, to reach beyond
comfort zones, and to work with others with whom they may have
significant differences.”