Virginia Lee: Charlestown’s Independent Candidates Deliver Proven, Effective Leadership

The following letter appeared in local newspapers and is shared with us here by the author Virginia Lee. Virginia Lee is a past President of the Charlestown Town Council.

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Independent Charlestown Town Council candidates Susan Cooper, Peter Gardner, Ann Owen, Joshua Vallee, and David Wilkinson; and Planning Commission candidates Walter Mahony, Carol Mossa, and Lisa St. Godard are proven leaders whose experience and integrity prepare them to best represent you in Charlestown government. These CCA endorsed 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 Charlestown.
• Committed to keeping your taxes low and your quality of life high. They possess strong financial and management backgrounds and understand the long-term impacts of local government decisions. They will work to provide municipal services that keep us safe, to support Chariho schools to educate our children, and to assure our town’s finances are in good order.
• Leaders in long-range community planning, and they also are effective activists when we most need them. They helped to rally thousands of RI residents in the fight to stop the Federal Railroad Administration’s plan to bisect Charlestown with two new rail lines, blocked Invenergy from taking our water by tanker trucks to cool the turbines of a power plant in northern Rhode Island, and denied a national chain that would have driven our locally owned stores out of business.
• Vigilant in protecting our irreplaceable environment. They have scientific backgrounds and know to safeguard our natural assets like 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.
• Careful about development of our community and recognize that Charlestown’s economy depends on the quality of 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.

Let’s continue to elect excellent candidates to town government who understand the connection between our environment, our economy and our low tax rate and who are willing to do the hard work to protect all three. Who you elect for local office will affect your tax rate and will shape the landscape and character of the town years into the future. Please vote for Town Council candidates Susan Cooper, Peter Gardner, Ann Owen, Joshua Vallee, and David Wilkinson; and Planning Commission candidates Walter Mahony, Carol Mossa, and Lisa St. Godard. You can vote by mail or in person at Town Hall starting October 19 or at the Charlestown polling stations on November 8.