Personal Benefit Is The Worst Reason To Run For Public Office
The following letter appeared in local newspapers and is shared with us here by the author Bonnie Van Slyke. Bonnie Van Slyke has been a member of the Charlestown Town Council for 8 years.
The Groundwater Protection (GWP) District was established as part of Charlestown’s Zoning Ordinance over 30 years ago to protect, preserve, and maintain the quality and supply of the groundwater resources upon which the town depends for clean drinking water.
The GWP District includes land directly over important groundwater reservoirs that have been delineated by the RI Department of Environmental Management. All commercial development within a GWP District must provide at least 20% undisturbed land as open space to protect the aquifer.
Mr. Richard Serra applied to the Planning Commission to add two large metal buildings to his commercial property, Rippy’s Liquor & Marketplace. His property sits on top of the Beaver–Pasquiset groundwater reservoir, and because it is therefore in a GWP District, Mr. Serra is required to comply with the GWP District section of the zoning ordinance.
The Planning Commission has made it easy for Mr. Serra to comply with the restrictions of the GWP District by permitting him to use as part of the required open space the visual buffer area that he already has to maintain between his commercial property and the abutting residential properties. The Commission also permitted him to use as part of the open space the portion of his public well’s wellhead protection area that still has vegetation on it. None of this land could be used for another purpose because it is required for the residential buffers and his wellhead protection area.
The Commission also asked that Mr. Serra determine the gradient of a small, steeply sloped area next to a residential buffer, which could possibly be added to the open space if it cannot or should not be cleared. Under the town’s erosion and sediment control ordinance, slopes steeper than 25% cannot be cleared, and clearing on slopes greater than 10% are to be avoided, if possible.
Mr. Serra received both Master Plan and Preliminary Plan approvals early this year, on January 26, 2022, with the condition that he determine the slope of the small area next to the buffer.
Adding all together, the resulting open space area would not add up to the minimum open space required in the GWP District. However, because all other land on Mr. Serra’s site has already been disturbed or is impermeable, the Planning Commission agreed no other undisturbed land is available to be set aside, and it approved the Master and Preliminary Plans with the condition above.
Instead of proceeding with his application, Mr. Serra declared himself a candidate for Town Council and is promising that, if elected, he will fire the Town Planner, recall the Chair of our elected Planning Commission, and remove the GWP District requirement that 20% undisturbed open space be set aside to protect the aquifer.
It would seem, because he has said so, that Mr. Serra is running for office in order to derive a personal benefit from changes that would be detrimental to our town and our drinking water—possibly one of the worst reasons to run for office.
You can learn more about Bonnie at her profile page.
October 24, 2022 @ 12:38 pm
I certainly won’t be voting for anyone that doesn’t want to protect our water!
October 24, 2022 @ 10:34 am
Thank you for revealing the facts of this situation. Mr. Serra does not seem to respect the regulations of the State and the Town and is not the type of person we should want sitting on the town council.
I hope that the people of Charlestown realize this and will vote for the CCA candidates this election. As demonstrated by a clear majority of the people who filled out the town wide survey, the CCA candidates are in tune with the views of the majority of townspeople.
October 22, 2022 @ 5:05 pm
Thank you, Bonnie. Any time someone runs for office for personal gain, or to fire someone in public service without cause, is not worthy of a vote, much less an election. Thank God, CCA candidates run for office without the expectation of personal gain and that’s the way it has been for a decade. I hope Charlesrown residents realize that the only people who benefit from a vote for CCA supported candidates are the residents of the town.