Meet The CCA Charlestown Candidates October 27
CHANGE OF VENUE
When: Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m.
Where: Saint James Chapel Community Room, 2079 Matunuck Schoolhouse Road, Charlestown
Join us to meet the candidates CCA has endorsed for Charlestown Town Council, Planning Commission, and Chariho School Committee.
This was originally scheduled at the Police Station, but the meeting room at the station is needed for storage related to the election. We are grateful to St. James Chapel for allowing us use of the community room on such short notice.
Town Council
Planning Commission
Chariho School Committee
Click on any name or image below to read a full biography of that candidate
Town Council
Joshua Vallee
Josh is a 15-year resident of Charlestown. He is a Doctor of Pharmacy and is Chief Compliance Officer for the RI Board of Pharmacy at the RI Department of Health. He started his first small business after graduate school and now is co-owner and manager of a veterinary clinic in Connecticut. Josh brings a broad range of management experience to the Town Council where he will work to ensure that Charlestown remains a town with low taxes and abundant natural resources where his own young children and future generations will want to live.
Peter Gardner
Peter, who has an MS in Marketing, is a quality assurance and compliance specialist for a large US corporation, is a third-generation Charlestown farmer, and has worked his way around the globe. He brings integrity, high energy, and professionalism, along with his experience of other landscapes and cultures, to the Town Council. Peter believes that Charlestown’s beautiful natural setting is at the root of our community identity and that we should protect our farms and open spaces as places for people and wildlife to enjoy the natural world.
Ann Owen
Ann, the fourth generation of her family to live in Charlestown, grew up loving Charlestown’s beaches, ponds, forests and star-filled skies. She has an MBA in Finance and over 33 years of investment management and analysis experience with major banks. Ann feels privileged to live in Charlestown with its amazing natural and cultural resources and she will work to protect those resources for future generations. Ann listens intently and will strive to translate our residents’ true desires for Charlestown into actions that achieve their vision.
Susan Cooper
Susan is a recently retired attorney with strong analytical and communication skills developed from years of legal practice. She believes that Charlestown’s path forward must be to protect the natural resources of our town. In her first term on the Council, she was instrumental in the adoption of Charlestown’s Comprehensive Plan, in conducting of the Town-Wide Survey, and in establishing the Climate Resiliency Commission that is charged with protecting the town’s resources with particular emphasis on groundwater preservation.
David Wilkinson
David served two years on the Charlestown Town Council from 2018 to 2020. He has a BS in Business Administration and is Senior Vice President for Operations of an international company he and a team of logistics experts founded in the late 1990s. His love of Charlestown’s quiet natural beauty, his determination to protect our town, his substantial experience of other communities, his leadership skills, and his expertise in project management, budgeting, financial planning, and operations make him an excellent and effective Town Councilor.
Planning Commission
Walter “Peter” Mahony
Walter is a current member of the Planning Commission and an award winning professional planner with architecture and planning degrees from Princeton and Cambridge Universities and a 40-year career in planning and landscape design that has focused on the sustainable balance between development and land preservation. Walter has lived here full time for 10 years, but he has a lifelong history of participating in various struggles to preserve our town’s unique character and valuable natural assets.
Chariho School Committee
Craig Louzon
Craig, a US Army and RI National Guard Veteran, studied History and Plant Sciences at URI. He has worked for URI for 40 years, currently as Grounds Superintendent. As a member of the Chariho School Committee for 11 years, Craig has been instrumental in the positive direction Chariho has taken, with Chariho High School being ranked among the top 10 schools in the state. Craig believes Chariho should continue striving for excellence, while balancing the costs and needs of students.
Linda Lyall
Linda has a BS and MS in Special Education and has been a dedicated educator and instructional leader for 34 years. As a member of the Chariho School Committee for the last four years, she has worked on behalf of each Chariho student and their family to ensure that the student acquires the 21st century skills needed to be an accomplished individual in this global society. She strives to provide relevant learning environments and outcomes for every student while operating in a fiscally responsible manner.
Donna Chambers
Donna has served on the Chariho School Committee since 2013. She has a BS and MA in Education as well as 49 years experience in the field. She worked with several NE state governments as an adult education consultant with expertise in proficiency-based teaching and learning. Donna believes that maintaining Chariho’s status as a highly ranked school system requires a school committee comprised of individuals that support the administration in making decisions that are economically sound, academically challenging, and fair for all students.
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