The excellent candidates for Town Council and Planning Commission who are endorsed by CCA in the upcoming election will listen. They have heard your concerns, and they will work to return Charlestown to the path to long-term sustainability by protecting our natural resources on which our economy and our future depend.
My election campaigns always seem to present unexpected challenges. I declared my candidacy for Charlestown Town Council in June, and a biopsy on July 15 found a small tumor in my throat. I had, and have, no symptoms except for a swollen lymph node. I will get through this and be okay. My voice may be quieter for a short time, but it won’t be silent and I will continue doing my best to protect the beautiful, natural character of our community.
For some reason, a Charlestown Democratic Town Committee member appears to believe that taking personal potshots at a former town employee who was honest and worked hard, one who did an excellent job for 10 years, is OK. It’s not. Unproven, and untrue, assertions that live online can be damaging to a person’s career and should be out of bounds.
The League of Women Voters of South County will publish Voter Guides in early October featuring local candidates for State Representative, Senator, Town Council, School Committee, and Planning Commission. They want to ask questions that relate to the current issues in our town. Please submit up to 3 topics/questions for local candidates. The League will use this input from the community to develop questions for live candidate forums and voter guides. The deadline to submit questions is July 27.
There may be some misunderstanding of what the phrase “going to court” means, but the effect of trying to remove the voters’ right to vote is the same, no matter what vehicle is used. Seeking a Declaratory Judgment is an action to overturn the elected Planning Commission. It is an action with serious legal consequences. An article in the Providence Journal dated November 30, 2007, included in this post, described the earlier attempt to get a Declaratory Judgment regarding the legality of Charlestown having an elected Planning Commission.
Proposed Charter change question number 9 was written and sent to public hearing without any plan for ratification by the General Assembly. As explained by the Town’s solicitor at the Charter Public Hearing, “if it is not ratified you will put the Planning Commission’s legal authority in limbo … and undermine their position.”
Thank you to everyone who gave up a part of a summer day to visit us at the Charlestown Mini Super and sign 10 different nomination papers for the candidates the Charlestown Citizens Alliance is supporting in the November election. Thank you especially to the Mini Super for generously allowing us to set up our nomination papers in front of the store!
Although there was plenty of bad news for Charlestown’s environment in new laws passed by the Rhode Island Legislature in 2024, there was good news for the 47% of RI voters who are unaffiliated. Legislation which was passed by both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by the Governor on June 25, allows unaffiliated party voters to vote in either party’s primary without becoming affiliated to a party.
Proposed Charter changes would concentrate power in the Town Council while taking it away from the voters.
When: Tuesday, July 9 at 7 pm
Where: Charlestown Town Hall, 4540 South County Trail, Charlestown
Some are merely administrative changes, but others reduce the Town Council’s accountability to voters and reduce the effectiveness and perhaps even legitimacy of the Planning Commission. Another creates a new Town Department without any analysis of long-term cost.
Charlestown’s over 40-year practice of a seven-person Planning Commission with two alternate seats open and one or two voting seats open each election allows for up to four new faces on the Commission, preserves continuity for applications that cross an election, and complies with the requirement that a majority of voting members not be replaced in any one year.
Where: Charlestown Mini Super, 4071 Old Post Rd. (map in post)
When: Monday, July 8 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m
What: If you are registered to vote in Charlestown, all we need is your signature on the candidates’ nomination papers. These candidates will be volunteering their time for the next two years or longer, please take a few minutes of your own time to help them get started.
Charlestown Citizens Alliance is pleased to announce the names of their outstanding candidates for the 2024 election. The steering committee worked to recruit talented individuals who embody CCA’s guiding principles of fiscal responsibility, protection of our natural environment, civility, inclusiveness, and consensus. They are individuals with the skills and dedication to do what’s right for the Town and Charlestown’s taxpayers.