RE-RUN: Stunning admission in recent e-mail blast to its supporters
By Will Collette
In case you missed this article with Sandy on your mind...
We really do have two alternate universes here in
Charlestown – the world where the majority of Charlestown residents live and
that rarified fact-free space occupied by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance. Or
Bizarro
Charlestown, as my colleague Linda Felaco calls it.
The CCA sent out another one of its wild e-mails, full of
charges without substantiation and some frankly peculiar observations, including
some surprising remarks about people who make Charlestown their home.
So once again, folks, it’s time to play Let’s Fact-Check the CCA.
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| I wonder who broke it to Tom Gentz that he's not really in charge |
THE CCA SAYS: The Charlestown Democratic Town Committee (CDTC)
has spent the past two years implying that the Town Council is run by the
Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA). In truth, the Council has two
councilors endorsed by CCA, two councilors endorsed by the CDTC, and an
independent councilor whom the CDTC inexplicably refers to as a rogue officer.
CCA members on the Town Council are clearly in the minority.
THE FACTS:
Actually, let’s start with a question. If this statement by the CCA, that they
actually don’t control town government, is true, then why did the CCA
candidates for Town Council write a Letter
to the Westerly Sun claiming credit for just about everything they
consider good about what the Town Council did over the past two years? Either
the above statement is b.s. or their Sun letter is.
The fact is that Councilor Lisa
DiBello, nominally an independent but aligned with the CCA, gives Council boss
Tom Slattery and his Deputy Dan Slattery the controlling vote. DiBello is suing
the other two members of the Council (Marge Frank and Gregg Avedisian) and has
made her abiding hatred of Avedisian abundantly clear.
The one time DiBello bucked the CCA
was on Y-Gate, which is to her credit, but otherwise, when she actually shows
up, she votes with the CCA. As for whether DiBello is a “rogue officer,” which is a pretty weird expression that I don't recall ever seeing anywhere in Progressive Charlestown, read
the record and judge for yourself.
THE CCA SAYS: * As much as the CDTC complains about the
way the town council operates, the CDTC did not work to improve the climate of
informed debate.
* Rather than address issues, the website created by
leadership of the Democratic town committee has launched personal attacks on
elected members of the Town Council and Planning Commission when those
officials take positions contrary to CDTC interests. The blog also
bullies and intimidates any volunteer commission or committee members who have
alternate views, thus stifling volunteerism with residents becoming wary of
being in the spotlight and attacked by the CDTC.
* The only self-generated proposal offered by the CDTC was the
Homestead Tax Exemption proposal, a new property tax structure that will reduce
the number of seasonal residents and increase the year-round population. Long
term, these shifts in population will make our town more like the surrounding
towns in terms of required services and require a greatly increased tax rate.
Second flaw is that the CCA really
hates it that Progressive Charlestown watches what they do, documents it, names
names and reports the news. Unlike the CCA, we give readers links to documents
along with our opinions so you can check sources and make up your own minds.
The CCA simply gives you unsubstantiated statements, often anonymously, and a
dizzying array of strawmen that they then set fire to.
For years, even before there was a
CCA, Charlestown’s elite and landed gentry could pretty much do whatever they
wanted without fear of exposure. Aside from angry words at Council meetings,
that was it. Progressive Charlestown is, for them, a new and unpleasant
experience. Tough.
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| The CCA is fine with screwing middle- class taxpayers - just don't tax the out of state property owners |
As for new and exciting ideas coming
from town Dems, let’s remember that despite the CCA’s incredible claim that
they are a minority in town government, they really do control this town and
the all-powerful
Planning Commission. That means that town Dems have largely had to play
defense, as they did quite successfully when the CCA wanted to rip off half a
million dollars for Y-Gate, or
turn Ninigret
Park over to the feds.
The Dems’ Homestead
Tax Credit proposal was killed by the CCA when they turned out the “riot
of the rich” last December, rallying a mob of rich nonresidents – the same
crowd that, by the way, is funding the CCA’s 2012 campaign.
And that was not the only Democratic
initiative, despite the absence of one single elected Democrat in town
government. The Dems also won voter approval for the gorgeous new beach
pavilions at our town beaches, despite CCA opposition, especially from its supporters
who own property within walking distance of the beaches, who felt that if you
couldn’t walk home to use your own toilet, you didn’t belong at the beach. I’m
not making that up – the CCA
really made that argument. And lost.
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| The CCA thinks year-round residents are parasites - just like their kids |
Finally, I hope you all caught the
CCA’s incredible slur against people who choose to make Charlestown their
homes. They say that giving actual residents a tax cut will make the
shoreline millionaires go away. And, what, are they going to take their
McMansions with them? They characterize full-time residents the same way they
characterize children
– as parasites.
They make the remarkable claim that
we need nonresidents to occupy those high-priced properties – as if they are
unsuitable for permanent habitation.
But
if you want to understand why the CCA takes this huge risk of insulting people
who actually live – and vote – in Charlestown, all you have to do is check
out who is funding the CCA’s campaign.
THE CCA SAYS: The CDTC and CCA couldn't be more different--
CCA was created to put an end to closed government, disrespect of the
citizenry, and to initiate a new era of cooperation and consideration of the
needs of the town. The voters of Charlestown have embraced the new
approach to government over the past two elections. The town has enjoyed
stability and the third lowest tax rate in the State.
THE FACTS: In
this statement, the CCA makes the one true claim in the entire e-mail – when they
say “the CDTC and CCA couldn’t be more different,” they are absolutely right.
They should have stopped right there.
The CCA has, in fact, done
the opposite of what they claim. Count up the Open Meeting violations,
the instances where Councilors Gentz and Slattery have directly abused citizens
in open Town Council sessions and allowed speakers to defame citizens and town
businesses, conducted secret investigations, made up or hid public documents
and ignored town commissions they don’t control. But they figure if they make
the claim of cooperation and
consideration often enough you’ll believe it.
THE CCA SAYS: Borrowing from the eloquence of Adlai
Stevenson; we offer our opponents a bargain: if they stop telling lies about
us, we will stop telling the truth about them.
THE FACTS: Gee,
this quote looks awfully familiar. I think I read it somewhere before. Wait a
minute – it’ll come to me ….Ah, this quote has been up on the Progressive
Charlestown home page for the past month. But, tell ya what, CCA, we’ll give
you a pass on copying from us. With all the other things you’ve done to
Charlestown, that’s small potatoes. Besides, imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery.