Charlestown’s year without Democrats

Declarations filed at deadline for town office include only independents

By Will Collette

As of 3:30 AM, Thursday morning, the list of town residents seeking elective municipal office in Charlestown includes no one endorsed by either the Republican or Democratic town committees.

It's not unusual for the Republicans to run no candidates, since the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) has pretty much supplanted the GOP. 

However, this is the first time in my memory that no endorsed Democrat will appear on the ballot.

Here is the list taken from user-friendly Secretary of State’s website:

Name	Office	Party
CHARLES W BECK	Town Moderator	Independent
JAN V KNOST	Town Moderator	Independent
VIRGINIA LEE	Town Council	Independent
BONNITA B VAN SLYKE	Town Council	Independent
JULIE A CARROCCIA	Town Council	Independent
JODI J FRANK	Town Council	Independent
JANE W GLANDER	Town Council	Independent
DEBORAH A CARNEY	Town Council	Independent
FRANK D GLISTA	Town Council	Independent
TIMOTHY E QUILLEN	Town Council	Independent
DAVID M WILKINSON	Town Council	Independent
WILLIAM H WILSON	Town Council	Independent
DONNA CHAMBERS	Chariho School Committee	Independent
LINDA DELFINO LYALL	Chariho School Committee	Independent
CRAIG F LOUZON	Chariho School Committee	Independent
SARAH E ST LAURENT	Non-partisan Planning Commission	Independent
FRANCES M TOPPING	Non-partisan Planning Commission	Independent
DENISE L RHODES	Non-partisan Planning Commission	Independent
RUTH L PLATNER	Non-partisan Planning Commission	Independent

The CCA Party identified the candidates who are running under their banner as:

• Town Council: Julie Carroccia, Virginia Lee, Bonnie Van Slyke, David Wilkinson, and Bill Wilson
• Planning Commission: Ruth Platner, Denise Rhodes, Sarah St. Laurent, and Frances Topping
• Chariho School Committee: Donna Chambers and Linda Lyall
• Town Moderator: Jan Knost

The candidates for the CCA-controlled Planning Commission are all CCA endorsed.

Two CCA Party incumbents on the Town Council are not running for re-election. One is George Tremblay who was appointed as a place-holder to fill a vacancy. The other is Denise Rhodes, who is instead running for a slot on the CCA Party controlled Planning Commission.

Ron Areglado, anti-wind power advocate, chose not to seek re-election to the Chariho School Committee, although his cohort Donna Chambers wants another term.

John Hamilton, current chair of the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee, did not file his declaration to continue on the CDTC past this year.

The Charlestown Republican Town Committee filed no declarations.

Our peripatetic state Representative Blake “Flip” Filippi (R-somewhere) is seeking re-election despite the minor distraction of an ugly lawsuit.

That lawsuit pits Flip and brother Paul against his own mother and his other brother Steve. Filippi has no opponent either in the Republican primary or the general election on November 6.

So we can look forward to another two years of Flip’s campaigns against vaccination to prevent cancer, attacks on daylight savings time and bizarre positions in opposition to sensible gun control. 

Luckily for the community, Flip rarely gets support from his colleagues for his harebrained schemes. But they do generate media coverage which is, I guess, all that Flip really wants.

His fellow South County wingnuts, Rep. Justin Price (R-Richmond) and Sen. Elaine Morgan (R- Hopkinton and including the northern half of Charlestown) both face Democratic challengers.

Senators Sue Sosnowski (D-South Kingstown) and Dennis Algiere (R-Westerly, plus the southern half of Charlestown), face no opposition either in the primary or the November 6 general election.

Next, candidates need to collect the required number of valid signatures for their particular office and file them by close of business on July 16.

Some candidates may need to win in their Party’s primary which will be held on September 12.

As the dust settles, there will be plenty to talk about.