Changes coming for Charlestown town government
By Will Collette
The November 3 election will bring change to the make-up of
Charlestown’s town government. At minimum, there will be a number of new faces.
There might even be a change in control.
Two of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) town
council members, Council President Virginia Lee and Julie Carroccia will not be running for re-election.
Council Vice-Chair Deb Carney, one of the founders of
Charlestown Residents United (CRU) will be running as an endorsed Democrat. CCA
Party members Bonnie Van Slyke and
David Wilkinson are also seeking re-election.
CRU is also endorsing Democrats Scott Keeley and Jodi Frank
and Republicans Grace Klinger and Stephen Stokes for Town Council.
The CCA Party will be fighting to keep its control of Charlestown in the November 3 election |
Jacob A. Wolfgang is also listed as having filed to qualify
for the ballot to run as an independent for Town Council. I don’t know if he
has a relationship with either of Charlestown’s political action committees or
political parties.
The CCA Party candidates for the supposedly non-partisan Planning Commission are Gordon Foer, Walter (Peter) Mahony, Ruth Platner, and
Frances Topping.
Howard T. Stephens and Patricia
A. Stamps have filed papers to also run for Planning Commission under the CRU banner.
In case you didn’t know: Charlestown is the only municipality in Rhode Island that elects its Planning Commission or Board. These are appointed positions everywhere else.
In case you didn’t know: Charlestown is the only municipality in Rhode Island that elects its Planning Commission or Board. These are appointed positions everywhere else.
The CCA Party candidate
for Town Moderator is none other than Ron
Areglado (right→), who ran the fight against the Whalerock wind turbine project that the
town had to bail him out with a $2.1 million buy-out of the land where the
project was proposed.
He will attempt to oust CRU sponsored candidate and owner of the Mini-Super Charlie Beck who is running for re-election.
He will attempt to oust CRU sponsored candidate and owner of the Mini-Super Charlie Beck who is running for re-election.
All three of Charlestown’s representatives in the General
Assembly – all Republican – have declared for re-election.
They are Sen. Dennis Algiere who is based in Westerly and represents the southern half of Charlestown; Hopkinton-based Sen. Elaine Morgan who represents the northern half of Charlestown and Rep. Blake “Flip” Filippi who represents all of Charlestown and who always keeps us guessing as to where he actually lives.
They are Sen. Dennis Algiere who is based in Westerly and represents the southern half of Charlestown; Hopkinton-based Sen. Elaine Morgan who represents the northern half of Charlestown and Rep. Blake “Flip” Filippi who represents all of Charlestown and who always keeps us guessing as to where he actually lives.
Example of a South County toxic waste dump - Sen. Elaine Morgan and Rep. Flip Filippi (photo from Morgan's Facebook page) |
Right-wingnut Elaine Morgan faces a rematch with her 2018 Democratic opponent Jennifer Douglas.
In other South County races of interest:
Just north of
Charlestown, the stupidest member of the General Assembly, Rep. Justin Price
(R-Militia) faces a rare Republican primary where his opponent is Jerry
Zarrella, co-chair
of Donald Trump’s Rhode Island campaign (the other co-chair is the infamous
Doreen Costa).
In the article
about his Trump campaign gig, Zarella noted that he will have to step down as
the Republican town committee chair for Block Island. The last time I checked,
Block Island wasn’t anywhere near Exeter, Richmond and Hopkinton. But I guess
if you’re a Republican, it doesn’t matter where you live – just
ask Flip Filippi.
I don’t know why
Zarrella is challenging Price – his twitter feed consists
largely of re-tweets of Trump bullshit. For his part, Justin Price is a top
contender for being the most radical righter wingnut in the State House – and the
dumbest. Perhaps the primary will be fought to determine who is dumber or the most
far-right radical.
Democrat Megan Cotter
will take on the winner in November and hopefully she will flip this seat. She
is backed by the RI Political Coop.
In South Kingstown,
there has been a long-running factional fight within the Democratic Party and
that often leads to primary battles.
This year, former
state representative Spencer Dickinson will primary Rep. Kathy Fogarty. Kathy
does not have a Republican opponent in the general election.
Incumbent
Democratic state Rep. Teresa Tanzi faces two others in the Democratic primary: Gina
Giramma and Kimberly McGovern. The primary winner wins the seat since there is
no Republican running in November.
On the Senate
side, South Kingstown Democrat Sen. Sue Sosnowski faces a primary challenge by
Maggie Kahn who is backed by Matt Brown’s RI
Political Coop. She was a Bernie Sanders supporter but other than that, I
don’t know anything about here.
Here's Costa with Cranston Mayor Allen Fung. She held her first fund-raiser in a small restaurant jammed with 40 of her supporters - and no face masks. Good to see Doreen is going to bring the same consistent wingnuttery to her new campaign (Costa campaign photo) |
And speaking of Republican
Doreen Costa, she is seeking the open Senate District 31 seat largely in North
Kingstown.
When Costa was one of the original Tea Party state representatives, she provided endless amusement for the ditzy and/or radical things she said. Click HERE to see the Progressive Charlestown archive on Costa.
When Costa was one of the original Tea Party state representatives, she provided endless amusement for the ditzy and/or radical things she said. Click HERE to see the Progressive Charlestown archive on Costa.
Three Democrats
are competing in the primary to take on Costa: Alana DiMario, Ellen Waxman and
Robert E. Craven Jr. (son of former Charlestown assistant solicitor and
presently state representative Bob Craven).
Next, these
candidates must collect and submit the specific number of valid signatures to
qualify for the ballot. The ACLU
won a court order that allows for the submission of electronic signatures
but I don’t know how that is supposed to work or whether it will affect the
deadline for signature collection.
Key dates:
Statewide primary
for US Senator and Representative and any local office where there is an
intra-party campaign) is September 8.
You must be
registered to vote by August 9 with your registration showing your party choice
so you can vote in that party’s primary. Applications for mail-in ballots are
due by August 18. Concern about the pandemic is considered a valid reason for
voting by mail.
The General
Election is November 3 and, yes, this may be the most important election in
this country’s history.
You must be
registered by October 4. Applications for mail-in ballots must be received by
October 13.