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Six Democrats vie for five council slots
By Liz Boardman/Independent Staff Writer
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The six Democrats running for Town Council cite the tightening town budget, protecting the bond rating and affordable housing as top concerns facing the town in the next few years. They face a primary on Tuesday to narrow their number to five.
The field includes the five endorsed by the Democratic Town Committee, incumbents Council President Mary “Polly” Eddy, Vice President Kathleen Fogarty, member Ella Whaley and newcomers Spencer E. Dickinson and Carol Hagan McEntee. Jonathan Daly-Labelle is running unendorsed.
Daly-LaBelle is making his first run for council. A Realtor with RE/MAX Flagship in Narragansett, he became politically active to fight the $1.2 million cut to the school budget in 2004 and has been a vocal proponent of affordable housing in the years since. Those two issues are the cornerstones of his candidacy.
“Quality does not come on the cheap,” Daly-LaBelle said. “One of the biggest issues facing not only South Kingstown, but Rhode Island as a whole, is the state’s over-reliance on property taxes to fund education.”
While he agrees with the tax cap law – commonly referred to as 3050 – he believes the legislature did not live up to its promise to find a way to equitably fund schools.
“While members of the Town Council do not have a direct hand in crafting the state budget, I would advocate as strongly as possible to state leadership that they must live up to their obligation,” he said.
He also would like to see affordable housing funded by a bond, as open space has been, and is an advocate for property tax reductions or deferrals for homeowners on modest incomes, much as the town already reduces property taxes for low-income seniors by issuing credits to their accounts based on their income.
Dickinson is a homebuilder who built Rhode Island’s first solar-powered home. He served as a state representative from Exeter from 1973 to 1980 and rose to the position of deputy majority leader in the House. He mounted unsuccessful campaigns against Jack Reed for U.S. Senate in 1992 and for lieutenant governor in 2006.
Dickinson would seek to “continue the excellent financial management the town has benefited from for many years,” in the face of difficult financial times.
“This will require working with all interests to arrive at constructive and fair solutions,” Dickinson said. “I think the council often comes down on one side or the other of an issue, but misses an opportunity in the middle. Choosing A or B isn’t always the only choice.”
Dickinson said he would pledge to be accessible and responsive to new ideas and would like the town to take the initiative in finding new technologies, such as solar and wind, to replace imported fossil fuels.
Eddy is a homemaker and the widow of former University of Rhode Island President Edward D. Eddy. She has lived in South Kingstown for 25 years and was first elected to Town Council in 2002. She has served as president for the last four years. Previously, she sat on the Zoning Board for 14 years.
She cites shrinking resources as the most important issue facing the town.
“The price of everything has increased,” she said. “We are all aware of the effect of the increase in gas prices and this has affected almost every department in town. Our property taxes continue to be some of the highest in the country. The solution to this problem is not to raise taxes.”
Instead, she would continue to encourage business and to look for collaborations in town and with other towns.
“An example of this would be our wastewater system, which we run jointly with Narragansett and the University of Rhode Island,” Eddy said. “It is advantageous to all of us.”
She also said it was important to listen to new ideas and different approaches, and pointed to the town’s debate over recycling, which began with a proposal to hire one hauler town-wide, which was met with protest from haulers and the Republican party. The council killed the idea when bids came in higher than expected.
“It is time-consuming but it is also productive,” Eddy said. “If I am re-elected, I will encourage discussion on any topic on the agenda and will listen with an open mind and with respect.”
Fogarty is a pharmaceutical sales representative who has served on the council since 2002. She was been the council’s vice president since 2004.
She cites “doing more with less” as the biggest issue facing the town, and she would work to do that, while protecting its Aa2 bond rating, the highest in the state.
“Our town, our schools and the University of Rhode Island are being squeezed year after year in the state budget,” Fogarty said. “Our citizens expect our town to maintain the current level of service that we provide. This means that we must continue to exercise fiscal restraint when crafting our budget.”
Like Eddy, she would continue to explore ways to share services with other towns.
“South Kingstown has been a leader in innovation in the state for the six years I have been on the council,” Fogarty said. “We have been a leader in shared services for communities in our area ... and will continue to investigate ideas that will cut costs while still providing the high level of services our town demands and deserves.”
Hagan McEntee is a lawyer in private practice. She served as Warwick’s assistant city solicitor for three years, where she negotiated teacher and union contracts and worked on economic development incentives. She made an unsuccessful bid for mayor of Warwick in a Democratic primary in the early 1990s.
Like Dickinson, she wants to preserve and improve the quality of life in South Kingstown, and would do that by encouraging an economic base to take the pressure off taxpayers, who are struggling with the rising cost of living.
“We must utilize our resources throughout the town to promote private/public partnerships,” she said. “The partnership between the town and University of Rhode Island has been beneficial to our environment, our economic development, our education system and [URI has been the] source of entertainment and recreation for the residents of South Kingstown for many years.”
She also believes the town’s schools are an asset that needs to be protected.
“Schools are a big issue, and a reason many people move here,” McEntee said. “We want to keep the excellence. Economic development needs to improve, and open space is an issue, though we have done a good job there.”
Whaley teaches at Wickford Middle School in North Kingstown. She is seeking her second term on Town Council, after serving eight years on the School Committee and 16 years on the South Kingstown Special Education Local Advisory Committee.
“I have put my heart and soul into this job,” said Whaley. “I am an advocate for all the citizens of South Kingstown, from kids to senior citizens.”
Like Eddy, she cited the need to keep taxes affordable “while maintaining our exemplary programs.”
“We, as a town, need to find additional funds to maintain the superior programs we have in South Kingstown, using every penny wisely as we maintain affordable taxes,” Whaley said.
Like Eddy and Fogarty, she would look for consolidation opportunities. She is also an advocate of lobbying the legislature for more state aid for the public schools and URI.
“We will need to explore supplemental revenues, new money and businesses, to our town with economic development and further our communication and planning with South County Hospital and the University of Rhode Island, as they are our two largest employers,” she said.
She also would research alternative energy initiatives, continue to look for funding sources for the community gym that voters approved in 2004 and look for ways to fund affordable housing.
“I would like to generate creative ideas for a funding source to support affordable housing, so that we have a fair representation of people residing in our town,” she said.
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