Wednesday, 05 November 2008

By ANDREW MARTIN

The voters have certainly spoken in Charlestown, where they ushered in a
new town council and approved all referenda.

The council will have a clean slate because only one incumbent ran –
acting President James M. Mageau, who received 4.7 percent of the vote, or
798 votes. He was handily defeated by his opponents and finished in last
place behind Democrats Raymond S. Dreczko Jr. (135 votes, 7.9 percent) and
Ralph C. Conti (1,335 votes, 7.8 percent) and independent Frank L.
Bradbury (1,069 votes, 6.2 percent).

The winners, all of whom were endorsed by the Charlestown Citizens
Alliance, feature two new faces in independents Richard H. Hosp (2,521
votes, 14.7 percent) and Marjorie F. Frank (2,608 votes, 15.2 percent).
But the other three new councilors have all sat on the board at one point
in the past: Republicans Charlene Q. Dunn (2,424 votes, 14.2 percent) and
Forrester C. Safford (2,426 votes, 14.2 percent) and independent Gregory
J. Avedisian (2,597 votes, 15.2 percent). As shown by their vote counts
and percentages, all of their numbers were very similar.

The CCA endorsement also carried well over into the non-partisan Planning
Commission. Kathryn M. O’Connor (2,690 votes, 23.8 percent) and current
councilor Katharine H. Waterman (2,382 votes, 21 percent) were the top
vote-getters, earning a six-year term on the commission. And Vic G. Dvorak
(2,348 votes, 20.7 percent) and Gordon L. Foer (2,170 votes, 19.2 percent)
won the two-year alternate seat terms. Finishing in last was Bruce A.
Ennis (1,729 votes, 15.3 percent), who lost by a narrow margin for an
alternate spot.

When it came to the referenda, Charlestown voters were very much behind
the $25 million three-part bond for upgrades and repairs at the Chariho
Regional School District Switch Road campus. More than 60 percent of
voters approved all three questions for work at the middle school, high
school, and Reaching Youth through Support and Education (RYSE) School.
Like the Chariho bond questions, voters overwhelmingly approved all of the
questions for the Town Charter amendments. They read as follows and see
A-3 for the exact results:
- Shall the charter be amended to provide a procedure for recall of
elected officials? This includes Town Council, School Committee, and
Planning Commission.
- Shall the charter be amended to grant alternate members of the Planning
Commission voting rights?
- Shall the charter be amended to change the duties of the Director of
Public Assistance? This will update the duties to more accurately reflect
the director’s duties.
- Shall the charter be amended to change the Director of Civil
Preparedness to the Director of Emergency Management?
- Shall the charter be amended to allow the updating of the process for
the Budget Public Hearing/Financial Town Referendum and also allow for
purchasing requirements that reflect today’s dollar? This will update the
language and process for the Budget Public Hearing/Financial Referendum.
For example, there will be no need for a quorum at the Budget Public
Hearing if no vote is required.
- Shall the charter be amended to allow voting rights to alternates of the
Tax Assessment Review Commission, update the language for the Charlestown
School Committee, address the age discrimination issue for the Senior
Citizen Commission, and update the procedure for annual report filed by
town committees, boards, and commissions?
- Shall the charter be amended to follow Rhode Island election law ballot
format and allow a provision for right of first refusal for Town Council
Presidency for the top vote-getter?
- Shall the charter be amended to provide stricter language regarding
ethics than what currently exists in the charter?

In the state house elections, Charlestown’s picks all held steady with its
sister towns Hopkinton and Richmond.

Per the Charlestown results, in the House of Representatives District 39
(Charlestown, Richmond, Exeter) election, Democrat Rod Driver (749 votes,
56.4 percent) narrowly defeated his Republican opponent David B. Hathaway
(580, 43.6 percent).

And in the House District 36 (Charlestown, Westerly, South Kingstown, New
Shoreham) race, incumbent Democrat Donna M. Walsh (1,190 votes, 45.4
percent) handily defeated Republican David A. Cote (632 votes, 24.1
percent) and independent Matthew J. McHugh (797 votes, 30.4 percent).
McHugh came in third overall in the district, though.

For the state Senate District 34 (Charlestown, Richmond, Hopkinton,
Exeter, West Greenwich) seat, Republican Francis T. Maher beat Socialist
Jonathan R. Osborne in a landslide both in Charlestown and in the
district. Republican state Sen. Dennis L. Algiere, District 38
(Charlestown, Westerly), ran unopposed and will maintain his seat.

The same went for the Congress and US House of Representative results in
Charlestown. Democrat incumbent Sen. Jack F. Reed handily took down his
Republican opponent Robert G. Tingle – 2,803 votes (70.5 percent) to 1,174
(29.5 percent). And Democrat incumbent Rep. James R. Langevin, District 2,
easily defeated Republican Mark S. Zaccaria – 2,651 votes (67.4 percent)
to 1,284 (32.6 percent).