I am the president of the South Kingstown Library Board of Trustees.

As most of your readers probably know, the library and town and state officials have been engaged in a months-long discussion with the University of Rhode Island over parking at the Kingston Free Library.

On November 6, Tom Mooney authored an insightful look at the vulnerable young girls in state care (Providence Journal Watchdog Report: Rhode Island’s Lost Girls).  Quite frankly, it is an awful commentary on how the state of Rhode Island is failing this vulnerable population.  When do we say enough is enough?

In his excellent article about North Kingstown’s (and many other parts of Rhode Island’s) role in slavery from early in the 17th century, G. T. Cranston begins by saying, “I don’t know diddly about CRT…”. I beg to differ.

I stopped watching network news awhile ago. I cannot bear to see both sides of the aisle parade around expressing how they are on the moral high ground. These people, however, are merely faces and talking heads…they aren’t my friends and neighbors.

Before I get into this, I want to say I appreciated the efforts of Councilwoman Bergner and Councilwoman Rose for trying to allow this to play out. I appreciate that Councilwoman Bergner attempted to let Nicole Solas answer some of her questions before being asked to leave, which in my opinion, was a poor move.

In November 2020, millions of voters like me went to the polls and cast a ballot for Joe Biden.

Now, with a relentless GOP attack on our voting rights underway, I’m asking President Biden to return the favor. It’s time for Biden to go further than talking about supporting voting rights legislation. We need him to come out and fully support ending the filibuster so the Senate can finally pass voting rights legislation like the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Several months after our council deliberated at multiple Town Council meetings, I recently received two inquiries about the proposed roundabout at the intersection of Boston Neck, Philips, and Brown streets. In light of the questions posed by these citizens I thought I would write to our community to explain the process, what has transpired, and the current status of the proposed roundabout.

In an intercollegiate sailing race years ago, an opponent lied to race officials in order to have my team disqualified and his standing improved, something he boasted about when he did not recognize me at a different event a few months later. Refusing to be embarrassed, he said it couldn’t have been cheating because the officials were involved. I learned then that some people imagine winning is always justified, by any means necessary.

I am disappointed as we near the beginning of school that neither the School Board nor our superintendent have yet to develop plans to incorporate outdoor-based education into our student and teacher activities.

We know that sometimes politicians make promises during their campaign. These promises may be ignored and forgotten after the person is elected.

Seldom do these broken promises result in hardship to thousands of people.

Unfortunately, with Councilor Ewa Dzwierzynski’s recent vote to support the three college student limit ordinance, she has broken her promises and negatively impacted thousands of people – students, parents and families, homeowners and voters.

Happily, on Aug. 18, 2021, three members of the Narragansett Town Council acted on behalf of the residents. By a three-two vote, Councilmembers Jesse Pugh, Ewa Dzwierzynski, and Deborah Kopech passed a no-more-than-three students per rental unit ordinance residents have been waiting 25 years to achieve.

North Kingstown school committee member and co-founder of a group calling itself TANK (“Towards an Anti-racist North Kingstown”) Jennifer Lima and her friends desperately continue their effort to convince us that North Kingstown is a “systemically racist” community – especially in its schools.

Aquaculture, and especially oyster farming in the Wickford area, has a long history of commercial, small business, activity that has, does, and should continue be allowed to prosper.

I have had to adopt a blank face to hate in our community and it is not easy. It has my heart pounding and my blood pressure up in the too high zone. If hate has such a powerful negative effect on my body and in my spirit as a grown person in a public school, how does it affect the children? All of the children?