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Hi everyone. I am not happy with the results but I ran a good campaign. I funded the entire campaign myself. I asked for no donations and took only one ($50) from someone who insisted they wanted to donate. I asked for no endorsements. I received one endorsement. I went up against my opponent, the mayor, the beacon and the Council 94 union and lost by just over 200 votes. I think that is respectable.

There was a group of people passing out flyers giving out information about my candidate and I support their cause. They were trying actively to help Warwick (some may disagree with their methods) and they wanted me to win. I did not find the flyer to be negative. It actually stated several facts. Here they are for the record.

1) Steve voted to raise taxes every year. (This is a well known fact)

2) He voted against a $400,00 increase for the schools that was being sought for books and computers (This is a fact and is in public record)

3) He introduced Legislation for $5 Million for roads but failed to get this to the council for a full vote. (Fact: Also, Public record. In fact, He admits this didn't happen on public record. To see this, Google search, "Is Warwick Councilman Rude?" You can watch a 2 minute video pulled from public video recorded by the City Council Public Access.)

4) He voted for a 40% Raise for the Mayor's Cousin while other city workers agreed to no raise for 3 years. (Public record)

5) Steve also has not told taxpayers if he will take the lifetime healthcare with no co-pay the city council voted to give him.

I passed out a few of the flyers myself in an attempt to make voters aware of his voting record. I do not believe Bob was a member of the group passing out flyers this time around. I know he was involved in the past.

I would like to make one thing clear to the mayor. Bob Cushman was not a part of my campaign. Bob Signed my paperwork to get onto the ballot like 49 other people. The only other interaction I had with Bob was to ask to use one of his Charts. The chart I used showed the increase in local tax dollars from 2008 to present which was public knowledge. It was a nice chart. He said I could use it. I don't remember us interacting other than this.

I trink it is funny, laughable really that the mayor thought Bob was somehow involved. It is possible he is suffering from some sort of paranoia. I am a person how wants to fight to keep taxes under control and cut spending but I believe that is our only similarity.

I made a call to the Warwick Beacon and asked John Howell why he didn't call to ask me if he was involved since he felt it was such a newsworthy quote. His response was that it was the mayor who said it. John Howell certainly couldn't pick up the phone to confirm what the Mayor said as fact, he would rather print it without checking the facts.

Here are a few facts for people.

1) John Howell attended the Pawtuxet Village Association Association Candidate Forum. He wrote a story about the Mayor's race and left all information about my race out other than saying we attended. I am sure John would have written about Steve if he provided even a hint of besting me at the event. I made Steve look bad. I think the highlight for the evening was when Steve said, I will make sure the lines get painted on Narragansett Parkway for the Gaspee Day parade and make sure funding from the city is available for the parade. I talked about the 70 businesses that were closed during a 30 minute drive through Warwick and the fact that residents were being taxed out of their homes. I also told people what I would do to increase business opportunities in Warwick.

2) All candidates were given 2 questions to answer in a Beacon Profile but the Beacon only printed one of my answers and edited another answer but printed in it's entirety, Steve's responses to both questions.

3) The Beacon wrote a 14 inch long column about how ineffective the city council is and I quote, "Council meetings are long, repetitive and often argumentative. Much of the meetings are spent going into detail at excruciating length under the guise of due diligence and saving the taxpayers’ money when the city administration, for the most part, has already provided the answers. Council business moves slowly and is frequently used for grandstanding or as a court of inquisition." and "it’s obvious that procedures need to change for the council to truly operate in the interests of the citizens"

BUT…

Surprise…

Endorsed my opponent Steve Colantuono.

And this is why all the incumbents won, the clear bias of the local Newspaper. (Freedom of speech and freedom of the press does not mean you can twist the facts and omit the truth.)

In closing, I ran my own campaign, Bob Cushman was not involved, a group of people put out a fact sheet on the voting record of my opponent and I support them in their efforts, the mayor is paranoid, and the Beacon is biased.