3-way contest in Ward 3 heats up

Posted 10/16/14

This June, when it came time for candidates to declare and collect signatures to appear on the ballot, there was a lack of candidates across the city. Many incumbents found themselves unchallenged. …

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3-way contest in Ward 3 heats up

Posted

This June, when it came time for candidates to declare and collect signatures to appear on the ballot, there was a lack of candidates across the city. Many incumbents found themselves unchallenged. There was a lack of interest, whether for City Council, where six of the nine seats are going unchallenged, or the General Assembly, where six of the nine incumbents went without a contest, or the School Committee, where one of the three races is going uncontested.

Ward 3 is another story.

Five candidates qualified for the ballot, necessitating a Republican primary between John Falkowski and Henry Williams that Falkowski won and now faces a three-way race on Nov. 4 against an independent and a Democrat.

While the contest has been relatively subdued thus far, Falkowski is heating it up. He is holding a fundraiser this Thursday and, in a letter that was published in the Beacon, said he is finding widespread dissatisfaction with two-term incumbent Camille Vella-Wilkinson.

The third candidate in the race, independent Harold Ouimette, has yet to get into the swing of the campaign. The Rhode Island state constable said in an interview Monday he’d start walking the ward once he finishes his youth baseball coaching.

Ouimette was prompted to run by a flyer circulated in the ward criticizing Vella-Wilkinson for actions she has taken as a councilwoman. Ouimette didn’t offer an opinion on the allegations in the flyer, saying he would need to investigate them. But Ouimette listened when Don Fife, one of those circulating the flyer, suggested he could run for the seat.

Vella-Wilkinson isn’t taking her challengers lightly. She and her husband, Kenneth, have walked 80 to 85 percent of the ward that surrounds most of Green Airport. The airport has been a major issue since Vella-Wilkinson first ran for the office four years ago.

Vella-Wilkinson questioned airport expansion plans, leading the charge to legally challenge an extension of the runway. That challenge was dropped in favor of an agreement addressing city concerns, which include the relocation of the Winslow Park playing fields.

Now that those fields are being built on airport land beside the runway, a new set of issues have been raised over air quality and how it might effect youths playing on the fields, as well as increased levels of noise and airborne pollutants to the surrounding neighbors that came with the removal of buffering trees.

“You can’t make an omelet without cracking some eggs,” Vella-Wilkinson said in an interview Monday.

The retired Navy lieutenant commander doesn’t shy from controversy. As chair of the council finance committee, she followed a process for the selection of the council auditor, which some of her colleagues say they should have voted on. She pushed to put term limits on the November ballot. It didn’t pass. She successfully led the effort to lift the processing charge for a concealed weapons permit and sought to have an open microphone for 15 minutes at the start of one council meeting a month. She focused on veterans’ issues and introduced a resolution endorsing the Rhode Island Blue Star Parents Day, in recognition of parents whose children are actively deployed. The day is celebrated the Sunday after Mother’s Day. She advocated a military lounge at Green Airport, which is now operational.

Due to the primary, Falkowski said he has walked the ward twice this year and plans to complete a third round by Election Day. He said Ward 3 voters haven’t seen much of Vella-Wilkinson and, should he be elected, he would open communications with constituents. Rather than ward meetings, he said he would prefer smaller district meetings, where people wouldn’t feel intimidated to speak up.

Falkowski, who ran for state representative District 23 two years ago and lost to K. Joseph Shekarchi, has followed the attacks on Vella-Wilkinson and vows he won’t do the same.

“I’m not going to run a smear campaign…I’m going to go on what I can do,” he said.

Falkowski estimates he’ll spend about $4,000, and possibly more, if he can raise it.

“I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished so far,” he said. “This is more of a grass roots campaign.”

So far, Ouimette said he hasn’t spent anything on his campaign. He said he is concerned by what’s happening in Warwick schools and what he sees of a lack of willingness to address a declining enrollment and escalating costs.

“We’re going to have a lot of trouble if we don’t close some schools,” he said.

He views reducing school costs as a means of holding the tax rate, which he said is “the real scary stuff.”

Ouimette, who earned a GED and went on to complete an apprenticeship as an ironworker, admires former Councilwoman Helen Taylor and has little use for Vella-Wilkinson.

“She fought hard when people needed her,” he said of Taylor. “Anyone can do better than Vella-Wilkinson. I’ll take that shot.”

Ouimette lives on Guilford Drive, in that strip neighborhood between the railroad and Post Road, across from Airport Plaza. He said the area is the “throwaway neighborhood” because he imagines when the airport booms it will be redeveloped for another use.

Ouimette has few illusions about winning. He says his chances are “slim and getting slimmer.” But, he adds, “I’m the best alternative. I’m never afraid to open my mouth.”

Comments

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  • Reality

    Anyone but Vella should be the refrain in Ward 3 . This progressive liberal has to be shown the door. She led the charge to have the ball fields moved onto the airport grounds and now has our children at risk. She votes continually for tax increases. She is a joke.

    How is her resolution to allow chickens in your backyard going ? Laughable.....What other progressive resolutions will she be introducing soon?

    Thursday, October 16, 2014 Report this

  • fenceman

    A few corrections as the article is innaccurate. It should read as follows:

    As chair of the council finance committee, she failed to follow the process for the selection of the council auditor, by circumventing the city charter, which is why some of her colleagues say they should have voted on.

    She pushed to put term limits on the November ballot. It didn’t pass because what she presented to the general assembly was not what was presented to the city council and the residents. Her testimony at the state house was found not to be credible after several residents testified against her bill. (all of whcih can be seen on video at You tube)

    Councilman Ed Ladicaur sought to have an open microphone for 15 minutes at the start of one council meeting a month, when Wilkinson wanted the residents to wait until the end of the council meeting to speak for 15 minutes.

    Get the facts correct Beacon and do some research.

    Thursday, October 16, 2014 Report this

  • RoyDempsey

    The pressure of putting out this paper must be getting to Mr. Howell. He is completely wrong when he states "she pushed to put term limits on the November ballot". In fact, she pushed to EXTEND council terms from 2 to 4 years and testified regarding that extension at a State House committee hearing. That extension, no mention of term limits, was going to be put on the November ballot. How do I know this?? Because I was one of three Warwick residents to testify against that proposal. As fenceman states, what she initially presented to the city council and residents included term limits, the end product was entirely self-serving.

    Thursday, October 16, 2014 Report this