To the Editor:

Dan Elliott, running as an independent to represent District 20 believes Rhode Island is on the wrong track. What ever happened to compromise and working together to make things better? The state being controlled by a corrupt establishment for over 70 years is way too long. Dan believes in honest and open government. A lot of voters must believe it too. Back in September six incumbents were voted out on primary day.

The balance of power is way out of alignment and it's going to take new faces, fresh ideas and lots of energy to change course. Dan is a landscaper by trade who wants to transform the landscape of district 20. Dan wants to hear concerns from District 20 voters and has canvassed door to door from Greenwood to Norwood to meet as many people as he can reach. One afternoon Dan knocked on my door and asked me about my issues and what concerns I might have.

I told him people like me are working paycheck to paycheck. Working families are being crushed by the rising costs of everyday living. Will I be able to make ends meet if Sunday overtime is eliminated? Living day to day is like walking a tightrope with no safety net to fall back on.

Each morning commute to work and the one coming home on a dangerous unpredictable stretch of highway is an impending disaster waiting to happen. I have to navigate what seems like almost daily lane changes. I wonder how long will the car hold out? If it runs into a pothole and breaks down how will I get to work, get paid and feed my family?

What if my wife gets sick? How will I pay all those hospital bills and keep up on the mortgage? Sometimes decisions are made whether to get that expensive medication or pay the heating bill. Insurance premiums keep going up and medication costs are outrageous.

On top of all that I am worried my son and his friends being exposed to mold and crammed into overcrowded public schools like sardines while a disconnected School Administration, City Council and Teachers Union haggle over peaceful coexistence, secondary-elementary consolidation and a fair contract.

Why have property values gone down while property taxes keep going up?

It seems a lot of young couples just starting out would rather settle in Western Cranston or altogether up and move out of state. A lot of good community minded neighbors I've known for years have decided to surrender put up for sale signs and move down south not just because they hate the brutally cold winters but due to the declining school system and the fact RI is dead last in bringing in new business.

Outside of seeing Dan's name in the paper declaring his candidacy I did not know Dan until he knocked on my door. Not once in the twenty odd years I've lived in Warwick has a candidate for District 20 rep knocked on my door and asked me in person what I thought about the current state of affairs. At least until I met Dan Elliott.

It was refreshing to meet someone running for office who wasn't the same old same old who might stop by and promise me the world, tell me he'd look out for my best interests and just disappear after retaining his seat. I'm tired of being represented by someone who retreats to Smith Hill or Washington and expects without effort to be reelected over and over again.

Legislators who vote in lock step with the speaker, indulge in legislative grants and ignore their constituents must be voted out. Dan Elliott believes RI is desperate for something different and I believe this state nicknamed. Hope needs new faces with different ideas and must be willing to employ a new strategy to right this ship. There is a definite need for change and the pursuit of a new independent direction. Disasters such as 38 Studios must never happen again. If you want to eliminate corporate welfare, the car tax and object to tolling our roads, vote for Dan Elliott.

One might ask how will we pay for things without tolls or a car tax? Dan is not a complacent incumbent. He wants to help stop out of control spending, reel in the budget, trim the fat and bring back fiscal sense.

Election Day is a great opportunity to make change for the better.

Russell E. Gundlach Jr.

Warwick