GOP Sweeps Council; Mark, Gifford, Smith Win School Committee; Giarrusso Leads Dist. 30
Ballot question on merging Fire District with Town approved.
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Voters in East Greenwich returned all incumbents to office, with the five Republican Town Council members and School Committee Chair Deidre Gifford winning re-election. Newcomers Carolyn Mark and Clark Smith also won seats on the School Committee.
Republican Anthony Giarrusso was leading the R.I. House Dist. 30 race by 36 votes over Democrat Mark Schwager, with more than 500 mail ballots and the portion of West Greenwich that belongs to Dist. 30 still uncounted. Giarrusso got 2,798 votes in East Greenwich and Schwager got 2,762. Kevin McDonough, an independent, got 755 votes.
Ballot Question 8, a nonbinding referendum asking if the EG Fire District should be merged with the Town of EG, was approved 3,994 to 2,120.
For Town Council, Council President Michael Isaacs was top vote-getter for the fifth consecutive election, with 4,206. Jeff Cianciolo got 3,890, Mike Kiernan got 3,875, Mark Gee got 3,858, and Brad Bishop got 3,526. Moderate Jean Ann Guliano got 3,161 votes.
On School Committee, Mark was the high vote-getter, with 3,229 votes. Gifford got 3,219 and Smith got 3,109.
EG Taxpayer
10:53 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
By approving the merging of the EG Fire District with the town of EG, the first demand will be to replace the current fire station on Main Street, noting that the current fire station is serving it's purpose just fine. Apparently the voters won't mind when their taxes increase once again. Thanks.
PM JONES
1:49 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Can you please explain the facts behind your statement that you expect a demand to replace the Main St station?
EG Taxpayer
4:48 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A replacement station has indeed been discussed before but now that the fire district is connected with the town of EG, the fire district will no longer have their own budget to manage but will be part of the EG budget. As it is, the merger is going to cost the town more and as history shows, the taxes in EG do nothing but rise, and the town of EG sure likes to spend money. It is my prediction it won't be long before the new fire station issue comes up. Even though it has been discussed at an earlier time, now that the fire station is a part of the town, there will be a stronger demand. Time will tell how this plays out.
Bill Pett
2:23 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
As I recall it, there has already been discussion of building a new fire station. I did not support the merger but I don't see how the merger could be blamed for something the town has already started looking at.
Bill Pett
2:23 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Question for Liz--could a link to at least one story about the merger proposal be added to this story?
Elizabeth McNamara
2:31 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Good idea, Bill. Here's one from the forum in October – http://patch.com/A-yKck – which links to past stories.
Bill Pett
2:33 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Here's a question for the board of elections. When my wife and I voted at the middle school at different time we were both lucky--at that location the A-L lines were long and our line was short. I heard the same was true at Hanaford, but on the other hand the M-Z lines were the longer ones at Frenchtown. It should be simple to run a computer program for each precinct and find the middle point in the alphabetized names to make for more efficient elections. Then again, maybe the first question is the drawing of the precinct lines--maybe we need more precincts--people shouldn't have to wait an hour to vote.
EG Bicycle Guy
4:59 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
We voted at Frenchtown. When my wife voted at 10 am and I voted at 5 pm, the A-L line was very long and M-Z was at most 6 people long. Who knows? Just random chance. Obviously the best approach would be to have one line feeding into multiple stations.
EG Taxpayer
5:17 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Also, how about a link concerning the former request for a replacement Fire Station? Thank you!
Bill Pett
5:30 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Good point--the more info we can access the better.
Elizabeth McNamara
5:37 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Bill and EG Taxpayer, here's a story (fyi, I found it using the same search box tool at the top right of the page that you have too): http://patch.com/A-rkWL
Bill Pett
11:31 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Thanks, Liz. As I thought, the initiative was already there from the fire district.
Neal McNamara
10:38 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
It is a shame that we have little, if any, apparent diversity on the Town Council.
EGRealEstateM
11:54 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Give me a break McNamara...what we REALLY NEED is diversity at the RI State House!!!! Wake up! Typical democrat!
Bill Pett
11:33 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Let me see--all male, all Republican, probably all the same SES--well, there is now a different hairstyle.
Neal McNamara
11:58 am on Thursday, November 8, 2012
wow EG. Nice way to change the subject. By the way, I agree with you on the State House, and I am willing to put my name here.
Whatdoyouknow
3:08 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
Just some points to consider:
1. Maybe they created a separate Fire District to keep the Council out of the Fire business
2. Have the Council focus on the Town's issues before they worry about a well run, proven in its annual audit, Fire District
3. The Town is REALLY just looking at the savings the Fire District has so they can use it to pay off the HUGE debt the Council has put the Town in: 2 New Schools, Police Station and renovations to Swift Gym.
4. In referance to a Councilman's statement: "smaller government doesn't guarantee anything, especially better or even efficient governement" and I know that "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Maybe he has been missing what the Statehouse has been doing the last decade.
I have great faith in the Fire District and would not want my public safety net watched by this Council.