Barrington resident and local representative Liana Cassar recently announced she is a candidate for the speaker of the house in the RI General Assembly.

In a statement last week, Ms. Cassar (HD 66, Barrington and East Providence) offered some insight to her reasons for declaring her intentions. She also questioned the Democratic caucus's decision to hold an in-person meeting for the purpose of selecting the leadership.

"There is no reason at all that we cannot meet over Zoom or other web meeting service, as a number of our colleagues have requested and countless people throughout the country and world do quite regularly," Rep. Cassar said. "We are still in the middle of a global pandemic with unfortunately rising numbers of cases here in Rhode Island. As elected officials, we must set an example and follow good public health practices, especially as our own Department of Health has, just this week, limited social gatherings to 10 or fewer people."

Despite her plea, the caucus met and voted overwhelmingly in favor of Joe Shekarchi.

Rep. Cassar did not attend the caucus, but still plans to remain a candidate for Speaker of the House. She also recently shared a list of her priorities:

• Restoration of the committee chair and membership appointments that were stripped in the 2019-2020 session as a result of the 2018 Speaker vote

• Gender and racial equity, and inclusion across leadership and committees

• Reform of the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (JCLS) so that the staff of the Statehouse remains separate from elections and the political workings of candidates

• Reform of committee processes to empower committee chairs and depoliticize the decisions of which bills are heard in committee and which bills are voted out of committees

• Refinement of the legislative process so that all substantive bills receive a timely and fair hearing and vote

• Office space for all House members

• Improved communication with House members regarding anticipated schedules

• A democratic speaker election process without undue influence on House members for their votes

• Commitment to budgets that are not balanced on the backs of the vulnerable in our state

"Historically in Rhode Island, there have been many legislators who run as Democrats and do so without being committed in word or deed to the Democratic Party Platform," Rep. Cassar said. "I am a Democrat because I agree with and agree to actively work to support the four pillars of the Barrington Democratic Town Committee platform - good and transparent government, support for social justice, economic stewardship and environmental stewardship."