While his opponents were squaring off to determine who would be the Democratic Party nominee in the waning days of the primary campaign last week, Warren Town Council President Joseph DePasquale was launching his run as an Independent for the open General Assembly House of Representatives seat from District 67.

DePasquale, who is term-limited on the council, held a kick-off event Monday night, Aug. 31, a bit ironically, at The Barrington Democratic Club just over the town line there. Several dozen locals came to and fro throughout the three-hour gathering, during which DePasquale gave his first stump speech and fielded a handful of questions from the audience.

Earlier in the evening, DePasquale was asked what he wanted the electorate, in general, to know about his campaign.

"Number one is they have a choice," DePasquale said of his upstart bid for the seat from Warren and Barrington being vacated by Rep. Jason Knight, himself eyeing the Democratic Party nod to become the state's next attorney general.

He continued, "And we understand the cost across the government. And I think people are coming to an understanding that the state spending is out of control. And it's great to advocate for everything. I mean, I have a heart that wants to give, but I also have a reality towards the taxpayer. And that's what I'm hearing from the groundswell of the people who are supporting me."

His run this cycle is DePasquale's second attempt to reach Smith Hill. In between multiple stints on the council from 2002-26, DePasquale, as an Independent, challenged and lost the race for the same District 67 seat to former Democratic Rep. Jan Malik at the 2010 election.

The favorite to gain the party's nomination to replace Knight is actually his wife, Nicole Jellinek. The latter faced Ronald Jarvais at the September 9 primary. Both are first-time candidates.

"I feel everything that my opponent or one of my opponents, I don't know who it's going to be, but both of them right now are saying all the things that they want to do," DePasquale said of Jellinek and Jarvais. "I can easily look at every issue and tell you what I've done in the Town of Warren on that issue. Actual hands on getting the job done. Not just advocating for an issue."

In his official launch statement, DePasquale wrote among his priorities in the Assembly would "investing in safe infrastructure, strengthening Rhode Island’s medical sector with adequate reimbursements for medical and dental providers and ensuring that school funding is focused on improved outcomes for students."

The statement continued on the state budget process, "While Rhode Island’s budget has increased dramatically in recent years, roads and bridges – like the Washington Bridge – have fallen into disrepair. We need to do a much better job budgeting, but also on oversight to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent to meet the needs of our residents.”

On the issue of amending recent updates by the Assembly to an array of Rhode Island's affordable housing laws, he wrote changes need to be made "so that local communities have a say in their development, and that the state needs to support local entrepreneurs."

He concluded the statement by noting his "strong support for equal rights for every person, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, color or religion."

Again prior to his speech, DePasquale touted his record on the environment and associated issues. He spoke of his support for Warren's purchase of streetlights from National Grid and replacing them with LED fixtures, a move he claimed was ahead of the trend and saved the town some $75,000 annually since its inception a decade or so ago.

He added, "Over 10 years ago, hundreds of acres of farmland that I've preserved as part of the council, open space and development rights. When we look at, again, the environment, I've probably planted more trees in my 22 years than either of my opponents. When we talk about costs, I've kept Warren livable. I've maintained a budget based on the taxpayers, their ability to pay. When you look at infrastructure improvements, everybody looks at Water Street being such a fabulous place. Well, that came out of the fact that we improved the infrastructure."

Both before and during his speech, DePasquale brought up the need to reform the state's education funding formula, pointing specifically Warren's decrease in aid of $800,000 each of the last two years due drop in the number of students who qualified for the free-and-reduced lunch program coupled with a significant increase in its property values year-over-year.

"First and foremost, I think the school funding formula needs to be relooked. I think that in areas like Barrington, for example, it serves the community very well. But when you look at a regionalized district like Warren, it's not doing us well at all," DePasquale said, adding he planned to introduce a resolution the topic at the Warren Town Council meeting set for September 14. The resolution will seek to extend Maintenance of Effort to the state level, meaning school funding should remain the same from the previous year.

When taking questions from the audience last week, DePasquale fielded one about the challenges he faces during the campaign. Though not official at the time, part of his response was directed at Jellinek, mentioned earlier as the perceived front-runner for the Democratic nomination and who has received much of her party's backing during the primary.

"I'm going against a well-funded machine," said DePasquale. "This, if you do any investigative work, this is not somebody who's had a fundraiser serving some pasta. This is an organized operation that's not really about her. It's a message that advocates for everybody. Which, again, I think can be great if you have the ability to pay. I also believe that we should be supporting our constituents, our districts. I disagree with the Democratic Party. I don't think that our representatives have brought as much to Warren that I want to try to give."

Once more both prior to and during his engagement with the audience, DePasquale spoke about his decision run as an Independent while taking a not-so-subtle jab at the local Assembly contingent, specifically on the issue of affordable housing and those who serve/served in the House under former Speaker Joseph Shekarchi.

Beforehand, he said, "I believe that the legislature should start caring about their communities and not necessarily what the speaker wants, the leadership."

Near the end of his stump introduction, he added, "You have people at the state house, party people who are not going to go against the leadership," DePasquale said. "Some would say, if you go against the leadership, isn't that going be a negative impact for your district? That might be. I may not be able to bring $2,500 to the Preservation Society. I may not be able to give a $5,000 grant to recreation. But you know what? I'll be fighting, and I'll be trying to get the town in a better position than we are at the State House than people just giving away everything that we once valued."