To the editor:

Recent letters in your pages by Dennis Almeida and Stetson Eddy, two respected Little Compton residents with long records of service to the community and the nation, highlight the “shabbiness” and “peeling paint” of Town Hall as emblematic of differing partisan approaches to town governance. Mr. Almeida characterizes the condition of the Town Hall as a sign of the Republican Council majority’s “poor stewardship of our common property.” Mr. Eddy depicts a gradual program of the building’s maintenance as a reflection of “old-fashioned responsible and frugal values.”

In 2018, I was one of the first two Democrats elected to the Little Compton Town Council since 2004, along with Andrew Moore. Andrew is running for re-election. I am not. 

Serving in the minority during our term on the Town Council, we have tried to work constructively and cooperatively with our Republican colleagues, even though we may sometimes disagree on particular policies and decisions. Most issues facing the Town Council are not partisan or ideological, and must be addressed pragmatically and practically.

During our recent term, for example, the Town Council voted unanimously to: appoint a new Town Administrator; appoint a new Police Chief; appoint the town’s first Finance Director; and recommend two annual budgets for town operations which, along with the School Department’s proposals for a larger proportion of the annual town budget, maintained a low property-tax rate.

On the other hand, since our election to the Council in 2018, several necessary or stalled infrastructure improvements have been addressed through initiatives of citizens or the two of us. The restoration and improvement of Town Landing, now underway, was initiated by a Financial Town Meeting “citizen stroke” sponsored by citizen Rob Marra. Andrew won Council approval for the establishment of a Wilbour Woods Stakeholders Committee, which had been called for in a management plan approved by the Town Council (including its three current Republican members) in 2008 but never established. That committee, on the basis of a proposal by its new chair John Gwynne, recently voted to draft a request for proposals for the replacement or restoration of the damaged bridges there. I initiated and wrote a successful proposal for town participation in the Municipal Resilience Program sponsored by the RI Infrastructure Bank, which qualifies the town for a six-figure action grant for infrastructure projects to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Town Administrator Tony Teixeira, upon his appointment almost two years ago, immediately began to address the town’s accumulated capital and infrastructure needs. With the assistance of town department heads, he inventoried needed projects with a substantial total projected cost. Obviously, not all of these projects have the same priority and cannot be undertaken immediately. But Mr. Teixeira’s efforts have provided the basis for consideration of prioritization and funding alternatives.

In his letter, Mr. Eddy noted “the council is shepherding its capital improvement funds” for a program of comprehensive Town Hall improvements. Indeed, the capital budget projection for the current fiscal year (FY21) included in this year Budget Committee Report describes a program totaling $732,000. Of this, $540,000 is budgeted for work on the Town Hall. In an April report estimating total available capital funds for the current fiscal year, Mr. Teixeira projected an available balance of $301,000, including $200,000 appropriated at this year’s FTM. In other words, while the Council has identified an ambitious Town Hall improvement plan for next year, it has not developed a specific plan to pay for most of it. This job will be left to the next Town Council. The two of us share some responsibility for this situation, which has been exacerbated by recent Covid-19 concerns and priorities.

Little Compton voters now face a choice as they consider how its officials and citizens plan for, implement, and pay for the town’s essential capital needs. Does the customary approach to maintenance and improvement of the town’s property and infrastructure, as represented by the condition of our Town Hall, truly represent the most economical and efficient use of taxpayer dollars? Our Republican Town Council colleagues have had years, indeed decades, to address this and other such needed projects.

I think Andrew Moore and his forward-looking fellow Democratic Town Council candidates—Anya Rader Wallack, Jeremy Allen, Patrick McHugh, and Nicole Barnard — have the skills, experience, and determination to steward the town’s property and financial resources responsibly, effectively, and expeditiously. 

Larry Anderson

Little Compton