The candidates for Rhode Island House District 68 representing Warren and Bristol, June Speakman and John Hanley, met for a cogent, rather convivial forum held October 1 at Roger Williams University.

The gathering, co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters-Rhode Island and East Bay Media Group, the parent company of The Times-Gazette, matched Speakman, the two-term Democratic incumbent, and Hanley, the Warren Town Council president running as an Independent.

The candidates touched on most of the main issues elected officials at the state level would face like housing, healthcare and gun control as well as other matters of the moment such as the proposed constitutional convention and the Washington Bridge closure crisis.

Hanley leaned heavily on his expertise in the construction trade — He's currently the building inspector for the City of Pawtucket — while answering a couple of the questions, including the first.

Of legislation he would like to pass, Hanley countered by saying he would like to get rid of some bills approved by the General Assembly in recent years aimed aid reducing the state's affordable housing shortage.

Hanley said he's seen first hand how old mills in Pawtucket converted into apartments "have not really helped Rhode Island residents." He estimated around "80, 85 percent go to people from Boston and the suburbs because they're willing to pay extra thousands" in rent.

He also said would like to see more accessory dwelling units included in projects as well as instituting a residency requirement, giving preference for some housing to people who've lived in the state for between 3-5 five years.

In contrast, Speakman said the package of bills are doing what they intended, which is to bring "more units on line and to make rents and housing costs come down for Rhode Islanders."

She said if re-elected she would also be proposing a bill that merges housing and land conservation. Speakman explained it would allow the state to purchase land then use a portion of the property for housing and put the rest in conservation in perpetuity.

Asked what the Assembly could do to help alleviate the shortage of doctors in the state, Speakman said the "jury is still out" on whether to build a medical school at the University of Rhode Island, one of the suggested remedies. Hanley, too, said he needed more information on the proposed URI med school. Speakman did say the state needs to increase its reimbursement rates for physicians to "at least make them equivalent with Massachusetts and Connecticut so our docs don't leave to go practice there."

On the topic of their support for a ban on assault weapons, Hanley said he did not, saying he was for "firm background checks and red flag laws." He said he respected the Second Amendment of the United State Constitution, not without limits and claimed most shootings occur with the use of handguns.

Speakman said she was a supporter of the ban, stating assault weapons are for the military and police and that they have "no business in hands of civilians." Speakman also said that "mass shootings are carried out with assault weapons," not handguns.

About climate change, Hanley pointed to a failed bill Speakman supported that would have banned the use of fossil fuels in some industries like lawn care. He said the current timelines for swopping out gasoline-powered internal combustion engines for batteries isn't reasonable, that at the moment it remains "too costly" and the "technology just isn't there." He supports the move only when "technology catches up."

Speakman said the state "already plays a significant role, that government must have an "all hands on deck" approach and it must do more to "incentivize change. She added of Hanley suggesting to hold off until certain technologies catch up, "We can't afford to wait."

The most spirited exchange of the event came with a discussion on changes made to building codes at the state level.

Hanley said the most significant was removing some language, which could be read as allowing the state building commissioner to exert near total control over municipalities. Of the changes, Hanley said, "It gives you the 'Kool-Aid' and make you drink it."

Speakman disagreed with that assessment, saying it simply sets a "fair, equitable, uniform" code so that those living in Warren and Bristol are guided by the same principles. She added, "It does not change or interfere with the local codes at all."

The candidates also diverged on whether or not voters should support a referendum on the November ballot creating a state constitutional convention.

Hanley was pro and Speakman con, the former noting whatever came from it would have to be voted on by residents, while latter worried "special interest" groups would attempt to steer the direction of the quorum.

In addition, they clashed a bit while responding to a question about how best to reverse the decline in the of physicians practicing in the state and how that impacts mental health treatment.

Speakman said the "jury is still out" on the possibility of building a medical school at the University of Rhode Island, one of the proposals being considered. Hanley, too, said he does not know if it would be warranted.

Increasing the reimbursement rates Rhode Island doctors receive to be at least the equivalent of their peers in Massachusetts and Connecticut is one remedy suggested by Speakman.

Hanley used his response to say the lack of proper care for mental health and addiction was one of the "root problems of the homeless issue." He said rather than allocating $3.5 million on pallet shelters, as the state is doing, the money would be "better spent on front end, not back end," as in preventative and responsive care.

Speakman said the pallet shelters are an "essential element" of the response to homelessness and mental health matters, but that "we can do both" when it comes to addressing both the lack of suitable shelter for some and keeping doctors practicing in state.

On the Washington Bridge closure and now reconstruction plans, both took a somewhat wait-and-see approach.

Hanley said from what he knows, which admittedly isn't everything, Gov. Dan McKee and Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti so far "are handling it probably best they could...with the cards they've been dealt, I think they played them right."

Speakman, likewise, said even sitting state legislators don't have all of the information like why no contractor initially bid on the reconstruction project, which is currently pegged at about $450 million. She added she and her East Bay cohort have "pressed" and will continue to seek information regularly from Alviti and other state officials on the matter.

In their concluding remarks, Hanley referenced his life-long residency of Warren and his perception of its neighbor in saying "I know the culture of the communities. I know how the people of Bristol and Warren thing, I think I think kind of like you."

Speakman ended her remarks by pledging her "commitment" to engaging with her constituents as well as her ongoing cooperation with local and federal officials to better both communities.