Eight candidates for Little Compton Town Council — five incumbents and three hopefuls — gathered at the Wilbur-McMahon School Monday night to discuss issues affecting the town as the November 3 election looms.

In a forum sponsored by the Newport chapter of the League of Women Voters and moderated by East Bay Media Group publisher Scott Pickering, incumbents Victoria Talbot, Gary Mataronas, Paul Golembeske, Andrew Iriarte-Moore and Patrick McHugh, along with challengers Michael Rocha, Travis Auty and Sal Marinosci, talked finances, affordable housing, the state of farming and other topics important in Little Compton

Affordable housing

On the state's affordable housing mandates, some of which are being challenged by the Town of Portsmouth and other towns, Auty said he’s opposed to litigation.

“I think this is a situation where we are moving the ball forward regarding housing for all ages and demographics,” he said. “I look forward to continuing to tackle that situation.”

McHugh also said he’s against joining the litigation, and Iriarte-Moore said Little Compton should not be distracted:

“We need keep our eyes on the ball here to continue to work with our community partners in developing affordable and attainable houses in Little Compton,” he said.

Golembeske said he supports the lawsuit in principle, since it's stepping up to the state, which is trying to tell the town what to do.

Mataronas mentioned that he has worked on the issue with General Assembly members and supports the use of accessory dwelling units to help long-time residents, and the next generation, stay in town.

“That's what’s going to keep our children in town,” he said

Rocha said affordable housing is a national issue, and the problems Little Compton faces are many. For example, "our biggest issues in town are that we don’t have public water; we don't have public septic. There's no magic wand for this.”

Property rights

On the topic of property rights and how they have become an issue — from short term rentals to the use of farms for non-farming activities and more — Mataronas said supports them and pushed for short-term rental policies. He also supported the Young Family farm’s proposal to hold weddings on their farm.

“As far as wedding venues on farms, to keep these farms viable, we need to do something to help them."

Rocha said there is a balance in keeping people happy and acknowledged that he himself has had a short-term rental. As for the farm, he said that it is difficult to run a business in town and he would want to listen to everyone before taking a stance.

Talbot said she is proud of the short-term rentals ordinance, while also mentioning the farm weddings are difficult.

“We want our farms to survive.”

Auty, a realtor, said he supports short-term rentals, and noted that he’s talked to farmers in the past and that they need to be thoughtful on the topics that involve zoning changes.

"Anything the town does could impact us with litigation," he said.

Fiscal management

When asked if they feel confident about the state of the town's fiscal management following last year's struggles heading into Town Meeting, answers varied — Talbot simply said that she does now.

“We figured out we had a structural deficit in a few months,” she said, adding that the town had a balanced budget this year.

Marinosci also said he has confidence in the town's current fiscal management, though he disagrees with on some policy issues — he said he dislikes the word “structural deficit,” believing that it does not tell the whole story.

“I've got a problem with that; however, we’re moving forward,” he said. “I have different views of how that management should go and that’s why I’m here.”

Auty agreed with Talbot and said he had been aloof from the town budget issues prior, and had previously been under the impression that the town had been getting the budget updates as well.

“The reporting that's being done and the transparency that is being shared without stakeholders, I think that is completely the biggest added value that we can all.”

Rocha, however, expressed unease about the current finances of the town, bringing up the audit for FY 2025, which he said has still not been seen by the public.

“We’re writing out checks and we don’t know the balance,” he said.

South Shore Beach

Candidates were asked about whether South Shore Beach should open to town residents residents only.

Golembeske called the beach a revenue source and said that it should be kept open to the public. Mataronas said that if residents want to change the beach to town only,  it should be brought up at the Financial Town Meeting.

Ag Trust

On the subject of the work of the Little Compton Agricultural Trust, Auty said that while the trust does a lot of good, it can do more.

“I think the Ag Trust has done a great deal to protect our open spaces, our businesses, our agricultural spaces. But at this point, I think we need to be more creative,” he said. McHugh piggybacked on that, saying that the town has a housing issue, not an open space issue.

“I think the Ag trust should be expanded to help ... purchase or develop farm housing,” he said.

Golembeske, on the other hand, said he wants to see more land saved.

“If you’re going to put a house on farmland, you're going to take some of the farmland and you've taken some of the water so it's kind of a Catch-22,” he said.