Who are the Bristol County Concerned Citizens (BCCC), whose debut was July’s proposal and execution of the raising of a first-responders’ flag at Independence Park?

They were established in late 2019 with about 40 members, including Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and Independents. They have an email list that numbers over 200 today, although they admit that their active roster is significantly smaller than that. They aren’t a political party — they consider themselves an issues advocacy organization — though they plan to release a list of “recommended” candidates in the near future.

“Our purpose is to support local candidates who share our concern for the community,” said Mike Byrnes, one of the Citizens’ principal organizers.

True to the varied political leanings of their membership, their stated core values include several hot-button issues on which even the group’s principal organizers don’t always see eye to eye.

“Mike and I don’t always agree,” said Tony Rego, former chairman of Bristol’s Democrats and another of the organizers of the BCCC. “We bang heads.”

“We had a lot of discussion about the values,” agreed Mr. Byrnes.

What they have done, however, is reached some consensus on an official platform with several stated issues, notably, education reform, legal immigration, sanctity of life, and personal responsibility.

According to their mission statement, their chief concern reads, “We oppose the rise of a philosophy that undermines traditional American values and will increase social and economic burdens on those who can least afford it.”

What are those ‘values’?

For some, the phrase “traditional American values” implies concepts like equality of opportunity and individual freedoms, but for others, the phrase has become a dog whistle for a throwback to the days before marriage rights, civil rights, and Roe v. Wade were the law of the land. Erich Haslehurst, chairman of Bristol’s Democratic Town Committee finds “traditional values” a problematic phrase.

“Traditional values, nuclear family, that means a family is a man and a woman, opposite sex. That means my relationship is not equal,” said Mr. Haslehurst who is married to Bristol Town Councilor Tim Sweeney. “Sanctity of life is another. Nobody is against life — but a lot of people are against women having the freedom to decide what to do with their own bodies … Saying, ‘I stand for values,’ is not a value.”

The Citizens that’s not what they are about, at all.

“To me, those core values are about bringing your kids up with respect,” said Mr. Rego. “This is what we’re for — we aren’t against anything.”

“That’s right, it’s about honesty, loyalty, and integrity,” said Mr. Byrnes. “We accept everyone. We don’t have any animosity towards anyone.”

Legal immigration

Legal immigration is one of those national issues with strong local interest that is important to the BCCC. Mr. Rego and Mr. Byrnes are proud of their Portuguese and Italian heritage, respectively. “This is an immigrant community,” said Mr. Byrnes.

Member Barbara Soares, who owns Golden Shears on Wood Street, came here from Portugal at age 3 and feels strongly that legal immigration policies should be respected. “I’m sorry, but we did it the right way, we came here legally,” she said. “We need legal immigration. This is the law on the land.””

Issues like waterfront development and support of the local police department are also important to the group, who bristle at the proliferation of social media memes that say things like: “there are two kinds of cops: bad cops and complacent cops.”

Education reform

Education reform is important to the BCCC as well, an issue championed by member DeWolf Fulton, whose career in education included private and public schools, and whose last job in public education, on Hartford Avenue in Providence, gave him a vantage point on the concept of restorative justice in action. It’s a concept that the group believes, while designed with the good intention of helping challenged students avoid suspension and remain in school, has failed in practice.

While it has, indeed, dramatically reduced suspensions across all populations of students, according to Mr. Fulton, restorative justice “accommodates bad behaviors, and the kids at the top who work hard, become collateral damage.”

The BCCC also supports strong economic growth through limiting taxes and wasteful spending. “A lot of people in Bristol are on a fixed income,” said Mr. Rego. “”Watch how you spend money!”

Invasion of a national agenda

They are clear that they feel the local Democratic Town Committee has been taken over by a national progressive agenda. “That’s not what we’re here for, we are here for local issues,” said Mr. Rego. “What about the potholes? BCCC is trying to stay local, and address the issues that matter here.”

Mr. Haslehurst rejects the assertion that the Democrats are so caught up in national issues that they have lost focus on local concerns. “Many of our members served on the Recycling Committee to increase recycling rates and reduce overhead,” he said. “Many of our members are on boards and commissions — Planning, Zoning, The Library Board of Trustees, and the Board of Canvassers, to name a few.”

“All politics is local.”

‘We are open’

The BCCC principals object to suggestions, recently made in the letters section of this paper, that they are a clandestine group.

“We are open to the public,” said Mr. Byrnes. “But for privacy reasons we do not publicize our membership list.”

“We are under the Umbrella of the Gaspee Project, a 501(c) 4. We do not, as an organization, intend to provide financial support to candidates.”

According to their website, “The Gaspee Project is a grassroots citizen initiative whose mission is to preserve the values and principles upon which our beloved state of Rhode Island was founded … The Gaspee Project’s mission is to return control of your lives to you — the people — by actively opposing the progressive and special-interest public policy agenda and by advancing pro-growth and pro-taxpayer solutions that can create more and better jobs via more and better businesses.”

Their published platform specifically cites ending the “radical-left progressive” agenda, advancing educational choice, and serving as a voice for the Rhode Island business community.

“This lack of transparency is unfair,” said Mr. Haslehurst of the BCCC operating under the auspices of a nonprofit. “The Democrat and Republican town committees have to register and organize with the Secretary of State and Town Hall. We are asking them to play by the same set of rules … We believe in transparency in government — at all levels: local, state and national.”

Next meeting is Aug. 31

“We advertise our meetings in the Phoenix,” said Mr. Rego. “And anyone is welcome to attend.” Their next meeting is Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. at the VFW Hall. Attendees are reminded to wear a mask.

They would like to see the level of civil discourse in the community increase, and they would like to engage on issues without the name-calling that they feel has been far too prevalent in recent weeks. Mr. Fulton cites a productive meeting that he and Tom Carroll of the Bristol Republican Town Committee had with Black Lives Matter members Dyshell Palmer and Brother Gary Dantzler following the July 3 first-responders flag raising. “We spoke for about an hour and found common ground on a lot of issues. We remain in touch,” said Mr Fulton.

About that flag raising … “I think it was awful, putting the town council members in a position of having to say that they were for or against a first-responders flag. I have not met a single Bristol resident who does not love the fire department,” said Mr. Haselhurst. “That was political games at its worst, and they know what they were doing.”

“I have tremendous respect for people who stand up for what they believe in; I just think they should do it out in the open.”

“No one has a corner on the truth,” said Mr. Fulton. “It takes a village of diverse ideas engaged in civil discourse, talking and listening to each other, to find common ground and move ahead. That’s the way we’ve always known it in Bristol.”