Candidates for the Little Compton Town Council met during a forum held inside the Wilbur & McMahon School gym last Thursday to discuss a wide variety of issues. Both parties were represented after Republicans, who earlier signaled they would not attend, announced a few days before the forum that they would.

In the end, all nine candidates appeared, with Republicans Robert Mushen, Gary Mataronas, Paul Golembeske, Maureen Rego and Scott Lewis appearing along with Democrats Patrick McHugh, Andrew Iriarte-Moore, Martina Halsey, and Victoria Talbot. All five incumbents — McHugh, Iriarte-Moore, Mushen, Mataronas and Golembeske — are seeking re-election, with the four challengers hoping to a win a seat on the five-person board.

The session lasted more than an hour, with candidates on stage facing an audience that filled most of 200 seats in the gym. Candidates all had opening and closing statements, and moderator Scott Pickering directed nine different questions to the group, with at least four, and sometimes all nine, candidates responding to each question.

Sakonnet Point parking

The first question asked candidates about parking at Sakonnet Point, and about what the town can do before next summer to fix the problems of congestion and illegal parking. McHugh said the town is going to create special parking stickers for fishermen and that there will be a public hearing surrounding the issue coming up soon.

Golembeske said the solutions are simple: “signage, more police patrols, deal with the state traffic, having them deal with the signs telling us what we can do and what we can enforce.” He said there needs to be more guidance for the police department, who are down there but, according to him, are afraid to ticket anybody.

Others gave their thoughts as well. Mushen mentioned that there are often issues with the parking signs, and with people moving the signs around. Mataronas gave his personal experience, as fishermen have called him to complain when there is no parking available in the area. He said he tried to bring it to the council's attention then, but now it is getting attention since it is a hot-button issue.

Transparency

Candidates were asked about transparency in government and the police department not releasing police logs to this newspaper in recent months. All candidates said that they believe that all governments, in general, should be transparent. McHugh mentioned that he had spoken to the police chief, and it is the chief’s decision to stop sending the information. Mataronas told the audience he would go and talk to the police chief about the situation.

Affordable housing

Housing prices across Rhode Island have spiked in recent years, with Little Compton impacted as much as or more than any other community. Candidates gave their opinions on what can be done to help seniors, young families and the working middle school afford to live in town. Many of the candidates pointed to the work of the Little Compton Housing Trust, as well as the Commons Foundation.

Moore, the town liaison to the housing fund, mentioned that they have secured two properties that will be able to hopefully support five affordable units. He also discussed short-term rental properties.

“With some of the year-long rentals, or year-long stock of housing, we’ve been taking up ordinances about non-owner occupied rentals in the past that haven’t moved anywhere, and we’ve supported the accessory development units, which I think can help that issue moving forward.”

McHugh mentioned both of these organizations, along with the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust, which specializes in preserving farmland and open space, which often gets leased to farmers. “When they acquire land with the farms, they need to put farmers on there with kids that go into the schools,” he said.

Golembeske talked about ways to make existing houses affordable, rather than consuming open space to create new “affordable” homes.

“Somehow we have to balance how much open space versus how much affordable housing.” He said Little Compton is nowhere near the affordable housing threshold set by the state, and that they have to develop the land that is already sectioned off for affordable housing, including land that is “already built up, a lot or a house that already exists.”

Mushen mentioned that one property, on Willow Avenue, has already been successfully transformed into affordable housing, and he said the three common denominators were the previously mentioned nonprofits, and that the town council needs to work to bring these groups together.

Partisan politics

The question of partisan politics was also brought up, with both Democrats and Republicans discussing the issue. Rego said she does not believe that partisan politics play a huge role in the town, yet added, “I can’t wait until Nov. 5th.”

“If we would have a non-partisan election, I think that would be good,” Mataronas added. “But people are still going to know what party you’re from,” adding that everyone has known what party someone belongs to since childhood.

Democratic candidates Halsey and Talbot discussed nonpartisanship, with Talbot saying, “Partisan messaging and negative comments aren’t getting us anywhere except further apart.” McHugh also touched on it:

“We do have our differences, Republicans and Democrats, and we fight hard on valid issues, but when Nov. 5 comes, we still all have to live with each other.”

Golembeske, a Republican, in his closing statement, encouraged people to vote for people based on their record and not their party, citing that his wife and he have the largest solar field in town and use all organic practices on their farm.

“That doesn’t sound Republican that everybody makes Republicans out to be,” he said.

Closing businesses

With businesses closing throughout the town, candidates discussed this and what they could do to help. Talbot, Moore, and McHugh all said that affordability is the issue, with people not moving into the town due to the high prices of homes. Moore also discussed getting rid of the tangible tax, which he described as just another expense on businesses.

Golembeske mentioned the permitting crisis, proposing different tax rates for businesses. In addition, he discussed the Newport Chamber of Commerce and possibly advertising through them.

Senior center

Candidates were asked about whether the town should have a dedicated senior center and whether the Oddfellows Hall could be the site for a new senior center. Rego cast doubt on that idea, saying that the entrance to the Oddfellows building is very steep and that a one-story building is more optimal. Mataronas said that a possible location is the old fire station, which is no longer in use.

“I want to see that building used by the town. If it is not used by the seniors, it can be used for something else,” he said.

Mushburn mentioned a senior citizen survey that was recently sent out, saying that the responses to that will steer them in the right direction. He admitted that the Oddfellows Hall has some limitations, but he believes they can be overcome and fire and safety are already working on it. However, he said that if the building is not a good fit, they will look into other areas as well.

Airbnb

Most of the candidates defended short-term rentals, for the most part, arguing that the vast majority of rental properties cause few problems. There was concern, however, about homes that are used for parties by the renters. Candidates such as Mataronas and Rego mentioned that multiple people have come forward and said that they use Airbnb as a means of making money to afford to live in the town.

Moore said he supports people renting out their homes via the service, but has an issue with people buying out homes as investment properties and using them as a business venture, questioning why they pay the same taxes on homes that everyone else does and that it needs to be regulated. Lewis suggested possibly passing an ordinance that would balance the concerns of the owners of the property and the neighbors.

Temporary housing for farm workers

Lewis, Halsey, Talbot, and Moore all spoke in favor of giving 8-month temporary housing to farm workers, saying it would be good for the community. The arguments made in favor of this potential ordinance included bringing younger families into the town, which would help strengthen the school attendance numbers, as well as bringing more workers to help stimulate the farming economy in the town, along with providing a temporary solution for affordable housing for some workers.

The candidates’ forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters and East Bay Media Group, publisher of the Sakonnet Times. It can be viewed online at: youtube.com/@Eastbayri