Our vote is the only voice we have to choose who we want in charge of our government. We expect that the elected carry out voter mandates. The following are two of many reasons I cannot support Paul Zwolenski as administrator.
Yes, he devoted a lot of his life to serving North Smithfield, but he has lost sight of what the duty entails. He represents the voter yet has lacked the ability to stand up for their mandate.
On November 2018, the electorate exercised their right and resoundly removed John Beauregard from power. He used the office to address a personal agenda. This time he used the Kaepernick/Nike issue. It would have been as egregious if he attempted to use the office to prohibit the town from doing business with Wrights Dairy for not baking cakes for LBGTQ weddings, or advocating that we only do business with people who love golf. We do not elect anyone to use the office to direct taxpayer funds to businesses that agree or disagree with personal values. He violated the duties of the office, (and) he duly was removed.
On 12/17/18 Mr Zwolenski chose to ignore the mandate of the vote. Mr Vadenais requested John Beauregard be appointed as citizen liaison to replace him on the Municipal Board Of Review Task Force. The board manages the bond that oversees the renovation of Kendall Dean and the present police station at Bushee. The appointment gave someone removed from office a voice in the bond’s management. In effect Mr Vadenais and the ex councilor just switched places. He is now entwined in the police station issue. Are we so devoid of volunteers that no one else could fill the spot?
The second instance involves the solar issue. We were placed in tenuous dealings with Green Development. Negotiations of town business are entrusted to the council to be done with transparency. It is not meant to relegated to those not in authority.
The Valley Breeze report(ed) on 9/25/19, “Mr. Zwolenski knew about the talks Beauregard was having behind the scenes, but he didn’t feel right bringing it up to the council because it wasn’t an advertised agenda item.”
His silence gave power to one voted out of office. Mr. Zwolenski’s absence of candor negates the trust placed in him. Can we help wonder what else has been allowed behind the scenes?
Mr Zwolenski feels he earned being in charge. His performance says otherwise. Taxpayers need to trust their leaders have the ability to stand up for the welfare of the town. These are just two instances demonstrating he is not up to that important task.
I cannot support anyone who has been complicit or supports those who have manipulated the needs of the town. We are facing big budget challenges. The vision forward has to be priority based. We need leaders who will be transparent and not be exploited by those who do not have that focus. Mr Zwolenski is not that leader.
MarieAnne Depault
MarieAnne Depault has been a North Smithfield resident for 45 years
