BURRILLVILLE – Recently elected members of the Burrillville Town Council took the oath of office Tuesday night, in a brief ceremony administered by Sen. Jessica de la Cruz.
Swearing in on Tuesday, Dec. 13 were returning Councilors Dennis Anderson, Donald Fox and Stephen Rawson, who all won re-election bids in November, along with newcomer David Houle. de la Cruz, who represents District 23 in Burrillville, North Smithfield and Glocester, congratulated the town leaders as they embark on fresh four-year terms.
After taking their seats, the four joined sitting Councilors Jeremy Bailey, Raymond Trinque and Justin Batalon, now halfway through their terms, with the first order of business to be the election of leadership. Fox was unanimously confirmed for a second term as council president, with Rawson, the board’s longest-serving member, to serve as vice president.
Fox, who was first elected to the council in 2014, is the owner of Burrillville-based business Alashan Cashmere. He has said his main goals for the new term are completion of a new athletic field at Burrillville High School, and the hiring of the right, qualified individual to run the town once Town Manager Michael Wood, who has served for more than three decades, eventually retires.
One-term Councilor Amanda Gingell did not seek re-election in 2022, and has applied for a position on the Board of Administration to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of member Mackenzie Raimond. Gingell’s application was forwarded to the board’s Screening Subcommittee.
Her council departure leaves Bailey as the sole Democrat on the all-male, predominantly Republican seven-member board.
The organizational portion of the meeting also included appointments to key municipal positions such as town solicitor, a job for which William Dimitri was again confirmed, and probate judge, where Timothy Kane will continue in his role.
Editor’s note: An original version of this article stated that Fox was elected in 2018. We apologize for the error.
