Gansett Town Council Roundup: Nov. 20, 2012

The town clerk swears in a new school committee and town council before a two-hour meeting.

In the first act of business at Monday’s Narragansett Town Council meeting, Narragansett Town Clerk Anne Irons swore in the members of the school committee and town council for new two-year terms. (In case you missed that whole election thing in early November, you can find recaps here and here.) The council voted 5-0 to make James Callaghan council president, and 4-1 to make Susan Cicilline-Buonanno council vice president. Former council president Glenna Hagopian was the vote against. Callaghan thanked former councilors David Crook, Alisa Trainor Fleet and Chris Wilkens for their service. Crook and Fleet did not win re-election to the council, while Wilkens chose to run against Teresa Tanzi for a General Assembly seat and also lost. In …

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Letters To The Editor

LETTER: Wilkens Asks For Your Vote

Candidate Chris Wilkens wants your vote for District 34 on Nov. 6.

To the editor, I believe that the only legitimate reason to run for General Assembly in 2012 is out of an overwhelming concern for the now and future of our community and state. This is why I am running and ask for your vote. We must stop drifting from crisis to crisis without a vision, sense of purpose or urgency to fix the problems that have plagued our state for so long. All of my campaign literature and yard signs all have the motto – “Restore Rhode Island."   I am committed to finding solutions that will help make our state a place where people and business move to, not from... Where the tax burden is among the lowest, not the highest... Where employment opportunities for our children are plentiful, not rare… And where the …

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Woodmansee Seeks Absentee Ballot

Michael Woodmansee, who was convicted of killing Jason Foreman in 1975, has requested an absentee ballot.

According to The Providence Journal and other media outlets, convicted child killer Michael Woodmansee is seeking an absentee ballot for the November election. In 1975, Woodmansee confessed to killing Jason Foreman, and was sentenced to 40 years. However, he only served 28 years and was set to be released before voluntarily committing himself. Before committing himself, news of his release caused residents to protest. According to The Journal, Woodmansee was transferred from the ACI to the Eleanor Slater Hospital in September 2011. WPRO’s John DePetro interviewed John Foreman, the father of Jason, yesterday afternoon. John Foreman said it was ridiculous that Woodmansee was being allowed to vote. For the audio, click here. According to The …

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[VIDEO] Wilkens' Family Member Asks for Your Vote

Annie Wilkens asks for your support on Election Day, and cast a vote for her dad, Chris Wilkens.

From now until Election Day, we’re accepting letters to the editor, blogs and event listings for any race featuring races with South Kingstown and Narragansett voters. Have your own letter to submit? The easiest way to get it on the site is via our blog function – Log into your Patch account and go here. You can also e-mail it to Stephen.greenwell@patch.com, or Narragansett@patch.com. Want to see our hub page for election profiles? Click here! Want to be e-mailed when we have new Election 2012 articles? Click the "keep me posted!" button below.

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Gansett Council: URI Arrests, Citations Up 74 Percent

The Narragansett Town Council hears a report from its police chief on the increase of citations and arrests this year.

According to a report filed by Narragansett Acting Town Manager and Narragansett Police Chief Dean Hoxsie discussed at Monday night’s town council meeting, there have been 64 citations and arrests issued by police in the first two weeks of URI’s courses. Hoxsie said the arrests are an increase of 74 percent from a similar time frame last year, with noise complaints also up 10 percent. Issued stickers are down from 11 houses to seven houses. “The majority of those stickers are social host violations,” Hoxsie said. “The guys have made a real good effort this year to target the renters.” Part of the increase is due to new laws on the books, such as a town ordinance that prohibits public drinking. Hoxsie said officers targeted certain streets …

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Chris Wilkens, Republican Candidate for Representative in District 34

Christopher Wilkens looks to make the jump from the Narragansett Town Council to the General Assembly.

Name : Mr. Christopher Wilkens Also known as : Chris Date of birth : November 22, 1951 Place of residence : 67 Narragansett Ave., Narragansett, RI 02882 Attended college : Yes College : URI Degree : B.S. Business Administration Year of graduation : 1975 Job titles held : Captain, Chief Officer Employers : Various international marine contracting and logistical support companies (Tidewater International, Zapata Marine, Gateway Towing) Party affiliation : Republican Running for a: State office Running for position: State Representative Chamber/district: District 34 Incumbent: No Previous elective offices : Narragansett Town Council, November 2006 to present Unsuccessful bids for elective offices : State Representative, 1992 Address P.O. Box …

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Election Preview: Wilkens Not Running For Council

Councilor Christopher Wilkens will challenge for Teresa Tanzi’s seat, and the School Committee is practically elected already.

NARRAGANSETT – Despite the absence of a current councilor running for another office, it will be a crowded town council race this year, with as many as 12 candidates on the ballot. According to paperwork filed at Narragansett Town Hall for the November election, current councilor Christopher Wilkens will not seek re-election. Instead, he will be the Republican challenge to the R.I. House seat currently held by Teresa Tanzi, assuming he bests Stephen C. Tetzner in a primary. The four other incumbent councilors – Glenna Hagopian, David Crook, Susan Cicilline Buonanno and Alisa Trainor Fleet – are running for re-election, along with eight others. See the chart below for a full accounting of all the races. In contrast, barring a huge write-in …

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Gansett Council Approves Miller Termination Pact

In a marathon meeting, the Narragansett Town Council is pilloried by residents before finally formally accepting a termination agreement for Grady Miller.

An exhausting, three-hour plus meeting for Narragansett Town Council members and the public on Thursday night finally culminated with the end of Grady Miller as town manager, and Police Chief Dean Hoxsie taking over for now. Ultimately, the council voted 4-1 to accept a termination agreement negotiated with Miller during executive session. Councilors Glenna Hagopian, David Crook, Alisa Trainor Fleet and Christopher Wilkens voted to accept the termination agreement, with councilor Susan Cicilline-Buonanno voting against. Wilkens noted that he was voting for the agreement under duress. “If we don’t agree to these terms, it’s clear he’ll just be fired,” Wilkens said. Throughout Thursday’s meeting, it was established that a three-person …

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[VIDEO] Miller, Town Reach Termination Agreement

Narragansett Town Manager Grady Miller and the council have agreed to a termination pact that will pay him until April 2013.

Editor's note, 11:35 a.m. Friday - A new and longer version of this story can be found here. NARRAGANSETT – After about 50 minutes of executive session, the Narragansett Town Council announced that it had reached consensus with Town Manager Grady Miller on a termination agreement. According to Town Solicitor Mark McSally, the agreement will pay Miller through April 2013. Miller has accrued sick leave and vacation time that goes until September, followed by seven months severance, which would last until about April 2013. The decision was wildly unpopular with the crowd of about 125 people who showed up for the meeting. As they left for executive session, a chant of “Grady, Grady, Grady,” broke out, and councilors were frequently cut off by …

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