Listen to our series preview or read the transcript below.
DADE NUNEZ: Well, the issues–the big one that I’m concerned about is making sure that our country gets back on track. I’d like to see us not so divided.
WESTIN PLACE, STATE SENATE CANDIDATE: We keep sending the same type of people up to the State House and to D.C. It’s the same lifelong politicians, the same people who have been in power locally that just want to move up the ladder politically.
LESLIE DUNN: Everybody’s response is always, “We want to be diverse. We want to be inclusive.” But nobody’s showing up. If we have a community of people here who feel that their wellbeing is not a priority of a community, that’s very telling of their experience and what’s going on here.
WESTIN PLACE: I’m from the north end of Westerly, which is kind of the poorer section of town. If you want someone who’s the most ignored politically, it’s someone who’s a truck driver from the poorer side of Westerly.
ALEX NUNES: I’m South County Bureau Reporter Alex Nunes, and I’m also a Westerly resident.
JOE TASCA: And I’m reporter Joe Tasca. I also live in Westerly. So, Alex. One of the reasons we’re highlighting Westerly in this series of conversations is it’s more diverse than people often think, and politically speaking Westerly is a fairly purple town. There are more Democrats than Republicans, but the majority of registered voters are unaffiliated.
ALEX NUNES: And when you talk to people you hear them bring up a wide range of priorities, both nationally and locally.
MEREDITH INGRAM: It’s very irritating to me that there are people who work in this town who cannot find affordable housing in this town.
DANIELLE BELIVEAU: I think it’s a scary time to be a person with a uterus right now. There’s already abortion bans in a ton of states.
MADELINE LABRIOLA: Well, I think, for me, there are two existential threats faced right now. One is climate, and the second existential threat is nuclear weapons. When I look at a candidate, whether it’s on the national level or the local level, I look and see–what are they saying about these two issues.
ALEX NUNES: Joe, one trend we’ve seen in Westerly in recent years that mirrors national politics, is the advocacy around racial justice becoming more visible in the town. Westerly is predominantly white, but the population of people of color is growing, and following the murder of George Floyd more people of color have gotten involved in local politics, holding protests, meeting with different officeholders, and in a couple cases deciding to run for office themselves.
JOE TASCA: One of them we’ll hear from in this series is Kevin Lowther. He’s the only Black candidate for town council this year. He decided to run after watching a candidate forum last election cycle and being disappointed by what he was hearing.
KEVIN LOWTHER: I just was not being represented. When they asked questions about “Is there systemic racism in Westerly?” or “Should Juneteenth be a state holiday?” I just saw that there were a lot of candidates who had really not had to consider that perspective.
ALEX NUNES: Like many communities across the country, Westerly has also seen this tension between viewpoints on race and gender and other cultural issues play out in discussions about the future of our schools.
JOE TASCA: That’s right. You have a small but vocal group of right-leaning residents making an issue of how race and gender and U.S. history are taught in our schools. But you also have people like school committee candidate Leslie Dunn pushing for a greater focus on equity in our schools.
LESLIE DUNN: An equity audit would just really peel everything back, especially if it’s done by a third party company. It really takes a scientific look at where this community can do better to make sure our students, across the board, are getting what they need.
ALEX NUNES: And Joe, it wouldn’t be a complete conversation about Westerly without some discussion of the continuing battles over shoreline access.
SECURITY GUARD: That’s private parking.
BEACH ACCESS ADVOCATE BEN WEBER: I’m just going down to the end real quick.
SECURITY GUARD: You don’t have a pass. I’m sorry.
ALEX NUNES: That’s a security guard in the exclusive Weekapaug section of town recorded turning away a shoreline access advocate at a blocked off beach. This debate over who controls access to the beach and who gets to go where has gained a lot of momentum in several coastal states in recent years, and it’s an especially important issue here in Westerly.
JOE TASCA: The controversy has spilled over into local politics and the messaging in this year’s election season. And it’s probably an issue that had some influence in the Democratic primary race for the open state Senate seat in Westerly. Town Council President Sharon Ahern was not seen as a friend of shoreline access by some people, and she lost by a wide margin to an opponent, Victoria Gu, who made shoreline access a part of her campaign platform.
ALEX NUNES: Alright, Joe. We’ll leave it there for now. Looking forward to more conversations in our special election series of One Square Mile: Westerly.
JOE TASCA: Yes, much more to come.
Alex Nunes and Joe Tasca can be reached at anunes@thepublicsradio.org and jtasca@thepublicsradio.org
