Should town elections be partisan? Middletown voters will decide

MIDDLETOWN – Town Council last week voted to put a question on the November General Election ballot that will ask voters to return to partisan elections for both town council and school committee members. The council also voted to ask voters if there should be term limits for these officials.

In 2014, an amendment to the town charter was made to turn elections from partisan to non-partisan.

Several people at the April 15 hearing – many former councilors – expressed opinions as to why fewer candidates have run for office since that change 10 years ago.

Many alluded to a 2018 committee that made a recommendation for term limits and a return to partisan elections but it never made it to the voters for a final say.

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On Monday, despite reservations by some council members, the town council voted to put the decision before voters in November.

Council members Emily Tessier, Chris Logan and Dennis Turano said the issue might not have to do with partisanship.

Logan said people of his generation and subsequent generations do not see the value of public service. He said people his age often comment that his work on the council is a “thankless job.”

“We don’t teach civics anymore. Why do you care to sit up here anymore when you don’t know what it is?” said Logan. “Where is the service in our youth? There isn't. That’s the problem.”

Former town councilor Chris Semonelli made a similar point.

“We need to understand why people aren’t running,” Semonelli said.

“The history is partisan elections doesn’t change the scenery,” added resident Antone Viveiros.

Turano said the partisanship question has been brought forward by the Democratic Committee and he said that changing elections to partisan ones would divide the town even more. He mentioned that the town is divided over issues of full-time residents versus seasonal residents, as well as other issues.

Others argued that the days of partisanship elections helped motivate new people to run because they had the backing of a committee and seasoned elected officials.

Former councilors Henry “Rick” Lombardi Jr. and Andy Andrade made the point that they were recruited by a partisan group and that made running for office easier.

“It will strengthen the system. It won’t weaken the system,” Lombardi said.

Andrade said the initiative to switch back to partisan elections should be dubbed “The Greater Choice for Middletown.”

He and Lombardi made the point that when Democrats, Republicans or independent candidates get elected in Middletown, they tend to put partisanship aside in favor of the town’s best interests.

“The political parties help recruit and we decide who we want and it's great to have change,” Andrade said.

They and other proponents cited the success of some independent council members such as Barbara VonVillas, who does not have an “R” or “D” near her name.

Former town councilor Louis DiPalma, now a state senator, says he remembers running in 2004 when there were 17 candidates running for office. He referenced recent elections, one in which three school committee members ran for three seats and nine residents ran for seven council seats.

Former councilor Art Weber said he ran independently and was successful. He said when campaigning, people did not ask him about national partisan issues such as border/immigration issues or fighting along the Gaza strip.

“They were interested in what is happening in our town, the budgets, the schools,” Weber said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Could partisan elections boost candidates, turnout? Middletown to decide