The Sept. 12 Primary is just a week away. How much do you know about the candidates?

Two Barrington Democrats — Liana Cassar and John Chung — are running for the District 66 seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Both candidates recently offered an inside look at their top priorities:

Liana Cassar

Ms. Cassar said her top priority "above all else" is building good government that people can have trust in. She said some voters are skeptical that a candidate can affect change at the Statehouse, but, she added "I think we'll never know if we don't try."

"I think 'business as usual' really serves a powerful few and their interests," she said, adding that it is time the state government works for everyone, not just a lucky few. 

Too often, she said, bills that have popular support are held for study at the statehouse. Too often legislators rush through bills at the end of the session.

"People know that's preventable," she added. 

Ms. Cassar said she admired the current District 66 representative, Joy Hearn, and how she approached her work at the Statehouse.

"I think she worked very hard to maintain her independence," she said. 

Another of Ms. Cassar's priorities is access to affordable, high quality healthcare for all people. Ms. Cassar has worked in the healthcare field for years and said this issue is a priority for her and a fundamental belief.

"Your health status should not be dependent on your zip code," she said. 

Ms. Cassar said Rhode Island has an opportunity to make some significant changes in this area, and by doing so would create other positive changes. She said access to healthcare can affect the strength of the workforce and, in turn, the strength of the economy. 

While re-structuring the healthcare system in the state might take a considerable amount of time, Ms. Cassar offered a more urgent priority: Common sense gun legislation. 

"When we look at gun violence from a public health point of view, it's an epidemic," she said, adding that she believes legislators have a moral obligation to act immediately upon this issue. 

"There are proven things that can be done in the United States… I think popular opinion is that we need to keep our communities and our schools safe," she said. 

Ms. Cassar said she has been outspoken on the issue of gun control for years.

"We really should have taken care of this a long time ago," she said. 

"I think we owe it to our community."

John Chung

Barrington resident John Chung said there are a number of issues that are very important, including education.

Mr. Chung said his daughter attended Barrington schools and graduated from BHS in 2015. "We had a happy experience with the public schools," he said. "Every time I meet people with school-age children.. I ask them why they moved to town and they say it was for the schools."

Continuing the tradition of offering a stellar public school education is important to Mr. Chung, and he said that he will fight to ensure that Barrington receives as much state funding for education, and for its middle school construction project.

"I want to do everything I can to help the town's finances," Mr. Chung said. 

"The construction of the middle school is putting pressure on town finances, and the level of state funding for the middle school is still undetermined. I believe that's where the role of the state representative comes in. The final determination of that number depends on the work of the state representative. And that goes hand in hand with fighting for as much money for the middle school as possible. Every dollar we don't get from the state is going to have to come from the local property taxes."

Mr. Chung also said he is calling for the protection of women's rights that have been provided under the Roe v. Wade decision. 

"I really believe that Rhode Island law needs to protect Roe v. Wade," he said. "I want to make sure that the rights protected under Roe v. Wade remain protected in Rhode Island… especially if a conservative Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade."

Mr. Chung said another of his top priorities is addressing the ever-increasing property taxes in town. He said many Barrington residents are living on fixed incomes and cannot afford the annual tax increases. He said he has been exploring the possibility of "protecting people from property tax increases when they reach a certain age," he said. "I am just at the exploring stage.

"The Town of Smithfield has had a system in place to freeze taxes for seniors. Smithfield may find itself where it has to move away from what it has in place," he said. "I also learned that there might be other ways of protecting seniors and property taxes, that avoid the pressures that the Smithfield plan has created."

Candidates' forum is Sept. 5 in East Providence

Two Barrington residents who are running for the District 66 seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives will meet in a candidates' forum. The event will be held at Martin Middle School in East Providence on Wednesday, Sept. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. Democrats Liana Cassar and John Chung will square off in the primary election, which is set for Sept. 12. The winner will also face competition in the general election, as Republican Rhonda Holmes is also running for the House seat. District 66 includes sections of Barrington and East Providence. Democrat Joy Hearn has held the seat for the last 10 years, but announced earlier that she was not running for re-election. The League of Women Voters of Rhode Island is sponsoring the candidates' forum, along with Full Channel, East Bay Chamber of Commerce and East Bay Newspapers. Martin Middle School is located at 111 Brown St., in East Providence.