To the editor: 

I am writing this letter in response to recent articles highlighting people’s personal opinions regarding unaffiliated candidates for local office. 

According to Liana Cassar, current Town Council candidate and Chairwoman of the Barrington Democratic Town Committee, the Independent party is not a party. Well, that is exactly the point of being an Independent voter. In fact, more than half of registered voters in Barrington are Unaffiliated. Don’t we matter? Don’t we deserve a seat at the table? Just because we are not beholden to a party does not mean we cannot represent the people of this town. 

I have come to believe that the people in town are sick of national politics and party agendas infiltrating our local community. After attending the candidate forum, I was told to vote only for democrats by Kerry O’Neill and Cassar. Well, no thank you. 

I also heard from Cassar that all three Democrats run on the four pillars of the democratic party, which to me means they will all vote down party lines. Her comment implies all three democrats running for School Committee will follow suit. They will be beholden to their “group” as we have witnessed over the years especially on the School Committee. This also means that they are more aligned with national politics and policies by the democratic party and not the town of Barrington. 

The independent candidates are exactly what they said, Independent. All three are looking to get Barrington back on track and focus on the Town of Barrington and not follow any party lines or political agendas. All the candidates told their stories including Cassar, a former Barrington state rep, toting nothing really good that she accomplished for the town of Barrington, and in fact as a freshman legislator tried to take over the Speaker of the House position, which didn’t end well for her. 

We have Dr. Megan Douglas running for a third term on the School Committee, toting all her accomplishments, but fails to highlight her role in costing the town $700,000 in lawsuits, a skyrocketing budget, low employee morale and divisive after divisive initiative.  

The other democrats are new to town and do not seem to be involved with what has been going on. They all seemed to have “the same” message. 

It’s time to vote for candidates who are not beholden to a party and will vote their conscious not what someone tells them to vote for or else they will face retribution. Get out and vote! Your vote matters especially for these local candidates looking to represent the majority of voters in our town. Vote for Independent candidates for Council and School Committee.

Tom Rimoshytus

Barrington