We all know that Smithfield is one of the finest towns in Rhode Island. Republicans have had the Town Council majority for most terms in the last two decades. We have administered our government in conformance with out guiding principles, which include working for the people of our town and putting the people first, ahead of our party.

Even when we have not been in control of the Town government, we have worked to better Smithfield. Our candidates have solid roots in Smithfield, and care about our residents. We have remained involved throughout the past few years, reminding Democrats that people are watching.

Over the years, we have build solid town services, including garbage collection, road plowing and maintenance, public safety and others. We have expanded the rescue capacity on our town and provided a nationally accredited police department. We have improved our roads, rebuilding over 75 of them. We have improved our recreation facilities, including the Stump Pond fishing area.

We have been strong supporters of our schools. We do our best for force the School Committee to try to save money wherever possible, and when the schools are in need we find resources to provide what is needed. When the High School needed significant improvements to their science facilities, we found a way to get it done.

At the elementary level, we strongly support our neighborhood, local elementary schools. Two of our candidates for Town Council are current and former teachers, so we understand and support education. We oppose, and continue to oppose, the ongoing effort to consolidate the elementary schools into one giant mega-school as proposed by Democrats.

We have always appointed qualified, experienced people to all positions, including critically important ones like the probate judge and our Zoning and Planning Boards. We have appointed Democrats when they were the best person for the job. Party or family affiliation plays no part in our evaluation.

We have worked to establish regulations to control development, doing all we could to offset damage done by the so-called affordable housing legislation enacted by the General Assembly. This new law allowed developers - who are heavy donors to the democrats - to bypass our zoning regulations and build large facilities that would burden our town services. Our Town Solicitor, an excellent attorney with the resources of an entire firm and skilled partners, successfully challenged many proposed developments in Superior Court and won a resounding victory for Smithfield. We remain committed to controlling development to protect our residents.

We recognize the small government is more efficient government, and an efficient government can best serve our residents. We oppose expansion of government and government power and prefer limited government.

We have successfully worked to expand our tax base by recruiting business to Smithfield, including financial companies like Fidelity, the credit Union of Central Falls and others. These businesses pay taxes which help us fund government operations, allowing taxpayers to pay less.

Right now, Smithfield is facing new challenges. Moral among town staff members is low and key employees have resigned, leaving critical positions open. The financial challenges of Rhode Island's faltering economy require experienced leaders at all levels to protect our residents against any impact.

Republicans offer solid, experienced candidates with well over 50 years of combined leadership service. we will rebuild moral, recruit excellent replacements for those employees who were forced out and continue to advance and improve the quality of Smithfield's services and our residents quality of life.

We know this won't be easy, but we know we are up to the challenge. We respectfully request your support on election day, so that we can support you and Smithfield.