I am extremely excited to announce my candidacy for RI State Senate District 17. I am running to represent my hometown of Lincoln as well as North Smithfield and North Providence. This has been in the works for the last few weeks and months, and I am ready to enjoy the warm weather by hitting the pavement and talking to voters.

Since the beginning of 2022, I have spent my time diving into the local policy process at the Town Council and communicating with current local elected officials. I will continue to build on these experiences to develop solutions in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders.
Today is also when my friend Bonnie Taylor announces her campaign for Lincoln Town Council District 2. We are going to work together to bring about important changes and build a durable movement of activists.

What can you do to Help?
There is actually a lot you can do right now to help out the campaign! The #1 option is to make a small recurring donation, only if you are able to. It might not seem all that important, but it guarantees that there will be resources to use later in the campaign season. As an added bonus, you get a free campaign shirt for contributing $40 or more (whether it is one-time or across multiple small recurring donations added together)!

If you live in the district, you can also request a free yard sign! Just send a message and I will drop one off for you. Sometime in the near future, I will be setting up a calendar for volunteers to sign up to knock doors or make phone calls. You can send a message about volunteering as well if that interests you.

What am I Doing for my Community Right Now? 
Besides preparing for today’s announcements, I have spent these past few weeks active in local government business just like any other month:

• Attended and briefly spoke at the Lincoln Town Council in support of efforts to develop an ordinance regulating short-term rentals. While they can fill a niche in the market, short-term rentals like Airbnb cause a lot of harms, for owners, consumers, and neighbors alike. You can watch the May meeting and my comments here.
  
• Attended the second public forum for updates to Lincoln’s Comprehensive Plan and spoke with the town’s hired consultants on important historical housing data and reports that Lincoln refused to act on decades ago.

Plans for the Future
Today marks the first day of a long campaign season. There are going to be many long and tiring days, but I am ready to embrace the challenge ahead. I will continue to attend local board and commission meetings and work closely with our other elected officials. I will also work to get more residents involved in local politics and elections to improve civic engagement and awareness. I hope you will join me and help bring about change in RI. Thank you for your support!

I hope your week has started off well. The start of May this year means a lot to me. Despite basically every other day being rainy, I am very much enjoying the warmth of spring. May is also the last full month of school, signaling time for the bittersweet goodbyes to the wonderful (and energetic) 6th grade class I have been lucky to work with.

May is also when political campaigns start kicking into high gear. I have been working closely with members of my community for the last months who also want to bring about change. Government can only succeed when all levels are working together to achieve common goals, and we plan to do just that.
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Our Big Announcement is Coming Thursday, May 23!
I am very excited, not just for myself, but for all of the people I have been working with these last few weeks and months. Besides my own work I am planning to share, I am also Chair of the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee. I want to build a community of like-minded advocates that can help candidates win for years to come. The key to success in 2024 is collaboration and outreach, and we have been quite successful at that for the last few months.

What am I Doing for my Community Right Now?
Compared to what is coming up for May, April was a somewhat slower month. Some work was public, and some was behind the scenes, but it was an overall productive month:

• Attended and spoke at the Lincoln Town Council Ordinance Sub-Committee addressing an ordinance that has been in the works for a few months. Back in February, I previously suggested to the Ordinance Sub-Committee (linked here) a few different municipalities to use as a model for developing an ordinance in Lincoln. During the April meeting, the Sub-Committee chose a model I suggested to them a few months prior. You can watch the April meeting and my comments here.
• Working with the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, we published a Letter to the Editor in our local paper, The Valley Breeze. We addressed an inappropriate comment from a Town Councilor that demonized non-English speaking residents in our community. You can find a copy of that letter here.
• Also working with the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, we donated $150 worth of gift certificates from small local businesses in Lincoln to the ‘Lincoln Memorial Day Parade Bingo Fundraiser’ to raise money for our local parade.

Plans for the Future
May is a much busier month than April was. There are two big town meetings happening this month. The first is the Financial Town Meeting is scheduled for May 13th at the Lincoln High School at 7pm. Citizens get in one big meeting room and discuss and vote on the town budget, so it is super important all Lincoln voters attend! The second is the Comprehensive Plan public meeting will be hosted on May 16th at the Lincoln High School at 6:30pm. This will give updates on our Comprehensive Plan that will last at least a decade. If you care about the long-term goals of the town, this is the meeting to attend!

I will be spending the next week, with other members of the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, getting out the vote to the Financial Town Meeting, and telling them why it is so important residents attend the FTM and the Comprehensive Plan meeting. I always enjoy meeting and learning from people in the community, and that will only continue for the next weeks and months ahead.

Thank you so much for sticking with me, and I cannot wait to share more with you on May 23!

Happy Sunday! I am so glad that spring has officially arrived. The warmth and nature that comes with the end of winter is one of my most favorite times of the year.

What Have I Done for my Community in March?
March is a strange month for local gov’t business. Committees, boards, and gov’t agencies across Lincoln and the state of RI are in the middle of budget planning for fiscal year 2024-2025. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes, including legislation and ordinances taking a back seat. However, I have found ways to keep myself active:

• Attended and spoke at the Lincoln Town Council addressing two resolutions. One designated American Rescue Plan funds for pedestrian improvements to Lincoln’s ‘main street’. The other expressed support for state legislation that requires the state maintain sidewalks on state roads. You can watch that here.
  
• Currently working on a Letter to the Editor with the rest of the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee to be published in our local paper, The Valley Breeze.

I will continue to advocate for important policies and programs that benefit Lincolnites, and Rhode Islanders across the state, regardless of whether I win an election or not.

Happy Friday! For me, this one is extra special because I start February break today. I love the Medfield community and all the people I work with, kids and adults alike, but I will never be sad about extra time to relax and unwind.

What Am I Doing for my Community Right Now?
That is the question everyone wants to know when you run for office, and I am happy to answer. Since just the beginning of this year, I have:

• Attended and spoke at the Lincoln Town Council addressing a proposed ordinance for a new resident only parking program. You can watch that here.
  
• Testified at the RI State House in favor of ‘Right to Repair’ legislation that would increase competition and reduce costs for consumers. You can watch that here.
  
• Submitted and published a Letter to the Editor in The Valley Breeze emphasizing the need to protect funding for Lincoln Public Schools. You can read that here.

I will continue to advocate for important policies and programs that benefit Lincolnites, and Rhode Islanders across the state, regardless of whether I win an election or not.

Below is a letter written and sent to the Central Falls Zoning Board of Review on July 18, 2022. This is an online copy for all interested parties to access.

Dear Honorable Members of the Central Falls Zoning Board of Review,

            My name is Cameron Deutsch, and I am a proud Lincoln resident of almost twenty years. I am also a candidate to represent the towns of Lincoln, North Smithfield, and North Providence in the RI State Senate. I am writing this letter in strong opposition to Western Oil’s expansion of storage tanks.
            Western Oil has been pursuing this expansion project for almost two years, and the reaction from the public and elected officials has been quite clear: this project is not wanted and poses multiple concerns that are too significant a challenge for Western Oil to overcome. With eight storage tanks already in use, a plethora of residents have aired complaints of foul odors and loud noises from transporting trucks. This proposal seeks to almost double their current capacity, from eight tanks, to fourteen. It is unquestionable that this expansion would only exacerbate the current issues faced by members of the community and potentially negatively impact local property values surrounding the lot. Not only that, the storage tanks, and their expansion, continue to pose an environmental threat to neighboring Scott Pond and Valley Falls Pond. While the company has been in compliance with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations, and had no previous issues with leaks, that does not mean they are impossible. Looking at fossil fuel projects around the country reveals a consistent lack of oversight and containment planning. We should not increase the risk to our community and environment anymore than the current tanks already pose. On top of this, the usage of fossil fuels to power our society is already on the decline. Just this legislative session, our General Assembly passed the strongest green energy requirements in the country. What happens five, ten, or fifteen years from now when it is no longer profitable for Western Oil to operate in the area? Will they properly decommission their equipment, or will they follow the lead of other fossil fuel companies and leave their equipment to deteriorate, and leave us with the consequences? If the city of Central Falls decided to turn the land into affordable housing, or some other project, will local taxpayers have to pay the bill to clean up what is left behind?
            When the expansion project first reached the zoning board in 2020, Western Oil wanted to expand its storage tanks not by six, but by nine. When asked at the time, Vice President Jared Raftery could not confirm whether that would be the final expansion. The former mayor of Central Falls Thomas Lazieh believed the expansion in 2012 was its last. If we give Western Oil an inch today, they very well might take it a mile. I join the overwhelming consensus among the residents and local and state elected officials from Lincoln and Central Falls, and the RI Superior Court in standing in opposition to this project.

In Solidarity,

​Cameron Deutsch

     The first role of government is to work by and for the people. Across the country, this is being put to the test. Many hoped that we would not have to worry about redistricting in our own state, and yet here we are. After what appeared to be an open and transparent process by the RI Redistricting Commission for months, it was all thrown away.
    The first district plans were released on December 2, 2021. After the last ten years of Lincoln being divided across two State Senate districts, the town seemed like it would finally be unified. It would have ensured our community could efficiently advocate for the election of candidates and drafting of policies that benefit every Lincolnite. Unification of Lincoln was not just a potential option, but the only option the Commission considered across three different map proposals over the course of weeks.
    If the breaking up of Lincoln was a proposal provided by the Commission during the process beforehand, it would have left ample opportunities for Lincoln citizens to get involved and object. When the Commission released its final proposals, it was clear something was amiss. They were released five minutes before the final hearing, and no public comment was allowed. Rather than maintaining a unified Lincoln, the town was broken up across not two, but three different State Senate districts.
    Allegations of impropriety, and denials, have been thrown around from multiple sides. The goal here is not to put blame on one person, elected official, or group, but outline the legitimate concerns that have been raised recently. The primary concern is the fact that State Senator Archambault owns land in Lincoln, and that land is now a part of his own District 22. Whether the Senator has plans to move (which he denies) is not important. What is important is that while the Senator and state redistricting consultant Kimball Brace has stated that this was done because Lincoln residents expressed an interest in being connected to Smithfield as a community of interest, local journal outlets like the Providence Journal have reported that there was no communication between Lincoln residents and in fact, no paper trail can be found of who these unnamed residents are or what their concerns were. As the information about the breaking up of Lincoln has been shared with residents online, the reaction has been the exact opposite, that residents do not want to be separated into other districts. Anyone can find a virtual trail in the Lincoln Community Group on Facebook, and public comments on The Valley Breeze articles. When State Senator Paolino of Lincoln testified against the proposed changes in the Senate Judiciary Committee, his concerns were largely dismissed, and he was not allowed to respond when unverifiable claims of concerned Lincoln citizens not wanting to be a part of the town’s district were brought up again.
    Maintaining a sense of fairness and transparency should be the number one concern of anyone serving in government. While most of the Redistricting Commission process has been open, accessible, and perceivably fair, dividing Lincoln up has not been. It is unfortunate, but not unexpected that the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved of the changes and sent them to the full Senate for approval. Tuesday, February 15, the full Senate is expected to take up and vote on the new maps. Before they are approved, Lincoln residents should be re-united into a single State Senate district.

 I am so excited to announce my candidacy for RI State Senator of Lincoln, North Smithfield and North Providence! A little bit about me: I am a lifelong Rhode Islander and Lincolnite, recent Lincoln High School alum, and current senior at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. I study both Political Science and Law, and hope to work towards my master's in Public Administration.

I have been working on the groundwork for this campaign for the last two years with help from both friends and family. My first idea was to run for school committee when I graduated High School. Since going to college, I have found a love for public policy and advocacy, and believe that I could do my best starting in the Rhode Island State Senate. I have developed a strong political identity for myself that has been shaped in large part due to the last five years in American politics, and all the chaos that has come with it. With my undergraduate years at college quickly coming to a close, I am ready to stand up and support my community, and my state.

For too long, our government has failed to adequately address the problems facing the hard-working families of Rhode Island. Stagnant wages and rising living expenses has made the American dream unobtainable for far too many while skyrocketing costs for higher education and issues like the climate crisis have left future generations wondering if there is a secure future to look forward to. Crumbling infrastructure makes us look more like we are faltering than prospering and exorbitant healthcare costs are forcing many to choose between meds or food on the table.

I have a vision of government different from that we have seen in the past. I believe government can be a vehicle of change and growth, providing support for small business and middle-class families, and investing in new and innovative technology and infrastructure to make our economy strong and one of a kind. I plan to work hand in hand with our congressional delegation and local elected leaders to ensure everyone in Rhode Island has a fair shot at success.

This campaign will not be easy. We will not be funded by corporate PACs or excess wealth like some politicians do. We are fighting for the people, and will be funded by the people too. The support we have already received these last few months has made me even more excited for the weeks and months ahead. If you believe in the same vision I do, I hope I can your support, and I cannot wait to see everyone on the campaign trail soon.

​~ Cameron Deutsch