Guest MINDSETTER™ Dean Fachon: Why I’m Running for State Rep.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
I am running because I am guilty. I grew up thinking government was not something you got involved in. You voted, paid your taxes, kept your nose clean and kept track of the headlines, but running for office? Not when there were important things to do like attend college, find a career path, get married, climb the ladder, raise a family, and enjoy all the wonderful attractions Life has to offer. Like too many other Americans, running for office was the last thing on my mind.
But then 9/11 happened. My family was directly impacted, and suddenly the world took on more sinister tones. At first I was all on board with the program to “get the bastards that did it!” But not too long thereafter I started noticing things that just did not add up. Like we were at war, and all our President asked us to do was, “Go out and shop.” He might just as well have declared, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” From that moment on my focus on government – both Federal and State – has steadily increased.
Fast forward to Rhode Island in 2012. Our State is broken. “Posh,” old Smith Hill hands might bluff with a roll of their eyes and a wink to their cohorts. But I know what I see. While campaigning in my home town of East Greenwich – yes, East Greenwich – I have seen anger, fear, and even hopelessness. I walked into one cul-de-sac in a very nice neighborhood and found three neighbors all in the process of moving.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThey decided as one to pull stakes and get out because the state and town taxes are choking them. One man told me that a similar property in North Carolina would be taxed 1/5th as much. That’s just one of many such stories. No wonder our economy is dead last in a struggling Nation filled with struggling states. And Smith Hill’s penchant for business as usual – crony politics, unsustainable spending, hurried passage of bills, and pandering to special interests – is just pushing Rhode Island even deeper under water.
So I am running. Not because one vote is likely to make any difference in the General Assembly. Nor is my presence likely to swell the ranks of our minority party enough to erect many stop signs. I am running because the General Assembly needs a more balanced conscience. Where it seeks to enable special interests, it disables hard working Rhode Islanders.
There is either a real lack of awareness about how badly Rhode Island is hurting, or there is a real lack of concern. Either way, I have grown increasingly alarmed at the direction our state is taking. I am no politician. I am no lawyer. I am not running to see what I can do. I am running to see what can be undone. Rhode Island needs all hands on deck! I am running because for too long I avoided the call.
Emil “Dean” Fachon is a Republican candidate for State Rep. in District 30.
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