BURRRILLVILLE/NORTH SMITHFIELD – Paul Roselli, candidate for Rhode Island State Senate District 23, outlined his reasons for running this week, noting that he hopes to give the district a voice and an advocate at the state level – which he says has been absent over the past two years during his opponent’s term.
“In the last two years, nothing got done with the voice we now have in our state legislature,” Roselli said.
“If you believe that the protection and continued operation of the Eleanor Slater Hospital – Zambarano Unit is important for long term quality health care for patients and as a local source of jobs, then you should be concerned,” said Roselli. “If you live in North Smithfield and worry about forest clear cutting, you should be concerned. If you believe in up-to-date 911 services, efforts to open the Glocester Senior Center due to COVID-19 issues, then you don’t have a voice in the State legislature to help you out. If you receive your social security check, your medications, bills and important documents through the United States Postal Service, then you should be concerned because your current voice in the State Senate may be counter to your life saving needs.”
“During the nearly five year battle against the Invenergy power plant, I became a voice that was respected,” Roselli said. “I gave 47, ‘Learn the Facts,’ presentations about the power plant. Nearly a thousand attendees joined the fight as a direct result of my work and that presentation. I know how to get things done.”
“As a volunteer with the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team – Medical Reserve Corp, I know how the coronavirus impacts daily life,” Roselli continued. “The passion, dedication and commitment I mustered to defeat Invenergy, I can bring to the Senate to help move Rhode Island to a better economy, a well staffed health care and assisted living system, a robust clean environment and an efficient sustainable energy program.”
“My message is clear – we need a voice that is respected in the State House,” he added. “We need a voice of fairness and equality. A voice that draws people together instead of pushing them apart. A voice that defines success not by being liked but who works with local folks instead of working for outside national interests. Simply put, we don’t have one now.”
“I grew up in Providence in what is now known as the North End. My mother, Sylvia, attended nursing school late in life and became an LPN,” Roselli said. “My mother worked the ‘graveyard’ shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. five nights a week at Lying-In Hospital taking care of preemie babies. My father, Guido, was an auto-body mechanic who could discern a problem just by listening to the sound the engine made. I grew up with three siblings – my two sisters became RN’s, my brother became a contractor and builder, and I became a documentary film maker.”
“I’m running to make a difference,” Roselli said. “I work and volunteer to make people’s lives better. People and policy over politics.”