To the Editor:

2018 was a very eventful year for Cranston and 2019 is looking as if it could be even more significant. One important lesson I learned in 2018 is that there really isn’t an East and West Cranston or 6 wards or neighborhoods like Edgewood, Garden City and Alpine Village. There is only one Cranston when it comes to quality of education, life and safety. At every City Council meeting I attended Cranstonians presented their concerns and testified on issues that had to do with the quality life of their area, neighborhood or school. We are all in this together and when we support each other we can improve all of our lives.

We can no longer view our neighbor’s issues and problems from a distance. Its not just Edgewood’s problem if their property values decrease and their children may suffer health problems because of a Cumberland Farms gas station project. It’s not just Alpine Villages problem that a neighboring town builds a wind farm that may cause health problems and decrease their property values. It’s not Garden City’s problem if a major entertainment venue called TopGolf is built and disrupts the quality of their lives and property values. It’s not OK for ill-planned solar farm projects to be build in Western Cranston because I can’t see them from Edgewood.

We are all Cranstonians and we must work and support each other to ensure that our City Council, Mayor’s Office, planning and zoning boards and commissions respect and listen to our concerns and that they place the quality of our lives and neighborhoods as their number 1 priority not National Grid, Cumberland Farms or Southern Sky Renewable Energy.

We need to be vigilant, persistent and present. We cannot accept secret deals to lease our parks, let National Grid destroy 100-year-old trees because it’s easier for them or change zoning to suit an outsider’s desire to improve their financial return. Cranston belongs to its citizens not to its elected officials or to outside businesses.

By supporting and working together we cannot only retain, we can increase the quality of life we enjoy, want and deserve from our City. Wishing everyone a prosperous, healthy and safe 2019

Tom Wojick

Cranston