RCA Fundraiser Draws a Crowd

By Cynthia Drummond
June 22nd 2024

RICHMOND – On Thursday evening, the Richmond Community Alliance rolled the dice, and won.

There was no guarantee that the political action committee’s first big fundraiser would be a success, and it was the hottest day of the summer so far, but the tent at Alaina’s Ale House was packed with supporters who paid $35 per person for burgers and hot dogs, and anted up more to enter the dessert raffle.

Reached on Friday morning, RCA President Mark Reynolds said that about 60 people attended the event, dubbed the “Summer Solstice Cookout.”

“We thought that about 50 would be good, but 60 came,” he said. “It was a great evening, a great time.”

Jaime Marland another member of the RCA leadership team, was also impressed with the high turnout.

“I have to be honest, I’m kind of surprised at how big a turnout we got,” she said. “We did a little gathering, maybe six months ago – it wasn’t a fundraiser, just a ‘get to know you’ thing at the fire station and we had, maybe, 15 people.”

(At the time this story was posted, organizers had not announced the final attendance figure nor had they tallied the amount of money that had been raised.)

Why a Political Action Committee?

RCA member Dan Madnick, who serves on the Richmond Planning Board, described the group’s plan to raise money for its candidates.

“We’re going to be supporting and endorsing candidates for Town Council and School Committee, so, as a PAC, you have to raise money,” he said. “… There’s quite a bit of money that it takes to run even a local campaign, for Town Council, School Committee. You talk about national politics, and that’s millions and millions of dollars, but it still takes a few thousand dollars just to get one mailer out.”

Launched in Nov. 2023, the RCA describes itself as non-partisan and seeks to encourage positive political engagement and unite Richmond residents to work together for the town.

RCA Treasurer Joyce Flanagan said she was seeing more residents paying attention to town politics.

“I think that a lot of people who weren’t involved before are now involved and I think the awareness is higher than what it was two years ago, of what’s going on and how many people are planning to run,” she said.

The Guests

State Rep. Megan Cotter, D-Richmond, Hopkinton, Exeter said she hoped the next Town Council would be more willing to work with state representatives.

“It would be great to have a Town Council where we could work together for positive change for Richmond,” she said. “That’s the biggest thing, you know? Things will go on the Town Council agenda and it’s state level stuff, and no one reaches out to me.”

RCA member Jeff Noble was chatting with Richmond Democratic Town Committee Chair, Chris Kona.

“We’re really excited to have so much of Richmond show up to support our organization and what we’re doing,” Noble said.

Kona noted that the two groups shared many of the same principles and goals.

“I think there’s a lot of similarity between what the Richmond Community Alliance stands for and what the Richmond Democrats stand for,” he said. “So, while the Richmond Community Alliance is a bi - partisan organization, a lot of us  are both pointed at conservation, we’re both pointed at doing things that are good for the town and support strong schools, that it makes sense for us to support each other as we forward with our candidates.”

Former Town Council member Jim Palmisciano, who ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 2022, said he became a member of the RCA because he believes it’s important to encourage residents to become more politically engaged in their town.

Palmisciano noted that the Forgotten Taxpayers PAC, which is aligned with Richmond Republicans, has been getting its messages out to residents, and now, the RCA can also reach out to voters.

“They had put letters out, working with the Gaspee Project and Forgotten Taxpayers, sending out letters to the community, and in order to do that, they were doing fundraising under their PAC name, so now, we have the ability to do the same,” he said. “We are raising money, we are sending out communications to the community, we are maintaining a newsletter, we are going to be supporting candidates. So, we’ll have that presence to push back on the extremism.”

Town Council Vice President Richard Nassaney, a Republican who served several terms on the council but was ostracized by the local Republican Town Committee in 2022 for his willingness to work with Democrats, is not running for reelection this year.

Nassaney said he had come to the event to show his support for Palmisciano, Reynolds, Madnick and Wilcox, who are expected to run for Town Council.

“I would love to see Jim, Mark, Dan and Sam on the council,” he said. “That would be a super group of people who love the town and who will work for the town.”

Samantha Wilcox, the second Town Council member attending the cookout, praised the RCA for their outreach efforts.

“I think the Richmond Community Alliance has done a great job with their newsletters so far, to inform the public on what’s happening,” she said. “More media isn’t a bad thing. It’s good to have multiple sources.”

Looking out over the tent, which was, by dinnertime, filled with supporters, Reynolds admitted to feeling relieved that the group’s first fundraiser had been so well-received.docs