Archer wants to bring people’s voice to State House

Matt Bower
Posted 10/2/14

Steven Archer, an independent candidate facing incumbent William Walaska in the race for Senate District 30 in the November election, said he decided to run for the position because he wants to bring …

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Archer wants to bring people’s voice to State House

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Steven Archer, an independent candidate facing incumbent William Walaska in the race for Senate District 30 in the November election, said he decided to run for the position because he wants to bring the people’s voice to the State House.

“I want to be a voice for the long suffering, marginalized, hardworking, honest citizens of the district,” he said in a press release. “The current senator’s nearly 20-year term in office has been characterized by complacency, inadequate representation and alienation of the electorate.”

When going door to door throughout the district, Archer said most people don’t know who Walaska is or that he’s their senator.

“The guy is basically absent. He hasn’t done anything in 20 years in office,” Archer said.

Archer said the premise of his campaign is change.

“I represent bringing the public back into the picture, bringing their voice with me to the State House,” Archer said during a phone interview Tuesday. “People have a voice, they have the power. We’ve lost focus on the way government is supposed to run.”

If elected, Archer said he would like to hold two meetings a month, what he called “fireside chats,” at Buttonwoods Community Center where people can come and provide him a list of their concerns, which he can then choose from to take with him to the State House to be addressed.

“I want to give people a choice of what we talk about up there,” he said. “I also want to bring ethics back to the State House and hold people accountable.”

Archer said General Assembly members shouldn’t be passing bills just to say they did something.

“If they’re writing bogus bills just to make legislation, they need to be held accountable,” he said.

Archer said he’s tired of the excuses.

“I want to change the way the State House is organized and run,” he said. “There are road blocks everywhere; no one has any control.”

Archer said he would not tolerate the “business as usual” mentality and the “stalling of legitimate bills, which, if presented, would move this state forward.”

“Unlike the incumbent, I will return my constituents’ phone calls and I will answer their questions,” he said in the release. “Being responsible to citizens’ concerns should not be a novel approach, but a standard of all elected officials.”

A lifelong resident of Rhode Island and a nearly 50-year resident of District 30, Archer moved to Oakland Beach in 1966 and then to Nausauket in 1967. He now resides on Darrow Road. Archer and his wife of 27 years, Mary-Ellen, have three daughters, Erin, Kalyn, and Jill.

“I have lived here most of my life, with the exception of military duties,” he said. “I have participated in many occupations throughout my life here. From a paperboy in the ’60s to Meschino’s Buttonwoods Supermarket in the ’70s to jewelry factories in Providence in the ’70s.”

Archer attended both Oakland Beach and Nausauket elementary schools before going on to Lockwood Jr. High and Warwick Veterans Memorial High School. He graduated from Toll Gate High School in 1976.

Immediately after high school, Archer joined the Army, where he served in the Army 82nd Airborne Division, 19th Special Forces Group Airborne National Guard.

Following his time in the military, Archer said he worked to become a journeyman electrician, and after several years became a shellfisherman.

From the 1980s through 2000, Archer said he was active in many areas.

“I went back to school during these years and became a respiratory therapist, working in the neonatal intensive care unit at Women & Infants,” he said. “I continued to shellfish while advancing my education, finishing my nursing degree in 1994 and moving to the operating room at Women & Infants.”

Archer attained his associate’s degree in Respiratory Care at Roger Williams College and his bachelor’s degree in Nursing at Rhode Island College. He then went to Central Connecticut State University to get his master’s degree.

“I further continued my education through my master’s degree and certification as an advanced practice Registered Nurse known as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in Rhode Island,” he said, adding that he worked in that capacity as a Registered Nurse Anesthetist at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket. “Through all the above, I left the Army National Guard in 1987, got married and raised three wonderful girls with my wife Mary-Ellen. All this activity was intense and at times difficult, but we accomplished our goals and had many happy times for many great memories.”

This is not Archer’s first campaign. He’s run five campaigns from 1990 to 1998, where he “came very close to victory challenging the strong machine that still exists today.”

Archer said he stepped away from campaigns in order to spend more time with is growing family, but now he’s ready to get back to it, this time as an independent.

“I ran as a Republican in the old days because independents were not well known back then,” he said. “I don’t want to be tied to a party. I’m more of a moderate, either a conservative Democrat or a liberal Republican. I can work with both sides without pressure from either one.”

Archer said he is basically a one-man campaign.

“I have a couple helpers. I have a website and a Facebook page, I’m going door to door and I have signs,” he said of his campaign. “I’m running a grass roots campaign and funding it mostly on my own.”

Archer said he’s not big on asking people for money, although he has received some donations.

“I believe the best way to do this is personally,” he said. “What you see is what you get.”

Archer said the time for responsive and responsible representation is long overdue.

“On November 4th, you can make change, you can be heard, and your vote can count,” he said. “I would be honored to bring your voice to the Senate. Together, we can make a difference.”

For more information, visit Archer’s website at www.stevenarcherri.com and look for his Steven Archer for State Senate Facebook page.

Comments

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  • patientman

    You got my vote

    Thursday, October 2, 2014 Report this

  • FASTFREDWARD4

    that will be the only vote. thank-you

    Friday, October 3, 2014 Report this

  • FASTFREDWARD4

    I never sleep

    Friday, October 3, 2014 Report this

  • patientman

    His wife will vote for him, therefore your poll will be off by 50%. I will not be alone.

    Saturday, October 4, 2014 Report this

  • JohnStark

    On his web page, Senator Walaska lists various committees and councils (Economic Development Corporation; the Economic Policy Council) on which he serves. It would appear that these very same committees and councils have overseen the virtual destruction of the RI economy. Mr. Walaska also notes that he is a board member at Bishop Hendricken High School where he has, I fact, NOT been on the board for over eleven years. His failure to correct this is sloppy and highlights a degree of laziness and complacency, which is malignant at the state house. I'm sure the good senator is a nice guy and probably a good person, but his twenty years in the RI state legislature personifies all that is wrong with RI politics.

    Monday, October 6, 2014 Report this

  • FASTFREDWARD4

    John he is going to be there for 20 more yrs. Yes my poll is off . better call for help I guess

    Monday, October 6, 2014 Report this