State Senate Dist. 22 candidate Melanie DuPont said she is seeking out the seat because she has “trust issues” with the current representation.
DuPont spoke to the Sun Rise both during a phone interview late last month and via an email follow-up on July 1, explaining her decision to challenge incumbent four-term Sen. Stephen Archambault for the seat that represents Smithfield, North Providence and a sliver of Johnston.
DuPont previously opposed Archambault in the 2018 Democratic primary, which the incumbent won by more than 700 votes.
She said her key platforms include environmental concerns, minimum wage increases and a greater focus on mental health.
“I know I’m the best person for this job because, as a professional communicator, I listen to people,” said DuPont, one of the co-founders of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative. “I hear and understand their needs, I ask them questions, I do my research, and I work to find the best solution – and then I take action to implement that solution. I’ve been doing that work for 25 years. It’s really my life’s work, and it’s what I’m best at.”
DuPont pointed to her childhood in Smithfield as a significant reason for supporting at least $15 minimum wage. She said her mother earned tipped minimum wage for nearly three decades while her father struggled to find employment. Later in life, her own inability to find work and affordable housing in the town forced her to make the difficult decision to leave Smithfield.
“It broke my heart to have to leave my home, but I didn’t have another choice,” DuPont said. “After 20 years I came back, because I love it here. I love what our district offers in terms of clean water and green space and our community, but despite working full time, I still can’t afford a house here. I want to make change here so it’s possible for families to start building intergenerational wealth, and I haven’t seen our General Assembly make significant strides in this direction in 20 years.”
DuPont used a Johnston example to illustrate the necessity for a wage hike. Some of the available apartments in the Cherry Hill area run about $1,150 per month, and she noted that those making $11.50 an hour on the increased minimum wage coming in October would have to pay more than half their gross income just to live there.
She said the General Assembly is “moving way too slowly to help people,” and added that “inflation eats all the benefits” because of the delays in enacting increases.
“Every year that goes by that we don’t hit that $15 [mark], that $15 becomes not the number we need to shoot for anymore,” DuPont said. “Minimum wage is tied to housing very intimately. You’ve got basically people who are trying to build their lives and stay in one neighborhood for generations. If they’re not making enough money, they’re not going to be able to stay there. We’ve got to work faster to increase the minimum wage.”
DuPont said that she has concerns about Archambault’s commitment to environmental issues. She pointed to a notice of violation that Archambault received first in 2011 for altering freshwater wetlands at Angell Brook in North Providence without a permit. A decision signed July 29, 2019, from the Department of Environmental Management shows Archambault and David Dexter were fined $70,000 for the matter.
“I was really concerned that this just isn't a guy that gets environmental stewardship and how important it is to the health and safety of the people,” DuPont said.
DuPont also lobbied for more services being made available to domestic abuse survivors who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. She said that, while the crisis has taken a toll on the mental health of most people, the situation is especially dire for victims forced to stay home with abusers.
“We want to help them rebuild their lives, recover from PTSD for example,” DuPont said. “So one thing I’d like to do is expand the mental health services that are available to survivors of domestic violence and also just de-stigmatize mental healthcare in general. I think every person at some time in their life is going to need some help, and I just want to make sure we normalize that so people are not afraid to go seek that help and I want to fund it.”
DuPont summed up her reasons for running into two words – “courage and compassion.” She said those are two values “we could use more of” at the State House, and it speaks to the larger purpose of the RI Political Cooperative as well.
“The mission is to replace a significant chunk of the government that is slow, that is stale, that is not doing the work with people that know how to collaborate, know how to build trust, know how to work with each other quickly, who understand that taking on the establishment that we don’t trust is a priority,” DuPont said. “We can’t just complain, we have to act. We have to replace the senators and representatives that have proven to us we can’t trust them to either act or act fast enough.”
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