EDITORIAL: That Good Ole Boy Don’t Like Those Providence People

EDITORIAL: That Good Ole Boy Don’t Like Those Providence People

Let’s make no mistake about it. Some Charlestown town folk don’t want people from Providence coming down to their idyllic community.

No, not Charleston, South Carolina. They actually like the northerners coming down and spending their money.

We are talking Charlestown, Rhode Island. Down in the Deep South of Rhode Island.

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Heck, one town official, who is a former police officer and is now the head of the Emergency Management Agency, said at a public meeting on Monday, on a microphone in front of cameras, that they don’t appreciate those Providence people in Charlestown mixing with their children.

As GoLocal first reported on Wednesday, Kevin Gallup took the time to warn the fellow town folks in Charlestown about those northern people, and went on to say that if the town were to allow them to invade the fair gentle southern way of life, then you better hire old Billy Bob at the police station to work some extra hours to keep an eye on them types of people.

According to Gallup, “I think adding some food trucks to movie night sounds reasonable to me because not everybody’s going to go and watch a kids movie. They might want to go with their children and do something else while they’re there in the park,” said Gallup. 

“If we’re going to have people showing up from Providence and hanging out that we don’t know…along with our children…some people aren’t going to appreciate that and I can tell you that for a fact,” he added. “So you’re going to need that police detail. Sorry the world needs to be this way, but these things need to be thought out.”

Now, good ole boy Gallup's comments did not spark much outrage by the Town Council. Not one of them made a comment during or after the council meeting to distance themselves from ole Gallup’s comments.

When GoLocal emailed them and called them, one council member emailed that she disagreed with ole Gallup. And, another told GoLocal that he did not think the comment was helpful. No one wants ole Gallup to step away from his town job.

Heck, when Gallup was asked about his comments, he was nowhere to be found. He did not answer any of those electronic devices like that pesky official town email or phone number. He must have been at an emergency. 

Three of the town Council members had nothing to say. Not a word. Maybe ole Gallup was saying what they were thinking.

Heck, down in Charlestown folks live there because they want a safe environment for their kids, and one thing folks don’t want is those city people coming down to the south.