2020 Election Profile: Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, RI House District 15
GoLocalProv News Team
2020 Election Profile: Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, RI House District 15
Read what she has to say about why she is running for office.
This is part of an ongoing series by GoLocal featuring each of the candidates for House and Senate.
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1. What do you think is the biggest political issue this campaign season in Rhode Island?
Without a doubt, the biggest issue this campaign season is the broken promises and loss of faith in the current leadership team in the General Assembly. This is a time of enormous challenges, and the pure lack of leadership – in fact the complete ceding of leadership – by Mattiello during the most devastating natural crisis of our time, is eye opening to many in District 15. His passiveness, even the arrogance in saying he was bored at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, while nurses, first responders, grocery workers, and so many others were working their tails off in incredibly scary circumstances, reinforces that it’s time for change makers to take the reins. In the Mattiello led GA there are no big ideas, just big paydays for insiders like Dr. Pedro who was given 1.8 million in taxpayer dollars for unproven therapies.
2. What do we need to do to improve Rhode Island's economy?
CNBC has yet again ranked Rhode Island dead last for business in the nation. Mattiello’s budgets have expanded the sales tax, costing residents tens of millions of dollars a year. As Majority Leader, he even voted to reinstate the car tax on Rhode Islanders. And while Rome is burning during the COVID-19 crisis, he found excuses not to meet, didn’t trim his own budget, and even made additional hires of family members of close allies.
Our economy needs bold investments in areas that will catapult us out of ho-hum last place and into the leadership pack of the future. We need to look at statewide 5G to support remote work and distance learning demands. We need to increase investment in our top-level healthcare industry that is suffering from years of cuts, and we need to stop tip toeing around our public education and go all in to create safe, world-class learning environments so that our kids are ready for the jobs of the fourth industrial revolution upon us. And we also need to trim the fat of state government that is hindering our ability to prioritize for these goals.
3. What is the greatest challenge facing Rhode Island as a state?
Rhode Island is suffering from a lack of bold leadership, big ideas, and a long-standing mediocre General Assembly that does not deliver the bang for the expensive buck. We pay more and get less. It’s time now for that change. We will not accept the status quo. We will not accept that this great state can be nothing more than a last place footnote. We started the American Revolution, we were a national power during the Industrial Revolution, and Rhode Island will once again be a powerhouse with new leadership at the helm.
4. Why are you running for office? What makes you uniquely qualified?
I’m running for office because I don’t think corruption and arrogance are qualities that should be rewarded with another term. I think we need more real-world front-line professionals in the State House. As a therapist making home visits, I’ve seen first-hand how a lack of progress in the GA on legislation making prescription meds more affordable has forced our seniors to decide between this month’s diabetes meds and paying rent on time. As an educator, I’ve seen what happens when kids are not properly prepared for college, and how that sets them back towards their career passions. I’ve been in the trenches for fifteen years; I’ve seen and experienced these problems first hand, and I know how to fix them. It’s time to lead and achieve just that.
5. Who is your inspiration?
My inspiration is my mother, a special education teacher by trade, who has given every moment of her free time to expanding STEM opportunities for the next generation of students on Aquidneck Island. As a school committee member in Middletown for two decades, she’s fought to expand school to career pathways, knowing that the jobs of the fourth industrial revolution require engaged minds trained to innovate. Recently she was named President of the RI Association of School Committees.
As the coach of the local high school robotics team alongside my father, she’s connected young students – and especially girls – with amazing internship opportunities, seeing some of them go off to Stanford and MIT to pursue careers in engineering. During the winter months, you can find her at 9 o’clock on Friday night inside the school robotics lab, making sure the kids have more time to work on the new pneumatic device that they think will help them win the next match. And she does all of this as a volunteer, without complaint or mention. She’s an inspiration to so many, and I’m proud to call her my mom.
Contact Info:
Campaign website: BarbaraAnn2020.com
Facebook: fb.com/BAFentonFung
Twitter @BarbaraAnnRI