June
16, 2009
Contact: Contact: Larry Valencia
248-8355 (C)
Press
Release
The
Board of Directors of Operation
Clean Government (OCG) is pleased
to announce that Larry Valencia,
a current Board Member and a
former candidate for State Representative
has been elected to complete
the unexpired term of President
Chuck Barton at their Board of
Directors meeting earlier this
month. Mr. Barton, Vice-President
of Commercial Lending at People's
United Bank in Norwich, CT, resigned
from the position to better fulfill
his business and other volunteer
commitments. He has served as
President since November 2006.
"
It is with great sadness that we
accept Chuck's resignation, but
we are very hopeful that Larry
will step in and continue the good
leadership that Chuck Barton provided
for nearly three years," said
Robert Benson, OCG Vice-President. "We
wish Chuck the best of luck in
the future, and we are very happy
that he has agreed to stay on OCG's
Board to provide leadership and
continuity."
Larry Valencia has been lobbying
on behalf of Operation Clean Government
this year, especially for the proposed
Inspector General and Voter Handbook
legislation. Larry has also hosted
OCG's public access cable TV show
State of the State on occasion.
Larry recently ran unsuccessfully
for State Representative in the
D-39 (Richmond, Charlestown, Exeter)
Democratic primary in 2008, his
first run for state office. He
is a long-time member of the Richmond
Zoning Board of Review, and is
the Chairman of the Richmond Economic
Development Commission. He was
also the Chairman of the Richmond
Home Rule Charter Commission, an
elected body that crafted the recently
approved Richmond Charter which
includes recall and voter initiative
provisions. When he is not reading
and writing, he coaches girls'
basketball and softball. Larry
has a B.S. in Chemistry from Charter
Oak College, and an M.S. in Pharmaceutical
Science from St. John's University.
He works as a freelance medical
writer and part-time sales agent
for Glacial Energy in Sandwich,
MA. Larry and his wife, Patty,
have three children.
"
Chuck Barton, our outgoing President,
did an excellent job in his nearly
three years of service, and we
owe him tremendously for his
efforts," said Larry. "I
am honored to be chosen - Chuck's
shoes will be difficult to fill,
but I look forward to the challenge.
My priorities will be a continuation
of Chuck's efforts: to continue
pursuing Operation Clean Government's
good government goals and to
continue to energize the citizen
watchdogs of our state."
Operation Clean Government is
a statewide group in Rhode Island
that is dedicated to promoting
honest, responsible, and responsive
state government. OCG believes
that our state elected and appointed
officials should be accountable
to all the people whom they serve.
OCG believes that a healthy democracy
can only be insured when there
is transparency in government and
all citizens have full access to
their government. OCG advocates
strong democratic laws and institutions
that will give the public confidence
that policies are fairly debated
and decided on their merits, and
that our common resources are used
responsibly in the public interest.
OCG is a 501(C)4 non-profit organization,
with over 2,000 members, having
formed in 1993, when several smaller
citizens groups merged. One of
the major issues at that time was
the Rhode Island banking crisis,
when large and politically connected
borrowers defaulted on loans, freezing
billions of dollars of small depositor
accounts and catalyzing citizen
outrage. # #
