Recently the City of Harrisville chose to elect Ruth Pearce as a new member of the City council. She will join her husband, Jeff Pearce, who has served a total of four years with two years left in his term. This is a historic moment in Harrisville, as no husband and wife have ever served on the City council together. On Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, Ruth was sworn into office and took her seat.
According to Mayor Bruce Richins, who was elected in 2014, “There is no other resident that has come to more council meetings than Ruth. She has always stood to comment about something that is of concern to her.”
When talking to Ruth Pearce about why she wanted to run for City council, her reply was, “It’s going to be neat! I’m interested in what’s happening with the City. I thought I could help make decisions instead of listening to them. I also hope to do more research and help Harrisville City save money. I’d like to make sure ordinances are followed to help businesses in the City, while not infringing on individual rights.”
The question some residents have asked is, “How will it be to have a husband and wife on the same council?” Resident Teresa Meyers says, “I think for the best interest of the community, that it is not a good idea for spouses to serve together. But, since they both were individually elected and not appointed, the community had their say.” Ruth’s response is, “I’ll vote how I want to vote, not how he (Jeff) votes! We will both do research on the issues. We don’t just rely on notes from the agenda. We will take a closer look.”
Jeff Pearce, in regards to his wife says, “She has every legal right to be there. She has her own opinion and I have mine. I think it’ll be interesting. Ruth has a good background in finance and maybe our city needs someone good with money.”
How does Jeff feel about being on the council himself? “Well you can stand there and gripe or get up and do something about it.”
Gary Robinson, who has been serving Harrisville City for several years and is currently on the council says, “For the citizens I think it’ll be better to have them both on the council. They’ll really put forth the effort and as far as spending money goes they’ll be excellent for the taxpayers.”
If you are interested in hearing about the business of Harrisville City and the decisions being made by the council, you are welcome to attend the council meetings on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at City Hall. The meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. unless a work session begins earlier. Come see for yourself, and gain your own perspective of the positives that may come from a husband and wife serving together. As Gary Robinson said, “Being on the council means that you’re trying to make the City better. “
