Message from Jennifer Lima

I am pleased to announce that the recall seekers failed to submit the required signatures which would have forced a special election to replace me as a school committee member. Despite their attempts to spread lies and misinformation about me, not a single signature was submitted to the Board of Canvassers.

I believe this sends the message that North Kingstown voters do not want to see the results of our free and fair elections overturned and that these types of hateful and deliberately divisive efforts to sow division within our town will not be tolerated - especially when untraceable, out-of-town influences are at play.

During the past sixty days, I have seen the worst of people, but I have also seen the very best. Friends, strangers, and people I haven’t talked to in years reached out to me to ask what they could do to help and offer their support. I have said all along that this effort was the work of a small but vocal minority and I believe that the overwhelming support I’ve received from this community and from all over the state confirms that.

The desire to be better in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our town has existed long before I came along. I am just the catalyst who brought it to the surface. The people who have shown up week after week to testify at the school committee meetings, or who have sent emails on its behalf are proof of that.

I have been subject to a pattern of harassment, intimidation, and bullying that has been carried out over the past few months. But what I’ve endured is nothing compared to what people of color have endured for far too long. To the students - current and former - who have watched as adults in our community have discounted the life experiences of those who do not look like them, I want you to know that you are seen.

I’ve learned that when you are standing for what is right, you’ll never have to do it alone. I wish I could thank every person individually but there are far too many. Please know that I appreciate every single one of you. I want to publicly thank the NK Democrats (especially the rest of the School Committee) for standing with me through this. Mostly I want to thank my husband and my children for their grace in an ungracious situation. They are the reason I got into this, and they are the reason I keep going.

I look forward to putting this failed recall attempt behind us and getting on with the work I was elected to do. Thank you.