If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I've done my research and I will bring receipts if questioned. After my first public comments, I came back to note that reducing the temperature requires us to see each other as individuals, not groups of people. None of us fit the label of any group perfectly. We are all people trying our best, and we should be treated as such.

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Hello again. At the last meeting, I spoke about the need for this council to listen. When my comments concluded, Councilman Beauregard asked me whether I was a member of the Democratic Town Committee.

Cut to March 2, 2026

Councilman John Beauregard: Good job though. Are you a member of the North Smithfield Democratic Town Committee? Are you? Are you, a member? Because it seems that, yeah.

Council: Excuse me, no, John.

Cut Back to March 17, 2026

He then wrote a letter to the editor at NRI Now, calling me out by name, stating that A, I was a member of said committee and B, making claims about me because of this assumed membership, having never met me before.

So hello, my name is Kevin Carriere. I hold a master's in public policy and a PhD in political psychology from Georgetown University. Much of my research focuses on reducing conflict between political groups by identifying similarities, that partisanship tends to obscure.

For example, Councilman, one may assume that Democrats support unions more than Republicans. However, my research shows that when asking about police unions, Republicans express stronger support for unions than Democrats.

What Councilman Beauregard just demonstrated was a well-documented behavior called out-group homogeneity bias. The tendency to see members of an out- group as the same while seeing your own group as unique individuals with unique thoughts. Those who display this bias tend to show increased dehumanization, and increased aggression, and increase prejudice towards others. In short, placing assumed group characteristics to individuals increases divisive politics, and quote, divisive politics has no place in town government.

The remedy against this is individuation. Stop seeing people as groups, and instead see them as individuals.

I am not a group in front of you. I am a resident, and I have concerns. Councilman, I wager we agree on more things than you'd expect. That our teachers deserve strong salaries and benefits, that our children need safe, vibrant places to grow. Housing costs are pushing people out of our community that they love and grew up in.

But I can see the agreement we share, even as I'm fundamentally uncomfortable when an elected official responds to a constituent's concerns by demanding to know their party affiliation, then using their public position of power to call me out by name, make assumptions about who I am, and about the views I hold.

Your letter to the editor noted that I offered no suggestions or solutions to real issues. I did. I asked you to change or step aside. What more can I do? Should I run against you? You tell me. I'll close with this. The next time a resident steps up to this microphone with a concern, please don't ask them what side they're on. Listen to the individual in front of you, not the label you've assigned them. Thank you.

Councilman Beauregard: He doesn’t even realize how condescending he is. He doesn't even realize what he's saying. You're assuming what you're saying is correct.