To Every Governor Elected this November: Summon Us Back to Our Better Selves – Vincent Marzullo

by Vincent Marzullo, commentary

To every Governor elected this November, the charge is clear. You take office at a defining hour, when too many communities are frayed by suspicion, hardened by partisanship, and exhausted by the daily temptation to treat opponents as enemies. Your first duty is competent leadership. But in this season, your higher duty is moral: to call people of every party, neighborhood, and background back to the common good.

That work must be deliberately bipartisan. Convene Democrats, Republicans, independents, mayors, school leaders, clergy, business owners, labor representatives, veterans, students, and neighborhood advocates—not for staged unity, but for disciplined problem solving. Safe streets, strong schools, affordable homes, reliable services, and dignified public meetings are not red or blue concerns. They are human concerns.

Speak in a way that faith traditions at their best have long taught: with truth, humility, mercy, and restraint. You need not preach to honor the sacred worth of every person. When you credit an opponent, rebuke contempt from allies, and insist that disagreement is not hatred, you give citizens permission to lower their fists and raise their standards.

Let policy reinforce that spirit. Expand service opportunities, youth civic education, community mediation, disaster-response volunteering, and local dialogue grants. When neighbors of different beliefs repair a park, tutor a child, serve meals, rebuild after a flood, or plan a town tradition together, they rediscover an old civic truth: we are responsible not only for winning arguments, but for bearing one another’s burdens.

You cannot heal every wound. But you can choose whether your administration inflames division or summons courage, conscience, and compassion. Reward cooperation. Honor local peacemakers. Invite citizens into shared service. A more civil society will not arrive by accident. It will be built—one town, one table, one act of neighborly grace at a time.  Spark a movement!

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Vincent Marzullo served for 31 years as a federal civil rights/social justice Director in Rhode

Island with the Corporation for National & Community Service. Vin is a former volunteer

President of AARP RI. He has served 3 Rhode Island Governors, 5 Presidents, & is the Founder of USA Compassion Corps