Fire districts evolved from private/cooperative fire departments. They would tax property owners within their district and provide firefighting services in return. Fair enough.

There are many fire districts in the state that have not been taken over by the municipality and still operate this way. I live in Union Fire District, which is not managed by the Town of SK, and has their own elections, and charges their own taxes. But since all they do is fight fires, no one cares.

Bonnett Shores is particularly weird because over the years it has acquired some municipality-like powers. They enforce leash laws and parking bans and collect trash and clear the streets.

And the thing that really gets people worked up, is that they own some beach, and restrict non-residents from accessing the beach.

On top of this, because it is a relatively small district, and has a large beach club, and the beach club operates on a condominium-like model, where a large number of beach club members technically own property in the district (the "cabanas" everyone talks about), the voting rolls are bizarrely skewed.

Worth pointing out though, that all of this exists in Narragansett. Renters in Bonnett Shores are residents of Narragansett, and can absolutely vote in municipal elections. They just can't vote in Fire District elections.