May 13, 2015 – RI Future

May 13, 2015May 14, 2015

Why Team SCA is the progressive favorite in the Volvo Ocean Race

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All the teams in the Volvo Ocean Race use identical boats, they sail over the same waters, and they bounce over the same waves.

However, there is something very different with one team in this year’s 38,739 nautical mile race. Team SCA is the only all-women team in the otherwise male-dominated around-the-world sailboat race currently stopped over in Newport.

If there is a team for progressives to root for, it has to be SCA.

They aren’t the first all-female team in ocean racing: Maiden (89-90) in the Whitbread Round the World Race, Heineken (93-94), E F Education (97-98), and American Sports Too (01-02). But women remain under represented in the sport.

Many of the SCA crew started ocean racing solo for lack of opportunity in the primarily male sport. “There’s no way they would take a female on the boats,” said Sophie Ciszek, one of the crew for Team SCA.

So, often women took to solo racing, many in the Mini Transatlantic, sailing alone 4000 miles in 21 ft. long boats to break into the ranks of professional sailing. Team SCA finished the 5,000 mile sixth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in Newport this last week along with five competitors. Thousands of fans were at Ft. Adams in Newport to welcome Team SCA. The six Volvo boats are on display this week at Ft. Adams, and start the next leg (to Lisbon, Portugal) Sunday, May 17th, at 2:00 PM.

The Volvo Ocean Race boats berthed at Ft. Adams in Newport

SCA Corporation, an international paper products and forestry company based in Sweden, sponsored the female team. Its intent was to create a fully supported team, on the same level as the men’s teams. Team SCA began in 2012, when 250 women from all over the world applied for 11 positions. One by one they were eliminated and the chosen few went into training.

Approaching the Volvo finish in Newport, Team SCA squeezes everything oout of light winds — Approaching the Volvo finish in Newport, Team SCA squeezes everything out of light winds

Last year, they sailed into Newport as part of their offshore training. Skipper Samantha Davies and her crew-mates are soaked in extensive solo offshore racing experience and have the skills to sail alongside the boys. They proved that in the first week of Leg 6, sailing right up in the front pack, exchanging for the lead. That was sailing at its highest competitive level. Days before arrival in Newport, an unfortunate high pressure system cut them off from the leaders and set them back 100 miles.

Team SCA, sailing through the East Passage

On the positive side, they finished in daylight, and were treated to the beauty of Brenton Point, Castle Hill, Hammersmith Farm, and the Volvo Race Village at Ft. Adams. Twelve hours earlier, Dongfeng, the winner, battled Abu Dhabi to finish in the dark. In a tense close fight, they finished three and a half minutes apart after seventeen days. That is nothing short of amazing and one-design sailboat racing at its finest! 7,000 plus fans on land and an estimated 200 boats cheered in the night time winners.

Team SCA, less than a mile from the finish

As the father of a daughter who sailed competitively in high school, I have witnessed women competing in sailing on an even footing. Both my children, sailing for Newport’s Rogers High School Sailing Team in the 1990s, competed on a coed basis. And the fastest Rogers High School Sailing Team skipper was a woman for several years. For sure, the Farr Ocean 65 racing sailboat is a handful, twelve-and-a-half metric tons (27,000 lbs.) of throbbing carbon fiber race horse. Lugging the sails below and dragging them up on deck, and constantly trimming and changing sails is no easy chore. Flying along at 20 knots, the 65 ft. hull must bang on the waves like a surfboard.

Okay, men are stronger on the whole. But with teamwork and pacing – critical for ocean racing – skilled and properly trained women are up to the job, as are some men. Furling the asymmetrical spinnaker when gybing into the East Passage off Jamestown, Team SCA executed the maneuver flawlessly in front of my eyes, with the rhythm of a Swiss watch- a fine finish to 5,000 miles of sailing under challenging conditions.

DSCF4830 — Team SCA gybing to enter the East Passage, Block Island in the background

This Saturday, May 17th, at 2PM, the Volvo boats will race over a short course at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. The fleet will start near the Ft. Adams shoreline and sail to a buoy off Castle Hill Lighthouse and back. The race will consist of two laps over this short course. Ft. Wetherill in Jamestown and Ft. Adams in Newport will be the prime viewing areas for those watching from land.

Team SCA has won two of the five in port races in the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race so far, third place overall for the in port races to date. Team Alvimedica, skippered by Rhode Islander, Charlie Enright, has also won one of the in port races so far, so the racing should be keen. The layout of the course will make for a lot of maneuvering at close quarters, something fun to watch.

DSCF4889 — Team SCA at Ft. Adams, getting the boat ready for Saturday’s in port race and the Sunday start of Leg Seven, Newport to Lisbon, Portugal

Photos and story by Roberto Bessin 2015

May 13, 2015May 14, 2015

Sports economist Victor Matheson: No public subsidies for new ballpark

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Dr. Victor Matheson, professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross, spoke to a capacity crowd at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center in Pawtucket on the economics of public money funding sports stadiums, and specifically on public money building a new stadium in downtown Providence for the Pawtucket Red Sox (PawSox).

Overall, Matheson was not very amenable to the idea.

Matheson is an engaging speaker, an economist who specializes in sports. He prepared his remarks and his PowerPoint presentation for the price of a PawSox game, a hotdog and a beer, a far cry from the money Speaker Nicholas Mattiello or Governor Gina Raimondo are spending for their experts.

“Let me just lay it on the table here,” said Matheson at the start, “I’m going to be a critic of public subsidies for stadiums.”

Showing the ubiquitous artists rendering of the proposed downtown stadium, Matheson said that it “would be a fantastic stadium for the owners to spend their own money on.”

Studying stadiums and their impacts, said Matheson, generates the “weird impression that the newer the stadium, the higher the attendance or the older the stadium, the higher the attendance.” McCoy Stadium, where the PawSox currently play, is the one of the oldest stadiums in the country.

Built for $1.5 million, McCoy was the most expensive stadium ever, in 1942. It’s construction, said Matheson, was a “massive debacle.” In 1966, when owners talked of moving out of the region, $100,000 in upgrades were done to McCoy, mostly taxpayer supported. In 1999, taxpayers ponied up for most of the $14.9 in needed upgrades, once again because the owners threatened to move.

Matheson is not a fan of “Economic Impact” studies. If there is one thing to take home from his talk, said Matheson, it’s that “any economic impact study published by the people who are trying to justify public subsidies, you should always take with a grain of salt. And many grains of salt.”

There is, “remarkable agreement among economists finding that spectator sports result in little or no measurable economic benefits on host cities,” said Matheson, pointing out that money spent on such ventures is then not spent on other things a city needs. (Such as infrastructure, school repair and Medicaid, I will point out.)

Matheson then went on to explain how modern stadiums, unlike Fenway Park in Boston or Wrigley Field in Chicago, are not centers of economic activity that benefit surrounding businesses. Instead, modern sports stadiums are self contained oases surrounded by parking. The restaurants and amenities are not located throughout the city but within the stadium itself, generating revenue for the stadium owners, not the city.

Matheson compared minor league baseball teams to average 16-screen movie mega-plexes. In general, they perform about the same economically, yet no one is suggesting that movie theaters be publicly subsidized in anything like the kind of deal that baseball stadiums traditionally receive. “Are movie theaters exempt from sales tax, property tax, market value leases, etc.?” asked Matheson, “We would say that’s crazy.”

The kind of low paying jobs a minor league baseball stadium would generate will end up costing the state around $80,000 per year, per job. Matheson compared this number to the good paying jobs lured into South Carolina with the new Volvo plant. Good middle class jobs there cost the state $3,500 per year, per job in subsidies.

Towards the end of his presentation Matheson explored the possibility of the PawSox moving out of state in the event that they do not get the deal and the land they want in Providence. Looking at population statistics and the current locations of Major League, AA and AAA baseball teams, Matheson doesn’t see many viable options.

Matheson talked about the threats made by the owners of the Patriots when they talked about moving to Hartford or Providence. After not getting the deal they wanted from these other cities, they decided to stay in the Boston area, and built Gillette Stadium, because it was the best location, just as the Providence region (which includes Pawtucket) is the best place for the PawSox.

I hope to have the slides from Matheson’s talk soon and will post a video of his talk with the slides as soon as possible.

May 13, 2015

Sojourner House needs community support for its transitional housing program

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By Vanessa Volz

This week has felt particularly challenging for those of us who work in the victim services field in Rhode Island. On Sunday, which was Mother’s Day, a 42-year-old East Providence woman was allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend. On Monday night, a Cranston municipal court judge was arrested on charges that he allegedly choked his girlfriend. And these local incidents come on the heels of national news about a high-profile professional boxer with a history of domestic violence charges and the NFL’s questionable priorities when it comes to suspending players who have engaged in domestic assault.

Intimate partner violence is a serious public health issue both locally and throughout the country. An estimated 1 in 4 Rhode Island women will experience abuse at the hands of her partner. We know children who grow up in households witnessing violence are more likely to become perpetrators or victims of abuse.

Fortunately, there are local community resources for victims of abuse. Sojourner House is one of six domestic violence agencies in Rhode Island that provides direct services to individuals and families impacted by abuse. In 2014, we provided 3,094 emergency shelter bed nights, 4,930 transitional housing bed nights, and we answered almost 2,000 crisis phone calls. We also worked to break the cycle of violence with our prevention work, which reached 1,776 students in educational settings.

Sojourner House is currently wrapping up its 100 Campaign, which ends this Friday, May 15. The 100 Campaign directly supports the agency’s transitional housing program, which provides longer-term housing (18 to 24 months) for families who need some additional assistance rebuilding their lives.

With six family apartments and four units available for single women, the program allows survivors of violence to live in their own space and receive supportive services as they get back on their feet. Clients are provided their own housing unit, and residents are able to access support groups, individual counseling, youth programs, HIV testing, immigration advocacy, and job training resources.

The goal of the 100 Campaign is to specifically secure donations of $100 or more from local community members to support this program. If 300 people donated just $100 each, the agency would reach its fundraising goal of $30,000, which would not only maintain the current program but allow for the lease of an additional apartment to house a family of four.

With the end of the Campaign just a couple of short days away, Sojourner House has raised well over $25,000, but we are still seeking community support to make this final push to reach our goal.

The words of a former transitional housing client best sum up the significance of the work that Sojourner House does with this program:

“I felt like my life was about to explode. It’s difficult to leave a home where my kids had their own space and their own privacy… For my children and me, this apartment marked a turning point: I was able to sign a lease as head of household for the first time. My kids finally had a home with space and privacy again. In short, we got our life back. Thank you for putting a set of keys in my hand and trusting me with this opportunity of a new life.”

Join our efforts…become 1 of the 100 Campaign donors!

Vanessa Volz is the Executive Director of Sojourner House. You can find out more about their work and the 100 Campaign at www.sojournerri.org.

May 13, 2015May 14, 2015

Frontline caregivers to hold Medicaid ‘Day of Action’ at State House

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Health care workers and allies will host a press conference and policy brief at the State House on Wednesay to advocate for Medicaid changes to improve the system of long term care and support a living wage for caregivers. SEIU District 1199NE, which represents approximately 4,000 health care workers in RI, will be issuing a new policy brief with proposals to improve the way the state invests in Medicaid funded programs in long-term care and create a pathway to living wages for caregivers (including staffing policies to improve quality of care and reduce re-hospitalizations).

A recent poll conducted by Fleming and Associates found that 69% of Rhode Islanders support paying a living wage of $15 per hour for frontline workers in nursing homes and community based agencies caring for those with developmental disabilities. Copies of the poll results will be available at the event.

WHO: Frontline caregivers (including CNAs and Direct Care Staff) and Leaders of SEIU 1199NE and Women’s Fund of RI
WHAT: Policy Brief & Press Conference about Medicaid changes that strengthen the system of long term care and support a living wage for workers
WHEN: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 2:15pm (Press Conference and unveiling of Medicaid policy brief) followed by lobbying visits at 3:30pm
WHERE: State House, Room 101

Caregivers have an important voice and perspective in the current debate about improving Medicaid funded long term care system in Rhode Island. Frontline health care workers provide compassionate care and in many instances play the role of family for their residents and clients; despite this many CNA’s and Direct Care Staff are not earning enough to support their own families.

A 2013 analysis using survey data from a nationally representative sample of 1174 nursing homes demonstrated that nursing homes with high CNA turnover had more than triple the odds of resident pain, and approximately double the odds of both pressure ulcers, and urinary tract infections. Also, a Kaiser Family Foundation report suggests that improving staff-to-resident ratios and reducing turnover is one strategy to assist in lowering avoidable re-hospitalizations.

While Rhode Island spends a comparable amount on Medicaid as Connecticut and Massachusetts, compensation for caregivers lags behind our neighbors (see chart below). Many health care workers in Rhode Island are joining the growing national #Fightfor15 campaign demanding a living wage of $15.

May 13, 2015

11 RI cities, towns violate ‘Ban the Box’ law

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At least 11 municipalities in Rhode Island ask job applicants a question on their application forms that is prohibited by law.

The questions vary in wording, but each asks job applicants about their criminal record–a practice that has been illegal in Rhode Island for over a year. As a result, the ACLU of Rhode Island and Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) have sent letters to those municipalities – from Burrillville to Warwick to Narragansett – asking them to promptly remove these questions.

In 2013, the General Assembly amended the state’s Fair Employment Practices Act to provide that, with a few exceptions not relevant here, questions about a person’s past criminal convictions could not be included on employment application forms and could instead only be asked “at the first interview or thereafter.” This “ban the box” law is designed to ensure potential employees are screened based on their qualifications, not their past.

As the letter explains:

The General Assembly enacted this prohibition in recognition of the fact that employment is a pivotal factor in preventing recidivism and that ex-offenders have faced widespread and unfair discrimination in seeking jobs. Well-qualified applicants – even those with long-past criminal records irrelevant to the job for which they were applying – were often excluded from consideration before even having a chance for an interview to demonstrate their qualifications. However, the inquiry on your application form is directly contrary to, and undermines the goal of, the statute to address this inequity.

This month, the ACLU examined the employment application forms of the twenty-nine municipalities that post those forms online after receiving a complaint about one of them. Of the eleven cities and towns that improperly ask criminal record questions, some inquire whether the applicant has ever been convicted of any crime, some limit the inquiry to felonies, and some ask for conviction information for the past five or seven years. And while some of the forms assure applicants that a criminal record does not automatically disqualify them from employment, all of those questions are illegal, and have been since January 1, 2014 when the “ban the box” law took effect.

We’ve asked the municipalities to revise their forms, online and in any other format, within the next two weeks. The ACLU and DARE will consider taking further steps if any cities or towns fail to comply with the statute.

The municipalities that ask about applicants’ criminal record and were sent letters were: Burrillville, Charlestown, Cumberland, Hopkinton, Jamestown, Lincoln, Narragansett, Newport, North Providence, Pawtucket, and Warwick. The ACLU is filing open records requests with the ten towns that did not have their forms posted online and were thus not reviewed.

By discriminating against anyone with a criminal record, these cities and towns are turning away able and qualified applicants. This unhelpful and illegal practice must promptly end–as it should have when it was prohibited last year–so qualified Rhode Islanders have the opportunity to lead productive lives regardless of their past actions.

Fred Ordoñez, executive director of DARE, the organization that led the push for passage of the “ban the box” law, said: “It’s sadly ironic that these municipalities can break a law with little consequence, yet regular people’s criminal record turns into a life sentence of unemployment.”

May 13, 2015May 14, 2015

Alert: Key hearing on Custom House tax breaks Thursday

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This Thursday at 6pm, the Finance Committee of the Providence City Council is meeting to consider a generous tax break proposed for the Custom House downtown office building.

Currently, the Custom House is downtown office space, and the developers want to convert the upper floors to apartments. And they want public money to do it.

The deal the developers are pushing for is structured as a 12-year tax stabilization. For the first three years, there would be no new taxes, and the new taxes would ramp up over the next nine years. Make no mistake, this is a special deal for a specially connected developer. These deals aren’t being made available to ordinary small-time developers, who can’t afford the same network of well-connected lobbyists, lawyers, and tax credit brokers. If you expand your house or renovate a dilapidated triple-decker, you don’t get your taxes stabilized.

This special tax break is crucially important because the city is currently writing a standardized policy on special tax breaks for big developers. During the campaign, Mayor Jorge Elorza was critical of the abuses of the tax-stabilization agreement program. Newly elected Council President Luís Aponte has been even more vocally critical of abusive and unfair special tax breaks for developers. According to multiple City Hall sources, the new standardized policy could severely restrict some abuses, making these special breaks much shorter than the twelve years being proposed for the Custom House.

That’s why stopping this deal is so vitally important. If the city approves an excessively long twelve-year stabilization, it will set the bar abysmally low for the standardized policy. Valuable revenue that could go to underfunded priorities like schools, snow plowing, and tax relief will be wasted on corporate special interests.

There is serious skepticism on the Council over such an overly generous deal. Its future is very much up in the air.

That’s why it will be so important to come to this hearing at 6pm in the Council chambers. We can stop this unfair deal.