cities and towns – Page 9

February 24, 2015February 24, 2015

Climate Coalition demands a ‘just transition’ to clean energy

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Though RI’s Sheldon Whitehouse is the foremost climate champion in the US Senate, many environmentalists find themselves at odds with the Senator’s position on the Spectra Pipeline expansion in Burrillville, since he sees fracked natural gas as a potential bridge between today’s dirty fossil fuels and the clean renewable energy sources of the future.

Locally, FANG (Fighting Against Natural Gas) has engaged in non-violent direct action and civil disobedience when members occupied Whitehouse’s offices in December and Senator Jack Reed’s offices in October.

One of those arrested in Senator Reed’s office was Sherrie Andre, who was part of a panel, Energy in Rhode Island: Reframing the Debate, organized by RISCC (Rhode Island Student Climate Coalition, pronounced “risk”) at Knight Memorial Library in Providence. Andre was joined by Kathy Martley and Amanda, representing BASE (Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion) and Kat Burnham, representing People’s Power & Light.

Andre has come to the climate struggle from a background in domestic violence prevention, noting that “areas where gas is fracked see a 300% increase in domestic violence.” When an oil company comes to town and begins fracking operations, the town booms in size, bringing itinerant short term workers pulling long shifts and a host of social problems including increased substance use and car accidents. Small communities struggle with these costs.

“How much does cleaning up a meth lab cost?” asked Andre, noting that most communities have never had to deal with such an issue. Communities are forced to invest in emergency services, such as additional full time EMTs, which they can ill afford.

Kathy Martley helped to form BASE in part because the Spectra Pipeline maintains a compressor station virtually in her backyard. The pipeline has been in continuous use since 1952, says Martley, and runs on a 22 horsepower compressor. The noise from the compressor ebbs and flows, and is made bearable only by a copse of trees that separates Martley’s home from the compressor station. Plans for expansion include adding a 16,000 horsepower compressor, and eliminating all the trees between the compressor station and her home.

Martley is also concerned about the chemicals the station is using. Fracked gas is dirtier, she says, and requires an additional 25 chemical additives to make it run smoothly through the pipeline. Many of these chemicals are industrial secrets, meaning there is no information available to the public as to what they are. In the event of a leak, Martley and her family and neighbors may be exposed to an unknown toxic brew.

Burrillville is well known for its farming, fishing and camping. The pipeline doesn’t run far from Wallum Lake, which crosses the border between Rhode island and Massachusetts. An accident would ruin this pristine natural habitat.

Martley was blunt about the environmental impacts, saying, “Burrillville is Rhode Island’s sacrifice zone.”

In answer to a question about potential jobs being lost if the Spectra Pipeline expansion is stopped, Martley pointed out that right now the plant runs with two full time employees working nine to five. The rest of the time the plant is run by computers. The expansion will raise the number of employes to seven, and these will not be local jobs in Martley’s opinion, but outsourced.

This dovetailed nicely into a short discussion of the necessity for a “just transition.” A smart transition to green energy and energy independence for Rhode Island will include trades unions in the discussion. We need policies that create jobs and opportunities for Rhode Islanders, not wealth for multinational corporations.

“We want good, sustainable jobs,” said Andre.

November 21, 2014November 23, 2014

How blue is Rhode Island, by town

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In the sensationally titled “Revenge of the Swamp Yankee: Democratic Disaster in South County,” Will Collette argued emotionally that despite statewide wins for Democrats in Rhode Island two weeks ago, South County was a sad place for the party. He makes a strong case that local South County races, through low turnout and Republican money, had a night more like the rest of the country than the rest of Rhode Island.

Will focuses on General Assembly and Town Council races, but his post made me wonder how different towns around Rhode Island voted compared to the state averages. So I dug into the numbers for statewide races. Here’s what I came up with:

Democratic Lean by Town Population

Democratic Lean by Town Density

This is a little confusing; here’s what I did:

I looked up what percentage of the votes in each town the Democrats and Republicans for each statewide office received.
I subtracted the GOP candidate’s percentage from the Democrat’s for each town, giving the percentage margin the Democrats won (or didn’t) by.
I then averaged together the margins for each statewide race, roughly giving each town’s Democratic lean.
I then subtracted the average statewide Democratic lean from each of those town leans, giving us an idea of how each town compares to Rhode Island as a whole.

Those are the numbers you see above. Here’s my spreadsheet. A few observations:

Hardly anyone lives in New Shoreham. But we already knew Block Island isn’t a population hub. (These population numbers are from Wikipedia and could be wrong.)
There’s a clear trend of the denser and more populous cities voting more for Democrats than less populous towns. I ran the correlations and it’s 0.55 for population and 0.82 for density. Both are reasonably strong.
Imagine the vaguely logarithmic trendline that would best fit these points. For the density graph the formula for that trendline would be y = 0.084*ln(x) - 0.6147. It’s in relation to that trendline that I’ve made the map at right. Gray towns are those that voted about how you’d expect based on their density, blue towns voted more Democratic than density would suggest while red towns voted less Democratic.
Remember this is one point in time, November 4, 2014. It can’t tell us a lot about how things are changing or how all those people who didn’t turn out would vote if they did.

So at the end of the day, what does this tell us? Municipalities with higher population & density tend to vote for Democrats more than towns with lower populations. This isn’t just true in Rhode Island, it’s true across the country. But what is interesting here is how different areas of the state deviate from that implied trendline.

November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

Elorza on city minimum wage ban: ‘We’ll see’

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Providence Mayor-elect Jorge Elorza walked back his promise to join with advocates and demand that the General Assembly repeal the state ban on municipal minimum wage rates.

Inspired by ALEC, the General Assembly inserted a line in its budget preventing cities and towns from setting their own minimum wage floors without bringing the measure before the public for discussion. This was to prevent the Providence hotel workers from placing such a measure on the ballot so that voters might democratically decide on the issue. In doing so, the General Assembly trapped thousands of Rhode Islanders in poverty wages with no political recourse.

Readers might recall Elorza’s performance at the People’s Forum on October 22 when he told a cheering crowd that he opposed the state’s overreach and, if elected Mayor of Providence, would actively seek to overturn it. At the same forum, Mayoral Candidate Buddy Cianci agreed with Elorza that a $15 minimum wage was “fair.”

But Elorza sang a different tune on 10 News Conference. When asked by reporter Bill Rappleye if he would work to repeal the law now that he’s been elected Mayor, Elorza said, dismissively, “We’ll see,” before diverting the question to his usual rhetoric of growing the economy through tax breaks and regulation reform.

Note: A copy of the video below was sent to the Elorza campaign for comment over the weekend. We will update in the event of a response.

And here’s a link to the entire People’s Forum, for context.

November 6, 2014November 7, 2014

The election over, it’s time for a $15 minimum wage

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On Tuesday, voters in Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota passed measures to raise the minimum wage in their states. These states are Republican strongholds, yet minimum wage increases passed overwhelmingly: 68.6% vs 31.3% in Alaska, 65% to 35% in Arkansas, 59.2% to 40.8% in Nebraska and 54.7% to 45.3% in South Dakota. These are conservative, hard-core red states, but the measures passed because no matter where on the political spectrum Americans stand, most of us believe in the fairness and justice of earning a living wage from a forty hour a week job.

Meanwhile, in California, ultra-liberal San Francisco leap-frogged all the competition by passing a $15 minimum wage ordinance in their city, and Oakland went to $12.25.

So what’s going on in Rhode Island?

Last year, the state raised the minimum wage to $9, from $8. This happened as hotel workers were fighting in Providence for a industry-specific $15 minimum wage and in short order a line was inserted into the state’s budget, without public debate or vetting, that prevented cities and towns from setting their own minimum wage floors.

The hardworking hotel workers had successfully petitioned the city council into placing a $15 minimum wage measure onto the ballot. Citizens of Providence would have voted on that measure Tuesday, if not for the actions of the General Assembly. There is little doubt that the measure would have passed here in Providence. I mean, seriously, are voters in Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota more compassionate than voters in Providence?

Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello and Budget Committee Chairman Representative Raymond Gallison did everything in their power to circumvent the will of the people and democracy itself in a sickening display of cavalier corporate bootlicking. Indeed, so great is Mattiello’s obsequious desire to serve corporate interests that he specifically targeted Maria Cimini, the only representative to raise any objections to the measure, by backing her opponent in the primary. Cimini lost her bid for re-election.

Over the course of the election here in Providence, many candidates have voiced their displeasure at Mattiello and Gallison’s power grab. Mayor Elect Jorge Elorza, said that he would actively work to have the law overturned, so that Providence and other cities might set their own minimum wage floors. In the October 22 mayoral forum Elorza even hinted that he supports a $15 minimum wage. I look forward to seeing Elorza at the State House in support of whatever bill is introduced to overturn the measure. Gina Raimondo is also on record as saying that the minimum wage needs to be increased to $10.10 (though she has never committed to $15.)

The Economic Progress Institute says an adult needs at least “$11.93 an hour to afford their most basic living expenses.” That’s $3 over our minimum wage and probably still another $3 shy of a living wage.

Raising the minimum wage to a living wage will prevent more Rhode Islanders from slipping into poverty, losing their homes and postponing their educations. It will give parents, now working two and three jobs to keep an apartment, more time to be parents and keep their kids off the streets and out of trouble. It will increase the purchasing power of Rhode Islanders, driving money to local businesses. It will reduce people’s dependence on financial debt traps like payday loans, and allow people to start bank accounts to earn credit and plan their retirement or their kids college.

Raising the minimum wage to a living wage will help people live lives of meaning without the stress of grinding poverty and the hopelessness such a life inculcates. Even the more conservative states are acting in lieu of a federal increase. The more progressive cities across the country are acting in lieu of a meaningful minimum wage in any state.

For this to happen in Rhode Island, we need to pressure the General Assembly to reverse last year’s law that prevents cities and towns from helping hourly-earning residents out of poverty.

October 14, 2014October 15, 2014

Providence adds 53 new officers, here’s what the community said to them

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It can’t be easy to be a new police officer in the racially and politically charged post-Ferguson era, but yesterday 53 graduates of the Providence Police Training Academy begin their careers.

These young men and women will determine the future of the Providence Police Department for the next 20 or 30 years, so it is very important they get the training right. We need a police department that respects and responds to the community. Last Tuesday night, at the South Providence Boys and Girls Club, the graduates had the opportunity to meet members of the community they will be serving for the first time.

“The community needs law enforcement and law enforcement needs community,” said Providence Police Colonel Hugh Clements, to the 60 or so people who attended the event. “The culture of law enforcement has to change.”

Kobi Dennis, organizer and “community guy” introduced the new police officers. “You are going to be on the street soon,” Dennis told the new recruits, then gesturing to the crowd behind him, added, “and these are the people you are going to be seeing.”

Dennis wanted to keep the interaction between police and community positive and avoid turning the event into a series of complaints about the police. After all, these are new recruits, with unblemished records. In many ways this is more than an introduction to the community, this is a fresh start for the Providence Police Department.

But this was a chance for many citizens to explain to the new recruits their perception of the police, which isn’t always positive. For instance, a Latino teenager talked about being harassed by the police simply because of the way he was dressed. Harassment, disrespect and being the object of suspicion simply for being African American or Latino was a recurring theme from the public.

“My daughter is 18,” said an older African American man, “When she’s walking, she doesn’t want to be out with her brothers because they always get harassed [by the police]. Her brothers are supposed to protect her, but she doesn’t want to be out with them.”

A mother stood and talked about watching the police interact with teenagers hanging out in the park across the street from her home. The teenagers in the park are often stopped by the police and instructed to sit on the ground as they are questioned and their backpacks searched.

“What good are our rights if you are violating them?” asked the mother. “Our kids feel the way they do [about the police] because they feel disrespected. They don’t trust you. I’m a black woman. I’ve been pulled over six times in my life for no reason.”

Colonel Clements understood the community’s reaction, and explained that though police officers often have information that leads them to make searches that may seem unwarranted, that doesn’t mean the officers need to be disrespectful while performing their duties. The officers, said Clements, “need to be able to articulate why they are doing what they are doing.”

“I would expect, at least, that you might say, ‘Have a nice day,” added Dennis, to some laughter.

Young people of color are disproportionately more likely to be victims of gun violence in Providence. A woman spoke movingly of losing a teen she was mentoring to a bullet. She told the new officers, “Our kids get shot, yours don’t.”

This is the barrier that separates community and police into us and them. One optimistic young recruit said that he sees his job, in part, as helping to “break down the wall between police and community.” Another new officer added, “We are taught to use our presence and our voice to de-escalate situations.”

A female social worker from the community had some insight on how to get break down the walls that separate police from community. “Be role models and mentors,” she said, “Attend neighborhood events and introduce yourself. Examine the reasons you want to be a cop. If you don’t want to contribute to the wellbeing of our neighborhoods, please step down.”

In addition to questions and dialog around the issue of racial profiling and community engagement, there were some comments of a positive note. “I see a lot of individuals of color [among the recruits] and that’s a good thing,” said one woman from the audience, “Do not forget where you came from.”

To the women among the new officers another audience member said, “Our girls really need to see you in leadership roles.”

In the end this was a positive interaction. There was a lot of optimism from the community and from the new recruits. “I joined because of a positive experience with a police officer in my youth,” said one young officer.

Let’s hope that through respectful, dignified community engagement these new officers can create many more positive experiences for our communities.

July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

Failure to follow regulations may cost homeowner $1.8 million

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Government regulation can seem like such a drag to comply with. Until the unlicensed surveyor you hired accidentally builds your new multimillion dollar house in the neighbor’s yard.

An ounce of prevention, as they say…

State law says only a licensed surveyor can plot a property line. But the owner of a $1.8 million beachfront home in Pt. Judith somehow built the 2,400-square-foot, 3-story mcmansion without doing an official survey.

The error was discovered and the next door neighbor isn’t interested in losing the land. The abutting property is the Rose Nulman Park, it has a deed restriction that it would owe a $1.5 million penalty if it ever transfers any land.

So the homeowner will likely have to demolish – or pay to move – his new beach house.

South County surveyor Dave Hilbern (best known in these parts for surfing the “Perfect Storm” waves in Puerto Rico) says the town of Narragansett may have been able to prevent this situation.

“Had the town officials been aware of the law and willing to apply it, they could have stopped this plan at the preliminary stage,” wrote Hilbern. “Plans depicting … property lines must carry a surveyor’s stamp. No one is a one stop professional, and so others approaching this task may be merely guessing or estimating the true location of a property line.”

According to the Providence Journal “the siting of the house was done incorrectly and that the lot had never been surveyed.” Savvy prospective buyers had a survey done in 2011, and learned the house was built on the Rose Nulman property.

Narragansett Building Inspector Tony Santilli and Town Manager Pam Nolan could not immediately be reached for comment.

Here’s Hilbern’s full letter:

The Providence Journal’s “Should $1.8-million house built on park land in Narragansett be demolished or moved?” touches on an unfortunate subject. But had the town officials been aware of the law and willing to apply it, they could have stopped this plan at the preliminary stage.

R.I. General Laws 5.81 through 5.8.1.19 clearly state that only licensed land surveyors are allowed to depict property lines on a plan. Plans depicting existing or proposed structures, wetlands, topography, and which reference their location in relation to property lines must carry a surveyor’s stamp. The underlying rationale is that Land Surveyors are the sole professionals possessing the legal expertise and mathematical training to depict a property line on plans. No one is a one stop professional, and so others approaching this task may be merely guessing or estimating the true location of a property line.

For years I have worked in close collaboration with architects, engineers, and related professionals. While these people are often experts in their professions, they have the wisdom to know their limitations and call on me to take their ideas and accurately place them on a survey plan.

Land Surveyors are an integral part of any project involving plans. Sooner or later, the true position of a property line must be identified. And, as the Narragansett situation illustrates, this should be done at the beginning of a project. It is unfair to burden neighbors and the community with the tangible and intangible costs arising from the failure to properly depict the property line at the outset.

R.I. General Laws 5.8.1-17 ii states that, “It shall be the duty of all duly constituted officers in this state and all political subdivisions of the state to enforce the provisions of this chapter and to prosecute any persons violating those provisions.” What happened in Narragansett was unfortunate. Our only remedy is for our town officials to follow the law, do their job, and protect the public.

David Hilbern P.L.S.

Hilbern Land Surveying

May 19, 2014May 19, 2014

Debating RI’s future: Moving away from knee jerk negativity

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If you’re like some key local pundits and bloggers, you believe that Rhode Island is a hopeless economic and political basket case that can’t seem to do anything right.

At Grow Smart RI, we think this conclusion is as off base and dangerous as the notion that Rhode Island is performing up to its potential—to the point where no major public policy changes or new investments are needed to improve our economic performance.

Why “Hopeless” Rhode Island is a Myth

Let’s pretend for a moment that the Ocean State is actually a total economic and political basket case. The following would not be a reality:

Attracting the world‘s largest distributor of organic foods (UNFI)
Emerging as a national center for world-class brain research
Gaining a national reputation for facilitating business startups
Attracting national acclaim for coastal resiliency planning
Moving rivers, railroad tracks, and highways to revitalize and visually enhance our major city
Our capital city of Providence having a vibrant food and music scene, which contributed to its recent distinction as #1 on Architectural Digest’s “Best Small City” list.

You would agree that—while this list is not exhaustive by any means—all of these indicators validate and radiate what our state motto claims: there has, and always will be, hope in Rhode Island.

Playing to Our Strengths

Despite these and other signs of progress and competence, Rhode Island today, with its relatively high unemployment and underemployment rate, is a major economic underachiever that has tremendous untapped economic and social potential.

Among the assets that we can leverage and capitalize on much more systematically and aggressively are:

Our outstanding collection of historic buildings and neighborhoods
Our well positioned deep water ports and harbors
Our good fortune to have more college students per capita than almost any other state in the country; with highly ranked design, research, culinary, oceanography, and business schools, as part of the vibrant local mix
Our compact size and development patterns
Our easy access to diverse natural resources and beauty
Our strategic geographic location within a day’s drive of more than 40 million people and
Our distinctive urban rural balance as the 2^nd most urbanized and 16^th most forested of the 50 states

Our 2014 Power of Place Summit: Positioning Rhode Island for an Economic Renaissance

Grow Smart RI is convening a broad cross section of more than 500 Rhode Islanders on Friday, May 23^rd at the RI Convention Center to learn from one another how to play more effectively to these and other strengths.

By doing so, we’re challenging ourselves to go beyond the negative headlines and the superficial whining that dominates too much of life in the Ocean State today.

We will learn from each other: exploring successful smart growth policies, partnerships, and projects that are already working to move our state forward, as well discussing those that have the potential to do the same.

And we will be sending a clear message regarding our economic woes: that while a sense of urgency is warranted and can serve as a catalyst for solutions—one of hopelessness and desperation is unwarranted and counterproductive.

The dialogue about Rhode Island’s future needs more balance, and more connection to reality vs. knee jerk negativity. We intend to push the dialogue in this direction, even if it requires confusing some people with the facts.

If you’re willing to move beyond stewing to doing, join us on May 23^rd at our 2014 Power of Place Summit. [REGISTER HERE]. We look forward to seeing you there.

May 6, 2014

Are you there, General Assembly? It’s me, Woonsocket…

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Hey there, guys and gals.

I was just having a coffee cabinet and some dynamites, thinking about yesterday’s SCORI decision in the Woonsocket and Pawtucket School Committee’s case to alter and accelerate school funding for these two cities, when it occurred to me that I should reach out to you all because, who knows better what’s good for a city than the city itself? Am I right?

So, my good friend, Dave Fisher has allowed my the use of his mind and body to pen this missive, as it were. (For the record, this guy drinks way too much coffee, and is absolutely the worst typist in the world.) So here goes. I know you don’t get a constituent request from an actual community every day, so take a minute. Have a seat. Drink some water. Continue when you’ve regained your senses.

Scratch that. That might take forever for some of you.

I think I should get a bonus for exceeding state affordable housing guidelines. Frankly, so should my brothers Providence, Central Falls, Newport, New Shoreham – or Block Island to the natives, and…oh, right, that’s it. That’s right. Only 5 communities in Rhode Island meet and exceed state minimum housing requirements.

Notice that last word.

Requirements.

As in required.

You see, my four stalwart brothers and I have, in good faith, not only met – but exceeded – your requirements, leaving my remaining 31 brothers seemingly remiss in their dedication to a diversified Rhode Island; a place where people of all colors, creeds, orientations, and tax brackets can live peacefully. I would suggest the carrot and the stick. Those communities who fail to make efforts and progress toward the just goal of a mere 10 percent of their housing stock qualifying as affordable, shall have a proportional reduction in any state education and human services assistance. The withheld assistance shall be proportionally distributed to towns that exceed the state’s requirements. There’s that pesky word again!

While we’re on housing, can you do something about all the old mills around. I’ve lost count of how many mill fires have happened on my soil. How about a tax incentive for developers who refurbish existing commercial structures and land into mixed use developments, provided that the development meets LEED standards. Those old structures aren’t typically very good when it comes to energy efficiency. I think the building trades would love this!

Dave has assured me, that I could use his corporeal form as a vessel whenever I choose, so until next time.

Love,

Woonsocket

April 12, 2014

Mattiello visits Woonsocket, but his tax-cutting agenda won’t help city

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As was reported by Jim Baron in The Woonsocket Call, newly elected House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello visited Woonsocket recently. While I only became aware of his visit after the fact, and was disappointingly not invited to the Rotary Club luncheon that he addressed, I should like to address the Speaker through this most public of forums, the interwebs.

Mattiello, with House Majority Leader John DeSimone in tow, was given a tour of the city by Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, and our delegation to the House of Representatives Reps. Stephen Casey, Bob Phillips, and Mike Morin. Stops on the tour included WWII Memorial Park – the only state park in the city – our barely breathing Diamond Hill retail district, Landmark Medical Center, The Plastics Group, and a visit to an Advanced Placement Government class at Woonsocket High School. After the tour, Baron reports that the Speaker said, “I got a good view of Woonsocket today. You’ve got some great things going on, but there is also blight in certain areas.”

That comment makes me wonder if the tour wasn’t a bit sugar-coated by the Mayor and our Representatives because, frankly, the entire city is suffering from blight.

Even the city’s swankiest neighborhoods – the North End and East Woonsocket – are rife with homes that have been abandoned due to the foreclosure crisis and skyrocketing property taxes. The two largest commercial plots in the Fairmount neighborhood -which happen to be directly opposite one another on the banks of the Blackstone – look like a warzone. The spectre of non-resident tenement and corporate development owners looms large on streets like 3rd Ave., Pond St., Chester St., and many others. The decline of the city is no more evident than on Main St., where one of the most historic buildings in the city, the Commercial Block, is slated for condemnation.

While addressing the Rotary Club, Mattiello stressed the importance of infrastructure and education saying, “We have to stop having an infrastructure that our citizens complain about,” and that, “A well trained, well-educated workforce produces more and makes us better citizens.” I agree with Mattiello on these points, but have to ask, isn’t the lack of state funding in both of these areas a major driver of the decline of Woonsocket’s roads, bridges, and education system?

Baron admits in the story that the crowd at the luncheon was, “heavy with businessmen and women,” and toward the end of the article writes that when Mattiello was questioned on taxes, he responded, “I’m looking at the corporate tax. I want to get rid of the inheritance tax cliff.”

This ranks among the top three most tone-deaf things I’ve heard fall from the lips of any politician. The top two are Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comment, and George W. Bush’s, “Mission accomplished.”

First, most folks in Woonsocket, even businessmen and women, don’t give a damn about the corporate income tax. What Woonsocket businesses need – and I’d argue most businesses in any of Rhode Island’s four core cities – is property tax relief. Besides, if you look at the corporate tax returns in Rhode Island, the majority of businesses in Rhode Island aren’t paying anywhere near the 9 percent that is written into our tax structure.

Second, does anyone out there think that the inheritance tax “cliff” of $921,655 matters at all to people in a city where the median income is $39,000/year?

Mattiello also said that Woonsocket is, “…a city that needs our attention right now.” Let’s file this one under, “No shit, Sherlock.”

Woonsocket has needed attention, not only from the state, but from our own elected officials for the last 30 years. We needed attention way back in 1991, when a young Dave Fisher had to protest outside of Woonsocket High School to keep our sports, music, and arts programs funded. We needed attention when – then city councilor, now council President – Albert Brien, sold a tract of land on the Woonsocket/N. Smithfield border to developer who then poached Wal-Mart and Lowe’s from our Diamond Hill retail district. We needed attention when we crossed the threshold of state mandated affordable housing, putting an onerous strain on our city’s education and human services budgets. We needed attention when our only state park was falling into disrepair, yet the budget for DEM continued to be slashed. Where was the state support in these instances?

What makes Woonsocket’s situation even more maddening is the fact that, for 150 years, Woonsocket was a key economic and social driver in Rhode Island. It was a place where blue-collar folks could go to make a decent living, and maybe afford that little beach house in Matunuck. Unfortunately, since the decline of the manufacturing economy in the state, it seems that our state government has written Woonsocket off as not salvageable; talk about adding insult to injury.

Please forgive my cynicism and compound metaphor, but the state has all too often pulled the rug out from under Woonsocket while simultaneously shoving us under the bus. For as little faith as I have in our newly elected mayor, I have even less faith that our state government will – or even can – help to save the once vibrant city of Woonsocket.

April 11, 2014April 12, 2014

Voter ID not the only election bill that deserves attention

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Last night the Senate Committee on Judiciary heard a full agenda of election bills. You’ll read a lot in the Projo and RI Future about the Voter ID repeal legislation Senator Gayle Goldin sponsored, and that deserves attention. But there were a number of other really important pieces of legislation that are largely being ignored in the shadow of the fight over Voter ID.

One of the untold stories about the Voter ID fight in Rhode Island is that it has distracted us from making actual improvements to our election system that could have a direct and measurable improvement for voters. Just this week the Pew Center came out with a 50 state ranking of election administration. While the average state improved 4.4 percent from 2008 to 2012 Rhode Island stagnated. So Rhode Island, which was once hailed by the Brennan Center as a leader in voter registration, is now losing ground.

Two of the other bills being heard last night would help us catch up:

S 2676 by Senator Gayle Goldin creates a system for online voter registration. In 2008 there were only two states that allow voters to register to vote, or alter their registration, using an online tool. As of last week, there are 22 states that have authorized such systems. In states where online voter registration has been adopted tens of thousands of citizens have taken advantage. Since we know that the more likely threat to election integrity are poor voter rolls, a system of online registration is the real way to reduce our dirty rolls and prevent registration fraud. Here’s the kicker; online voter registration not only makes it easier for people to register and change registration, but it saves cities and towns a ton of money.

S 2237 by Senator Erin Lynch creates a system of in-person early voting. Currently 32 states have some sort of in-person early voting. Rhode Island clings to a system from the 19th Century designed to accommodate an agricultural society where in-person voting only happens on Election Day. Senator Lynch’s bill would provide for evening and weekend hours accommodating citizens who lead 21st Century lives. In recent years Rhode Island has shortened Election Day by an hour and increased the number of voters per precinct. As the rest of the country makes advances, we retreat. In-person early voting has even been cited such as Hurricane Sandy.

While it’s right to be concerned about Rhode Island’s Voter ID law, let’s not forget there are a lot of areas where we need to make improvements.

March 21, 2014March 21, 2014

Woonsocket, 100 days into the Baldelli Hunt era

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Now that Mayor Lisa Baldelli- Hunt has given her 100-day update on the city’s finances, I thought I’d write a post on it. While I don’t think that even 100 days are enough to actually get a handle on the minutiae of running the city of Woonsocket, I give her credit and this goes in the “Campaign Promises Kept” column.

The financial picture painted at the meeting was not a pretty one. According to the mayor, the city still carries over $220 million in bonded debt, and another $54 million in unfunded pension liabilities. For a city that is suffering from a mass exodus of businesses and homeowners, fueled by the second highest property tax rates in the state, this is a kick in the collective teeth. How on Earth are we going to begin to pay down those debts and liabilities when the tax base is shrinking so rapidly?

My thoughts while listening to the mayor were not, “Goodness! What a groundbreaking approach to city government” or, “I’m surprised that nobody thought of that sooner.” That said, Woonsocket has ingrained and systemic problems that no one in their right mind could think we’re going to see a turnaround in one fell swoop.

Several things jumped out at me during the presentation.

First, she is looking at “small-ball” options. This was indicated in the renegotiations of landline and cellular contracts for city offices and cellular phone service. Sure, it’s not a lot of money saved, but given the state of the city, every dollar counts. A few thousand here and there could add up to big savings for the city in the long haul. Forgive the baseball analogy, but games aren’t won by homeruns. They are won by base hits. Renegotiating these contracts put a man on base. Another hit will put him in scoring position.

Secondly, the mayor spent a good amount of time clarifying her position on the re-implementation of Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) in Woonsocket.

We need to see education spending as an investment, not an expense, because that’s what it is. A study conducted at the University of Connecticut showed that, for every standard deviation in standardized testing scores, property values increase and decrease accordingly. My vote is for increased property values!

To me, this is not an issue of, “Can we afford it,” but rather, “Can we afford not to?” Woonsocket is only one of thirteen communities in Rhode Island that does not have FDK, and the General Assembly is moving quickly on a bill that would fully fund the program beginning in the 2015 school year. Wouldn’t it be nice if Woonsocket was actually AHEAD OF THE CURVE on an issue, rather than begrudgingly dragging our feet (AND KNUCKLES!) on an issue?

Lastly, the lack of communication and attention to detail in the last administrations became apparent to me when the mayor showed in one powerpoint slide that the city department administrative priorities in the last 100 days have been:

– Department heads became more familiar with their budgets and operations

–Department heads created and established priorities in terms of functions and the provision of municipal services

–Built a budget planning document and developed related tracking systems

–Department heads defined the department’s mission statement in terms of legal requirements and other objectives

My astonished reaction to these statements was, “We don’t do that already?”

This is a great example of how the previous administrations have failed this city. It seems that even the simplest aspects of organization and inter-office communication have gone un-tended for the last twenty years. It is the inevitable result of the, “Cut staff to save money,” approach seemingly favored by Mayors Fontaine and Menard.

On a side note, I have been looking into two funding programs for upgrades to energy efficiency and introducing renewable energy projects to the city.

One is the state’s Residential Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, which would supply a $1 million dollar fund to the city to help homeowners improve the energy efficiency of their homes and install solar panels where applicable. Rules and regs should be finalized by July 2014.

The other is a regional program, funded by the multi-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) that would allow our K-12 schools enact energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy projects at no cost, provided that the projects meet certain standards, including an educational component in the city’s schools.

Here’s to a better Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and USA.

To see our mayor’s Powerpoint presentation, click here.

March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

Coventry fire fighters take anti-union effort to state Supreme Court

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Central Coventry fire fighters aren’t giving up on the residents they protect. On Friday, they filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court to keep the embattled fire district operational.

“We believe there is no need for liquidation,” said Central Coventry union president David Gorman, adding that it would be dangerous and expensive for residents if the rural town’s largest and busiest fire district is eliminated.

“There is still no plan in place to provide protection,” Gorman said. “Everybody needs funding, no matter who answers the calls.”

Liquidating the district, he said, will prove more expensive than keeping it operational. He expects taxpayers will be responsible for the $8 million in contract obligations they have agreed to, and the state pension board would require retirement obligations, between $6 and $9 million, would need to be funded too.

Gorman said he has tried to negotiate with the local fire district board, but they won’t talk with him. “We believe we can make the budget numbers work but we haven’t been given the opportunity to do that for the past two years. I gave them a dollar and they never asked for two, or a dollar ten. They won’t talk to us. They want a new paradigm that doesn’t include union fire fighters.”

In a letter to fire district residents, The Central Coventry Citizens Taskforce for Fire Protection said fire commissioners did negotiate with the union. “Although the New Board tried to gets (sic) costs under control and save it, the level of concessions from the fire fighters union – where the bulk of the costs are – was simply insufficient.”

Gorman said the budget crunch in the Central Coventry Fire District began with a clerical error on a commercial tax bill. The error happened in 2010 and wasn’t remedied until an audit discovered one commercial property was not being billed, Gorman said. By then it had ballooned into $2.4 million deficit.

Rep. Patricia Morgan, a West Warwick Republican who represents a slice of Coventry, and anti-union activist Chuck Newton are leading a campaign to close the fire district. Gorman said the clerical error has been misrepresented as overspending. He said Morgan and Newton “hand-picked” anti-union residents to run for the fire district board and it is now “controlled” by the small government group that authored the above letter.

Newton, an East Greenwich resident, was instrumental in closing the fire district in that town. He was employed at the State House by the House GOP caucus but was fired for making a fake Facebook page about Rep. Scott Guthrie, who is a former North Kingstown fire fighter.

Gorman said both Newton and Morgan, neither of whom live in Coventry, are more concerned with busting the union than fixing the fire district. “It’s really shameful what they have done to this community,” he said.

March 13, 2014March 14, 2014

State library funding rewards Barrington, punishes Central Falls

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There are several differences between the public library in Barrington and the one in Central Falls.

The Barrington library has more than 129,000 print items on its shelves and lent out 384,257 materials last year. The Central Falls library has about 34,000 print items on the shelves and lent out 14,994 materials last year. Barrington’s library is open seven days a week, and Monday through Thursday it’s open for 12 hours a day – 9 am to 9pm. Central Falls’ library is open six days a week; five hours a day on Saturdays and seven on weekdays. Barrington’s library employs 45 people, 15 of them full time, and Central Falls employs two full time and two part time people. The Barrington library’s annual budget is just over $1.5 million and the Central Falls library’s budget is $165,000.

Another difference is the amount each will get in state aid this year. Governor Chafee’s proposed budget would give $341,488 to Barrington and $17,569 to Central Falls. That’s because state library aid is appropriated based on a library’s budget rather than its need.

Here’s the law: “For each city or town, the state’s share to support local public library services shall be equal to at least twenty-five percent (25%) of both the amount appropriated and expended in the second preceding fiscal year by the city or town from local tax revenues and funds from the public library’s private endowment that supplement the municipal appropriation.”

As such, state taxpayers generally send more dollars per resident to suburban libraries than to urban libraries.

Deborah Barchi, director of the Barrington library and a past president of the Ocean State Libraries consortium, thinks the state funding formula for local libraries is fair.

“Each town makes those decisions based on what they value,” she said. “No matter what metric you use, there would be somebody who would feel they weren’t getting enough money.”

But Steve Larrick, the president of the Central Falls Public Library Board, disagrees.

“We think the state needs to play a role in our urban libraries,” he said. Rhode Island “needs to do a better job of thinking about these social determinants.”

Larrick, who is also the town planning director in Central Falls, explained what he meant about social determinants.

“Barrington doesn’t need a library to have access to tremendous resources,” he said. “They have great access to broadband in their homes, and their schools are top notch. Their school library is probably better than our public library. A dollar spent there will not be as meaningful as a dollar spent on the Central Falls library.”

Central Falls almost lost its library when the city filed for bankruptcy two years ago. Receiver Bob Flanders closed the library and a grassroots community effort aided by New York Times coverage and a $10,000 donation from Alec Baldwin, kept the doors open. But operating expenses were decimated, and because the funding formula uses budget numbers from two years ago it is hitting them in state funding this year.

“For this year and next year, the average is really down because of the bankruptcy,” Larrick said.

I asked Governor Chafee to comment on the disparity in funding between the Barrington and Central Falls libraries. Spokeswoman Faye Zuckerman sent this:

“As Governor, a former mayor and city councilor, Governor Chafee has been an advocate for Rhode Island’s cities and towns. Throughout his years in office, he has been working to reverse the damage done by the past administration to municipalities and the Rhode Island property taxpayer.”

January 27, 2014September 23, 2015

EG Town Council might shut down a 50 year old Main St small business

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Here’s the story of a man who has run a small business in downtown East Greenwich for more than 50 years who may lose his livelihood – a local institution and one of the hallmark properties on Main Street – because he fell behind on his sewer bill.

Norman Harris owns a dive bar/greasy spoon diner right in the heart of historic downtown East Greenwich and he is three-years delinquent on his sewer bills to the tune of $32,000. Some of that debt belongs to his business but the bulk of it comes from the five apartments connected to the restaurant that are occupied by family members.

The Town Council is threatening to revoke his liquor license if he can’t pay the debt in one lump sum.

Sharon Hazard, who runs the restaurant for her elderly father, told the Town Council that tough economic times plus a major money setback as a result of identity theft has left the family finances in shambles – and that they are even willing to remortgage their property to make the town whole. Still, she was berated by two of the elected officials.

Councilor Mark Gee lectured Hazard about how he too had faced hard times and never fell behind on his taxes. “To me it’s almost a little abusive to the town,” he said to her at a public meeting two weeks ago. Councilor Jeff Cianciolo forced Hazard to come back in two weeks with a title search, even though she told the Council she had already paid for one to be completed within the next two months. He wants the debt paid off in one lump sum. Council President Michael Isaacs was more understanding. He said, “We should exhibit some flexibility on this. I think they do need some time to work this out.”

Some see the Harris’ plight as just the cold, harsh realities of an unfriendly economy, and the delinquent sewer bill is the straw that broke the Harris’ business model. Others, like Councilor Gee, see it as a fairness issue; if you don’t have enough money to pay the town for your real property, you don’t get to keep your real property (unless you might turn it into a science center someday, more on this coming up).

And in the parts of town where Norman’s customers still live, a world away from the expensive track homes that constitute most of East Greenwich’s affluence, there are those who think it’s latent racism, class intolerance and a blatant attempt to socially engineer the Harris family off of Main Street.

The Harris’ are known locally as “the only black family in East Greenwich.” Of course this isn’t true, but it can certainly seem that way in lily white suburbia. As a point of fact, the Harris’ are bi-racial, and trace their roots back to the pre-Columbus Narragansett Tribe. (And other black people do live in town.) Perhaps more relevant than their skin color is their style. Many of the Harris’ just don’t look like modern day East Greenwich: think Swamp Yankee rather than soccer mom.

And their business attracts a rough crowd to an otherwise very gentrified center of commerce and community. I’d even go so far as to say the Harris’ can be a rough bunch themselves, and their tavern can be downright dangerous late at night. There’s a pool table, an ashtray out front and it serves cheap beer right across the street from a hotel that rents rooms by the week and/or month. People down on their luck get a room at the Greenwich Hotel, and find some friends across the street at Norman’s Tap. But that tale doesn’t always end well. The police are there frequently on Friday nights to break up fights.

It’s well worth noting that while Norman’s is a rough bar, it is not the roughest one in town. Some of the newer upscale bars and restaurants also draw a police presence on the weekends. The waterfront bars, which attract more affluent out-of-towners than the crowd that stay at the Greenwich Hotel, require multiple officers be stationed there throughout the evening (for parking and crowd control). And the only assault with a deadly weapon in recent years, a stabbing with a fork, happened in one of Main Street’s more posh eateries.

And as far as their debt is concerned, or it being some sort of affront to the community that they have let it fester for so long, I was personally more offended when Don Carcieri left vacant for 12 years (and counting) a piece of prime real estate the town gave him because he said he would turn it into a science center. No public lecture for the Republican former governor from the all GOP Town Council though.

So why do the Harris’ receive such harsh treatment from some on the town council and many more on the internet? Why would the Town Council consider destroying a local business that has been operating on Main Street for 50 years because of the three years of debt? What public good would be accomplished by taking away their liquor license?

There is absolutely a number of very influential local conservatives who think Main Street and the downtown economy would be well served if Norman’s Tap would just go away. Whether or not they are right is beside the point. A delinquent sewer bill should not be used as a tool to take away someone’s livelihood simply because some influential Republicans think more gentrification will make for a better community.

January 21, 2014January 27, 2014

RIF Radio: West Warwick political leaders talk about the past, the future and the community

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West Warwick — This post-industrial exurb on the Pawtuxet River may no longer be a manufacturing or retail mecca, and it’s tax base could certainly use a few extra dollars, but West Warwick still seems flush with at least one resource necessary for municipal success: a very strong sense of community and people who love the town.

On Sunday, the RIF podcast team (Mark Gray and I) went to Boneheads on Washington Street in the heart of Arctic to talk about the town with three local political leaders – Senator Adam Satchell, Town Councilor David Kenahan and Town Manager Fred Presley. (Disclosure: Gray is Satchell’s campaign manager)

We touched upon how West Warwick went from being one of the biggest manufacturing locales in the world and one of Rhode Island’s premiere shopping districts to being on the verge of bankruptcy, and whether it was exorbitant pensions or steep state cuts that put it there. We also dive deep into the tremendous sense of community that exists among the locals, and some ideas for West Warwick to move forward into the 21st century economy.

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