News – Page 3 – RI Future

September 2, 2016September 2, 2016

PVD City Council fails to pass 2nd resolution opposing LNG

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Providence City Councillor Seth Yurdin introduced a resolution Thursday evening that would strengthen the City Council’s opposition to National Grid’s proposed Fields Point liquefaction facility. Immediately after introducing his resolution Councillor Sam Zurier rose to co-sponsor, as did councilors David Salvatore, Carmen Castillo, Wilbur Jennings, Jo-Ann Ryan and Terrence Hassett.

Noting that it seemed as if a majority of the council was co-sponsoring the resolution, Yurdin moved that the resolution be voted on immediately. This caused councilors Jo-Ann Ryan and Terrence Hassett to suddenly flip their support. Yurdin’s move for passage failed, and the resolution was passed onto the Ordinances committee.

Reached for comment, Hassett wrote, “I voted no to have an immediate passage on the floor without a Council committee review. I co-sponsored it but a committee review is necessary for a proper vetting and discussion before it is transmitted to the full Council.”

Ryan wrote, “I requested to be a sponsor of the resolution last night. It was sent to ordinance committee by a majority vote. I voted to send it to committee to provide an opportunity for community input at an open public meeting of the council. You can and should attend and voice your concerns. And encourage others to attend and participate in the process.”

There are no ordinance committee hearings on the current schedule. Hassett is the chair of ordinance and Ryan is a member of the committee.

National Grid wants to expand its LNG footprint in the Port of Providence with the new liquefaction plant. Environmental groups such as the RI Sierra Club and the Environmental Justice League of RI oppose the plan. Curiously, Save the Bay, whose offices are not too far from the proposed site, have not come out against it.

Mayor Jorge Elorza and a large group of state level Providence legislators have recently publicly come out in opposition to the project.

The City Council unanimously approved Yurdin’s previous resolution opposing the site in March. That resolution called for public meetings to be scheduled to address environmental and health concerns of the project. “Unfortunately,” said Yurdin, here we are in the Summer and no such meetings have been held… This resolution is stronger than the previous resolution.”

The previous resolution called for studies and review. The new resolution is a call to strong action.

The new resolution says, in part, “That the City shall take all necessary actions to oppose the proposed Fields Point liquefaction facility, including ceasing to act as a cooperating agency with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and shall not grant any tax stabilizations, subsidies, or any other forms of support to the project.”

September 2, 2016

Community groups pressure PVD City Council on Community Safety Act

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Members of the Coalition to Pass the Community Safety Act (CSA) spoke out before Thursday night’s Providence City Council meeting about the importance of empowering local communities on policing.

“Providence needs the Community Safety Act because without it we feel unsafe,” said campaign coordinator Vanessa Flores-Maldonado in a statement. “The Coalition hopes that a public hearing will speak loudly to the need of an ordinance that seeks to hold police accountable when they harass and brutalize our community.

The Coalition, which is comprised of local community organizations and members, had previously submitted a petition on July 1 to have the city council hold a public hearing before going on their August break. However, the 90+ signatures submitted took 3 weeks to verify and no public hearing was scheduled within the 14 days required by the City Charter.

Malcus Mills of DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality) introduced three speakers, Dan, representing PrYSM (Providence Youth Student Movement), Wayne Woods of DARE, and Justice, speaking for RI Jobs with Justice.

Dan spoke about the gang database used by the Providence Police Department. If a youth is placed on the gang database list, they have no ability to remove their name or even check to see if their name is on the list. This may result in loss of job and educational opportunities in the future.

Right now, said Dan, the police, “judge people by their appearance, their race, gender etc, and they will say you are guilty… because they think you are part of a gang.”

Wayne Woods spoke of being profiled and pulled over on the East Side of Providence. After being removed from his car, searched, and then waiting for 20 minutes as his car was searched by police, he and his friend, both black men, were sent on their way. The police told the men, “To go home and take it easy.”

If the CSA were passed, said Woods, the car could only have been pulled over for probable cause and the police would have to issue a receipt to people they detain, outlining the conditions of the probable cause.

“A big part of why the CSA needs to be passed is so that we can hold people accountable to what they’re doing,” said Justice, representing Jobs with Justice. “Civil servants and law enforcement should be accountable just like other working people, and we need to be able to protect the people of Providence, we need to be able to protect the youth of color in Providence.”

The Providence Community Safety Act is a city-wide proposed ordinance that aims to hold police accountable and make communities safer. Developed by community members and organizations who are frustrated with police harassment and lack of accountability, the CSA has 12 key points that outline how police officers should interact with community members. These points range from video recording to traffic stops to the gang database.

September 1, 2016

DHS cuts hit the blind and visually impaired hard

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Social services for the blind and visually impaired are among the hardest hit as a result of the new computer system at the state Department of Human Services, said Rui Cabral, board member of the National Federation of the Blind of Rhode Island.

“The recent layoffs at the Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS) as a result of the costly UHIP system have affected employees and clients alike across many departments, but none more so than those in the previously five-person Independent Living unit at Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SBVI),” he said. “Several days ago four of those five Social Case Workers were laid off, cutting the workforce down to only one. One person to serve every blind child under the age of 14, every senior living with vision loss, and every visually impaired person in Rhode Island who is unable to work.”

At the press conference held last Thursday announcing staff cuts because of the new UHIP computer system, Melba Depeña Affigne, director of the RI Department of Human Services (DHS) said, “There will be no impact on clients.”

But in a statement, Cabral said, “There is no computer system that can accurately gauge what a blind person needs most—acuities and field loss can mean drastically different things for different people. Much of what clients of SBVI really need is a trusted and knowledgeable case worker who can provide not only the concrete resources, but support, reassurance, and advice based upon experience. In a society that so often tells blind people that we cannot, should not, are not allowed to, we need the assurance that we can live happy, successful, independent lives. For many of us, a Social Case Worker is the first person to tell us that. They have been working with the blind of Rhode Island for several decades between them; they know their clients, their needs and abilities, and they use that knowledge to serve a population that other, less specialized agencies, rarely know how to assist.”

These layoff will have an acute effect on visually impaired clients, he explained. “Say, hypothetically, that you, a sighted person, wake up tomorrow with significant vision loss. Where will you find out about the resources you need—the transportation opportunities, the library for the blind, the technology that will allow you to continue to use your iPhone and your computer, the nonvisual skills and devices that will help you to cook for your family and clean your house? How will you pay for–or even find out about–the glasses and the contact lenses and the magnifiers that will allow you to read your mail and pay your bills? A month ago, you would have called Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and someone would have told you that all of these things were possible, that they were there to help.

“Now? The future of the more than four hundred active clients, not to mention the hundreds of people who experience vision loss each year, is unclear. Now, it isn’t just society’s misconceptions that will keep blind and visually impaired people from living the lives we want—it’s the fact that we will not even have access to the resources we need in order to do so.”

The Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Rhode Island, “urge those in power to reconsider the termination of these workers’ positions. The needs of our unique population cannot be met by one worker alone, or by workers who have no knowledge of the true issues related to blindness.”

August 31, 2016

Burrillville Zoning Board votes ‘No’ on Invenergy

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Ray Cloutier, chair of the Burrillville Zoning Board, ripped Invenergy‘s plans for a $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant to shreds Tuesday evening as he lead the board in a unanimous decision to reject the company’s application in their advisory opinion to the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB). Cloutier called Invenergy’s plans to use “up to a million gallons of water” per day “totally irresponsible” saying that future growth and development in the town would be curtailed. “That’s totally irresponsible,” he said.

The Burrillville Zoning Board has been tasked by the EFSB to deliver an advisory opinion. The Zoning Board based much of their decision on the work done by the Burrillville Planning Board. The EFSB can give the advisory opinion as much or as little weight as they choose. They can adopt the opinion in whole or in part, modify the opinion or simply ignore it.

But the opinion, based on strong research and hours upon hours of expert and community testimony, should not be considered lightly. Cloutier maintained that Invenergy has avoided providing the board with requested answers.

“Due to… a lack of concrete information, we, the board, have asked in several different ways, several different times, for concrete information from this company, and they’ve either ignored our questions, or evaded them, or answered in a very vague manner,” said Cloutier, “We’ve gotten no definite answers, as far as I can tell, on anything.

“We have no plans. Nothing that we can read.”

One big stumbling block is the water. Cloutier said:

The big question, and we’ve asked this over and over again, available water supply. There is no water supply. As a matter of fact, they’ve been denied any water from anybody in this town. And if they were to attempt to drill a well, and draw from the ground water, it would seriously deplete the aquifer in the whole town.

“It would stop any further development. It would cripple the town from developing anything further after this. There’s no guarantee that there’s enough water for [Invenergy]. I’ve heard that there’s up to a million gallons of water per day demand at times for this plant. That’s totally irresponsible.

“This town would be facing a public water moratorium on future village growth if this is approved. It’s unbelievable that we’d consider that.”

The meeting started off contentiously. Burrillville residents, worried about the outcome of the opinion, quickly hijacked the meeting, demanding the opportunity to speak publicly. Cloutier appeared frustrated at times and admonished the crowd to be respectful. But in the end Cloutier thanked residents for their patience during the difficult process.

Invenergy’s lawyer Elizabeth Noonan actually lost her cool as members of the audience interrupted her, saying, “People, really, I’m trying to address the board member, could you give me a- little quiet?” One woman in the audience shouted, “No!” Noonan countered, “I don’t speak when you speak.” She then gave up trying to speak and put down her microphone.

With the decision of the Burrillville Zoning Board made, this part of the EFSB process has come to a close. The EFSB is still waiting on final advisory opinions from the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Management.

Here’s Stephanie Sloman‘s testimony on low octave noise, which Cloutier found very compelling:

Here’s the full meeting:

August 30, 2016August 30, 2016

EFSB established as ‘one-stop shopping’ for power companies

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On the day the Rhode Island Senate Finance committee passed the legislation that would establish the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB), Robert L Bendick Jr, the director of the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) asked, “I just wonder what’s going on here. What’s the driving force behind this?” [Providence Journal, April 11, 1986; pg A-15]

The question Bendick asked on April 9, 1986 strongly resonates today. Jerry Elmer, of the Conservation Law Foundation, said the EFSB “was designed to take the power to stop a proposal like Invenergy’s out of the hands of the local people… and put it into the hands of the EFSB.”

Governor Gina Raimondo refers to EFSB decision making as “the process” and asks us all to trust in it, but how are we to trust if we can’t tell if the intent of the process is to serve Rhode Islanders or to serve the energy industry?

What is going on here? Here’s some historical context.

Back in 1986, Ward Pimley, writing for the ProJo, wrote, “Sen. Victoria Lederberg, D-Providence, the sponsor, said the [EFSB] bill streamlines the approval process required for obtaining licenses to build major energy facilities for generation of electricity, treatment of liquefied natural gas, oil refineries and the like…”

Victoria Lederberg was an impressive woman and public servant. A judge, she “served as state representative from 1975-1983 ,representing the East Side of Providence, and state senator from 1985-1991… Lederberg was a trailblazer, becoming the first woman of Italian heritage to serve in the Rhode Island legislature.”

Pimley continues, “In previous testimony, Lederberg called the siting board concept ‘one-stop shopping,’ where interested developers could learn what they must do to obtain licenses and fulfill obligations to build. She said it removes jurisdictional overlapping among regulatory agencies.

“She said the bill recognizes the state’s need for ‘reasonably priced, reliable sources of energy’ and balances that with issues affecting public health and environmental impact.”

Nine years earlier, in his January 1977 inaugural address, Governor J Joseph Garahy outlined his ideas for the state’s energy objectives. Siting of energy projects heretofore had been haphazard, and based solely on the whims of industry. Garahy had a vision “to site energy facilities in light of state plans, rather than private industry decisions.” He was governor of a Rhode Island that was suffering from environmental mismanagement, and the new governor was hoping for a different approach. The EFSB, at its best, would be a realization of Garahy’s vision, but in an effort to please industry rather than regulate it, Garahy’s vision may have been compromised.

Public Utilities Commission] Chairman Edward F Burke, Pimley wrote, “testified earlier that the legislation is important because there are eight or nine potential applications for energy-generating facilities that could be built in some other state unless the licensing procedure were streamlined.

“He cited a $300-million facility proposed for Burrillville that should provide electricity by 1989 on property owned by Narragansett Electric as an example of the type of facility that can be built.”

This $300-million facility is the Ocean State Power plant, which currently uses 4 million gallons of water a day to cool its turbines.

Recognizing that the EFSB would allow industry to override the environmental concerns of the state, Sen. William C. O’Neill, today more famous as a South County bike path than a Democratic senator from Narragansett, objected. Here’s Pimley’s play-by-play of what he called a ‘hot debate’:

“You feel DEM is an obstacle,” O’Neill said. “You removed that obstacle, and you know it.”

“You’re absolutely incorrect,” Lederberg shot back.

“I’m concerned that you’re allowing other agencies to override DEM,” O’Neill said.

“I totally disagree,” Lederberg said. “This shares decision-making. DEM has an important role. That’s why we’ve made them one of the board members. It does not weaken the permit-granting power by DEM.”

Lederberg said DEM does not have veto authority to stop any project it wants, but it still is involved in the planning process.

Then Sen. David R. Carlin Jr, D-Newport, said the siting board can overrule decisions of other agencies.

“It seems it’s clearly overriding DEM,” he said.

O’Neill, seeing DEM Director Robert L Bendick Jr watching the proceedings, said he would vote for the bill if Bendick agreed that DEM’s interests would not be jeopardized by it, but committee chairman Donald R. Hickey, D-Providence, called for a vote.

“The bill was approved, 8 to 4.”

This is what prompted Bendick to ask, “What’s going on here?” adding, “If what they’re doing is overriding the department’s authority, I’m opposed to it.”

Months earlier, in an editorial, the ProJo had endorsed Lederberg’s proposal writing, “As a House member in 1979, Mrs. Lederberg sponsored a similar bill that died in the Senate. Former Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy, who supported the bill, issued an executive order embodying many of its details, but that wasn’t an adequate substitute for statutory enactment…

“Mrs. Lederberg says energy installations must be reviewed in terms of regional need and cost-effectiveness, not on the basis that Rhode Island must be totally self-sufficient in energy.” [Providence Journal February 17, 1986; page A-10] Note that Lederberg is not quoted as mentioning, and that the ProJo editorial seems uninterested in, environmental issues.

Pimley noted that the bill, as originally introduced by Lederberg, allowed the General Assembly to override an EFSB decision, but that provision was removed before passage because “it was no longer needed.”

Pimley also noted that “support for the legislation came from the Governor’s Office of Energy Assistance, the PUC and Narragansett Electric Co.”

Narragansett Electric is today a wholly owned sub-entity of National Grid.

Of special concern to all involved with the establishment of the EFSB was a proposal “to build twin natural-gas-fired plants in Burrillville. According to a plan disclosed Tuesday, the plants would be supplied by a new, 25-mile gas pipeline that would run from Sutton, Mass., to the Burrillville site and on to Cranston.” [Providence Journal, February 13, 1986; page A-14]

The very first application the EFSB took up was the Ocean State Power Plant in Burrillville.

August 29, 2016August 30, 2016

Providence DHS also experiencing problems

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The letter Heather received a week before her appointment with the Department of Human Services (DHS) warned that not showing up for her scheduled appointment could seriously delay approval of her benefits. Having been recently laid off and in search of work, Heather made sure that she was not only a half hour early, but that her paperwork was in order.

Arriving at the DHS offices in Providence on Elmwood Avenue, she got into the line for those with appointments. The other line, for those without appointments, was longer and moved more slowly. Both lines stretched out of the waiting room.

Conditions in the waiting room, Heather told me, were “miserable.”

“People were standing in lines for hours,” said Heather. “A lot of people were turned away. A lot of them were single mothers. It was hot, and there was not a lot of room to sit. Children were running around, crying and screaming.” She said employees appeared to be overwhelmed and frustrated.

Optimally, DHS provides people in need with access to many services such as Medicaid, SNAP benefits, Rhode Island Works (RIW), Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), LTSS, General Public Assistance (GPA) and access to various energy assistance programs like HEAP, WAP and HSR.

The delays, Heather was told, were because of the new computer system the DHS was using to approve benefits. The new system was supposed to make things more efficient. Instead, workers at the office were facing too many cases and a new system being rolled out without adequate training.

At a press conference on Thursday, DHS director Melba Depeña Affigne said that changes in staffing and the conversion to the new computer system would have “no impact on clients.” Michael DiBiase, director of the RI Department of Administration called the issues that Heather and others have described as “unfortunate.”

After four hours, Heather got her EBT card and was able to leave the DHS offices by 4:45pm. The waiting room was no less full, most of those waiting would have to return the next day to continue the process.

The new computer system, which has no official name, was supposed to be online in July, and is now slated to be fully operational by mid September. The system is supposed to reduce the amount of time prospective clients spend with social workers and has been billed as an “incredible tool for our workforce” that will “enhance customer service.”

Heather disagrees. The system, she says, is “designed to make you feel like shit about yourself.”

August 29, 2016August 29, 2016

New computer system at DHS hurts clients and social workers

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Melba Depeña Affigne, director of the RI Department of Human Services (DHS), was “surprised to hear [that clients] did not get service” at the Woonsocket DHS offices. The clients in question were referred from the Woonsocket offices to the DHS offices in Pawtucket, a four hour round trip by bus.

Michael DiBiase, director of the RI Department of Administration said, regarding the problems at the Woonsocket branch of the DHS that the “break in service was unfortunate” and will last “hopefully less than a month.”

DiBiase and Affigne were holding a press conference to explain the layoff of 70 DHS employees, mostly social workers, as part a major reorganization of the DHS and the launching of a new computerized eligibility system that is projected to save taxpayers millions.

The laid off social workers, said DiBiase, will have a chance to apply for one of the more than fifty job openings at DCYF (Department of Children, Youth and Families). The layoffs are required, said Affigne, because of a “new staffing model” that will allow DHS to make significant cuts. The new model is “task based” and will not require supervisors trained in social work to manage by “case load.”

I asked Sue Pearlmutter, dean of the Rhode Island College School of Social Work if this means that the DHS is moving away from social workers advocating on behalf of clients and towards data entry technicians assisting clients using the computers.

“That has been my impression,” said Pearlmutter. The DHS is moving towards “a very different kind of process. Social workers engage with the client and work with the client.” The application process DHS is instituting makes “people take responsibility for their application at a kiosk or in a library.”

Often, these are “people in crisis” at a time when “completing an application is a daunting process.” Some adults and young adults, says Pearlmutter, “may find the process overwhelming. Removing a level of staff may cause more problems for people facing crisis.”

As for the staff DHS is cutting, saying that there are openings at DCYF is disingenuous. Many of the staff losing their positions at DHS started at DCYF, said Pearlmutter. They took jobs at DHS “because the work at DCYF is so crisis oriented. It’s difficult and emotional work that many found they couldn’t do any more.”

Talking about the jobs at DCYF as being like the work at DHS “shows no understanding of the kind of work social work is,” says Pearlmutter.

The new computer system, which has no official name, it’s just the “New Integrated Eligibility System,” said Affigne, was supposed to be online in July, and is now slated to be operational in mid September. The system will reduce the amount of time prospective clients will spend with social workers. This is “by far the largest technology project that has ever been undertaken by the State of Rhode Island,” said DiBiase.

The new computer system, said Affigne, is an “incredible tool for our workforce” that will “enhance customer service.”

Lucie Burdick, president of Local 580 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), disagrees. She told RI Future that “this extremely expensive computer system, if it even works correctly someday, will never provide the quality of service a trained, educated, experienced human being provides. The computer pilot program is failing miserably at this point and costs are rising rapidly. It could have been done better and cheaper. The displacement of staff and the cost of human suffering that it has exacted on the population we serve is unconscionable.

“This fiasco is the 38 Studios of human services. The taxpayers and advocates for the poor should be outraged.”

DHS provides people in need with access to many services such as Medicaid, SNAP benefits, Rhode Island Works (RIW), Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), LTSS, General Public Assistance (GPA) and access to various energy assistance programs like HEAP, WAP and HSR. Affigne said that about one in five Rhode Islanders use services offered at the DHS, and that they maintain six field offices, like the one in Woonsocket.

“What will be the impact on clients?” I asked.

Affigne replied, “There will be no impact on clients.”

Yet existing clients did not start receiving notifications of reduced services in Woonsocket until August 23, and the Woonsocket DHS began reduced services on the 19th. That’s two or thee days of people arriving at the Woonsocket offices and learning that they were in for a four hour bus ride to Pawtucket from a sign taped to the door.

As Bob Plain and I tried to ask questions to get to the heart of the issue of the actual impact that this transition will have on people trying to access needed state services, Kristin Gourlay, health care reporter for RIPR cut in.

“Presumably,” said Gourlay, “in September, when the system goes live, people won’t have to go to a field office, they can go to- if the have a computer at home they can use that, they could go to a public library and use a computer there or another social service agency…”

“Correct,” said Affigne.

This allowed DiBiase and Affigne to shrug off concerns about social workers and clients as mere “bumps” along the way towards an improved, (read: cheaper) system. Yet, at a time when poverty and income inequality are at all time highs, and the economy of Rhode Island is barely improving, “bumps” in the lives of the one in five Rhode Islanders applying for needed assistance can be catastrophic.

Here’s the video of RIFuture’s questions:

Here’s the video of the full press conference:

August 26, 2016August 26, 2016

Environmentalists hail Elorza’s stance on LNG

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The Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island (EJLRI) “is thrilled that Mayor Jorge Elorza listened to the community and is taking a strong stand against fracking, climate change, and LNG production in Providence.”

The EJLRI statement comes in response to Elorza’s announcement that he opposes National Grid‘s proposed LNG liquefaction facility to be located at Fields Point in the Port of Providence.

State Representative Aaron Regunberg, who represents the 4th district in Providence, also hailed the mayor’s announcement. “I am so glad the mayor has joined our opposition to this terrible proposal. It shows the LNG facility is not a done deal. This is a fight we can win, and so it is a fight we must win. Now it’s time for our federal delegation, who I know are all committed to fighting climate change, to put that commitment into practice here in Providence and join our push for #NoLNGinPVD!”

EJLRI echoed Regunberg’s call for more state elected officials to join them in the fight against expanding LNG infrastructure in Rhode Island. “We are very thankful for the support and climate leadership from our mayor and state legislators, and we now call on our federal congressional delegation and Governor Gina Raimondo to join us and stop National Grid’s plans to liquefy and export fracked gas from Providence.”

Monica Huertas, a leader in the #NoLNGinPVD campaign, responded to the news from the mayor’s office by saying “As a resident of the Washington Park neighborhood, I am so thankful for Mayor Elorza to have so willingly come out against ‘LNG.’ We can make a difference in the smallest state and as residents of the capital city we can take the lead on dismantling the old ways of doing things. This shows that he is on the right side of history. After we have won the battle for clean energy, we can look back at this key moment in Providence and be proud that we fought together.”

Meghan Kallman, Chair of the RI Sierra Club said, “The Sierra Club is pleased with Mayor Elorza’s statement of opposition to the proposed LNG facility in Providence. Climate change is one of the gravest threats that our community faces. Infrastructure such as this liquefaction plant, that locks us into further consumption of fossil fuels, is a bad choice for our future. Further, its proposed location would imperil some of the most vulnerable residents of Providence. We are pleased that Mayor Elorza has listened to the concerns of the community and is opposing this wrongheaded proposal.”

“We have to move to renewable energy,” said Sam Bell, executive director of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats (RIPDA). “Certain machine politicians may not believe we need to act to stop climate change, but our state cannot afford not to act. Elorza giving in to the people of Providence and supporting the NO LNG in PVD movement is a big win.”

The EJLRI statement concludes, “The decision to approve or reject National Grid’s proposal is still under fast-track review and likely approval in the Washington DC offices of FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Governor Raimondo, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman David Cicilline, and other elected officials need to join their colleagues in Providence and make it clear that there can be no more dangerous fracked gas expansion projects in Providence, or anywhere in the state. We stand by no fracked gas LNG in Providence, no fracked gas power plant in Burrillville, and no fracked gas Access Northeast expansion of the pipeline, compressor station, and additional LNG production.

“Rhode Island is making international news as a climate change leader, and we need to be clear that real climate leaders reject fracking and support a rapid and Just Transition to a sustainable future that centers the needs of workers and frontline communities.”

August 25, 2016August 26, 2016

State Police investigating calls for Walaska from state phones

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The Rhode Island State Police are investigating campaign phone calls made from Child Support Services, a state agency, on behalf of State Senator William Walaska, a conservative Democrat and 22-year incumbent. Walaska is being challenged by Jeanine Calkin, a progressive Democrat and Bernie Sanders supporter.

State Police Lt. Michael Glynn contacted RI Future, the Warwick doctor who initially told me about the calls, and also contacted Jeanine Calkin, whose husband, Daniel, also received a call. The scope and particulars of the investigation are unknown, but Calkin said that “someone is coming to talk to Dan today and take a look at our phone.”

RI Future broke this story last week. So far no other media organizations have covered it. When called for a comment, Senator Walaska said, “I know you don’t support me. I have no idea. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

This story will be updated.

Here’s the call:

August 25, 2016August 27, 2016

Layoffs at DHS have already affected services in Woonsocket

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People in need of social services are being turn away from the Woonsocket branch of the RI Department of Human Services (DHS) as the offices are in the midst of a downsizing and relocation.

On Tuesday some clients went to the DHS offices in Woonsocket and were told that they could not access the services they needed. They were referred to the Pawtucket offices, requiring a four hour bus ride, two hours each way. DHS employees in Woonsocket said their branch right now can only deliver “limited services.” I was told that all questions regarding the move and reduced services needed to be referred to DHS director Melba Depeña Affigne.

The reason for the change in service seems to be related to 70 layoffs at DHS that, according to a news release, is the result of a new software system coming in September.

“Moving from a software system designed more than 30 years ago to a modern, digital system requires different staffing needs,” said Depeña Affigne in a news release from the Department of Administration sent today. There will be a 3pm press conference explaining the layoffs in detail.

“The new eligibility and enrollment software system will make it easier and more convenient for Rhode Islanders to access those vital services,” Depeña Affigne said in the press release.

Woonsocket DHS 002 — Notice on Woonsocket DHS door

DHS provides vital community and family assistance by way of food and cash assistance, child care assistance and Medicaid. DHS manages SNAP benefits, Rhode Island Works (RIW), Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), LTSS, General Public Assistance (GPA) and provides access to various energy assistance programs like HEAP, WAP and HSR.

The clients DHS serve are among the most vulnerable in the state, who often have difficulty with transportation and access to the internet. Closing offices, downsizing staff and limiting services, even if only for a month, could have catastrophic effects on families.

In a letter to SNAP Advisory Committee members, SNAP Administrator Iwona Ramian wrote that the lease for the current offices expires on August 31, and the effective date for the new offices is September 1, with transition between offices beginning Monday, August 22. Notification of the move was mailed to clients on Monday, meaning many people did not know about the gap in services.

Though Ramian in her letter says that “no gap in services is anticipated” the DHS website says, “The Woonsocket office is providing limited services” and refers clients to other locations.

Further calling Woonsocket DHS services into question is Ramian’s assertion that staffing levels at the Woonsocket office will be reduced from 36 to 14. The 22 employees who will no longer be in Woonsocket are being relocated to Providence.

A drop to 14 staff members is a big reduction. The implementation of a new on-line system for determining eligibility and needs was supposed to be in place before the change in location and reduction in staff, but the new system is experiencing delays.

Ramian notes that “the [new] office space will be shared with a comprehensive multi-service, non-profit, health and human services agency, giving customers a one-stop service location. The office telephone and facsimile numbers will stay the same. She’s referring to Community Care Alliance, a multi-service not-for-profit health and human services provider consisting of the original community mental health center serving the 6-town region, a school, the Woonsocket Family Shelter, the Northern RI Family Visitation Center (for DCYF-involved families), a youth success program, day treatment, partial hospital and acute stabilization for substance use and co-occurring behavioral health disorders and more.

Calls to the DHS offices have not been returned.

August 22, 2016August 26, 2016

CLF moves to finish off pipeline tariff

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In response to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision against National Grid’s plan to charge consumers to underwrite and guarantee profits for its proposed ANE pipeline, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has moved to close the Docket on a similar proposal here in Rhode Island.

Closing the docket would essentially end National Grid’s plan. According to the motion, National Grid provided testimony in the Massachusetts case claiming that “the fate of the ANE Project is dependent on approvals of full cost-recovery in other New England states—especially Massachusetts, which National Grid assumed would provide a substantial portion of the financing for the proposed project.”

As National Grid further states, “If there is any possibility of less than full cost recovery over the entire term of the contracts, the Proposed Agreement has a negative expected value for the Company’s investors…” National Grid wants to place the risks of this investment on ratepayers, not its investors.

The motion to dismiss, filed by CLF attorneys Jerry Elmer, Megan Herzog and Max Greene, supplies several reasons supporting the contention that Docket 4627 needs to be closed in light of the Massachusetts decision.

The first reason is that the project cannot proceed without Massachusetts. “Massachusetts was to receive the lion’s share—more than 43 percent—of the Access Northeast project’s gas capacity,” says the motion to dismiss, “In effect, Massachusetts’ non-participation cripples the project.”

Even if National Grid decides to proceed with the motion, by deciding to actually assume the financial risks, says the CLF, that isn’t the plan as proposed in Docket 4627. The scheme, says the CLF, “is so substantially altered by [the Massachusetts opinion] that the Petition, as filed, fails to represent fairly the costs and benefits of the ANE Project.”

Without the State of Massachusetts buying in, “The resulting proposition is an entirely new, and raw, deal for Rhode Island. In effect, National Grid is now asking Rhode Island ratepayers to subsidize a project that it alleges will benefit all of New England; yet a substantial share of New England ratepayers—including millions of ratepayers in Massachusetts—will be insulated from bearing a proportional share of the risks of this experimental and uncertain scheme.”

Also, even though the Massachusetts decision was based on Massachusetts state law and has no direct legal bearing on Rhode Island, “the reasoning underlying the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision… applies with equal force here.”

Rhode Island has laws similar to those in Massachusetts regarding “the core principles of electricity market restructuring,” says the CLF, and approving National Grid’s plan “would undermine the main objectives of the [restructuring] act and re-expose ratepayers to the types of financial risks from which the Legislature sought to protect them.”

August 20, 2016August 26, 2016

Trump hits Minneapolis, the city hits back

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Coincidentally, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump came to Minneapolis MN on the same day I made my first visit to the city. This turned a day that I had planned to spend sightseeing into a day of traveling to three different anti-Trump events.

“Trump’s rhetoric is creating an unsafe environment for the Muslim community, for the Somali-American community, and we have seen an increase in Islamaphobia and anti-Muslim efforts across the state of Minnesota,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations- Minnesota (CAIR-MN), “We have seen, just a few weeks ago, an incident involving five young Muslim men who were shot… we believe that incident is a hate crime.”

Hussein believes that Trump’s extremist rhetoric is creating a hostile, unsafe environment for Muslim Americans and immigrants, and the effects are being felt by the most vulnerable.

Hussein introduced 13-year old Yusuf Dayur who has been experiencing bullying in his school because he is a Muslim. Hussein suggested that Dayur might one day be president. Though Dayur’s school is very proactive in providing Dayur time and space in which to pray, some of his fellow students do not trust him because he is a Muslim. Dayur bravely fought back tears as he described the difficulties he faces.

Jaylani Hussein’s full comments:

After the press conference I headed across town to the Minnesota State Republican Offices where Cosecha Minnesota was holding a “Wall Off Trump” event. Cosecha is “a nonviolent decentralized movement that is focused on activating our immigrant community and the public to guarantee permanent and humane protection for immigrants in this country.”

Estaphania and another woman explained that their protest, in which they painted a wall, like the one Trump is promising on the Texas-Mexico border, is meant to draw attention to Trump’s extremist rhetoric that threatens the health and safety of immigrant Americans.

My last stop was at the Minneapolis Convention Center, where people representing virtually everyone Trump has ever publicly maligned, including immigrants, black Americans, members of the LGBTQ community, women, Muslims, indigenous Americans and more, gathered together to denounce Trump ahead of his visit to a large donor rally.

This protest was organized by MIRAc, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, a group that, “fights for legalization for all, an end to immigration raids & deportations, an end to all anti-immigrant laws, and full equality in all areas of life.”

Trump did not make a public appearance in Minnesota, or even speak to the press. He spoke to donors only at the Convention Center. But his very presence in the city was enough to galvanize this group to come out to speak, sing, dance and chant their opposition to Trump being president.

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, after this event, as Trump donors left the convention center, they were confronted by angry demonstrators. “The demonstrators who harassed donors were not present earlier on, when the protest was peaceful. Many in the later group hid their faces behind scarves,” writes reporter Patrick Condon, “Minneapolis police spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Michal said there were no arrests and no reported injuries. There was, however, minor damage, including graffiti on the walls of the Convention Center, and officers had to escort Trump supporters in and out of the lobby because they were being harshly confronted, Michal said.”

Below are the rest of the pictures and video from the three events.

2016-08-19 CAIR-MN 001 — Jaylani Hussein, CAIR-MN

August 19, 2016August 26, 2016

Calls in support for Senator Walaska are coming from state phone

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When a Warwick resident and doctor checked his phone between appointments, he saw an unfamiliar number. Looking it up, he learned that the call came from Child Support Services, a state agency.

“Good afternoon,” said a male voice on his voicemail. “I’m a representative of Senator Walaska. We’re looking for some support this election if you go out and vote in the primary we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.”

After hearing the call, and believing the use of state phones for partisan campaign calls to be against the law, the Warwick resident, who asked not to be identified, contacted the Attorney General‘s office. They told him that the AG’s office is only interested in issues of campaign fraud. He was referred to the Secretary of State‘s office. The Secretary of State’s office was similarly disinterested, and referred him to the Board of Elections. According to the resident who sent me the call, the person from the Board of Elections searched through the relevant statutes in vain before giving up and telling the resident that he should call back when he learned exactly what law is being broken.

For future reference, that law seems to be:

§ 36-4-52. Restrictions on political activities of classified employees

No classified employee shall during working hours engage to any extent in any form of partisan politics except that he or she may attend and vote at any party caucus, primary, or election held during working hours. Outside of working hours a classified employee may attend any partisan political rally, club, or gathering and privately express his or her partisan political views but any further partisan political activity on his or her part shall be engaged in only in accordance with the personnel rules. A classified employee violating the provisions of § § 36-4-50–36-4-54, or of the personnel rules shall for a first offense be either demoted or dismissed and for a second offense dismissed. All charges of these violations shall be publicly heard by the personnel appeal board.

Robert Kando executive director of the Board of Elections could not be reached for comment.

John Marion of Common Cause said that the issue appears reminiscent of an ethics complaint against Susan Cicilline Buonanno when she ran for the House District 33 seat that Narragansett Democrat Donald Lally resigned. Buonanno, principal of Gladstone Elementary School in Cranston was accused of using school email and phones to advance her political campaign.

This case is different because it’s not the candidate, but someone claiming to represent the candidate who appears to be using state resources for partisan political purposes.

“As you might expect, using state work telephones for campaigning is forbidden, and so we would want to know if this sort of thing was taking place so that the charges could be investigated and suitable disciplinary action taken if warranted,” said Fred Sneesby, an administrator at Children’s & Family Services. The Warwick resident who sent me the call has been put in contact with Sneesby.

Contacted by phone, Senator Walaska, after I identified myself but before I could fully explain what I was calling about, said, “I know you don’t support me. I have no idea. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jeanine Calkin, a progressive Democrat who is running against the 22-year incumbent, said that her husband, Daniel Calkin, received a similar call. A photo of her husband’s phone is on the left. Daniel Calkin, listening to the audio above, said he was “pretty sure it’s the same guy.”

“This looks like a very clear-cut violation,” said Sam Bell, executive director of the RI Progressive Democrats.”Campaign calls should not be made from state numbers. Being able to direct state workers to campaign for a candidate gives an enormously unfair advantage to powerful incumbents.”

Requests for comment from Representative Joseph McNamara and Brandon Bell, respective chairs for the Democratic and Republican parties in Rhode Island have gone unanswered.

As for the Warwick resident and doctor who sent me the call, he says that he is “disinclined to vote for Walaska.”

August 15, 2016August 26, 2016

Leader DeSimone’s legal skills help wage thief

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House Majority Leader John DeSimone is also a lawyer and one of his clients is Chung Cho, a restaurant owner who was fined for wage theft in Connecticut and, more recently, faces a lawsuit for allegedly stealing wages from his employees at Gourmet Heaven in downtown Providence.

“Defendants are without sufficient knowledge or information to admit or deny that plaintiffs were employed by Gourmet Heaven,” wrote DeSimone in a court filing on behalf of Cho.

Cho is facing a lawsuit from eight workers in Rhode Island for unpaid wages in violation of the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the Rhode Island Minimum Wage Act. The eight workers are being represented by Robert McCreanor and Marissa Janton of the RI Center for Justice. Gourmet Heaven, which Cho recently sold, has been the center of several public demonstrations.

In Connecticut, Cho was charged with “42 felony and misdemeanor counts of wage theft, larceny, and defrauding immigrant workers after a 2013 Connecticut Department of Labor investigation found that Cho owed over $218,000 in unpaid wages” to two dozen restaurant employees, according to a court filing.

The Center for Justice initially filed its lawsuit in February, 2015, after “several requests for extension of the deadline for filing responsive pleadings”. DeSimone filed Cho’s legal response to the Rhode Island lawsuit on May 11, 2015. About a week later, on May 20, 2015, Cho sold Gourmet Heaven to GSP Corp for half a million dollars. At least some of the transactional paperwork for this sale was prepared by DeSimone.

GSP Corp had come into existence about a month earlier, on April 9, “listing 173
Weybosset Street … as its address and Dae Hyun Yoo as its registered agent,” according to the lawsuit. Gourmet Heaven was incorporated at this address, which is also where the restaurant is located. “Dae Hyun Yoo (aka David Yoo) is the Chief Executive Officer of B.C.S. International Corporation (B.C.S.), a wholesale food supply company,” according to the filing. “While operating Gourmet Heaven, LLC, Defendant Chung Cho regularly ordered inventory from B.C.S. and two of its subsidiaries, Hyun Dai International Food Corp and New York Cheese Corp.”

After the sale was finalized on September 14, “$225,389.11 of the $500,000 purchase price was paid directly to B.C.S., Hyun Dai International Food Corp, and New York Cheese Corp, purportedly to satisfy existing debts.” In the closing statement, Chung Cho is listed as receiving only “$1,620.78 from the $500,000 purchase price” after other debts were settled.

In response to this “sale” (quotation marks are included in the complaint) the Center for Justice amended its complaint to include GSP Corp as a defendant., believing the “sale” is merely an attempt to evade liability. GSP Corp hired Brian LaPlante and Michael J Jacobs as lawyers and have moved to have the complaint against them dismissed. A judge will hear the motion on September 20.

Selling the business and pleading poverty to avoid responsibility seems to be Cho’s signature move. One month after he was arrested in Connecticut, he sold his Connecticut Gourmet Heaven stores to Good Nature Café Inc, which was incorporated the previous October.

After selling his Connecticut stores, “on September 30, 2015 Defendant Chung Cho filed for personal bankruptcy in Connecticut,” says the complaint, “In December of 2015 Defendant Chung Cho testified at a hearing in Connecticut that he has no assets, contradicting a previous sworn statement that he possessed between $1 million and $10 million in assets.”

Back in Providence, on September 16, 2015, GSP Corp took over operation of the store located at 173 Weybosset Street, and renamed it Serendipity Gourmet. “The store continues operation at the same address, with many of the same employees, and sells the same products. The signage on the store uses the same font and colors, and the word ‘Gourmet’ still appears in the name. Signs on the exterior of the store proclaimed that it was ‘under new management.’”

In March of this year, GSP Corp applied for a new food dispenser and holiday sales license with the Providence Board of Licenses for their newly minted Serendipity Gourmet. The board’s attorney is Louis DeSimone, Representative John DeSimone’s cousin.

Voters should know when the people we elect to represent us also defend the monsters who oppress us. Anybody being sued deserves legal representation, but using slick legal moves to avoid paying workers their earned wages is simply gross.

DeSimone is facing a challenge to his House seat from Marcia Ranglin-Vassell.

DeSimone did not respond to requests for comment.

August 11, 2016August 26, 2016

Department of Health hears testimony on Burrillville power plant

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The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) held a public comment hearing in Burrillville Tuesday to solicit opinions on the potential health effects of building Invenergy‘s proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant. RIDOH has been tasked by the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) to create a non-binding advisory opinion on potential public health concerns relating to the project, including but not limited to biological responses to power frequency, electric, and magnetic fields associated with the operation of the power plant, and the potential impacts on the quality of drinking water associated with the construction and operation of the plant. The final report is due in early September.

RIDOH has released a first draft of their report, which was consumed by Burrillville residents opposed to the plant. Much of the public comment centered around the idea that RIDOH wasn’t taking into account the compounded effects of the gas infrastructure in and around Burrillville but was instead concentrating on the proposed power plant by itself.

Perhaps the most dramatic moment of the evening came when Stephanie Sloman rose to give her testimony.

“I had a whole speech prepared,” said Sloman (see video #20 below), “but I noticed that Invenergy’s sitting over there, and I refuse to speak and read my speech in front of these people. I don’t think they should even be here, frankly.”

The evening’s meeting was made harder on residents of the town because at the same time as this meeting there was a meeting of the Harrisville Fire District and Water Board. This meant that some people (including me) had to run out to the other meeting and then return to the RIDOH hearing, still in progress.

Several Burrillville residents noted that Governor Gina Raimondo, during her visit to Burrillville in July, recommended that residents get involved in and trust the process. That seems awfully hard to do when two important meetings are scheduled at the same time .

Below is all the video from the event.

August 11, 2016August 26, 2016

Attorney Sinapi denies conflict of interest

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About a half hour before Tuesday evening’s Harrisville Fire District and Water Board meeting started, attorney Richard Sinapi was engaged in semi-private conversation with board chair Ronald Slocum and vice chair James Scotland Sr inside the meeting place. Sinapi was apparently selling Invenergy’s idea to open a new well in Harrisville to cool its power plant to the commissioners, essentially telling them that Harrisville would lose out on $10 million if they did not accept the deal.

I arrived at the meeting site about a half hour early. Outside was Burrillville resident Robert Woods. Woods is a recently appointed member of the Burrillville Planning Board. An outspoken critic of Invenergy’s $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant, he recently recused himself from planning board business concerning Invenergy out of “an abundance of caution.”

Woods told me he could see inside the building, where Harrisville attorney Richard Sinapi was talking to the chair and vice chair of the Harrisville Water Board. The door to the offices were locked but after knocking, Woods and I were let in. Attorney Sinapi, as seen in the video, was engaged in conversation with two members of the board.

“I don’t know what plan C is, it’s very secret,” said Sinapi, “All I know is that it’s a lot more expensive than the ten million dollars… So… It’s ten million dollars.”

“Gentlemen,” said Robert Woods, “it seems like this is a little out of order, no? The meeting hasn’t started…”

“I’m the attorney, the meeting hasn’t started,” said Sinapi, “and there’s no quorum.”

“I realize that but you shouldn’t…” began Woods, before Sinapi wheeled around on him.

“There’s no quorum, and the meeting hasn’t started yet,” snapped Sinapi, “and I’m the attorney.”

“I realize you’re the attorney,” said Woods, “you’re talking about that to members of the board, I don’t know, I’m not an attorney but it just seems a little out of order to me, that’s all.”

“You’re entitled to your opinion,” said Sinapi.

“That’s why I’m voicing it,” said Woods.

Fifteen minutes later, and about ten minutes before the start of the meeting, Sinapi took another commissioner into an office, where he could be seen speaking privately. What they were talking about is not known.

The laws governing open meetings are complex, but on the face of things, Sinapi seems to be correct. His advocacy on behalf of Invenergy’s proposal does not seem to have violated the Open Meetings Act. Certainly there was no quorum, but if Sinapi was having this conversation with multiple commissioners in small groups over time, it might constitute what is called a “rolling quorum.” But of course, I’m no lawyer.

There are, however, other considerations at play. Many Burrillville residents have told me that they feel that Sinapi should have recused himself, since he is not only the lawyer for Harrisville, he is also the lawyer for the New England Mechanical Contractors Association. In that capacity Sinapi has apparently advocated for Invenergy’s power plant at the State House.

In his capacity as Harrisville’s lawyer, should Sinapi have been advocating for Invenergy’s proposal to the water board? Sinapi says that there is no conflict of interest. I spoke to Sinapi by phone. He maintains that in his capacity speaking for the Mechanical Contractors Association at the State House, he was working to “defeat a bad bill that would be bad for business, not to support or oppose the power plant.”

In his capacity as attorney for Harrisville, Sinapi says his job is to protect the Harrisville water supply and the financial integrity of the water board. If “Invenergy brings water into town, through a pipeline,” said Sinapi, “it could render the Harrisville supply redundant. We provide half the water to Pascoag.”

While he had me on the phone, Sinapi wanted to correct me on two points. I listed the Harrisville Water Board vote against Invenergy’s proposal as 5-1 (and the ProJo reported it as 6-1) but Sinapi claims the vote was 5-2 in favor of turning Invenergy’s offer down.

Sinapi’s other objection to my piece was my contention that a lawyer for the Harrisville Water Board “should have known” more about MTBE than his testimony at the State House seemed to indicate. According to Sinapi, water containing up to 40 parts per million MTBE is acceptable for drinking. In Connecticut, up to 70 parts per million is acceptable. Though MTBE is dangerous, said Sinapi, “it’s not like Benzene or something.”

August 8, 2016August 26, 2016

Invenergy power plant facing water problems

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Invenergy’s proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant in Burrillville is running into some water problems. The Pascoag Utility District, at a special meeting called by board chair Al Palmisciano for August 19, will decide for or against allowing Invenergy to access well 3A, which is closed by court order due to MTBE contamination.

A decision in Invenergy’s favor is by no means certain. In fact, Invenergy already seems to be searching for other options. On August 9 the Harrisville Fire District is taking up Invenergy’s, “inquiry as to whether and under what conditions Harrisville would be willing to consider developing and constructing a well and distribution means to supply water to the power plant at Invenergy’s expense.” Invenergy is also asking Harrisville to “authorize such additional pump and water testing and legal research as is necessary to determine the yield, viability and estimated cost of developing a well on the Victory Highway site and constructing an appropriate means of distribution at Invenergy’s expense.”

The Harrisville meeting is taking place at a time that overlaps with the RI Department of Health (RIDOH)’s public commentary hearing at the Burrillville High School, part of the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB)’s process of determining the fate of the power plant. This will have the effect of dividing the potential audience, but over the last few weeks water has become a very big issue in northern Rhode Island because the area is experiencing a severe drought, with rainfall five inches below average.

Aquifers and wells are feeling the effect of the lack of rainfall. Invenergy plans to use an average of 100,000 gallons of water a day to cool their plant, and almost a million gallons a day when burning oil. This is in addition to the 4 million gallons of water used to cool Burillville’s existing power plant, Ocean State Power. This strain on the area’s water supply may be lead to even more severe water shortages in the area. At the very least, it will forestall the possibility of future growth in the area.

Even if both Harrisville and Pascoag deny Invenergy their water, it doesn’t necessarily put an end to the company’s plans. Water could be imported from over state lines, and of course there is always the option used by Ocean State Power. According to a video by Paul Roselli of the Burrillville Land Trust and Burrillville resident Norman Derjarlais, the company seems to be trucking in the water from Western Sand & Gravel, a nearby superfund site, in leaking trucks. From 1975-1979 about 12 acres of this area was used for the disposal of liquid waste, including chemicals and septic waste.

You can watch the video below.

August 5, 2016August 26, 2016

National Grid says cost of proposed ratepayer fee is a trade secret

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National Grid will not reveal the amount of money they hope to charge customers in their proposed pipeline tariff. That information is a trade secret, and will not be revealed until after the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (RIPUC) decides on the proposal.

On Tuesday evening RIPUC heard public testimony against National Grid’s plan to charge customers for its efforts in building fracked gas pipelines and infrastructure in our state. National Grid also wants ratepayers to guarantee their profits for the venture as well. After the hearing I searched in vain through National Grid’s 572 page application for anything that would indicate how much this plan would cost. Finally I wrote Todd Bianco, principal policy associate at RIPUC for clarification.

“I do not believe there are any costs or rates in the filing that have not been redacted and marked as confidential. You should contact National Grid’s attorney or their spokesperson to confirm that,” said Bianco.

Following Bianco’s advice, I wrote to David Graves, National Grid’s Rhode Island Director of Strategic Communications.

“Portions of the filing are redacted because the document includes confidential information,” wrote Graves in an email, “which if revealed, would give competitors an unfair advantage in building their bids. The same procedure is in place in commodity rate setting. The information is shared with the regulators and is used in their assessment of our proposed rates, but the hard numbers in the estimates are not shared publicly until after the contract has been awarded.”

Graves did note that ratepayer impacts are discussed in the application starting on page 545. All the important numbers for determining actual impacts have been redacted.

August 4, 2016September 16, 2016

Workers demand pay in early morning action

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2016-08-04 Fuerza Laboral 011 — David Civetti

David Civetti, CEO of Dependable and Affordable Cleaning Inc, got a wake up call early Thursday morning about the importance of paying employees for work done.

At about 6am over a dozen people from Fuerza Laboral arrived at Civetti’s Johnston home and knocked on his door, waking him from his sleep. Fuerza maintains that on May 26-29, Civetti’s company “assigned a group of workers to clean apartments located in the area surrounding Providence College. After the job was completed, 8 workers were not compensated for those 4 days, 11 hours a day.”

The excuse given at the time was that Civetti was not satisfied with the work that had been done, say the workers.

“What’s the problem?” asked Civetti answering the door after protesters rang his bell and yelled for him to come outside and talk with them. “I have no idea who anybody is. I have no idea who you are.”

“No?” asked a woman incredulously, “Do you know her? Do you know him?”

“No,” said Civetti, before eventually admitting that he recognized one of the workers present.

“You need to pay your workers,” said Heiny Maldonado, executive director of Fuerza Laboral.

Civetti shrugged. “Everybody who works for me gets paid.”

“Let me ask you a question,” said Civetti, “Did I hire you? Or did someone else bring you to work with them?”

“We worked for you.”

“Did I hire you?” asked Civetti again. “Rosa hired you. Did Rosa bring them? Rosa and Chris brought them to a job. I didn’t hire them.”

“We know the game,” said Raul Figueroa, organizer for Fuerza, “we deal with it every day.”

The game Figueroa was referring to is the practice of classifying some workers as subcontractors in an attempt to circumvent labor laws. By hiring people on as subcontractors, some companies try to avoid the costs associated with properly hiring workers and sometimes manage to not pay workers at all.

“We use sub-contractors from time to time,” admitted Civetti. “Rosa and Chris are sub-contractors. They are responsible for paying [their employees].”

Claiming that the workers were hired as subcontractors doesn’t let Civetti off the hook says Marissa Janton, a lawyer with the Rhode Island Center for Justice, a public interest law office that has teamed up with Fuerza Laboral. Under the law, an employer is defined by what he does, she said.

According to Janson, Civetti “directly employed” her clients. Civetti met them at a house on Eaton St. near Providence College where he keeps his cleaning supplies. He set their $10 an hour pay rate and assigned them to the houses they needed to clean. After they finished a house, the workers called Civetti who told them which house they needed to clean next, said Janson.

This all adds up to being an employee, maintains Janson, not a sub-contractor.

Workers at the early morning action reminded Civetti that they were given tee shirts emblazoned with the company logo to wear while they worked. Civetti said that he gives out lots of tee shirts, and asked if wearing a Dunkin Donuts tee shirt means he works there.

“It does if you’re pouring coffee,” said Justin Kelley, who assisted Fuerza as the police liaison for the morning’s action.

Ultimately, after nearly a quarter hour of contentious conversation, Civetti agreed to meet with the aggrieved workers to settle the issue next week.

Driving to Civetti’s home, the group passed many campaign signs advertising a Civetti running for the Johnston City Council. When asked about the signs Civetti replied that the signs were for his brother, Robert Civetti, a longtime Johnston resident and accountant

Not getting paid for work is something few of us can afford, but this practice seriously impacts low wage workers. Everyone needs to eat and pay rent after all, and a week working without pay is a serious injustice.

“It’s sad and disappointing to work so hard for someone who ends up stealing your wages, after working for over 40 hours,” said Maria Hoyos, one of the affected workers. She was involved with a direct action several years ago, demanding lost wages for other workers. She never thought this would happen to her. “Being told that your work was not done properly, just to use it as an excuse to not pay you is not only wrong but immoral.”

Below is the full interaction between Civetti and Fuerza Laboral.

August 3, 2016

People’s Power and Light opposes National Grid plan

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On the evening of Tuesday, August 2nd People’s Power & Light testified at the Public Utilities Commission, on behalf of Rhode Island consumers and electric ratepayers, against National Grid’s proposal to recover costs from the proposed Access Northeast natural gas pipeline through an electricity ratepayer tariff.

People’s Power & Light expressed several reasons why the Commission should reject National Grid’s Request for Approval of a Gas Capacity Contract and Cost Recovery, Docket 4627, and instead seek alternative resources to meet the region’s energy demand during peak winter times, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, storage, and demand response. We expressed disagreement with the unprecedented proposal that electric customers pay for additional natural gas infrastructure. Why should consumers take on the long-term risk of a new, unnecessary natural gas pipeline?

People’s Power & Light’s public and written comments:

As a pro-consumer and pro-environment nonprofit organization, we at People’s Power & Light encourage the Commission to reject National Grid’s Request for Approval of a Gas Capacity Contract and Cost Recovery.

The pipeline tax is an outdated approach that conflicts with the widespread sustainability efforts that Rhode Island is already implementing across sectors.

The 2014 Resilient RI Act sets specific greenhouse gas reduction targets at 80% by 2050, with interim targets of 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 45 percent by 2035. Energy planners have an obligation to implement policies and projects that keep Rhode Island on track to meet those goals. As the Ocean State, we are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; building additional natural gas infrastructure sets us back in the wrong direction and will only serve to increase polluting emissions.

When more consumers learn that they could be on the hook for the pipeline expenses, we can expect to hear more voices of opposition. In our neighboring state Massachusetts, legislation was submitted to prohibit the imposition of a pipeline tax on electricity ratepayers; the measure passed the Senate and a strong majority of the House signed a letter expressing support for the prohibition. We anticipate that a similar measure would see success here in Rhode Island if put to a vote in the General Assembly. Local constituents want to see our state reduce fossil fuel consumption cost-effectively and diversify our local energy mix with more efficiency and renewable sources. A new natural gas pipeline puts the long-term risk on ratepayers who do not want the pipeline in the first place. A recent poll conducted by our sister organization Mass Energy Consumers Alliance demonstrated overwhelming support to ban ratepayer financing of the Access Northeast pipeline. By a margin of over two to one (70%-30%), participants preferred alternatives to natural gas pipelines.

We must protect electric customers from being charged for a natural gas pipeline. Thank you for your time and for the opportunity to submit comments.

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