Gina Raimondo – Page 4

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016

Special Town Council meeting does little to calm Burrillvillian concerns

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“I don’t [want to] throw cold water on your parade here,” said Burrillville Town Manager Michael Wood, “but you can’t simply just determine a tax at will and tax somebody… It’s not fair to leave you with the impression that this can be done when it can’t be done.”

Problem is, Wood is wrong.

Wood was speaking to around 150 Burrillville residents at a “Town Council Special Meeting” held to answer questions and concerns regarding Invenergy’s proposed $750 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning electrical plant.

Nick Katkevich, from the Fang Collective, had just read from aloud the relevant passage from the RI General Laws concerning Burrillville and energy plant taxation, as quoted in RI Future:

44-3-30 Burrillville – Property taxation of electricity generating facilities located in the town. – Notwithstanding any other provisions of the general laws to the contrary, the town council of the town of Burrillville is authorized to determine, by ordinance or resolution, an amount of taxes to be paid each year on account of real or personal property used in connection with any facility for the generation of electricity located in the town, notwithstanding the valuation of the property or the rate of tax.

Council president John Pacheco told Katkevich that the item wasn’t properly on the agenda.

Burrillville resident Kenneth Putnam Jr. then rose and asked a follow up question, which provoked Wood’s response.

This exchange was provoked by a piece I wrote, in which I consulted with lawyers on background. To check my logic, I wrote Jerry Elmer, a Senior Attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation for his opinion. Elmer is an expert in climate change and renewable energy law and has literally written many of the laws currently on the books in Rhode Island regarding energy and climate.

Elmer’s response to my query is worth quoting in its entirety:

The Rhode Island state law on this matter is clear and unambiguous, even if not everyone is familiar with the law. The Rhode Island statute I am referring to is R.I. General Laws § 44-3-30. That statute gives the Town of Burrillville (which, legally, would act through the Town Council) the right to set the real estate taxes for any electricity generation plant within the Town (including, but not limited to Invenergy) at any level the Town wants. Importantly, the level at which the Town taxes the energy plant (such as Invenergy) need not be sensible or reasonable. For example, the Town could legally charge Invenergy $1 per decade in property taxes. The Town could legally charge Invenergy $1 billion per week (or per day, or even per hour) in property taxes. One could have a reasonable argument as to whether any of those tax levels I just mentioned are sensible, or whether (or not) they represent good public policy. But under that statute (RIGL 44-3-30) they are legal.

“It is also important to note that the statute explicitly says that this is true notwithstanding any other state law to the contrary. Thus, even if someone could point to a different state law on municipal property taxation, the provisions of RIGL 44-3-30 would trump that other (possible) law. The statute also is true notwithstanding what tax rate the Town of Burrillville has on other properties (like local homes and businesses). The statute is also true notwithstanding the actual valuation of the Invenergy power plant.

“The short of it is that there is a specific, very detailed, state law that speaks to this exact question, and which trumps other state laws. By law, the Burrillville Town Council can set Invenergy’s property tax at any level it chooses; and, if the Town Council chooses, it has the legal authority to set that tax rate so high that Invenergy would pack its bags immediately and leave the Town forever.”

Earlier, Councillor David Place interrupted Katkevich, asking everyone present that even if the law as written and understood were true, “How long do you think it will be before that law is changed, if the Governor and the General Assembly want to pass the plant?”

Changing the law in the middle of negotiations to favor one party over another would be a pretty big move on the part of the Governor and the General Assembly, especially in the face of widening opposition to the plant and the rising unpopularity of our elected leaders. And the very idea of changing the law in that way is of dubious legality. But that’s a question for another day.

The “Town Council Special Meeting” was held in the Beckwith-Bruckshaw Memorial Lodge, a place with no microphones. From the beginning people in the back had difficulty hearing the proceedings. Only three Town Councillors, John Pacheco III, Stephen Rawson and David Place, attended. Town Planner Tom Kravitz gave a short presentation and answered many questions from those in attendance.

The general tenor of the meeting was one of distrust and exasperation. For instance, while the Town Council won’t reveal any details of tax deal negotiations with Invenergy, on Dan Yorke’s television show State of Mind, John Niland, Development Director for Invenergy and the company’s public face for the project floated the number $3.6 million a year in taxes and rising, over 20 years. This was more information than has ever been volunteered by the Burrillville Town Council.

The people of Burrillville have real concerns. Time and again Town Manager Wood says he “can’t discuss the particulars” of the pending deal with Invenergy, provoking those in attendance last night to reply that they “get all our information” from John Niland on Dan Yorke. In the video below, a resident points out that in her email exchange with Wood, the Town Manager didn’t seem to realize that her home was in the area determined to be affected by the power plant.

“How can we trust that you have our best interests at heart when clearly, I’m in a severely impacted area, and you’re saying I’m not?”

It gets worse.

Tiya Loiselle is a veteran whose home value has dropped nearly $50 thousand in value since January. She was hoping to build equity in her home, but instead she’s rapidly going underwater, because of the possibility of this plant coming to her town.

As much as the residents of Burrillville seem to distrust their Town Council, they distrust Governor Gina Raimondo more.

Governor Raimondo “has been on the wrong side of a lot of issues because she doesn’t listen to the people,” said one speaker.

“She doesn’t reply to your emails,” said another.

“Did she not say that she would meet” with us, asked a woman, who was answered by another woman with, “I followed up, and sent her a message asking ‘Are you still planning to come to Burrillville?’ and she said ‘You’ll have to talk to my advisory board.’”

“You can’t trust the Governor,” said the first woman, “You understand why you see Trump signs everywhere, because no one trusts the Governor any more.”

Perhaps no one at the meeting expressed the impotence, fear and anger felt by the people of Burrillville better than Deborah Krieg, a “mom from Burrillville”. Her short speech to the Town Council was heart breaking:

You can watch the entire Town Council meeting here:

May 2, 2016May 2, 2016

Time for progressives to Bern down Mattiello’s estate tax reform

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As the results of last Tuesday’s primary show, RI Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello is seriously out of step with Rhode Island voters. Progressives in this state demonstrated the kind of change they want, yet instead of course-correcting, the speaker is doubling down on policies Tuesday’s vote clearly rejected.

One key reform Mattiello has his eye on is lowering the estate tax, the tax levied exclusively on dead millionaires. In the ProJo, Mattiello said he is “‘hearing from successful folks in Rhode Island pretty regularly lately’ that, without assistance, ‘they will be forced to leave the state,’ adding that he is going to ‘work hard to get [this] done in the budget.’”

This isn’t a new idea for the Speaker. Back in January, at the 2016 Rhode Island Small Business Economic Summit, Grafton H. “Cap” Wiley IV told Governor Gina Raimondo, Speaker Mattiello and a room full of government officials and small business owners that “it would be great if we had enough revenue to get rid of the estate tax” or if we don’t have enough revenue, “look at an increase in the exemption.”

“That’s something I’ve got my eye on,” said Mattiello.

Here’s the problem: Lowering or eliminating the estate tax does nothing for the economy. It doesn’t lead to greater entrepreneurship, doesn’t create jobs and doesn’t put money back into the economy. It’s a straight up giveaway to the 1 percent. And lest we forget, the care and comfort of the 1 percent has always been Speaker Mattiello’s primary concern. Remember his comment last year that his “well-to-do” neighbors don’t see any tax relief?

The suggestion that “successful folks” are being “forced to leave the state” because of the estate tax is frankly idiotic. This economic hokum has been debunked time and again, yet our speaker clings to this lie to justify giving more money to the already rich.

To quote the speaker, “that discussion has to stop.”

Let your legislators know that you oppose these tax cuts for the rich. Tell them what their priorities should be. Remind them of the results of Tuesday’s primary, and let’s start using our newfound progressive political power to effect real, positive change.

April 28, 2016April 28, 2016

Burrillville Town Council lets their lawyer not answer questions about power plant tax negotiations

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A somber yet unyielding Town Council faced the displeasure of Burrillville residents Wednesday night. At issue is whether or not the residents of Burrillville can trust their elected officials to negotiate in their best interests with Invenergy, a multi-billion dollar company intent on bringing a fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant to their pristine town. The Town Council appeared to do themselves no favors allowing their lawyer, Oleg Nikolyszyn, to speak for them.

The tone for the evening was set when Jan Luby took the council to task for apparently deceiving the public at a previous town council meeting about when exactly they learned that Invenergy was planning to build a power plant in their town. Council President John Pacheco had said that the Council had learned about it in August of least year, but video has surfaced showing that they knew as early as February.

“So now that we know that there’s no question you knew in February, not August, of last year… we’d like to know how you stand now, as individuals. We are your constituents and we deserve to know,” said Luby, even as she understood that under the Open Meetings Act, the council members could not answer questions but only listen. Luby then went on to suggest that Town Manager Michael Wood be fired, to much applause.

Terri Lacey took issue with comments she has seen and heard on social media regarding citizens opposed to the power plant. “The comments that have gotten back to us, about us… are intentionally demeaning,” said Lacey, “It gives the perception to the community that we are troublemakers… and we are not to be taken seriously.”

Jason Olkowski spoke for a long time about his love for his adopted city and the quality of life he enjoys with his wife and daughter in Burrillville. “I’m concerned by a Governor that marginalizes the people of Burrillville as protesters,” said Olkowski, referencing a comment by Governor Gina Raimondo about opposition to the power plant.

The most interesting part of the evening was when the Council finally got around to Agenda Item 16-119, filed by residents Terri Lacey, Andrew Vanable, Jason Olkowski, Jeremy Bailey and Deborah Yablonski. During the last Town Council meeting it was revealed that Town Manager Michael Wood, with Town solicitors Oleg Nikolyszyn and Special Assistant Council Michael McElroy have been negotiating tax breaks for Invenergy’s power plant, without the awareness of the residents of Burrillville. Nikolyszyn and Pacheco said then that since the subject was not properly on the agenda, it could not be discussed.

But now that the item is properly on the agenda, the subject is still off limits, said Nikolyszyn. As the item came up for discussion, Nikolyszyn rose and told the crowd that such negotiations are secret and discussing details would be a violation of the law. This seemed to infuriate the crowd.

Nikolyszyn said that the Town Council was going to be briefed on the details of the negotiations after the public portion of the Town Council meeting ended, in executive (private) session. Right now, Nikolyszyn maintained, the Town Council was unaware of the details of negotiations. Despite Nikolyszyn’s preamble, residents stormed ahead and asked their questions anyway, fully aware that the Council was shielding themselves from answering behind their lawyers.

At 10:15 in the video above, Jason Olkowski and Jeremy Bailey ask their questions. The question as to when the negotiations began, why the negotiations were undertaken and who approved them could not be answered, said Nikolyszyn. The details of McElroy’s involvement with the negotiations, and how much he is paid, said Nikolyszyn, is not a public record.

The details of all negotiations will not be publicly known until negotiations are complete, said Nikolyszyn.

“That is certainly unfortunate,” replied Olkowski.

Olkowski then asked what are the advantages of negotiating a tax break for Invenrgy, rather than just leaving the $750 million plant on the tax rolls. Nikolyszyn replied that he is prepared to answer that question tonight, but in closed executive session, not with the residents in an open meeting. You don’t discuss the pros and cons of a business deal publicly, Nikolyszyn maintained.

The subject of the Town Council’s “neutrality” towards the plant came up. After the last Town Council meeting, many residents have wondered why the Town Council needs to be neutral about the power plant when Governor Raimondo has been a strong proponent. “It was I who advised the Council remain neutral” with respect to the power plant, said Nikolyszyn. “We don’t want to give [our appointed boards] marching orders, like the Governor did with the [Energy Facilities] Siting Board.”

It what could be seen as a direct attack on Raimondo’s credibility, Nikolyszyn said that not maintaining neutrality until the boards’ decisions are finalized weakens your credibility. We wants the reports of our boards to be respected, and not seen as just “following marching orders,” said Nikolyszyn.

One of the most frustrating parts of the discussion occurred at the 34 minute mark above. Tracey Keegan asked, “Could a council member make a motion to end all negotiations with Invenergy right now?”

After minutes of legalese and hemming and hawing on the part of Nikolyszyn, and after Keegan repeated the question multiple times, an exasperated Town Councillor David Place finally answered, “Yes.”

No one did, though. Instead, in a statement released today, Council President John Pacheco said, “…our team was directed to continue discussions… I’m satisfied that negotiations are headed in the right direction.”

Bernie Sanders delivers progressive mandate for RI Democrats

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It’s morning again in Rhode Island. At least that’s what it feels like to the progressive left the day after Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in the Ocean State’s presidential primary poll.

The socialist-leaning senator from Vermont all but conceded the nomination to the more conservative Clinton after losing four other states in the so-called Acela Primary. Last night even Bernie Sanders admitted he probably won’t be the next president. It was not a good night for those holding out hope he might pull closer in pledged delegates.

But by pulling off a convincing victory in Rhode Island, a state dominated by neoliberal leadership, Sanders sent a strong message that Rhode Islanders want progressive change. He won 55 to 43 percent.

He won 66,720 votes, Clinton got 52,493, Donald Trump got 39,059 and John Kasich took 14,929. The difference between Sanders and Clinton was greater than the difference between Clinton and Trump. The two Democrats got well more than twice as many votes as all three Republicans. Rhode Island seems very open to the idea of a progressive political revolution.

“I hear all the time, ‘…that is too liberal, we’ll get voted out if we do that,’” said progressive Providence Rep. Aaron Regunberg at the Sanders victory party last night. “That argument no longer holds any water.”

Sanders won 35 of 39 municipalities in Rhode Island. Clinton took Barrington and East Greenwich, the two most affluent suburbs in the state, and Central Falls and Pawtucket, very close to her campaign headquarters. Sanders took the rest rather convincingly.

Providence was close, with 51 to 47 percent for Sanders. But he won cities like Warwick, Cranston and Woonsocket by substantial margins. His key to victory was the rural vote – the Swamp Yankee Progressives. Sanders won in affluent liberal enclaves like South Kingstown (62%-37%) by similar margins that he won working class communities like Coventry (61%-36%).

Burrillville backed Sanders over Clinton 64 to 34 percent, but only 1,337 people voted in the Democratic primary compared to 2,167 in 2008. In the Republican primary, which Trump won with 73 percent of the vote, 1,261 people voted compared to 399 in 2008. More Burrillville residents voted for Clinton in 2008 than voted for a Democratic in 2016. There were three polling places open this year compared to four in 2008.

Burrillville was an important bellwether because of a controversial proposal for a fossil fuel power plant there. The Invenergy methane gas facility is backed by Governor Gina Raimondo and organized labor but opposed by residents and grassroots activists. Congressional climate champion Sheldon Whitehouse has tried to avoid taking a position.

This is a lot like the Clinton/Sanders divide in Rhode Island. Raimondo was a regular on the campaign trail for Clinton while Whitehouse called Clinton’s position on climate change “adequate” and didn’t really publicly stump for her. Whitehouse and Raimondo probably represent the range of local elected officials who backed Clinton, which also included Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, General Treasurer Seth Magaziner and the entire congressional delegation.

I strongly suspect there’s a high correlation between Bernie voters and Burrillville power plant opposers. For liberal Democrats like Whitehouse, Sanders big win is an invitation to tack left on issues ranging like climate, economic and social justice. For neoliberal Democrats like Raimondo, who would rather reinvent Medicare than the energy grid, it’s a cautionary tale. Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton 55 to 43 percent. Raimondo did even worse than Clinton when she ran in the 2014 Democratic primary, winning only 42 percent of the vote.

April 24, 2016April 24, 2016

Bernie Sanders to RI: Don’t accept the status quo

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Bernie Sanders inspired an adoring crowd of about 7,000 people at Roger Williams Park in Providence Sunday with his call for action against Corporate America, the 1 percent and the establishment Democrats who tacitly and otherwise support them.

“What this campaign is about is asking people to reject the status quo,” intoned the Vermont senator, who whipped the crowd into frenzied cheers for more than an hour. “Think outside of the box. Do not accept the reality of today as something we’ve got to live with in the future.”

As has been the case at campaign appearances across the country, Sanders’ supporters erupted every time he railed against the system.

“Why is it that in America we have more income and wealth inequality than any other country,” intoned the Vermont senator rhetorically. “Who decided that the middle class should continue to shrink and almost all new income and wealth go to the 1 percent? Who decided that in America we’re the only major country not to have paid family and medical leave or health care for all? Who decided that in 40 percent of the children in Providence, Rhode Island should live in poverty? Who decided that our infrastructure should crumble? Who decided that women should make 79 cents on the dollar compared to men? Who decided those things?”

“And now the American people are saying, you know what, that status quo, that corrupt campaign finance system, that rigged economy, that racism, that institutional racism that is not what this country is supposed to be about. And that is precisely what this campaign is all about. It is challenging the status quo. It is thinking big of what our country can become not thinking little of whether we cut this or we cut that. It is creating a standard of living that works for all of our people. It is about protecting our environment and our climate for our kids and our grand kids. It is about never again getting into wars that we should not have gotten into in the first place.”

He touched upon several local issues, mentioning the high rate of poverty among urban youth, that Rhode Island has the highest poverty rate in New England and that decreasing wages. He contrasted Goldman Sachs with Pope Francis’ vision of a moral economy. Goldman, one of the Wall Street banks that crippled the American economy, was recently welcomed to Rhode Island by Governor Gina Raimondo to give loans and coaching to small businesses. It has been involved in presidential politics because Hillary Clinton won’t release the transcript of a $225,000 private speech she gave to Goldman executives.

As Sanders spoke, the Brown University Taubman Center for Politics and Policy released a new poll that had some good and bad news for his hopes of upsetting front-runner Hillary Clinton in Rhode Island’s presidential primary election on Tuesday. Among likely Democrats to vote on Tuesday, Clinton bested Sanders 43 to 34 percent with 16 percent still undecided. But among independents, who unlike in New York can vote in RI primaries, Sanders bested Clinton 42 to 22 percent, with 24 percent still undecided.

While Sanders is still seen as being competitive with Clinton in Rhode Island, her big win in New York last week makes his path to the nomination unclear.

Sanders’ campaign manager Tad Devine, a native Rhode Islander who still has a home on Block Island, said taking on the Democratic machine has been the biggest challenge to winning the hearts and minds of Rhode Islanders. He said the local media treated the Sanders’ campaign “very well.”

April 22, 2016April 23, 2016

Whitehouse addresses power plant protesters

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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wrapped up his keynote address at a University of Rhode Island Climate conference addressing members of Fossil Free RI who stood in the room silently holding signs asking him to weigh in against the proposed power plant in Burrillville. Among those holding signs were Lisa Petrie, who was recently arrested in Governor Gina Raimondo’s office after refusing to leave the building until the Governor agrees to meet with residents of Burrillville about the plant, and Professor Peter Nightingale, who was arrested in Senator Whitehouse’s office protesting fracked gas in 2014.

Whitehouse mistakenly refered to the sign holders as members of FANG, but of course FANG was in Boston during Whitehouse’s keynote, as can be seen here. Whitehouse seemed to say that while he appreciates the efforts of those holding signs, his priorities are on things other than preventing the expansion of natural gas infrastructure in Rhode Island.

I think the biggest message here, though perhaps not the one Whitehouse intended to deliver, is that the residents of Burrillville can count on getting no help from their Senator on this issue.

They are on their own.

More on the climate conference will be released over the weekend.

2016-04-22 URI Climate 001 — Lorraine Savard

2016-04-22 URI Climate 002 — Lisa Petrie

2016-04-22 URI Climate 004 — Peter Nightingale

Here are Senator Whitehouse’s full comments:

April 19, 2016May 3, 2016

Lisa Petrie arrested at State House protesting power plant

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One time RI Future contributor Lisa Petrie was arrested at the State House this evening by State Police for failing to leave the State Room after protesters demanded an audience with Governor Gina Raimondo over the proposed Invenergy oil and fracked gas burning power plant proposed for Burrillville. Petrie is a member of Fossil Free RI and a long time environmental activist here in the state.

[Update courtesy of FANG (Fighting Against Natural Gas): Lisa, resident of Richmond, RI, was charged with willful trespassing and has a court date set for May 6th.]

When State Police told the protesters to leave the State Room at 4:30pm, Petrie refused, and stayed alone in the room. Every one else, including the press, was instructed to leave the building. At about 7pm Petrie seems to have been arrested and taken out the side door of the State House. It is not known if she had any interactions with the Governor while she was alone inside the building.

Seconds after placing Petrie in the rear of the vehicle, an officer placed the circular “NO NEW POWER PLANT” banner in the car with her.

April 19, 2016May 3, 2016

Power plant protesters take over State House state room

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Burrillville residents and local activists began a sit-in at Governor Gina Raimondo’s State House office, urging the Governor to drop her support of the fossil fuel power plant proposed for Burrillville.

Members of The FANG Collective (Fighting Against Natural Gas) and BASE (Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion) are sitting-in at the office with a large circular banner that shows the local impacts of the proposed power plant, and the global impacts of climate change, which the power plant would significantly contribute to.

“Governor Raimondo should not be supporting a power plant opposed by her constituents that would cause problems ranging from increased truck traffic and cancerous MTBE water locally to increased violence against women and more climate refugees globally,” said Burrillville resident and BASE founder Kathy Martley.

Governor Raimondo has been a staunch supporter of the proposed power plant. The plant would burn diesel fuel and fracked-gas and use water contaminated with MTBE (a now banned gasoline additive) to cool its turbines. BASE and FANG are urging the Governor to revoke her support of the project.

“We are asking the Governor to listen to her constituents and to be on the right side of history by helping us stop this toxic project,” said Lorraine Savard of Central Falls

Today’s sit-in comes on the heels of an action yesterday during which BASE and FANG dropped banners from the fourth floor of the Department of Administration and sat-in at the Office of Energy Resources (OER). That action immediately led to an in-person meeting with Marion Gold, the Commissioner of the OER who was been a supporter of the Invenergy project.

“We will keep organizing and taking nonviolent direct action until the people of Burrillville are listened to and Invenergy’s power plant proposal is scrapped,” said Nick Katkevich of The FANG Collective.

[From a press release, more to come]

April 17, 2016April 29, 2016

Burrillville Town Council knew about power plant plans in February 2015

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At the most recent Burrillville Town Council meeting, Council President John Pacheco said that “As a town council, we did not know this plant was actually going to happen until the Governor announced it.”

Pacheco was not quite telling the truth.

Videos from February and March 2015 town council meetings show that local elected officials – both the council and legislators – have been paving the way for the controversial Invenergy power plant for months before Governor Gina Raimondo officially announced the project, contrary to recent statements by the Council President.

Governor Gina Raimondo announced Invenergy’s plans to build another power plant in Burrillville on August 4, 2015. The town council met with local legislators Paul Fogarty, Cale Keable and Brian Newberry to discuss the idea seven months earlier.

On February 23, 2015 Burrillville Town Manager Michael C Wood, at a “special meeting” of the town council, said, “We’ve had some conversation. There’s the potential for a new power plant to come to Burrillville.” Present at this meeting was the entire Town Council except for Stephen Rawson and Donald Fox.

This special meeting was between the town council and state Senator Paul Fogarty, Representative Cale Keable, and Representative Brian Newberry. The meeting was held to discuss state level legislation of interest to the town council with their state representatives.

Wood told the council and legislators he wanted to “make sure that the existing [state level] legislation we have will allow for the siting and construction of the new power plant in the town.” The legislation concerns Burrillville’s ability to enter into tax agreements with power companies and can be seen here.

“It would be appreciated, Cale,” said Wood, talking to Rep Keable directly, “making sure that that legislation, as written, will allow the town to potentially entertain the possibility of a new power plant.”

“Okay,” said Keable, “We’ll look at that.”

As can be seen from this screen shot from earlier in the video, this meeting was poorly attended.

At another “special meeting” on March 18, 2015, Town Councilor Stephen Rawson talked about Burrillville water contaminated with MTBE. Several years ago some of the well water in Burrillville was contaminated with MTBE, a virulent carcinogen that some residents say sparked a cancer cluster in the town. The water that Invenergy wants to use for its cooling system will come from this MTBE contaminated well water.

Though Invenergy claims the water will be filtered and the water will be pure enough to dump in the Clear River when they are done, no one seems quite sure if the science adds up. Note also that as far as I have been able to tell, no one has attempted to use MTBE contaminated water to cool a power plant before.

In the clip below, Rawson says that, “Years ago Mike [Town Manager Michael Wood] had tried to make a proposal, and it was a good one, to run that water up to the [Ocean State] power plant as cooling water so the wells would be flushed and probably get rid of the MTBE that’s in the ground water.”

Rawson notes that Harrisville, which has authority over this situation, blocked this proposal.

Town Councillor David Place then says to Wood, “you and I had that discussion with that new power plant going in, of bringing back that idea of running a line to the new power plant and doing the exact same thing when that new power plant comes in. I think you said that that discussion had come up.”

“They have already reached out to Mike Kirkwood [General Manager of the Pascoag Utility District],” said Wood, “I don’t know about Harrisville…”

“They shouldn’t be involved at all,” said Place, because the wells and siting of the power plant will be entirely inside Burrillville, and Harrisville will have no control over the decision.

“To get to your point, Steve,” continued Wood, addressing Rawson, “that probably will happen, and that will help the well situation…”

Later in the same meeting Town Manager Wood says, “We need to set up something, maybe not right now, to deal with the new power plant… some professional help… to negotiate a deal with them.”

“How soon is that going to be done?” asks Council President John Pacheco.

“Not right away,” answers Wood, “But it should be on our radar screen. Probably within a year.”

“I’m sorry,” says a female town councilor (either Kimberly Brissette Brown or Michelle Bouchard), “What power plant are you talking about?”

“Invenergy,” answers Wood, spelling it out for clarification. “I-N-V-E-N-E-R-G-Y.”

The discussion then turns to the protesters who walked 28 miles, from Burrillville to Providence, in protest of the expansion of the compressor station in Burrillville. Wood laughs when he is asked, “Did those protesters ever make it to Providence?”

Contrary to Council President John Pacheco’s statement last week, the videos make clear that not only was the town council, as a whole, aware that Invenergy was planning to build a power plant in Burrillville, they have been actively involved with the project for months prior to its public announcement.

It also appears that Town Manager Michael Wood suggested the idea of using the MTBE contaminated water to cool the plant, one of the most controversial and potentially dangerous aspects of the plan. If the water isn’t filtered properly or cannot be filtered, dangerous levels of MTBE water will be dumped into the Clear River or released as airborne steam, potentially threatening the health and safety of thousands of Rhode Islanders.

At no time is the idea of not bringing the new power plant to Burrillville discussed by the Town Council. The idea of opposing the plant never seems to have occurred to them.

Many voters in Burrillville are aware of these videos and their faith in their Town Council and state representatives has been severely challenged or even shattered.

April 15, 2016May 3, 2016

Burrillville Town Council can stand up to Invenergy

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The revelation that the Burrillville Town Council, under the leadership of John Pacheco III, has been engaged in ongoing negotiations with Invenergy LLC over potential tax breaks for their Clear River Energy Center gas and oil burning power plant, came as a surprise to many Burrillville residents Wednesday evening. Burrillville Town Solicitor Oleg Nikolyszyn, in a comment on the piece that broke this story objected to the word “secret” saying that the negotiations he and Town Manager Michael Wood were engaged in were “due diligence” and “not behind anyone’s back, or in secret, but openly.” He also says that, “Until now, the Council has not been engaged or negotiating with Invenergy.”

Nikolyszyn feels that he and the Town Manager, “would be remiss if we did not take into consideration what financial benefit the Town would receive.” They are doing, “what professionals are expected to do in a business environment.” At the meeting Nikolyszyn said that the town had a “fiduciary duty” to enter into negotiations.

That’s not what the law says.

Conservation Law Foundation senior lawyer Jerry Elmer maintains that, “one of the most effective ways that the Town Council can seek to prevent the siting of the Invenergy plant is to deny Invenergy the tax treaty it seeks.”

Not entering into a tax treaty with Invenergy will not necessarily stop Invenergy in its tracks, the plant could still go forward and pay higher taxes to the town, taking a hit to their profitability in the process. Elmer reminded me that the profitability of the plant has already suffered two recent hits “when (a) Invenergy cleared only one of two turbines in the February 8 Forward Capacity Auction; and (b) the SENE zonal clearing price had zero premium over the clearing price in Rest of Pool, unlike the previous two auctions in which our zone cleared at a huge premium.”

How many more hits to the plant’s profitability can Invenergy afford?

At Wednesday evening’s Town Council meeting Nikolyszyn was correct when he said that Burrillville has no say in whether or not the plant gets approved for Burrillville. As Elmer helpfully explained,

The underlying reason that the General Assembly created the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) by enacting the Energy Facility Siting Act (EFSA), was that it was assumed that — whenever any major power generation facility is planned to be built anywhere — the local residents in the local town would oppose the plant because of local impacts. The purpose of the EFSA is to take the power out of the hands of the local officials, who may be subject to constituent pressure to oppose the plant. That is the reason that all the opinions that the EFSB gets under the EFSA (from DEM, OER, Town of Burrillvile, etc.) are advisory opinions only. The final decision to grant or deny a permit to build the plant rests solely with the EFSB. This was the purpose of the law.”

However, “it is in the sole discretion of the Town Council whether or not to grant a beneficial tax treaty to Invenergy. The Governor cannot force them to do that. The EFSB cannot force them to do that.”

Pacheco and other Town Council members said over and over that they need to be neutral ahead of any reports that their boards are preparing for the EFSB, because it was the Town Council that nominated the members of these boards. This is of course nonsense. Governor Gina Raimondo, who nominated the members of the EFSB board, has been a major proponent of the plant. Where is her neutrality? Why is she not afraid that her support for the project will affect the people she’s nominated to board positions?

This pretension of neutrality merely shields the Town Council from their responsibility to their constituents, who overwhelmingly do not want this plant. Nikolyszyn might think this is all business as usual but he forgets: government is not business.

The Town Council would be completely in their power to pass a resolution declaring that they will not, under any circumstances, engage in a tax treaty with Invenergy. The company could then decide to go forward with the plant or not, but not only will their profitability suffer, so will their public image.

Reaching a deal with the Town will give Invenergy and Governor Raimondo political coverage. With a tax treaty in place it will be harder to say that the plant was forced on the Town against the will of the people since the company negotiated with the representatives of the people for an “equitable” deal.

Democracy will have worked, supposedly.

Not engaging with Invenergy sends a strong message that this plant is not wanted by the people of Burrillville. The plant can then only proceed against the will of the people, against the wishes of a democratically elected government. A Governor that blatantly disregards the will of the people in such a situation is a tyrant. A company that builds an unwanted facility against a community’s interests is not a community partner but a despoiler.

Now is not the time for wishy-washy politics, business as usual and secret (not secret) negotiations.

If the Burrillville Town Council can’t take a stand, it’s time for the citizens of Burrillville to find new Town Councillors.

April 14, 2016

Bill Clinton campaigns in Rhode Island

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“You’ve been good to us, Rhode Island,” said former President Bill Clinton campaigning for his spouse at CCRI today. “You don’t owe us anything.”

They may not get anything from Rhode Island either, as Hillary Clinton is embroiled in an unexpected upstart challenge from Bernie Sanders both here in the Ocean State – which has a rare opportunity to cast meaningful votes in a presidential primary because of Sanders’ surge – and in the remaining 20 some states to vote in the Democratic presidential primary election on April 26.

When Governor Gina Raimondo introduced Clinton, she said, “I was just talking with President Clinton and he said we have to crank it up here in Rhode Island.” Clinton and Sanders have split the only two polls done on their race with a tie breaker expected to come soon.

“I believe America would work a lot better if it worked liked a community college,” said Clinton, speaking from the cafeteria of the Community College of Rhode Island, because they are diverse, affordable and enlightening.

Later in his address, he said he doesn’t think America can afford to make public college free for all, a central plank of the Sanders campaign. Instead, he said student loans should be more affordable and flexible. “A college loan is the only loan that can’t be refinanced in America,” Clinton said.

It wasn’t the only time Clinton took a stab at Sanders’ platform.

Mostly Clinton offered pretty progressive-sounding policy tips. Being anti-immigrant, he said, is “morally wrong and economically dumb.” On the drug overdose epidemic, he said, “You can’t treat it like a crime problem, you have to treat it like a public health problem.”

He said he believes America is on the cusp of a big economic boom, and that his wife is the best candidate to usher in that boom. He even had an idea for how to put Americans back to work while solving another public health problem. “Just imagine how many jobs we could create that could never be exported if we tore out all the lead pipes.”

April 14, 2016May 3, 2016

Burrillville Town Council secretly negotiating tax deals with Invenergy

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In a stunning revelation, Burrillville Town Council legal counsel Oleg Nikolyszyn confirmed under questioning from Burrillville resident Jeremy Bailey that the council has been secretly negotiating a tax agreement with Invenergy for the proposed gas and oil burning power plant. Before this revelation, the existence of such negotiations may have been suspected, but were not confirmed. Shortly after Nikolyszyn’s revelation, Councillor Kimberly Brissette Brown questioned whether the item was properly before the Council. Council President John Pacheco III said that the item was not properly before the council, and said that if Bailey wanted to discuss the issue of the Council’s tax agreement deliberations with Invenergy, he would have to put that item on the agenda.

How Bailey would know to put previously unknown secret meetings with Invenergy on the agenda was not discussed.

Nikolyszyn’s admission capped a stressful and difficult Burrillville Town Council meeting, in which council members, aided by legal counsel Nikolyszyn, once again said that they have no power to stand against Invenergy. President Pacheco said that if the Town Council doesn’t remain absolutely neutral about the plant, it may seem that they are unfairly influencing various boards, the members of which the Town Council has nominated. Why this level of neutrality is necessary from the Burrillville Town Council in relation to boards they nominate but such neutrality is not necessary for Governor Gina Raimondo, who nominates the members of the Energy Facilities Siting Board and has taken a position in strong support of the power plant, is unknown.

Burrillville resident Jonathan Dyson later followed up with the Town Council about the tax negotiations with Invenergy, asking if there was any board, regulation or law that forced the tax agreement meetings. Despite saying earlier that the item wasn’t properly before the board, Pacheco answered Dyson and maintained that entering into such discussions was a fiduciary duty of the Town Council. Then Pachco added that these negotiations also include the “potential abutters to the power plant,” that is, people who own property next to Invenergy’s land.

Pacheco didn’t explain exactly what this means, but it seems to indicate that Invenergy is actively negotiating what payments, if any, abutters to the project might receive in the event that the power plant is built.

When Dyson then asked the Town Council “under what conditions would the Town Council say no to Invenergy,” Town manager Michael Wood angrily said, “That is not an agenda item.” But in fact, it was an agenda item 16-106 (b). Wood then said that the item was too vague and would not be discussed, never mind that earlier, Council President Pacheco had complimented Gary Patterson, who requested that item be placed on the the agenda, saying, “Your item on the agenda was properly phrased. I appreciate that.”

Throughout the meeting the Town Council took great pains to tell the people attending that the fix wasn’t in and this wasn’t a done deal. However, to the consternation of most of those present, the Town Council has admitted to secretly negotiating tax agreements and issues of abutment with Invenergy. Worse, theses discussion have been going on for some time, as the earliest discussions seem to precede Oleg Nikolyszyn becoming town solicitor.

By the end of the meeting the public was more angry and distrustful of the Town Council than when the meeting began.

I’ll be writing much more about this meeting in a future piece, but right now, questions remain: How long has the Town Council been in negotiation with Invenergy? Who has been party to these negotiations? The Town Council says that this isn’t a done deal, that the “fix isn’t in” but what other unknown meetings and negotiations are happening without the public’s knowledge?

April 13, 2016

Trump can’t deal with Rhode Island

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It seems that Donald Trump won’t be visiting Rhode Island out of a fear of “disruptive protesters.” Steve Klamkin of WPRO asked Governor Gina Raimondo about this at an unrelated event this morning.

The Providence Journal picked up the story, quoting Rep Joe Trillo, RI Chair of Trump’s campaign as saying, “local college students were planning to protest if Trump came to Rhode Island.” Trillo said the cost of added security for the event “may not be worth it.”

Rhode Island has a solid history of chasing loud mouthed racists out of our state. In 2013 our state made national headlines when former New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly, famous for his racist “stop-and-frisk” methods of policing was prevented from speaking at a Brown University event by students.

More recently former US Representative Pete Hoekstra found his anti-refugee message particularly unwelcome in our state when students, clergy and community members countered his message of fear with one of hope and acceptance.

Both events brought commentariat responses similar to Governor Raimondo’s above: Activists should show restraint and civility; shouting down those with opinions you disagree with is counter-productive.

But Trump’s magnificent cowardice shows that this is simply not the case. Calls for civility from those in power are really calls for silence and acquiescence. When a speaker full of money, privilege and power comes to our state to tell us that immigrants are evil, women are second class citizens, or that people of color deserve the brutality police heap upon them, our response cannot polite.

These are not simple political opinions, these are fundamental attacks on our state’s character and values. To politely accept these attacks is cowardice and weakness, and Rhode Islanders are neither.

Here we have a proud tradition of standing up to such attacks.

Trump could never handle Rhode Island. That’s why he ran away.

April 7, 2016May 3, 2016

Is Raimondo’s power plant support softening?

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In light of the letter to the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) from Representative Cale Keable and State Senator Paul Fogarty expressing “unequivocal opposition” to the new “1000-megawatt, fracked gas power plant in the heart of Burrillville’s idyllic village of Pascoag” I reached out to the Invenergy‘s earliest booster, Governor Gina Raimondo for comment. Raimondo spokesperson Marie Aberger responded (italics mine):

The Governor and her team are closely monitoring the plans and listening to community feedback and concerns. We will be learning more about the health and environmental impacts of the plans as the Energy Facility Siting Board continues its review of the proposal, and reviewing those impacts carefully.

“At the same time, the Governor believes we need to take action to address our energy costs in the present for all Rhode Island families and businesses. A large part of the Governor’s strategy is to adopt new solutions that will lead us to a cleaner, more reliable energy system in the future, including offshore wind and solar power.”

It’s difficult to tell if this statement shows a softening of the Governor’s position on the plant, which she called, “something that’s good for Rhode Island” when she announced the project in July of last year. Since she announced the plant Raimondo has been petitioned by environmental activists to change her position and has been confronted by sign carrying protesters at many public events.

But recently opposition to the plant has been building Burrillville, where residents are facing potential economic and environmental disaster due to the plant. Hundreds showed up at a community meeting with Keable and Fogarty at the Jesse Smith Memorial Library in Burrillville and hundreds more came out to the EFSB public hearing at the Burrillville High School. The political pressure is intensifying and many residents feel that Raimondo talk about being an environmental champion rings hollow given her support.

It was perhaps because he wanted to protect his status as an environmental champion that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse went from supporting the plant in an interview with Channel 12’s Ted Nesi to claiming that he can’t oppose or support the plant for political reasons in an interview with Bill Rappleye of Channel 10.

It turns out you can’t support the environment and fracked methane.

Still, Raimondo’s statement said that she’s “listening to community feedback and concerns” so that seems to mean that she needs to hear from people opposed to this plant and who want to see Rhode Island embrace a clean energy future. Given that, here’s the governor’s address, phone number and a link to the Governor’s contact page:

Office of the Governor
82 Smith Street
Providence, RI 02903

Phone: (401) 222-2080

http://www.governor.ri.gov/contact/

April 7, 2016April 7, 2016

ACLU of RI applauds new online voter registration law, first in country to specify accomodations for voters with disabilities

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The ACLU of Rhode Island today commended Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea for introducing, the General Assembly for passing, and Governor Gina Raimondo for signing legislation adopting online voter registration for the state’s residents, and particularly for addressing voters with disabilities.

While Rhode Island is the 35th state to adopt online voter registration, its law is the first in the country to establish detailed assurances that voters with disabilities will have full access to this online process.

Without such assurances, people who are, for example, blind or visually impaired or who have disabilities preventing them from using a mouse or keyboard would likely face difficulties registering online. However, Rhode Island’s new online voter registration law:

Requires experts on website disability access to be included in the development of the site and to verify that it is useable for people with disabilities;
Requires the site to follow certain detailed accessibility standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium; and
Requires full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A report issued by the ACLU and the Center for Accessible Technology last year found that only one state – California – had a fully accessible online registration site. Many states didn’t even meet basic accessibility standards. The ACLU expressed hope that other states would soon follow Rhode Island’s lead in addressing this important voter registration access issue.

Nicole Kief, Advocacy and Policy Strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, said: “We applaud Rhode Island for setting a national standard. As states update their voting systems to fit with modern life, it’s critical that those systems are open and accessible to all voters.” Susan Mizner, Disability Counsel at the ACLU, added: “Rhode Island’s preemptive action to ensure accessibility is not only smart as an inclusive step, it’s also financially savvy. It will save Rhode Island the costs that other states are likely to incur when they have to re-design their inaccessible websites.”

[from a press release]

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

Regional tourism councils paid for ‘cooler, warmer’ campaign

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No Rhode Islander has more reason to be outraged at the state’s “cooler, warmer” tourism campaign than Myrna George and Bob Billington. As the executive directors of the South County and Blackstone Valley tourism councils respectively, the now infamously-failed marketing campaign was effectively paid for out of their budgets.

For the South County Tourism Council’s $100,000 investment in the new statewide tourism marketing campaign, George said she didn’t see one scene of South County in the promotional video.

“Not that I could identify on my iPhone,” she said. “They took it down too quick!”

The Blackstone Valley Tourism Council put $40,000 toward the campaign. For both agencies, it represents about 10 percent of their overall budgets – or the amount agreed to last legislative session when Governor Gina Raimondo decided to tackle tourist marketing centrally at the state level.

Neither are thrilled with how the new relationship has worked to date.

“We didn’t have much of a stake in it,” said Billington of the new logo and marketing campaign. “Trickle down doesn’t work,” said George.

Both said the regional council directors were given 51 requests for proposals to tackle the entire marketing campaign for the state.

“They were book thick,” George said. “They did a boatload of work on them.” Both she and Billington said they were each tasked with scoring individual aspects of each proposal – and thought one proposal would be chosen at the end of the process.

“It didn’t happen that way,” she said. “They fractured it into little pieces. Glaser got the logo, Havas got branding…”

Billington added, “We weren’t really allowed to be part of the process. They gave us a rubric and asked for our ten favorites. We thought the next step was going to be get together as a group and sit down with the finalists.”

George suspects this process has something to do with the resulting product. “You can’t have diverse groups in silos,” she said. “You can’t just hire a pr firm, you need to understand the DNA of our region.”

Billington, who was an ardent opponent of statewide tourism marketing, said he’s ready to move on. “They told us it would only make things better but it worked out differently. It’s painful to watch because it could have been done so much better. I’ve reconciled and am ready to move on. We can’t expect a logo, or a campaign to fix things. It’s got to be the rank and file, it’s got to be a million people strong.”

April 1, 2016May 3, 2016

Power and justice

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I went to the hearing in front of the Rhode island Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) in Burrillville on March 31 about the proposed Clear River gas fired power plant. Hundreds of people turned out. When we arrived at 5:45 we had to go beyond the High School parking lot into the neighborhood to park. Upon walking up to the school what you saw were about 100 guys in union t-shirts. Inside, the room got very full and I heard that 100 more people stayed outside. There were at least four police officers at the event to help keep the peace.

Invenergy provided the usual dog and pony show. Too many slides full of words. The guy needed an energy boost and a much better power point. He pretended to address the issues, but did not. You could tell he really did not want to be there. He was introduced by the company’s local RI lawyer one of the usual faces I see at the State House. I do not think the lawyer was very happy to see the sea of humanity opposing the project either.

Testimony from the public was OVERWHELMINGLY against the plant. The two towns folk who spoke in favor had nothing to say and were roundly booed. The rank and file union guys were a mixed bag. Some spoke for jobs and some where incoherent. The union leaders were more articulate, but still stuck in the old paradigm. The opposition to the plant was lead by folks who live right in the neighborhood of the proposed plant. Noise, light pollution, toxics, odors, water and the destruction of their dreams and relatively pristine community were cited repeatedly. Many of the local residents also spoke passionately about climate, and the larger context, as did a few of us outsiders.

If public opinion matters, then the EFSB has an easy decision. NO. if the political fix is in and the powers demand that it get built, the EFSB will be shut down as useless. If they can not determine that the plant will prevent us from ever meeting our greenhouse gas emissions goals, pollute the local environment, and create all sorts of hazards and burdens for the community, the EFSB is hiding. If they want to drown Providence they are fools.

I think what I took away from the hearings the most is how out of touch the union leaders are with where the economy is going and where their future jobs are going to be. I worked in construction for many years. It is an honorable way to make a living. But the unions need to learn to stop building things that are bad for communities because that eventually undercuts prosperity and their support in the community. They need to say no to the corporate criminals and stand with communities against destruction. They need to stop being dependent upon corporate criminals for their work and start developing their own projects. They should act more like a cooperative rather than pick up the dregs from the rich and tell communities that this is the way to create jobs. It harms their workers to be seen as harming communities. And in a low growth environment, they need to be even more careful.

There is a lot that needs to be built right now. We need housing that people can actually afford to live in. We need non polluting energy sources, new storm water management systems, better roads, bike paths and rail corridors. But all the union executives seem to do (and maybe this is because the most visible private sector unions are in construction, and the only projects big enough are those that are based on the public’s money) is shill for the worst corporate criminals: in this case an industry that has lied about the harm it does for the last 50 years, that knew greenhouse gases were going to cause big problems, and hid the information.

You have to ask why the pipe-fitters and the steel workers, with their pension funds, do not invest directly in their own workers. Why are they not building their own wind farms or their own solar arrays? Have they bought into the ‘subservient to capital model’ that tells them to be shills for every stupid project that comes down the road so their members can get jobs?

Of course the politicians are also to blame. They refuse to understand the political and economic climate. They think they can muscle communities for corporations and base their careers on looting communities to benefit the rich. When will they get that taking care of communities, ecological healing and economic justice are the road to prosperity, not burning dinosaurs to make the climate as hot as when the dinosaurs lived? And how can anyone who lives in Rhode Island not realize that pretending real estate development is economic development is a scam. Even the World Bank, IMF and OECD tell us that subsidizing the rich works AGAINST community prosperity. But then again, an analysis I read of the World Economic Forum in Davos pointed out that the politicians and the corporate criminals they consort with are the only ones in the whole world who are not ready for a new economy based on justice and healing ecosystems.

I said one thing at the end of my three minutes that I think I will repeat here. If we stop this power plant, it will be a shot heard round the world. The fossil fuel industry must be stopped. Stop the coal mining, stop the pipelines, stop the fracking, stop the building of new infrastructure that ties us into the old system for the next 40 years. If we stop this plant it will be a beacon for people around the world that the empire can be stopped. That we can have a green future.

Little Rhody has a future as a leader, but the economy that gets us there is not the one that Governor Wall St is leading us towards. We have reminded her of this before, and I hope she gets a clue soon.

March 25, 2016

How is Raimondo’s pension policy impacting retirees?

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Sources within the Rhode Island public sector retirees community have come forward with a survey, taken of a demographic of former public sector employees, that is striking in conclusions for the wider public sector retiree population and future ones.

The survey of the Rhode Island Retired Teachers’ Association was sent to 603 members and 247 members responded. This cohort was from age 58 to 96 and had 36 respondents living out of state.

6 questions were asked. We have eliminated question 2 and 3 as they were poorly worded.

Question 4 asked how they keep current with local and state news (Newspaper, Radio, Television)

Two remaining questions were:

Are you in favor of more open information from the RI State Treasurer about pension investments and fees? Yes or No

All 247 responded yes

Has the loss of the yearly COLA had a negative impact on your standard of living? Yes or No

230 responded yes

Is it important the RIRTA continue to investigate the RI Public Pension Fund for possible criminal mismanagement? Yes or No

Again, all 247 responded yes

Finally we asked “In a few sentences, please tell us how the new pension law (loss of COLA) has impacted your life.” Following are some of the comments:

Believed the COLA/pension was a guarantee-thought it would be wisely invested.

A sad ending (COLA loss) to a job I loved.

Rent goes up! Healthcare goes up! Check does not.

I am chipping at my savings to keep pace with rising taxes, insurance, goods, fees etc.

I have no hope that my pension alone (no COLA) will keep me financially viable.

Mentally for sure. Am I going to have enough money till the end? How long will I be able to stay in my house? All the same concerns I heard from my Mothers’ generation.

It is like living in Limbo and the future is scary.

I cannot be a consumer anymore. The bottom line is there is no expendable income to support out local businesses, charities and nothing for political contributions.

Have discussed with my wife the advantage of moving out of RI to a state that will not tax my pension.

I made my decision to retire based on the 3% COLA…..I don’t have the funds I thought I could count on.

The comfort level we anticipated for us through our elder years has been stolen from us.

There are over 20,000 of us suffering our own recession.

March 24, 2016May 3, 2016

Power plant already adversely affecting Burrillville property values say realtors

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During public commentary at the Burrillville Town Council meeting Wednesday night, two real estate agents talked about the negative effect the proposed gas and oil burning Clear River Energy Center is already having on property values in the town.

Jeremy Bailey, from Acumen Group Real Estate, testified that he recently had a prospective buyer from Riverside about to put half down on a $449,000 piece of property on East Wallum Lake Road.

“He liked everything about the property,” said Bailey, “But before the conversation ended he asked, ‘Where are they putting the power plant?’”

Bailey pointed up the road and explained that the proposed construction wasn’t too far away. By the time he finished the buyer backed out, saying, “Nah, I’m not interested anymore.”

2016-03-22 Burrillville 002 — Outside the Burrillvile Town Hall

After the meeting Bailey told me that the buyer told him to let him know how the March 31 public hearing on the power plant goes.

Paul Lefebvre, another realtor and owner of Acumen Group, testified that when he heard about the proposed plant two years ago, he didn’t think much about it. He couldn’t see any way that the Town Council might support such a plan. But recently he learned that the power plant has the support of both Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Governor Gina Raimondo, and it now appears the power plant is being “forced on the town.”

“Which is insanity,” said Lefebvre, “I don’t see any benefits for the town. I see all detriments. Nothing good, only bad.”

Speaking about the effect the proposed power plant is having on property values, Lefebvre said, “We’ve lost some interest and lost one sale at the company I own because of the talk, the perception, of this thing coming to town.”

“What surprises me,” said Burrillville native and retired schoolteacher Chuck Boucher, “is that the political system seems to have cut us out of the process. I was under the impression that we were a democracy… I would like to think that when Governor Raimondo hears the situation out here that she realizes that it will adversely affect everyone’s property values. It will adversely affect everyone’s health. It will adversely affect the community at large. I would like to believe that she cares enough about her constituents to reconsider locating something of this size in a rural area that’s known for being pristine.”

Kathy Martley, founder of Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE), asked the Burrillville Town Council to consider a resolution similar to the one Providence City Councillor Seth Yurdin submitted to the Providence City Council last week that was adopted unanimously. Yurdin was concerned about the health, environmental and safety effects of the proposed Fields Point Liquefaction facility to be located in South Providence.

“As a Burrillville resident and tax payer, I urge you to pass the same resolution to stop this project,” said Martley, until health, environmental and safety studies are done.

Jeremy Bailey pointed out that the power plant wants to tap into the town well and the sewer system. “At a minimum,” said Bailey, the Town Council could speak to state and federal agencies and ask them to, “hold off on entertaining or approving” the power plant.

In the past the Burrillville Town Council has claimed to be powerless against the corporate might of multi-billion dollar fossil fuel companies like Invenergy and Spectra, but as Martley, Bailey and other residents speaking before the Town Council last night pointed out, there is plenty that can be done on a local level.

Video of all who testified on the proposed power plant here:

March 24, 2016

Millennials rally for repro rights and Planned Parenthood at the State House

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Planned Parenthood of Southern New England held a Reproductive Freedom Lobby Day at the State House yesterday, perhaps coincidentally coinciding with the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in Zubik v Burwell, in which various religious non-profits and colleges, including the Sisters of the Poor, are arguing that the Affordable Care Act’s birth-control mandate should not apply to them on First Amendment, religious freedom grounds.

Zubik is the reason the anti-choice group RI Right to Life took over the main rotunda, holding what was essentially a religious service in the center of the State House.

Above the Mass being conducted on the rotunda, outside the House and Senate chambers, nearly two dozen millennials in bright pink Planned Parenthood tee shirts held signs and met with their representatives to make the case for preserving their reproductive health care choices. After the House and Senate went into session they marched to Governor Gina Raimondo’s office to deliver a letter encouraging her to support a woman’s right to choose.

Let’s be clear: As the Supreme Court case shows, for those opposed to reproductive rights, the issue is not simply about abortion. It’s about controlling women’s bodies, enforcing gender stereotypes and exerting religious control over all aspects of our healthcare. After the Mass in the rotunda and the Rise of the House, Barth Bracy, director of RI Right to Life, argued in the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee against legislation that would allow terminally ill patients to make important end-of-life decisions and against a bill expanding the duties of physician’s assistants.

There is no area of our lives, no decision we can make, that RI Right to Life and the Catholic Church do not want to control for us.

Fortunately a group of fearless millennials and long time supporters of a woman’s right to choose let our representatives know that our rights are not up for discussion or debate.

2016-03-23 Planned Parenthood State House 009 — Meanwhile…

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