The parcel of land in Providence being eyed as the site of a new stadium by the new owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox became the scene of dueling imaginings as Charles Steinberg led a group of PawSox employees on a tour of the site with Paws, the PawSox mascot and PawSox ballplayer Matt Spring. Steinberg invited those in attendance to imagine the ballpark his boss, Boston Red Sox owner Larry Lucchino, wants to build on this land with public money.

Meanwhile, a Facebook group calling itself “No new stadium for Providence” invited supporters to see the parcel of land as the park it was originally intended to be. “The public is invited to preview the park by picnicing, walking dogs, kicking soccer balls, blowing bubbles, flying kites (it is that big!), riding bikes and tossing wildflower seeds all over this huge, breezy, sunny space.”

Steinberg’s patter was essentially the same as the talks he’s been giving at the various cities he’s done his “Listening Tours” in. Steinberg talks about baseballs being batted into the water (by left-handed batters), the stadium being open for public use year round and the businesses that will crop up around the park. Members of the public critical of the planned stadium openly scoffed at the idea that the park would bring business downtown.

If either side were making new arguments, I didn’t hear them.

Some of the PawSox employees engaged with the public, as Steinberg wrapped up his tour and the crowd broke up into smaller groups. When a critic said, “No one who lives here wants a stadium here,” a PawSox employee answered that he lives in the area, “and I would love to see a stadium here.”

My best count is that out of 30-40 PawSox employees and 50-60 members of the public there in opposition, only one person not employed by Larry Lucchino, RI Future contributor Mark Gray, was willing to publicly declare himself as being in favor of moving the PawSox to a new downtown stadium.

On Saturday, the Young Democrats of Rhode Island held their annual convention at URI’s Feinstein campus in downtown Providence. Since 2010, YDRI has grown substantially, with over 100 active members in 2014. Participants hailed from a broad array of backgrounds, ranging from campaign staffers to concerned citizens, and from newly-elected legislators to progressive activists. Attendees were united by a shared commitment to improving Rhode Island’s government—especially for young people—and most of the day’s dialogue focused on actions that could be taken to enact those improvements.

The convention also featured a discussion on YDRI’s legislative priorities for 2015. Attendees split into three groups to identify and discuss young people’s most pressing legislative priorities. When the groups came back together and shared their priorities, there was significant overlap of issues between groups, focusing on economic equality, social justice, and environmental justice. Discussion repeatedly turned to issues of racial profiling, police relations, ending drug prohibition, and supporting economic growth for young Rhode Islanders via topics like college affordability. YDRI looks forward to continuing to build its membership base for action on these issues in 2015.

Over the coming months, the group will engage with partner organizations, with the goal of rallying advocacy efforts for those initiatives.

Speakers at Saturday’s annual meeting included:

• Outgoing YDRI President Mark Gray, who gave a compelling exit address regarding YDRI’s achievements and the priorities he would like to see the group approach in the future
• Constantina Meis, who, as Women’s Caucus Chair for the Young Democrats of America, updated YDRI on the efforts which the national YDA is currently undertaking regarding growing women’s and minority caucuses.
• Theo Groh, President of Young Democrats of New Hampshire, who shared updates on his work building chapters with the national YDA.

Theo also presided over YDRI’s elections for the 2015 Board of Directors. The new Board members are:

• President: Charon Rose
• Executive Vice President: Zack Mezera
• Vice President: Amy Espinal
• Treasurer: Jordan Day
• Secretary: Alex Krogh-Grabbe
• Communications Director: Michael Beauregard
• Membership Director: Abby Godino
• Policy Committee Chair: Juan Espinoza
• YDA National Committeeman: Chris Tallent
• YDA National Committeewoman: Kristina Fox
• Congressional District 1 Representative: Amanda Clarke
• Congressional District 2 Representative: Anthony DeRose
• At-Large Board Member: Representative-elect Aaron Regunberg
• At-Large Board Member: Senator Ryan Pearson

To learn more about the Young Democrats of Rhode Island, visit our website.

The Young Democrats of Rhode Island is the organization for young people 13-35 who wish to mobilize on behalf of the Democratic party and to advocate for issues facing young people in Rhode Island and America.

With the exciting news that Kate Brock is moving on from Ocean State Action to take a policy position in Governor Chafee’s administration, I was thinking about who could be the next Director of Ocean State Action.  I say this because Ocean State Action is probably one of the most important, if not the most important, progressive organizations in the state.  Over the years, they have been able to shape the debate in Rhode Island, elect progressive candidates to the General Assembly, and push for more progressive policies that benefit all Rhode Islanders.  Admittedly, they have not been 100% successful, but more often than not their success lies in advocacy, movement building, and adding the progressive perspective to policy debates.

Here are some of my thoughts about who (in alphabetical order).

• Sam Bell – Currently the State Coordinator for the Rhode Island chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America (taking over after I went to grad school), Sam is young and smart and has really jumped into his role at the RIPDA.  He’s also a student at Brown University.
• Kristina Fox – Currently the Organizing Director at Ocean State Action, Kristina is super energetic and has been a workhorse of progressive organizing.  Kristina was an organizer for UNITE HERE! Local 217 and helped win contracts at the Westin Hotel and the Dunkin Donuts Center.  She just recently took over as one of the organizers for Drinking Liberally as well.
• Mark Gray – Currently the “Where’s the Work?” Project Organizer at Ocean State Action, Mark looks into why there is such a dire lack of jobs in the state.  Previously, Mark was with Clean Water Action, handling recruitment and training of community organizers.
• Libby Kimzey – Currently Director of Programs at Capital Good Fund, Libby runs their tax assistance site and develops financial coaching curriculum for low-income Rhode Islanders.  Libby is a tireless advocate and her energy was instrumental in getting Teresa Tanzi elected in 2010.  She also worked with Ocean State Action and Common Cause.
• Zack Mezera – Currently an Organizer at Providence Student Union with Aaron Regunberg, Zach is also a Student at Brown University studying education policy.
• Aaron Regunberg – Currently the Director at Providence Student Union and Organizer for IDEA, Aaron is a great strategist and thinker about education policy.  A case in point, Aaron helped organize the fantastic student-led NECAP testing that brought out about 50 people, and most of them failed it.  This is reshaping the entire conversation about testing in the state.
• Marti Rosenberg – Marti is one of the most revered progressive activists in the state, working on numerous campaigns in the state for as long as I can remember.  She was Executive Director of Ocean State action until she stepped down in 2006 to work for U.S. Action in DC.  Back in RI, she became Director at New Roots.
• Ray Sullivan – Currently the Campaign Director at Marriage Equality RI and RI United for Marriage, and with any hope he’ll be unemployed when the session ends (because we’ll have marriage equality).  Ray has a wealth of experience, having worked as Communications Director for the RI Democrats, RI State Director for Obama for America, and representative of Coventry from 2005 to 2010.

This is not at all a full list, and I’m certain that potential candidates will come out of the woodwork for this important position.  What’s top of mind for me is that I hope the next Director does NOT come at the expense of the good work being done at another organization.  Whoever the next director is, we need to keep building the Progressive movement in the state.