rigarun12 – RI Future

August 14, 2012

Gus Uht: Why I Am Running for Office

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

gusuht — Gus Uht, of Cumberland, is challenging Rep. Karen MacBeth, known for her opposition to abortion, in a Democratic primary for a seat in the House of Representatives.

I have decided to run for State Representative in District 52 (Cumberland) because our community deserves real representation at the State House. I will be an effective member of the General Assembly, and will spend time talking to my constituents in order to ensure that their concerns and ideas are heard.

My wife Laurette and I fell in love with Cumberland and Rhode Island when we first moved here 20 years ago. Being a computer engineering professor at URI, I am committed to seeing higher education thrive throughout the state, as well as the growth of the high-tech community in Providence and elsewhere.

It has been less than thrilling to see the state go through its seemingly never-ending fiscal crises. There are many difficulties in the state related to jobs, education and taxes – I call it a JET-focus. While taxes are cut for the wealthy, state aid to higher education has dropped, forcing the state colleges to raise tuition and eliminate qualified faculty positions. Even in-state students have difficulty making ends meet. The $75 million cost of the 38 Studios dilemma is now a burden for taxpayers, and small businesses and other high-tech start-ups wonder where the capital went and why some of it didn’t come to them. Marriage equality is still up in the air, women’s rights are under constant threat, and the DEM struggles to keep the environment safe from over-development.

While we all want to encourage entrepreneurship, start-ups could take years to generate a significant number of new jobs in a fiscally-sound way. I will work to encourage and expand existing targeted skills training in order to fill jobs now. We must also protect those who are currently employed. State/worker contracts have been unilaterally broken without need, without negotiations in good faith, and without justice.

Rhode Island’s tax structure desperately needs revisiting, and many of the taxes are unfairly distributed. The lost tax revenue due to specialized tax breaks is astonishing. Our seniors are caught between rising real estate taxes and their fixed incomes. I will work toward a more equitable tax code for our citizens.

Every year ill-informed legislation threatens women’s rights and their health. Government and politicians must not be involved in the private medical decisions of any citizen. Instead of putting people into one category or another, we need to respect the real-life decisions all of us face everyday. Civil liberties are fundamental, and should not be compromised.

While we need more jobs in this state and thus want new businesses to grow, it must not be at the expense of the environment. For example, the water quality in the Pawtucket Reservoir system is constantly threatened with nearby unsuitable land development. I will work for statewide zoning ordinances to protect our drinking water and other precious resources.

With problem-solving abilities I have honed over several decades, I will bring a different approach to the General Assembly. I will base decisions on solid data and analysis, while making sure people are helped, not hurt.

I love Rhode Island, and I want to see it and its people thrive. I respectfully ask for your vote on September 11th in the Democratic primary. The District 52 House race will be decided in the Primary; only Democrats are in the race.

To learn more about my thoughts on the issues or to volunteer on the campaign, please visit www.votegusuht.org. You can also take a look at my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. Feel free to contact me at info@votegusuht.org or call (401) 787-1313.

July 3, 2012July 3, 2012

Butke’s Campaign Puts Focus on Education ‘Reform’

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Maryellen Butke’s campaign for state Senate will raise an interesting debate about the relationship, or lack thereof, between the so-called education reform movement and the progressive movement. While in name they may sound like close cousins, in practice they are often not.

Education reformers (or deformers, if you don’t like what they do) often push for charter schools at the expense of existing public schools, and charter schools often don’t allow its teachers to bargain collectively, putting the movement at odds with organized labor and often attracting big money from union-busting corporations.

By running for state Senate – especially for legendary progressive legislator Rhoda Perry’s seat – Butke’s campaign will become ground zero for this debate in Rhode Island for the next few months.

Yesterday, in a post about Senator Rhoda Perry retiring, I mentioned that Butke is a liberal who supports charter schools. Two of RI Future’s regular contributors, who follow education issues closely, quickly took umbrage with my description.

“I think a more accurate description of Ms. Butke’s positions would be pretty politically liberal on some issues and extremely conservative on others, particularly labor and education (her primary focus), where she and her Wal-Mart and Wall Street-funded organization have championed right-wing policies that have and will do major damage to public education in RI,” wrote Aaron Regunberg.

Pat Crowley, who works for the state’s largest teachers’ union, followed suit: “Got to agree with Aaron here. Labor issues can’t simply be shoved to the side. Especially when so many teachers are women, and so many retirees are women, the attack on their voice on the job is part of the national war on women. How liberal is that?”

Then, interestingly enough, Butke got a chance to respond with a guest post on Ted Nesi’s blog. She wrote:

I have never considered my views on education liberal or conservative. Though a lifelong progressive, it never occurred to me that teaching and learning in public schools was a partisan issue. At its core, education reform is about improving educational outcomes for kids. How could anyone – Democrat or Republican – disagree with that?

As it turns out, education is one of the most politicized debates we are having in this country today. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Those of us who believe in the tenets of change aren’t interested in partisan politics. We believe in accountability for the adults responsible for our children’s futures, in high-quality public school choices for parents regardless of demographics or geography, and in flexibility to let principals and teachers do whatever it takes to improve student achievement. This doesn’t mean we are anti-union and it doesn’t mean we have negative feelings towards teachers.

My feeling is that Regunberg, Crowley and Bukte somehow need to reconcile their somewhat disparate points if Rhode Island is to holistically improve the education it offers. We need to offer a better education to all students without making life any tougher for our hard-working teachers, who hold one of the most important jobs in our community. That’s the progressive solution to reforming public education.

I believe Butke when she says she isn’t anti-union per say, but some of the people that pay her salary and fund the organization she works for certainly are. That can be a tough dichotomy to reconcile.

Butke and I have long talked about getting together for a big picture discussion on how the charter school movement fits – or doesn’t – with the progressive movement. Here’s hoping that this post and her candidacy helps to make that happen … and that they can help Rhode Island to figure out how it wants to reform public education.

July 2, 2012July 2, 2012

Sen. Rhoda Perry Isn’t Seeking Reelection

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Senator Rhoda Perry, a strong and influential voice for progressives all over Rhode Island, announced today that after 22 years serving the people of the College Hill area of the East Side in the State House, she won’t be running for reelection this year.

“As a private citizen, I will continue to fight for the progressive causes in which I believe,” she said according to a press release sent out this morning. “It has been an honor and a pleasure to represent the residents of the East Side during the last two decades, but it is time for me to step aside and give new leaders the opportunity to emerge. Together with my colleagues, and so many committed Rhode Islanders, I am proud of all we have been able to accomplish.”

According to the press release, some of her “major legislative accomplishments are enacting needed protections for our state’s nursing home residents, adopting mental health parity, gaining funeral rights for domestic partners, leading the successful battle for medical marijuana, increasing penalties for sex trafficking, putting in place the first anti-racial profiling law in the Northeast, gaining significant adoption reforms and helping to realize separation of powers.”

She is the third-longest serving member of the Senate, next to Senators Dominick Ruggerio and Mary Ellen Goodwin. Perry is one of the most progressive legislators in the state Senate and indeed the entire State House.

For 20 of her 22 years, Perry has served with her good friend, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, whom she is pictured with above.

“I’m going to miss Senator Perry,” Paiva Weed said. “She’s been a friend and a colleague and a strong advocate on so many important issues. She knew how to successfully achieve passage of important legislation without ever compromising her values, and she was never afraid to fight for more progress on an issue.”

Senator Juan Pichardo, also a progressive state Senator from Providence, said Perry has been a mentor to him, a positive force at the State House and a role model for the many women who have gotten involved in politics over the past two decades.

“Rhoda Perry has been an icon for the progressive movement in Rhode Island as well as an icon for women in politics,” he said. “Her holistic approach to policy and her compassion with people and her respect for different points of view has been a great thing for those who served with her.”

He said she will be very difficult to replace.

“We thank Senator Rhoda Perry for her years of dedicated public services,” said Kate Brock of Ocean State Action. “Senator Perry has been a champion for the progressive values and ideals we work for everyday. She will be sorely missed at the Statehouse. While Senator Perry is impossible to replace we look forward to helping elect a strong, progressive leader to represent the East Side of Providence.”

Ray Sullivan, of Marriage Equality Rhode Island: “Senator Perry was a tireless advocate for her constituents and a tenacious voice for the LGBTQI community. Her leadership helped advance the rights of countless Rhode Islanders, and we are grateful for her remarkable commitment to public service. She was the lead sponsor of the 1995 civil rights act barring discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit on the basis or sexual orientation, and has been the longtime prime sponsor of marriage equality in the Senate. Most recently, she led the effort to pass the transgender hate crime reporting act, which was singed into law by Gov. Chafee this year. ”

An unrelenting champion for civil rights, she fought the battles that weren’t always popular, but unmistakably necessary. We will miss sincerely miss our dear friend, Rhoda, and thank her for truly making a difference.”

Ian Donnis, of RIPR, reports that Jessica Holden Sherwood is running for Perry’s seat, as is charter school advocate Maryellen Butke, who works for RI-CAN.

Sherwood is a progressive, who testified for income tax reform this year at the State House and helped to organize local activities in conjunction with Netroots Nation this year. Butke is pretty politically liberal, but she may have a hard time appealing to progressives because of her work with RI-CAN, which advocates for more charter schools in Rhode Island.