“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.”

“After extensively interviewing both candidates for Secretary of State, we voted overwhelmingly to endorse Guillaume De Ramel,” said Sam Bell, state coordinator of RIPDA. “Guillaume’s firm commitment to both in-person early voting and same-day voter registration is what we need to increase voter participation in Rhode Island.

De Ramel and Gorbea are in heated down-ballot primary battle to become the state’s chief record-keeper, the winner of which will face Republican John Carlevale in the general election.

“I’m proud that my vision for modernizing the way Rhode Islanders vote helped earn me the endorsement of the Progressive Democrats,” de Ramel said. “It’s vitally important we increase civic participation and get more Rhode Islanders to cast ballots. I look forward to meeting with more Rhode Islanders, discussing the issues and building on this momentum in the weeks ahead.”

One difference between these two Democrats is de Ramel says he is running to make it easier to do business in Rhode Island.

“I know we can’t tax our way out this rut,” he told me. “So what we need to do is grow but in order to grow we have to create a more hospitable business climate.”

He says the secretary of state can help lower unemployment by running more of the regulatory process through that office. “Being small should be our biggest competitive advantage,” he said. “The secretary of state can really help make our state government smaller, more transparent and more open.”

“Making Rhode Island state government the most open, transparent and accessible state government,” is among his highest priorities, de Ramel said. He called out the state Airport Corporation, RIPTA and the Bridge and Turnpike Authority for flouting open government laws.

“Open and transparent makes it easier to do business here in Rhode Island,” de Ramel told me. “Unfortunately for too long it’s been about who you know, not what you know.”

He speaks from experience on this matter. When we discussed what he does for a living, he told me about a project to develop 10 airplane hangars at Newport State Airport that took 13 years to bring to fruition.

Late in the project, he hired former House Speaker Gordon Fox as his business agent. I asked de Ramel why Fox, and why the project, which has been a major talking point of his campaign, took 13 years to develop.

De Ramel said he would take a lead role in repealing voter ID, and that the secretary of state should have a seat on the state board of elections.

He’d also like to extend early voting. “We have 39 cities and towns,” he said. “Why not use the facilities we have and open them up for early voting.” He added that state law already says one doesn’t need a reason to to vote early, though he said the ballot itself doesn’t make this clear.

Unlike other proposals, de Ramel would like to make it easier for lobbyists to register. It currently costs $5, and he’d waive that fee so that there were be fewer hurdles to registering. While he’s bragged that he does not accept donations from lobbyists, he has received money from the spouses of lobbyists.

On his mother’s side of the family, de Ramel is related to Roger Williams, he said. On his father’s side, he’s a descendant of the French philosopher Montesquieu, who first mused about governmental separation of powers. His great, great grandfather built the Newport water infrastructure, he said, as well as water infrastructure all over the country. His great grandmother was born in Newport and the family has been there since.

You can listen to our full 45 minute interview here.

The recent cancellation of anti-LGBTQ activist Michelle Cretella’s talk at Providence College by Dr. Matthew Cuddeback has taken a new turn.

Cuddeback initially invited Cretella, a founding member of NOM-RI (dedicated to preventing marriage equality in our state), a board member of NARTH (dedicated to “curing” homosexuality) and vice president of the American College of Pediatrics (a group that broke away from the American Academy of Pediatrics because of its support of adoption by gay and lesbian couples) not to discuss any of that work, apparently, but to “describe her journey to navigate the controversial issue of homosexuality as a physician and a Catholic.”

Cuddeback defended inviting an Cretella because she “is not a therapist, and had no intent to speak as one. Her intent was to speak of her journey, as a physician, from rejecter to appreciator of the Catholic and natural law traditions concerning homosexuality.”

If Cretella is not a therapist, and had no intention to speak as one, how does one explain a piece she wrote on LifeSiteNews yesterday in which she said,

No therapy is free from harm. Regarding all forms of psychotherapy for any given condition a surprisingly high 14-24 percent of children deteriorate during psychotherapy.

This sounds like something a therapist might say, especially one who signs her piece as Michelle Cretella, MD and chairs the American College of Pediatricians’ Committee on Adolescent Sexuality. She certainly wants us to accept that her credentials somehow add gravitas to her opinions. Note also that this piece was to appear in the same week that Cretella was scheduled to speak at PC.

The piece she wrote yesterday never once mentions “natural law” or Catholicism. Instead, Cretella lays out her case as a lawyer might, filling her piece with footnotes and links to studies. To some her piece might look like a case made by a scientist or a doctor, but it is not. It is pure religious advocacy, dressed up as science to present an opinion, not fact. Cretella wrote the piece to argue against laws that prevent so-called therapists from attempting to “cure” those under the age of eighteen of homosexuality.

Cretella never mentions what some of these therapies entail. Cures advanced over the years for treating homosexuality have included Prozac, playing sports, hypnosis and gaining weight. One extreme example is aversion therapy, in which victims are shown pornography and their genitals are electrocuted when they react improperly. Ruined lives and suicides are often the tragic result of these techniques, but Cretella, who is not a therapist, is silent. Perhaps because, not being a therapist, she is not qualified to speak on these topics?

Cuddeback, in canceling the talk, said, “Because I sense that Dr. Cretella may be the object of animus were she to present at PC next week, I have advised her that we shall postpone her presentation.”

Cuddeback is being disingenuous. Cretella has earned every inch of animus aimed her way.

The state’s Open Meetings law requires most governmental bodies to post meeting notices and agendas at least 48 hours in advance. While the General Assembly is exempt from the law, the House and the Senate do issue meeting notices in accordance with their own rules. We monitored that activity in order to produce the “Access 2012” report.

Accountability is a crucial gauge of government’s willingness to keep the public informed about its work.”

In developing the data, we reviewed meeting notices and agendas for 438 legislative meetings in 2012. As in previous years, nearly all the violations came in the last days of the session. Fifteen of the 19 total violations occurred during the 48 hours before the General Assembly recessed in the early-morning hours of June 13.

Broken out by chamber, House compliance was 94 percent and Senate compliance was 97 percent in 2012.  Among the some of the legislature’s most prominent committees, House Finance complied 94 percent of the time while Senate Judiciary had a 97 percent compliance rate.

We began issuing annual “Access” reports in 1997.

We give the public access to legislative meeting notices and agendas and maintain a searchable database of meeting notices, agendas and minutes for most other state and municipal agencies, commissions, boards and departments.

In the handwritten manuscript, colonial lawmakers accused the King of breaking “the compact” with Rhode Island’s citizens by “…by sending fleets and armies to America, to confiscate our property, and spread fire, sword and desolation, throughout our country, in order to compel us to submit to the most debasing and detestable tyranny, whereby we are obliged by necessity, and it becomes our highest duty, to use every means, with which God and nature have furnished us, in support of our invaluable rights and privileges; to oppose that power which is exerted only for our destruction.”

The original manuscript is preserved by the Secretary of State’s office at the State Archives, 337 Westminster St., in downtown Providence. Home to thousands of other historic documents such as the 1921 Act Extending the Right to Vote to Women Citizens and a copy of the original 1638 deed for Providence in Roger Williams’ handwriting, the Archives is open to the public weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

In order to qualify to appear on the ballot, the candidates had to collect the signatures of at least 150 eligible voters. More than 18,000 signatures were validated by last Friday’s deadline, according to Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis.

Statewide, 36 Rhode Islanders will vie to represent Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention. Voters will elect 22 delegates on April 24.

Mitt Romney led all Republican candidates with 27 delegates hoping to go to the Republican National Convention. Twenty-three Rhode Islanders are Paul delegates, followed by 22 for Santorum and 11 for Gingrich. No one filed to run as a Roemer delegate. Voters will elect 16 delegates and 16 alternates.

Rhode Islanders must register to vote by March 24 in order to cast a ballot in the presidential primary. April 3 is the deadline to apply for a mail ballot.

April 24’s presidential primary will be the first test of the state’s new Voter ID law. Beginning this year, poll workers will ask voters to show a current and valid ID at the polls. A wide range of IDs will be accepted including a R.I. driver’s license, college ID, U.S. passport and social security card.

Although photo IDs will not be required until 2014, the Secretary of State’s office is visiting every city and town to provide free Voter IDs to registered voters who don’t already have a valid photo ID. This week’s stops include the Leon Mathieu Senior Center, Pawtucket, March 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the North Kingstown Senior Center March 8 from 10 a.m. to noon and the Cranston Senior Center March 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

House compliance rose from 94 percent in 2010 to a record 97 percent last year. Senate compliance increased from 90 percent to 99 percent over the same time period. The Senate’s mark equaled the record it set in 1999 during the administration of former Secretary of State Jim Langevin, who introduced the first “Access” report in 1997.

“A critical measure of government’s commitment to keeping the public informed about its activities is accountability.”

The state’s Open Meetings law requires most governmental bodies to post meeting notices and agendas at least 48 hours in advance. While the General Assembly is exempt from the law, the House and the Senate do issue meeting notices in accordance with their own rules.

As in previous years, nearly all the violations occurred during the last days of the session. Nineteen of the 20 total Open Meetings violations occurred during the two days before the General Assembly recessed on July 1. In 2010, there were 28 last-minute violations.

Among the prominent names are Joe Paolino, Myrth York and Ray Rickman as Barack Obama delegates and Don Carcieri, Scott Avedisian and Alan Fung as Mitt Romney delegates.

All 135 candidates now have until Feb. 28 to collect the signatures of at least 150 eligible voters in order to qualify to appear on the ballot. The public can follow the progress they are making achieving the 150-signature threshold on our website at sos.ri.gov.

Fifty-two Rhode Islanders hope to represent President Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, the week of Sept. 3. Voters will elect 22 delegates on April 24.

Romney led all Republican candidates with 27 delegates hoping to go to the Republican National Convention Aug. 27-30 in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Twenty-three Rhode Islanders filed to be Ron Paul delegates, followed by 22 for Rick Santorum and 11 for Newt Gingrich. No one filed to run uncommitted or as a Buddy Roemer delegate. Voters will elect 16 delegates and 16 alternates.

April 24’s presidential primary will be the first test of the state’s new Voter ID law. Rhode Islanders must register to vote by March 24 in order to cast a ballot in the presidential primary. April 3 is the deadline to apply for a mail ballot, which do not require Voter ID.

“We could think of no better way to honor the Governor than to share his legacy with the state he served so admirably. We hope this reminds long-time Rhode Islanders of his achievements and introduces the younger generation to a man who was a role model for us all.”

Many of the items in the electronic photo album are also on display at the State Archives through the end of February. The exhibit is open to the public weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 337 Westminster St., in downtown Providence. Free validated parking is available at the nearby In-Town Parking lot.

In addition to hosting exhibits, the State Archives is also home to tens of thousands of historic artifacts such as the state’s copy of the Declaration of Independence, the 1920 law granting Rhode Island women the right to vote and a circa-1930 voting machine.