Councilman Kevin Jackson is my city councilor. I’d like to see someone better. Here are the things I’d like to see taken on by whoever replaces him (as a challenger, or after he resigns):

Someone to fight for lower taxes on renters

Kevin Jackson gave some tepid support to changing the tax structure so that it stops taxing non “owner occupant” apartments at a higher rate. The next councilor needs to fight hard to make this a reality.

Someone to fight for higher taxes on parking

The parking tax is on the horizon as a serious proposal for the future, and a Ward 3 councilperson must be a supporter. The only way the city is going to reform its land-use while making more housing and business opportunities is if it wakes up and smells the asphalt that surrounds much of downtown. It’s time to do something about it.

Having a higher tax on parking would be one of the best taxes on the rich that Providence is capable of, but that money could then be put directly to lowering taxes on other properties, ensuring that it builds growth rather than resentment in the Capital City.

Someone who will fight to get rid of exclusionary zoning

Jackson was among a depressingly large majority of councilors who voted to increase exclusionary zoning in Providence– the city is currently being sued for the action. City Council needs to stop legislating multifamily housing and house-sharing away through zoning measures. Top concerns should be getting rid of the R-1 and R-1A designations, to allow single-family-detached-only neighborhoods to get rid of minimum lot sizes, allow granny flats, rowhouses, apartment buildings, and subdivisions of houses into apartments. The R-1A designation is so draconian that it even makes certain kinds of single-family detached housing illegal because it mandates exurban-sized plots of land around them.

Someone who will speak truth on the car tax

A year of RIPTA costs the same as the tax on a $15,000 car, but to hear many city councilors talk about it, you’d think the most important equity thing we could do in the city is raise the exemption on the car tax (which gives every car owner, not just the clunker-owners, a $60 per vehicle tax cut). The next councilor needs to say that cutting the car tax is off the table, especially at a time when doing so means raising the effective property tax*. Lowering the car tax is not about equity, it’s about politicking. 25% of the city is excluded from this tax reduction, which isn’t paid for and puts the city’s budget in danger.

Someone who will fight water privatization

Privatizing the water supply is a crazy idea, and should be stopped at all costs.

Someone who understands smart-growth and the value of downtowns, but isn’t going to give the budget away for free

Urban-style buildings– the kind that have mixed-use, and take up smaller patches of land– cost the city much less money in services, but generate a lot more money in taxes per acre. So, smart-growth naturally entails recognizing that reality and building it into the tax code. That said, there are good ways to do this, and bad ways. I’d be in favor, for instance, of seeing the city and state partner to fix the Superman Building, but I’d like to see taxpayers get shares in the property. I’m not at all fooled into thinking the point of fixing 111 Westminster is the direct, immediate profitability of the property– it’s a historic, iconic building, and fixing it is about the enormous benefit to the neighborhood around it. But if the city and state are going to pour money into something, they should own it. We may break even on the deal, but at least it’s us that breaks even. Just giving money away means we break even while someone else profits for free.

The next city councilor needs to recognize that there are many downtowns in Providence, and see how the value of urban properties is not just in Downcity or the East Side. That means recognizing the way the tax code disables businesses in other corridors, like Broad Street or Cranston Street. It also means fighting loudly against state agencies like RIDOT that create problems for the city’s prosperity. Urban neighborhoods are systematically harmed by bad policies from above, and the city council needs to be a sounding board against those policies, not just a quiet body for practical lawmaking.

Someone who isn’t too parochial

The city should operate as a whole, but often it acts as separate council fiefdoms. It would be nice to see a councilperson come in to Ward 3 that is concerned about the whole city, and thinks about communities outside of the East Side. An example, off-hand, would be the proposal to put a $1.5 million boardwalk bike path along the Seekonk River on the East Side (outside of Jackson’s ward). In itself, it’s a fairly worthy project, but compared to what could be done for biking throughout the whole city on the same budget, it’s not. The city of Minneapolis just budgeted for 30 miles of protected bike lanes– including changes to signal timing, paving, landscaping and so on that could accompany that– for $6 million. In a city of our size, $1.5 million is the kind of money we could spend to connect the South Side and West Side to Downtown and the East Side, but instead it’ll be used for a much smaller project. It’s not the worst kind of problem that could be named, for sure, but it’s the kind of thing that could be improved for future proposals. We should be thinking city-wide.

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*The “rate” on property taxes went down, while the amount paid has gone up in the most recent budget. This is because properties were assessed at a higher value.

Regardless of anybody’s opinions of either candidate or their campaigns, we all should recognize that we have witnessed a near-historic exercise in the power of electoral participation. As I have written repeatedly, candidates running unopposed in the primary and/or general election are the hallmarks of a political machine, and political machines destroy communities.

Whether you like it or not, a large portion of Ward 3 made a powerful statement that they were dissatisfied with Jackson’s leadership and wanted a new voice. That portion of the ward proved just smaller than those who supported Jackson. And that’s how it goes in an electoral government.

The question now is: how will Jackson respond to the uprising against him?

Respond or retaliate?

There was a sense in the final week leading up to the election that the real winner in Ward 3 would be Ward 3. Suddenly faced with a serious challenge, Jackson remembered that there was a ward to be taken care of. Seemingly overnight, all the dangerous trip hazards that had lingered for many years on the commercial section of Hope Street were fixed.

But now that we’ve all recovered from the euphoria and/or depression and/or hangover, it has occurred to some in the Mitchell camp that rather than responding to their long-ignored issues, Jackson may chose to retaliate against those who opposed him. He was Cianci’s co-chair, the thinking goes, and we all know how Mr. Cianci dealt with such issues.

So far, I have heard nothing either way, nor was I out looking for it. This man does not live by politics alone. Were I one of Jackson’s advisers, my counsel would be to win over his detractors by acting on their behalf…you know, like an elected representative. Four years is time enough to heal the wounds and rebuild the coalition.

Conversely, those opposed to Jackson may well be wondering why they didn’t challenge him earlier. The conventional wisdom was that his stronghold would prove unbreakable. But if a last-minute, write-in candidate can take him to a hand count of the mail-in ballots, imagine what a proper campaign for the Democratic primary could achieve.

Jackson likely knows this as well. At a certain level, it doesn’t matter what he does over the next three-and-a-half years. If I were a gambling man, I would bet folding money that there will be a Jackson-Mitchell rematch in 2018 and this time for the Democratic primary.

Just like with the Mitchell write-in campaign, remember, readers: you heard it here first!

If he does, it will be an historic achievement. Has Providence ever seen such an occurrence?

The preliminary count shows “write-in” with a 22-vote lead over incumbent Kevin Jackson, 1,829 to 1,807. Emergency ballots and mail-in ballots have not yet been counted, and the write-in ballots must be certified. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck typically receive a few votes in nearly every political contest, and misspellings could also erode Mitchell’s count.

Many in Ward 3 feel that even if Jackson holds on to his seat, he will be a very different councilor. His support for Cianci put him on the wrong side of the electorate, and he must surely know that he will face a vigorous primary challenge in 2018. This race showed him a weak incumbent.

A tale of two turnouts

The single most striking take-away for me was the low turnout in precinct 2818 that includes most of the Camp Street neighborhood. Jackson won this precinct roughly 2:1, but with fewer than 600 votes cast. Compare this to the 2012 election when over 1,600 votes were cast in 2818.

Of course, 2012 was a presidential election and this was a midterm, and redistricting makes a comparison to 2010 impossible. But consider this: precinct 2816 at the north end of the ward cast nearly 1,300 votes compared to about 1,800 votes in 2012.

In other words, turnout in 2816 fell about 1/3 while turnout in 2818 fell by 2/3. The common wisdom said that Camp Street was Jackson’s base of power, but when challenged, he could not turn out the vote. Results from precinct 2880, which includes the northern end of Camp Street, showed tepid activity with fewer than 450 votes cast total.

If Jackson had turned out the vote in these precincts, he would have won handily.

What’s next?

Your Frymaster is in uncharted territory here. I need to find out how and where the ballots will be counted. As always, I’ll let you know what I find.

Both men describe themselves as liberal, and both have a history of community service. There is no question that Kevin Jackson has worked to better his Ward. The upgraded Billy Taylor Park, on Camp St., is the most obvious testament to that. Marcus Mitchell led the formation of the Providence Community Libraries, which successfully prevented the closure of nine public libraries throughout Providence. He currently sits on the board for the Hope High School Dollars for Scholars foundation, which was named Scholarship America’s national new affiliate of the year.

Despite these similarities, there are also stark differences. The most obvious, and probably the most divisive, is Jackson’s post as campaign co-chair for Buddy Cianci. Mitchell, by contrast, does not want to go back to the old way of doing things. This says a lot about each man’s vision for the residents of Providence.

Currently, Providence residents pay high property and car taxes, yet our streets are a disaster, public services are diminished, our public schools are struggling for financial assistance, and economic development is seemingly at a stand still.

This election stands a chance to change this. The primary election in September proved that Rhode Island is ready to move forward; political newcomers upset the endorsed candidates in several races. Running a write-in campaign is no easy task, but Mitchell is familiar with grassroots organizing, and has made a name for himself in his work with local organizations.

Jackson describes himself as a liberal progressive Democrat. Mitchell prefers to let his record speak for him. He has worked with some of the most conservative politicians in this country to give voice and funding to underserved communities, his background is in economic development, and he has won awards for community service and dedication to civil rights. Mitchell says that he works to “get the job done with whatever resources are available.” I, for one, am ready to see Providence “get the job done”, and hope you will join me in writing in Marcus Mitchell for Ward 3 City Council on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Mitchell campaign has sent Jackson a letter that provides clear, compelling exculpatory evidence and demands an immediate retraction. If Jackson and his campaign continue to distribute this flyer now knowing for certain that their claim is false, it becomes bona fide libel.

According to information from the Mitchell campaign, Jennifer Seitz, who teaches political science at Georgia Perimeter College created and managed the blog Twenty Year Revolution from which the quote was taken. This fits with similar results from my own searching for “jenecseitz,” the WordPress user that authored all the post on the blog. The Mitchell campaign has also located a person named Marcus Mitchell who attended Georgia Perimeter College.

Any slightly savvy Internet user would look at Twenty Year Revolution and realize that this was a teaching tool created specifically to engage students in using social media in a political context. If you scan a number of posts, you’ll see many of the same names over and over again. Also, 100% of the comments use the same format of posting a single link as an addendum.

Your Frymaster has reached out to Ms. Seitz about this situation and will update this post with any new information.

UPDATE: 11/3, 8:30 AM—Jennifer Seitz replied with the following:

[Twenty Year Revolution] was a teaching tool used in my American Government course at Georgia Perimeter College.  Marcus was a student of mine, I do remember him, and I can assure you he is not running for office in Providence.

More on Marcus Mitchell:

• Jackson allies smear Marcus Mitchell – Frymaster
• Uprising in Ward 3: Marcus Mitchell wages write-in campaign – Frymaster

The quote by a person using the name Marcus Mitchell laments Rick Santorum dropping out of the 2012 presidential race. The email does not provide a source or context for the quote and asserts that it was Jackson’s opponent who made the statement. The PAA has to know that this is not true, and that would make it libel, a civil but not criminal offense.

But we can’t prove it. At least not yet.

Department of dirty tricks

The PAA is among the unsavory supporters swirling around the Jackson/Cianci camp. These are the investment property owners who, unsurprisingly, don’t like having to pay taxes. Jackson has promised to work to repeal the tax increase on non-owner-occupied rentals. In common parlance, this is an association of slumlords.

In their three+ years on Facebook, the PAA has garnered a whopping 132 “likes”. Not exactly a groundswell of support. And, honestly, do most people in Providence really care what these people think or want? Obviously, Mr. Jackson does.

Let’s not forget that Mr. Jackson already made the bad decision to co-chair Buddy Cianci’s 2014 mayor campaign. Nor should any of us be surprised that old-school influence peddlers like Jackson and Cianci would resort to such tactics. Jackson is savvy enough not to have done this himself, letting the already-disliked PAA take the fall for this foolish, borderline-criminal blunder.

The exact portion of the email in question reads:

As a registered republican in Philadelphia, Mr Mitchell also was a top level aide to Rick Santorum [true] and wanted him to be President. [not true]

Here’s what he said when Santorum dropped out:

“Its heartbreaking to hear Mr. Santorum suspending his presidential campaign. He left a mark for other candidates in the running.” [somebody, using the name Marcus Mitchell, said this]

Politicians resort to dirty tricks for one reason and one reason only: they’re scared. If Kevin Jackson were confident in his chances after last night’s candidates forum, this email would never have gone out. The incumbent can feel the momentum that Mitchell is generating. He certainly felt it last night when the Mitchell supporters seemed the more numerous and proved themselves the more enthusiastic by their applause. Cheers for Jackson’s closing remarks, in which he stumbled and repeated himself, were distinctly tepid.

Note to Kevin Jackson: there’s this thing called the Internet

20 years ago, it probably have taken Mr. Mitchell weeks to debunk this smear, if he could debunk it at all. But today, it will be over in a single news cycle. Because the Internet.

This whole Internet thing must be fairly new to people like Kevin Jackson. I mean…I can’t find a Facebook page for his campaign or a Twitter account or even a website. Hell, his page on the city council website doesn’t even have a photo!

Mr. Jackson and the PAA will probably be surprised at how fast this blows up in their faces.

Here’s the source of the quote. It’s from a comment from an otherwise anonymous blog commenter using the name Marcus Mitchell, and it comes at the bottom of a small post on an obscure, now defunct blog called Twenty Year Revolution. The second sentence in the comment reads:

I’m not into politics or elections.

That’s the give-away. At the time this comment was made (April 2012), Marcus Mitchell was up to his neck in the highly-politicized fight to create the Providence Community Library.

While there’s no smoking gun that would prove Jackson and PAA the knew that the quote was not from their opponent, they knew. If there were a smoking gun (or if one turns up), that would make it libel, and libel is punishable in civil court.

But here’s how you know that Jackson and the PAA knew these are different people: their email had already brought up their opponent’s highly political past. They knew this wasn’t him.

Mitchell’s Republican past

From Day One, the Jackson camp has tried to make hay out of the fact that their opponent—our Marcus Mitchell—was once a registered Republican and served as a staffer for then-US Senator Rick Santorum. Mitchell ran Santorum’s community relations circa 2005. This story from the alt-weekly Philadelphia City Paper about protesters wanting to contact both PA senators shows exactly how Mitchell handled the office—brilliantly.

Regarding this period of work, the Mitchell campaign has said:

As a longtime progressive, Marcus does not share Sen. Santorum’s views on social issues and the senator was aware of that when he offered Marcus the position as Director of Community & Economic Development. He was offered the job because of his record of community service in the Philadelphia area, and he took the job in order to assure that issues of diversity and reconciliation would be considered in the office of one of the country’s most conservative legislators. It was a courageous step to take and he is proud of the work he did there.

The choice in ward 3

Some may find Mr. Mitchell’s GOP past unsettling, even a deal-breaker. But 100% of the people I know who have worked with him in Providence have nothing but the best to say about him. And it is clear from the organizations he has chosen to lead that this is a man who puts community interests first.

Voters in ward 3 need to chose between this challenger—an open book with a proven history of building successful movements and coalitions—and a barely-visible incumbent allied with the worst actors on the political scene.

Not really a choice, is it?

The Providence city council seat for ward 3 appears to be suddenly in play. Economic development consultant and leadership author Marcus Mitchell is gathering support for a write-in campaign against previously unchallenged incumbent Kevin Jackson. And it looks like Mitchell can win.

Mitchell was the founding president of the Providence Community Library and has been a longtime Mt. Hope activist. This activism gives him significant traction in the all-important precinct 2818 that includes the Camp Street neighborhood. But even more importantly, he is married to Lynette Lopes, the daughter of former city councilor Danny Lopes. The Lopes clan enjoys significant influence on Camp Street and could play a pivotal role in winning votes for Mitchell.

Targeting a longtime foe

Kevin Jackson is not well-liked in much of ward 3 nor on the left in general. He is co-chair of Buddy Cianci’s 2014 mayoral campaign and boasts the ethics record to justify that position. He currently ranks #13 on the Board of Elections’ list of violators with more than $30,000 in unpaid fines for failure to file campaign finance reports.

Most on the left have long assumed that Jackson’s core of support in precinct 2818 would protect him from challenges from the hard-core liberal precincts farther up Hope Street. I live in one of these precincts, and I have actually said the words, “If I thought I could beat Kevin Jackson on Camp Street, I would run against him.”

Precinct 2818 put Gordon Fox over the top against challenger Mark Binder in 2012. Our takeaway was that this is The Machine’s stronghold, and that Jackson could marshall these forces just as Fox had.

We were wrong.

More bad news for Jackson

Marcus Mitchell is an experienced business and civic leader; he knows how to make things happen. And he knows how to decide whether it’s wise even to try to make something happen. Thus, he commissioned a professional poll to assess the situation; the results were a shock.

After 20 years on the city council, Kevin Jackson enjoys stunningly low support in ward 3. Mitchell’s poll asked, in essence “Does Kevin Jackson deserve to be reelected?” Only 16.9% said Jackson should be reelected versus 41.2% for electing someone new. 16.9% is not a large number. Even worse, on the initial question of Jackson vs. Mitchell (before message testing), Mitchell wins by a narrow margin. After message testing—the campaign violations and association with Cianci—it’s all over. Mitchell wins by 60 points. SIXTY!

Given that Jackson’s perceived stronghold on Camp Street will at best split 50/50 and that he is loathed in the other three precincts, Ward 3’s ability accurately to spell M-A-R-C-U-S M-I-T-C-H-E-L-L could decide whether Kevin Jackson is looking for a new job in 2015.

Here’s Mitchell in action after a victory for the Providence Community Library. It’s Game On in ward 3.