Former legislator Lisa Tomasso is running for the House seat she once held representing parts of Coventry and West Warwick against Republican incumbent Sherrie Roberts, Tomasso announced in a news release today.

“Civic involvement is in my blood and I look forward to this opportunity to represent the people of Coventry and West Greenwich at the State House,” Tomasso said in the news release. “I ’ve always felt a call to be active in my community, from serving on the Coventry School Committee to my current job battling the addiction crisis in Rhode Island. I believe that so much good can be accomplished for the people of Rhode Island, and I’m eager to get to work doing just that.”

Tomasso is one of several liberal-leaning former legislators who are running against Republicans who knocked them from office two years ago. Others include Larry Valencia, Catherine Cool Rumsey and Linda Finn (whose Republican counterpart has already decided against running for reelection).

In 2014, Roberts narrowly beat Tomasso by 247 votes, 2,805 people voted for Roberts and 2,558 voted for Tomasso. Tomasso was a legislator since 2010, when first won the House seat previously held by Ray Sullivan, now an organizer for NEA-RI.

Tomasso said in her release that public education is a high priority for her.

“As a mother, our educational system has always been of great importance to me,” she said. “Finding the best ways to educate our children, along with encouraging and nurturing their development and skills, is a tremendous responsibility and should always be of paramount importance to the state.”

Below is Tomasso’s full press release.

Building on a lifetime of civic engagement and as an enthusiastic supporter of parental involvement in our schools, Lisa Tomasso today declared her candidacy for state representative as a Democrat in District 29, which includes portions of Coventry and West Greenwich.

Tomasso, a resident of Coventry, laid out her platform of improving the economic and regulatory climate for small business, supporting education, keeping a lid on taxes and championing efforts aimed at substance abuse recovery.

“I’ve always felt a call to be active in my community, from serving on the Coventry School Committee to my current job battling the addiction crisis in Rhode Island,” said Tomasso. “Civic involvement is in my blood and I look forward to this opportunity to represent the people of Coventry and West Greenwich at the State House. I believe that so much good can be accomplished for the people of Rhode Island, and I’m eager to get to work doing just that.”

After her time on the school committee, Tomasso represented the people of District 29 in the House of Representatives, where she continued advocating for a strong educational system as a member of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare. Meeting often with students and educators, she helped develop an anti-bullying program in the state educational system and served on a panel to assess the implementation of a better statewide curriculum.

She was invited by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education to serve on its Ambassador Design Team to develop and write the strategic plan for elementary and secondary education in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Library Association also named her as Representative of the Year for going above and beyond in support of the state’s libraries.

“As a mother, our educational system has always been of great importance to me,” said Tomasso, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island. “Finding the best ways to educate our children, along with encouraging and nurturing their development and skills, is a tremendous responsibility and should always be of paramount importance to the state.”

Tomasso has brought her civic-mindedness into the classroom, encouraging students to become active in their communities and learn about lawmaking. She recently taught a group of children at Washington Oak Elementary School, explaining to the how a simple idea can be transformed into law, simply by taking part in the democratic process.

Tomasso has also advocated to preserve open space and the region’s many lakes.  She worked extensively with Save The Lakes, a statewide coalition focused on preserving Rhode Island’s freshwater lakes like Lake Mishnock, and advocated for the passage of legislation to protect against aquatic invasive species and to address water quality issues.

Tomasso is also a big believer in reforming the red tape that often suffocate the creation and development of Rhode Island’s small businesses. Tomasso said she found it encouraging that the state has taken efforts to make things easier for small businesses, such as reducing the minimum corporate tax and overhauling unemployment insurance, but said the state still has a long way to go.

“Ultimately, I’d like to see the minimum corporate tax disappear entirely,” she said. “I’d also like to see the state ease the regulatory burden on small business. We’ve made steps in the right direction, with measures such as ending the fuel tax, but we need to build on that taking away more and more of that burden every year.”

Tomasso, who also served on the House Oversight Committee, was particularly concerned about the delay most Rhode Islanders experienced in receiving this year’s tax refunds.

“That delay was totally unacceptable,” said Tomasso. “I know people who had to wait months for refunds — which is money that belongs to them. I will make it a priority to keep an eye on the Division of Taxation to ensure that agency does whatever it can to rectify the situation before next tax season.”

A longtime advocate of strong ethics reform, Tomasso was thrilled to see the General Assembly pass legislation that will put a question on November’s ballot to amend the state constitution, giving the Ethics Commission full jurisdiction over state legislators.

“I will be so happy to step into the voting booth on Nov. 8 to vote yes on ethics reform, and I urge everyone else to do the same,” said Tomasso. “I look forward to returning to the General Assembly with the encouragement that a third party is overseeing all the actions of state legislators.”

Tomasso works as the community relations manager for The Providence Center, an organization that specializes in intervention, treatment and recovery in behavioral health.

“My time spent working for The Providence Center has truly shaped the way I feel about addiction and recovery,” said Tomasso. “For too long we have thought of addiction as someone else’s problem, a lifestyle choice or a result of bad parenting. Addiction is everyone’s business and while there are social determinants that place certain individuals at higher risk than others, addiction is not a choice. Addiction is a disease and recovery is possible.”

As an advocate for recovery, Tomasso has received the community service award from the Rhode Island Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependence.

Tomasso will officially kick off her campaign on Sunday, July 10, from 1 to 5 p.m. at her new campaign headquarters at 1193 Tiogue Ave. near the intersection of Reservoir Road. The public is invited to tour the space and meet with Lisa Tomasso. Refreshments will be provided.

Serpa is the chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee, as well as a representative for West Warwick and Warwick, two cities that are still recovering from the storm. To help these areas, Serpa announced that she will file two separate bills aimed at homeowners and business people. The first is a $500 tax credit to those who sustained property damage from the storm. The second is a $5,000 interest free loan for business that sustained damage, or lost business due to the inclement weather. The loan would be repaid to the state over a five-year period, and would be administered through CommerceRI.

Serpa said that constituents told her that their homeowner’s insurance would only cover $500 of repairs that could cost thousands of dollars, such as having a fallen tree removed from their property. Some households couldn’t get the repairs covered at all.

“Damage to fences, swimming pools, or sheds is not covered in some cases. Some reported suspected price gouging and feel as though unscrupulous home repair companies are taking advantage of them,” Serpa said.

In regards to the loan for business owners, Serpa said that the storm only added insult to injury for those who were trying to make up revenue they lost during the winter.

“Restaurants that were trying to recover some of their losses as the result of a harsh winter, lost their electricity for days and had to throw away food. Golf courses in the area will spend tens of thousands of dollars removing fallen trees. Many individuals and businesses that need trees removed are on a long waiting list because of the storm’s severity. It is imperative that the state do something to ease the burden,” Serpa said.

Representative Serpa will file the legislation this upcoming November in preparation for the 2016 legislative session.

Representative Robert Nardolillo, an Republican from District 28, and Senator Adam Satchell, a Democrat from District 9, sponsored the bipartisan act. Both legislators said that they decided to take on the bill because of their experiences with disabled children and their families. Satchell, who is a guidance teacher in the West Warwick, said that he works with disabled children all day, and has done so for years, even before he started teaching.

“I grew up next to a little boy who was disabled, and I learned a lot from him and from his family about the struggles that they go through,” he said. “I have friends who have a disabled child. So, working with the disabled has been something that I really wanted to do from the second I got elected.”

Satchell said that in West Warwick, schools are trying to bring the disabled population back in from outside placement. This move has given him the opportunity to work with both disabled and non-disabled students in the same room, in character education activities, teaching children how to respect and be kind to everyone.

“We have disabled individuals in the classroom, and its awesome to see the little kids helping their friend who can’t speak. They come up to me and say “Oh can I help this one, can I work with that one,” and it’s just awesome to see,” he said.

Having spoken with parents of these children, Satchell said that one of their biggest worries is what will happen when their children are not in school anymore. The ABLE program will hopefully quell that concern, and give parents the funds to send their children to adult daycare, or obtain job training.

While on his campaign trail, Nardolillo also spoke with parents of disabled children in his district, and decided to take on the act to help them.

“When I thought about what would be important to me to be important to me, to begin my session with, I concentrated on why I’m campaigning to be a legislator, and that’s public service,” he said. “You reflect on all the stories you heard going door to door. I’m a huge supporter of small business and trying to find jobs, but I’m a family man too.”

Nardolillo said that while speaking with these families, he realized that their children are their sole concern. When he began the session, he was looking for legislation that would have a positive and lasting impact on these families. While there is still more work to be done, and regulations that must be implemented, Nardolillo believes that this is a positive first step in the right direction.

The ABLE Act allows familes to put in $14,000 in state sanctioned accounts each year, with a $100,000 cap. This money is not taxed, and can be put towards a disabled child’s future, when they age out of the school system. Nardolillo added that these funds become even more important when a disabled individual wants to begin working.

“They want to work. They enjoy being out there, and socializing, and we all do,” he said. “We all love our jobs and like to socialize and everything, and this is a nice gateway. It opens the door to that, and that’s a special thing too.”

Both Satchell and Nardolillo also remarked that they anticipate no negative effects on the economy once the act is implemented, only positive ones.

“I can’t imagine what the negative impact of something like this would cause,” Nardolillo said. “Any time you offer someone opportunity, and you offer them a protection with an account like this, that allows them to put assets aside to protect their future, it’s hard for me to find a negative in that, it really is.”

“It wouldn’t have a negative effect on the economy, because a lot of these people basically have no assets to receive some of these services,” Satchell added. “If these people had any money, they weren’t using it, because if they have that money, and they have those assets, they run the risk of losing their programming.”

Before signing the act, Governor Raimondo gave her own remarks, saying that the ABLE accounts give Rhode Islanders the agency they deserve.

“This is about allowing people to have opportunity and independence, and fulfillment in their lives,” she said. “With these ABLE accounts, it will allow everybody to have some measure of independence, which is what people deserve.”

General Treasurer Seth Magaziner was also involved in the crafting of the bill, and said that he took a personal interest because his girlfriend’s brother was born with Down syndrome. Magaziner mentioned that he has seen the difficulties that their family has encountered trying to transition his girlfriend’s brother, named Peter, into adult life.

“Children who suffer from disabilities are just as deserving of a rich and fulfilling life than those children who are fortunate enough to pursue higher education,” he said. “Under this new law, our state will provide an affordable, tax-efficient savings plan to help families save for the costs of helping a child with disabilities make the transition into adulthood.”

The city emergency manager director was informing the Town Council about a seminar on how explosives work, said town councilors, to which Padula said, “We’re not going to invite any Muslims?”

Some in the crowd laughed and others applauded.

In an interview tonight with RI Future, Padula said he apologized later in the meeting. As the video indicates, he did not apologize when asked by Town Councilor David Kenahan.

“I said at the end of the meeting, ‘if anyone finds this offensive I apologize,” Padula told me, noting a fuller video of the meeting would show this. “It was nothing against the good Muslim people of this country. I meant the Muslims who bombed Boston. I meant this about the terrorists and nobody else. I in now way meant this to discriminate or against the whole Muslim faith.”

Padula represents the West Warwick district where the Islamic School of Rhode Island is located. The school was victimized by vandalism this week with anti-Islamic graffiti like “Fuck Muhammad” and “Now this is a hate crime.” The FBI is investigated the crime as a hate crime and a civil rights violation.

“That school is in my district,” Padula said. “We’ve never had any problems with them people.” He told a story about when the Islamic School let the community use its basketball court.

Padula posted this to his Facebook wall about the video.

Town Council David Kenahan is the voice in the video asking Pedula to apologize. A physics teacher at Cumberland High School, Kenahan said in an interview tonight, “I thought it was inappropriate and offensive. As a Council we speak as a group and I didn’t think it was fair that we would get lumped in with that.”

“It doesn’t appear to be juveniles,” Mageira said after a press conference at the school on Tuesday.

FBI agent Elizabeth Rosato said her office is “conducting the civil rights investigation right now.” US Attorney Peter Neronha said,”if the conduct is motivated based on ethnicity or race or other protected classes it’s considered to be a hate crime.” To Nerhona’s knowledge, this is the first instance of a hate crime against the Islamic community in Rhode Island.

Law enforcement officers answered questions for the media after a group of religious and other faith leaders gave prepared comments to show solidarity with the Muslim school that was defaced by vandalism after holding a vigil for the three North Carolina Muslims who were killed last week.

“I just want this person to understand how much this hurts,” said Himly Bakri, president of the board of trustees of the Islamic School of Rhode Island, as he was flanked by faith leaders during the press conference.

“To the person who did this, I want to say this to him, or her, we have nothing but prayers for you,” said Mufti Ikram, a Muslim imam, or prayer leader, from Smithfield who works closely with the school. “If you did this to divide us, you failed miserably. If you did this to unite us, you have succeeded.”

They were joined by Rev. Nickolas Knisely, bishop of the Episcopal Church in Rhode Island, Rev. Don Anderson, of the Rhode Island Council of Churches, Steve Ahlquist, president of the Humanists of Rhode Island and Rabbi Sarah Mack, who called the vandalism a “flagrant desecration.”

Outside the school’s gymnasium in West Warwick, there was still spray-painted vandalism on the school that read, “Islam pigs”, “Allah is a pedophile”, “Fuck Muhammad” and “Now this is a hate crime.” One message said “Die pigs” and was written backwards on a window so it could be read from inside the school.” [Pictures below]

“When I was physically here seeing the graffiti on the doors, words can’t describe,” Bakri told me after the press conference. “It had a very personal impact to me. It’s one thing to be distant and seeing something in a picture. It’s another thing to be physically present and seeing the writing of someone who did this. It was just unbelievable.”

There are 160 students at the Islamic School of Rhode Island, which serves students in kindergarten through 8th grade. It’s been in Rhode Island for ten years and became accredited last year. Bakrim said this is the first time the school experienced any such issues.

“It was a complete surprise to everybody,” he said. “For our students I hope they come out of this knowing this is the kind of world that exists today unfortunately, and that they come out wiser and learn how to handle this and hopefully learn from all of us here today … that we should all work together to be on the forefront of stopping this where ever it happens.”

Governor Gina Raimondo said yesterday, “Rhode Island was founded on the tolerance of all beliefs. This hateful act at the Islamic School of Rhode Island has no place in our state. My thoughts and support are with the school and the Muslim community in RI today.”

Senator Jack Reed said, “I strongly condemn the vandalism of the Islamic School of Rhode Island.  Our state was founded on religious freedom and we are strengthened by our diversity.  There is no justification and no place for this type of intolerance and bigotry in our community.  I urge anyone with information about the incident to contact the proper authorities.”

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said, “This shameful incident is completely at odds with our state’s founding principles, and I hope the perpetrators will soon be brought to justice. To the families and staff who were affected, please know that Rhode Island stands with you and supports you.”

“A walker spotted Graham’s body down an embankment at 915 Toll Gate Road, near the intersection with Route 2,” according to the Providence Journal. “Investigators do not know what caused Graham’s death, but there were no signs of trauma to his body, and they do not believe he was the victim of a homicide…”

He was homeless when he died.

Graham was from West Warwick, according to his obituary. “Joe was a self-employed arborist and the owner of J.T. Graham Tree Service for many years,” it says. “He enjoyed hunting and fishing, and was a kind and gentle man who always treated people fairly. He touched the lives of all who knew and loved him, and will be sadly missed.”

Mike Carley, a West Warwick lawyer who has known Graham since childhood said, “Joseph was a good man, a spiritual man who had great compassion for people and animals.”

The Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless is hosting a vigil for Graham tonight at 7:30 at the Arctic Gazebo in downtown West Warwick. It’s the second such vigil in a month for the homeless advocacy group.

“The deaths of Michael Bourque in Newport in March, and now Joseph Graham, are a stark reminder of the year round danger of being homeless,” said a press release.

“This could be your friend, your neighbor, someone who’s work on your car, the girl at the Dunkin Donuts drive thru,” said Sherri Ferretti, coordinator of the Advocacy for the Homeless Kent County, in the release. “That is the face of a homeless person. Think of the person living down your street for a number of years and you don’t see them around any longer. The only thing that remains is the orange sticker on the front door indicating no longer livable and it’s in foreclosure. We all are the face of a homeless person.”

The vigil will feature a song by Newport police officer Jimmy Winters, a long-time advocate for the homelessness. He founded of the Housing Hotline, a non-profit organization that helps people with any kind of housing issue or homelessness.

“Homelessness is a 12 month a year crisis,” exclaimed Barbara Kalil, Co-Director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project (RIHAP) and a member of the Statewide Outreach Committee. “People can still die on the streets in warm weather just like in the cold winter months. The good news is we can avoid these tragedies – there is a solution, it is called affordable housing.”

Click here if you can’t see the above video.

Both these Rhode Island powerhouses will clean up on Valentine’s Day, but what is even more interesting that CVS and Alex and Ani also both represent the two different kinds of flagships for a neighborhood economy. CVS traffics in convenience and Alex and Ani traffics in style, but one business model or the other usually anchors any successful enterprise zone – be it a Main Street or elsewhere.

But I think the Saturday Night Live spoof on CVS was more honest about that company’s business model than the message Alex and Ani paid local film maker David Bettencourt, senior cinematographer at Seven Swords Media, shot the commercial”to craft for them.

Alex and Ani isn’t helping to revive any Main Streets. It’s locating stores on already successful Main Streets. Here in Rhode Island, there are Alex and Ani stores in Wayland Square, Newport and East Greenwich. But there is not an Alex and Ani in West Warwick where Bettencourt shot scenes for the commercial and where company CEO John Feroce grew up.

I’m not suggesting there Feroce should put an Alex and Ani store in downtown West Warwick (though it certainly would certainly help the city’s economy more than it would hurt the company’s profit margin). But it sure does seem like a great argument for state aid to struggling cities if you ask me.

Think about it: West Warwick fits the bill for educating Feroce when he was growing up, but when he becomes a job creator he does so in East Greenwich and pays property taxes on a home he owns on Bellevue Avenue in Newport. That all works out great for East Greenwich and Newport, but not so much for West Warwick. This is Main Street revitalization only if you are okay with the West Warwicks of the world being left behind.

West Warwick — This post-industrial exurb on the Pawtuxet River may no longer be a manufacturing or retail mecca, and it’s tax base could certainly use a few extra dollars, but West Warwick still seems flush with at least one resource necessary for municipal success: a very strong sense of community and people who love the town.

On Sunday, the RIF podcast team (Mark Gray and I) went to Boneheads on Washington Street in the heart of Arctic to talk about the town with three local political leaders – Senator Adam Satchell, Town Councilor David Kenahan and Town Manager Fred Presley. (Disclosure: Gray is Satchell’s campaign manager)

We touched upon how West Warwick went from being one of the biggest manufacturing locales in the world and one of Rhode Island’s premiere shopping districts to being on the verge of bankruptcy, and whether it was exorbitant pensions or steep state cuts that put it there. We also dive deep into the tremendous sense of community that exists among the locals, and some ideas for West Warwick to move forward into the 21st century economy.

The June 5 meeting was marred by shouting, accusations of politics being played with the students being the pawns and the display of a rude gesture by Councilwoman Filomena Gustafson; all over the issue of the school committee having to cut a million dollars out of their budget that would then result in the loss of school sports and extracurricular activities.

At the outset of that meeting, Council President, Angelo Padula, launched into a tirade about how the school problems were completely the fault of the unions and the school committee and had nothing to do with the council. His disdain didn’t end there though, Mr. Padula continually referred to the attendees as, “You people,” even though many in the crowd shouted that they weren’t just a mob, they were residents and taxpayers.

Letting the council know how they felt, the crowd that night made it clear that the council was at fault and by blaming others, it was a very poor example to set for the children.  By the end of the meeting, the council assured the gathered masses that they would meet with the school committee and come to a resolution, even though the two bodies barely speak and have blamed each other of mismanagement for years.

So, the much smaller crowd at this week’s joint meeting of the two bodies was completely surprised when all were seated on the stage and acting professionally. The council explained the budget, followed by the school committee making their presentation and on entering the auditorium everyone received the joint press release from the council and committee. It stated that the committee had met in the interim on June 8 to discuss the issues and resolve the budget conflicts. It went on to say:

“Both parties are happy to say that all matters between them have been resolved…litigation between the parties shall be dismissed; the five percent reduction that has been in place since 2011 has been rescinded and the school committee’s decision to eliminate interscholastic sports, extracurricular activities and advanced placement classes has been rescinded.”

Basically, the council had their hat handed to them by the school committee as all demands brought at the prior meeting had been resolved in their favor as their total funding had been restored, probably as the result of the adverse ruling by Superior Court Judge Rubine. However, Council President Padula once again couldn’t resist pointing the finger of blame instead of accepting responsibility for making poor choices. This time, instead of launching a rant against the unions and the school committee, Padula pointed out that all the town’s financial woes are the result of poor stock market performance and the drain the Station Nightclub Fire litigation put on the town.

School Committee Chair, Jim Williamson was more gracious in his remarks, focusing on the cooperation needed to get the deal done and how it brought new optimism, how it appropriately addressed the needs for the coming fiscal year; but he warned that future budgets were still uncertain and the town faced future financial instability.

Former councilman, Peter Calci, took to the microphone and pointed out just how fragile the town’s finances are, highlighting the fact the town has made and continues to make minimal pension contributions and by doing so, risks the town’s solvency.

While the budget was approved by a vote of 403-96, allowing the council and committee to save face in an election year, there are obviously those in the town who still aren’t happy and don’t buy into the Kumbaya-singing at Monday’s meeting or the pronouncement that the two bodies will continue to work together. That’s obvious by the sign displayed in the back of a truck at the town budget vote on Thursday, reminding people it’s time for a change on the council. Someone has also gotten very creative and posted a YouTube video, mocking Councilwoman Gustafson and her “Ward Four Salute.”

While West Warwick isn’t quite in the same league as Woonsocket right now, the voters are just as unhappy and in both municipalities the rumblings for change are growing stronger.

Ted Nesi writes an excellent story about West Warwick’s budget problems. What he doesn’t mention is that the state cut some $6.25 million from the struggling city in the last three budget cycles.

The Projo editorial board writes that the socialists electoral victory in Europe “demonstrated that a slim majority of the French (and a larger majority of the Europeans in general) want more public spending and other actions to stimulate the economy and cut unemployment.” We’ll see if they draw the same conclusion about the United States this October.

It’ll be hard for Brendan Doherty to parse himself as a moderate when the uber-conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce is running ads in Rhode Island on his behalf.

North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment that bans all forms of same sex legal relationship rights. Congrats, Tar Heel state, your intolerance is unmatched.

And in Indiana, Richard Mourdock, a Tea Party candidate who beat longtime Senate moderate Richard Lugar in a primary yesterday, said he doesn’t believe in bipartisanship.

Conservative Rep. Jon Brien says he’ll support a supplemental tax increase for Woonsocket.

If you’re surprised that Rhode Island gives away $1.6 billion in tax breaks, you haven’t been reading RI Future. We reported this yesterday.