Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in RI Politics

Friday, April 15, 2011

Dan McGowan, GoLocalProv News Contributor

 

Every week, GoLocalProv's Dan McGowan breaks down who's rising and falling in the state's political scene.

Who’s Hot

Gordon Fox -> After Governor Chafee criticized the pay raises handed out to General Assembly staffers, Fox added bold print, an underline and an exclamation point to something everyone already knew: the Chafee sales tax had zero chance at passing. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s Speaker 1, Governor 0.

Dean Esserman -> Back in November, if somebody told you Mayor Taveras was going to get rid of the relatively well-liked superintendent of schools while retaining the services of the

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almost universally-disliked chief of police (right), how surprised would you have been? Kudos to the chief for not only keeping his job, but managing to get a glowing review from Commissioner Pare.

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Bob Watson -> The House Minority Leader rightfully called for reform when it comes to the hiring process at the State House. It’s simple, if you’re going to pull in over $100k working for the General Assembly, it should at least go in front of a committee to make sure everything is on the up and up.

Ken Block -> Is it an effort to remain relevant or help the state? Block, who was viewed as either the clear-cut best candidate in the last November’s gubernatorial race, or the reason a Republican is not still holding down the top job, has volunteered to help save the state between $75 and $150 million by cutting waste and fraud in Medicaid. The governor ought to take him up on the offer.

Angel Taveras -> It probably hasn’t gone exactly the way he expected, but the new Providence mayor celebrated his 100th day in office yesterday. He’s the most popular politician in the state and there isn’t a media outlet (other than Buddy Cianci) willing to criticize the guy. Clearly he’s doing something right.

Frank DeVall Jr. -> Another example of a General Assembly member not allowing some of the petty State House happenings get in the way of the big picture. His bill to keep the Interagency Council on Homelessness in place permanently will help thousands of the state’s neediest people. Nice job, Senator.

PPAC Square -> Any decision that makes navigating downtown a little bit easier is an excellent one. It will be nice to overlook a parking spot and not have to take a 15-minute detour just to get back to the spot.

Who’s Not

Bishop Tobin -> Remember the time Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage and “anarchy and chaos” ensued? Oh right, it didn’t happen. There might not be a bigger egomaniac

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in the state than the Bishop, who this week said voting to support gay marriage might be a sin. You know, because those on the fence are really looking for his input.

Chafee Sales Tax -> Went down in flames this week after Speaker Fox blasted the idea. Aside from virtually everybody in the state believing it was a terrible idea, the governor should have known there was little chance of the Assembly supporting his plan. How would anyone get reelected in 2012 having supported Chafee?

Richard Licht -> A week after giving the governor an A- in an interview, the director of the Department of Administration fell on his face defending Chafee’s sales tax plan in a separate radio interview. It’s never a good sign when you’re a member of the administration and you still can’t stay on message.

Tax Day -> So much for that rally against the sales tax. Now the tax day rally becomes about angry people yelling about taxes without offering alternatives that would keep funding so many important programs. Nothing really to see here.

President Obama -> The president has made a habit of letting down his base and this week was no different. He’s not worrying about Rhode Island when it comes to 2012, but you have to wonder how many young, idealistic liberals in swing states he has disappointed in the past few years.

Donald Trump -> Proof that endless amounts of money can buy you more than 15 minutes of fame. It’s too bad he’s going to go down the road of questioning the president’s birth certificate rather than actually offering plans to fix this country. On the bright side, he’s significantly more entertaining than Tim Pawlenty.

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