Side of The Rhode, Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in RI Politics?

Friday, June 13, 2014

Dan Lawlor, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

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Speaker Mattiello made both lists this week.

Every Friday, Dan Lawlor breaks down who's rising and who's falling in the world of Rhode Island politics. Check out who made the lists this week.

Hot

Brett Smiley - "Total school expenditures comprise just over half of the City of Providence’s total budget. This year, we are spending $337.4 million out of a total city budget of $662 million..." notes Smiley in his new School Success report. Among many suggestions, Smiley calls for a "biannual school district performance review,"  arguing, "during the first nine years of the ongoing Texas School Performance Review, Texas saved $390 million in school spending through initiatives that controlled costs, reduced overhead, streamlined operations, and improved services." 

Senator Dawson Hodgson- As a candidate for Attorney General, Hodgson, the popular East Greenwich Republican, has argued for "Safe Streets, Strong Economy, and Public Trust." 

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As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hodgson was the sole vote against well-connected former Lt. Governor (and current State Director of Administration) Richard Licht's nomination to Superior Court. Early in the Spring, Hodgson told GoLocal, "I've been known as someone who stands up for my constituents." 

Speaker Mattiello- The Speaker's budget made some real commitments to ending chronic homelessness. As Jim Ryczek of the Coalition for the Homeless noted, "We are thrilled that the House Finance Committee ensured that this year’s budget invests in the long-term solutions...the state is creating an ongoing, dedicated funding stream to fund the housing rental subsidy program, homeless prevention assistance and housing retention assistance programs." In 2013, 4,447 Rhode Islanders were documented homeless.

Val Talmage/Preserve RI- When House Finance declined to include a renewal of Historic Tax Credits in their final version of the budget, Preserve RI stepped into high advocacy to keep this program going. Historic Tax Credits have provided incentive to redevelop abandoned and decaying mill buildings across the state- from West Warwick to Warren. Our industrial heritage can decay, burn down through arson (as has happened far too often) or be reborn through investments to encourage rehabilitation. It's shocking House Finance didn't include this successful program in their budget, especially after supporting the program again last year. 

RI State Supreme Court - "Listen, this is a case - for however we want to describe it - where the Town messed up. And to hold it against the voters, seems to me, to be contrary to what you've been talking about," State Supreme Justice Gilbert Indeglia argued, as reported by ABC6.  The Court deserves credit for requiring Coventry to hold a special election for a vacant Town Council seat. Coventry's Solicitor had read a copy of the town charter with a typo that suggested they did not need to hold the election. Thanks to residents Debra Bacon and Nancy Sullivan for bringing the Town to court, and Nick Gorham for successfully arguing their case! 

Advancing Women's Excellence in Business Conference -  This past Tuesday, the Crowne Plaza in Warwick held the sold out Advancing Women's Excellence in Business Conference. Local sponsors ranged from Blue Cross Blue Shield to Hasbro, from the Women's Count Initiative to Rockland Trust, with keynotes from Lisa Begeron of Leading Women New England and Joyce Roche, a former VP with Avon who was named by Business Week one of the "Top Managers to Watch" and by Black Enterprise as one of the "40 Most Powerful Black Executives."

New Urban Arts - Change a life. "Unfortunately, last summer we had to turn down too many students who applied for paid summer positions. That's why this summer, we need you to help us support a plan to increase the number of summer positions we offer," writes Elia Gurna, Executive Director of New Urban Arts, a dynamic arts mentoring program for Providence High Schoolers. "$100 pays a stipend for one week of young person's summer learning experience. $700 sponsors a young person's potentially life changing experience of empowerment and learning through the arts." Whatever you can give makes a difference. 

Not

Speaker Mattiello  - Joining the both Hot and Not Club:  Recently, House Leadership, specifically Finance Chair Raymond Gallison, slipped in a proposed rule that would ban cities and town from setting their own minimum wages- a direct counter to UNITE Here's efforts to raise the wages of Hotel Workers in Providence. As The Nation noted, "Since 2010, Mattiello has received multiple campaign donations from both [Rhode Island Hospitality Association] and the Providence Chamber of Commerce—the two main forces aligned against the hotel workers’ wage initiative." 

#7 - Speaking of insiders and outsiders, as GoLocal reported, WalletHub ranking found Providence one of the best and worst cites for families in the nation. Echoing the "two cities" described by Guest Mindsetter Wendy Lawton, "Providence ranked #145 for socio-economic environment, but #12 in family activities & fun."

Angel Taveras - Last summer, as GoLocal broke, the Mayor proposed cutting the only city pool in the Southside. This summer, the Mayor proposes to cut city funding of the zoo. He has done good for the city- the Lots of Hope Urban Gardens, a Bloomberg Literacy Initiative, the Mural Projects- but, as GoLocal has noted, the big money projects (from tax stabilization plans to that streetcar, are concentrated in a small area, for a small group). Rehab Mt Pleasant High School? It's complicated. Spend millions to rehab Kennedy Plaza and Burnside park (1 of 93 parks in the city)? Easy. 

Senator Michael McCaffrey - "Rhode Island's lawmakers really know how to protect themselves," argues Robert Wechsler, a research with City Ethics. McCaffrey, the Chair of Senate Judiciary has been criticized for changes to a proposed amendment giving the Ethics Commission oversight over the legislature. Robert Wechsler, a research with City Ethics, was blunt about the overall leadership, "What they have added to the proposed constitutional amendment has nothing to do with the Speech in Debate Clause. It has to do with undermining the EC's authority and making it less likely that the EC will seek to hear rather than settle cases." It's worth reading Weschler's argument - and demanding change!

Absolute Power...- "if politicians in Rhode Island decide to have an official state dance, the choice is obvious: the perp walk," Kevin Cullen, of the Boston Globe, recently recalled, "Joe Bevilacqua left the speakership to become chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Alas, he had to quit after it became public record, as opposed to common knowledge, that he hung around with wiseguys, and I don’t mean the political kind. Bevilacqua’s successor, Tom Fay, resigned after he and another former House speaker, Mattie Smith, got caught using court secretaries to run a real estate business out of the Supreme Court." We're still waiting to find out what will happen to former Speaker Gordon Fox, whose defense attorney is former Speaker (and current lobbyist) Bill Murphy.

The Budget Process - While better than past years, as Go Local's John Perilli argues,"Budget time comes and goes, but the decisions made during the session’s frantic final days are in effect all year. With so many bills flying around, its important to slow everything down, and recognize what we should keep, and what we should consign to the legislative dustbin."

 

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