Residents Blast I-195 Commission
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
City residents last night blasted a proposed state commission to oversee development of the old Interstate 195 land, saying the commission would be bad for neighbors and the city and would not be accountable to anyone.
“There’s a lot of untruths being told here,” Jessan Dunn Otis, a Smith Hill resident. “There’s a lot of boondoggling.”
Well over half a dozen city residents and business leaders spoke out against the plan—accusing the state of “bulldozing” the bill through the General Assembly and being less than candid about the motives behind the legislation.
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Resident: ‘Please don’t insult us’
Kelly Mahoney, the Policy Director for the Rhode Island Department of Administration, defended the state’s plans for the commission. She said it would be subject to the same code of ethics as other state officials, would have to comply with the public meetings law, and file detailed reports on all of its activities to the Governor, House Speaker, Senate President, and other key state officials.
“As far as accountability is concerned, there is a tremendous amount of accountability,” Mahoney said.
“Please don’t insult us,” McClure retorted. “A report to the Legislature—no matter how detailed—that is not accountability.”
State appointees would dominate commission
The commission would be comprised of seven members, all of them appointed by the Governor. Three of them would be from a list submitted by the Providence mayor. Plus, two ex officio, non-voting members of the commission will be the city planner director and the state economic development director, according to Mahoney.
Buff Chace, a prominent developer and landowner in the city, also criticized the measure. He said the real motive behind the legislation is to ensure that the state retains control over the redevelopment of the land—something that he said is not in the best interest of the city.
Chace said it did not make sense to develop the 35 acres of land opened up by the highway relocation without taking into account the city’s plans for the surrounding area. “The fact that this is being taken out and deal with independently … it’s like putting a patch in the middle of something and hoping it will all hold together,” Chace said.
Daniel Sullivan, a small business owner from Fox Point, said the legislation is pitting the state against the city. “They seem to be butting heads as opposed to coming together,” Sullivan told GoLocalProv.
Would new jobs help Providence residents?
Sullivan also questioned whether any city residents would benefit from the jobs created.
“While you may want higher-paying jobs, how many Rhode Islanders are going to get these jobs? I think you are shooting for the moon when you need to look at what the employment base here in the city and the state is,” Sullivan said. “My concern is that you build all these high-end jobs and no one in Providence or Rhode Island is qualified for them.”
The event was hosted at The Spot Underground by BetterProvidence and Common Cause Rhode Island.
The legislation passed the state Senate last week and now is headed for a vote in the House.
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