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

Friday, October 04, 2013

Dan Lawlor, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

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Democrats for Avedisian? That's hot.

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

Sojourner House, Day One, Destiny House: The recent murder of Mengchen Huang reminds us that domestic violence isn't limited by neighborhood boundaries. October is domestic violence awareness month. Consider donating to the groups above- each do so much to support people and change lives, even as some have faced draconian budget cuts.

Melissa Husband/Community Action Partnership: Following the PRO-CAP scandals, Husband is leading change at the new Community Action Partnership. Best of luck to continue to build up a strong, neighborhood outreach and solid programs.

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Allan Fung and Dawson Hodgson: Kudos to these elected GOP officials for calling out Mark Smiley and the state Republican leadership for raffling off an assault rifle at a fundraiser. The state needs a functioning GOP that can appeal to broad constituencies, not a social club for angry true believers.

Xaykham "Xay" Khamsyvoravong: The Barrington native, former investor at Morgan Stanley, and Frank Caprio confidante is being appointed to the Providence Water Supply Board to replace Brett Smiley, who resigned to run for Mayor. A fast rise for someone under 30.

Frank Shea/Olneyville Housing: Kudos to the team at Olneyville Housing, one of 14 organizations nationwide to win money from the US Justice Department to "invest and partner" to create jobs, support education and fight crime! The Providence team received $599,868. As an aside, the City of Springfield, Massachusetts received $1 million from the program.

Mayor Scott Avedisian: The Warwick Mayor can proudly point to a 2.4 million budget surplus, and his campaign websites touts lawn signs that read "Another Democrat for Avedisian." Washington (and the state GOP) should call him for advice.

Not

Congress: As GoLocal Mindsetter Carol Anne Costa has said, "We live with the reality that our politicians are 85% fundraisers and 15% lawmakers. And, we wonder why nothing is done."

Angel Taveras: Hizzoner should not be appointing David Igliozzi, the brother of sitting city councilor John Igliozzi, to replace outgoing Housing Court Judge Jorge Elorza. Are there no other qualified lawyers to serve as a municipal judge in the entire state?

Gina Raimondo: Unlike Time, Rolling Stone Magazine didn't flatter the well-connected State Treasurer. As Matt Taibbi told GoLocalProv, "The advocates of pension reform, not just in Rhode Island but across the country, believe that ordinary public workers -- teachers, police, firemen -- are inherently overcompensated, politically over-empowered by unions, and receive unsustainably high incomes and benefits." For a different take, consider Mindsetter Aaron Renn's view.

We're...#14: Rhody should be in the top 3, not top 15, for women's rights. What's the old saying? Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.

Crime Rates: According to the latest police crime stats, while overall crime has gone down, larceny and robbery are up in the capital city.

Dollarocracy: John Nichols and Bob McChesney, who spoke at a recent election reform forum at Brown, noted, in 2012, over 10.3 billion dollars was spent on federal elections in the US. 10.3 billion is double the amount spent here in 2008, 32x the amount spent on elections in Germany, and 29x the amount spent on elections in Britain. A difference? Television political advertising is banned in those countries.  

 

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