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

Friday, January 10, 2014

Dan Lawlor, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

HOT this week: Jim Vincent

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

Jorge Elorza - Kudos to Mayoral candidate's Elorza's balanced response to the Probation and Parole building relocation. He wrote to the Journal , opposing the move for the Parole Office downtown, but suggested, "I believe that this controversy has offered us a great opportunity. Let us use this moment to come together, with opponents and supporters, to improve the way ex-offenders are reintegrated into society; to provide pathways to education and employment for those who seek them..." Without ways forward, too many people, and the city at large, will be stuck.

Ken Block - While his statement had some unnecessary hyperbole, kudos to the Gubernatorial candidate for taking the State Property Committee to task for repeatedly violating Open Meeting laws and failing to fill the two vacant Committee seats reserved for members of the public - for the past 18 months. As Block said, "It's actions like this that give Rhode Island its reputation as the 'Who You Know' state, when we need to become the Transparent Government state."

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Jim Vincent/RI NAACP - "I realize and can never forget that I stand on their shoulders and the shoulders of others... that's why I feel so strongly about giving back," Vincent said on being announced recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr "Living the Dream" Award, to be presented at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan 20. In addition to heading the local NAACP, Vincent also serves as president to the East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP).

West End, Reservoir and Elmwood - Congratulations- and thank you for giving! According to Stephen Beale, the median income in these neighborhoods is about $36,000, and people donate 4.97% of their income to charity - higher than the percents given from the East Side, Newport, or downtown Providence. Speaking of giving opportunities ...

Tammy Vargas Warner/Latino Dollars for Scholars - Passionate to "expand higher education" for Latino students in Rhode Island, this great organization celebrates its 20th anniversary this Saturday at the Providence Marriott. The keynote speaker is Henry Cisneros, the former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Clinton. The 20th Anniversary Committee includes Victor Capellan, Doris De Los Santos, David Logan, Patricia Martinez, Domingo Morel, Gayle Gifford, and Dr. Jose Gonzalez. Mayor Taveras and Merrill Sherman are co-chairs of the event.

Jack Martin/Providence Public Libraries - Good luck to PPL with their new Executive Director, Jack Martin, who was Assistant Director for Public Programs at New York Public Library. Martin vows, "I believe our Library’s future must be directly connected to the learning goals of our community and to that end I will be exploring all opportunities for vibrant partnerships, collaborations and new initiatives.”

Yamil Baez, Bobby Gondola, Jr., Nina Pande - Kudos to this trio of dedicated, community leaders. Mayor Taveras appointed Baez and Gondola to their first term on the School Board, and re-appointed Pande. Baez has been active in numerous groups, from the Providence Community Library to the Latino College Access Coalition. Gondola is the director of Year Up! and serves on the board of Waterfire. Pande has been an active school board member, and leads as Executive Director of Federal Hill House.

Lucie Searle/Providence Preservation Society - The Board President of the Preservation, and her whole team, once again deserve credit for highlighting historic structures throughout the city in various states of disrepair and neglect- the infamous " Ten Most Endangered Properties in Providence. " The city has lost several historic structures in the last decade, and finding creative, cost-effective ways to rehab and reuse our heritage will be a big part of revitalizing the city. Check out the great photos of the structures by Jesse Burke.

NOT

Gordon Fox and Teresa Paiva Weed- According to the Journal, several tens of thousands of dollars in renovations at the State House took place to repair water damage in December. While of course it was necessary to repair the leaking roof in the House Chamber and begin fixing the Speaker and Senate President's offices, couldn't the same concern (and speedy repairs) be given to the 14 state-identified school buildings across Rhode Island that "need major renovations or need to be replaced."

Richard Conti/Developer - The mysterious, historic white house across from Dominica Manor on Atwells Ave, the 1871 Alexander Adie House, is being demolished. This post-Civil War building survived Providence's urban renewal plans in the 1960s and 1970s, only to met its end in 2014. As Mayoral candidate Brett Smiley put it, "There are supposed to be plans for a hotel in its place. As a community we need to remain vigilant to ensure that this site does not turn into another 'temporary' surface lot."

Downtown Pawtucket - Pawtucket has a ton of energy and spunk, but charitable giving apparently isn't a big habit yet. Downtown Pawtucket ranked at the very bottom in GoLocal's index of charitable giving.

Rob De Robbio/Urban League - The board president of Urban League needs to make clear future plans for the organization before the city allows the full transfer and sale of any deed-restricted property. At last week's City Council meeting, numerous individuals from the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project came to lobby Councilors about concerns with the services being provided by the League. The former Director of Program Development at Urban League recently told GoLocal , "I think the board's in the dark, or they're covering...The city should not be responsible for bailing out the League."

Bill Murphy - Just this past week, the Rhode Island Interfaith Conference held a march from Gloria Dei Church to the State House calling for legislation to ease the burdens on the poor. As we enter the 2014 legislative session, hopefully Murphy's $50,000 paid advocacy to allow Advance America to charge 260% interest rates on pay day loans will be ignored.

Jobless Rate: In September we were at 9.1%, Massachusetts was at 7.2% and New Hampshire was at 5% jobless. Not too much has changed- now we're at 9%, Massachusetts is at 7.1%, and New Hampshire is at 5.1% jobless. Where's the vision to move forward?

Related Slideshow: The Most and Least Charitable Communities in RI

Below are the most—and least—charitable communities in Rhode Island. Communities were ranked by how much of local median discretionary income was donated to a charitable cause. The data is taken from the Chronicle for Philanthropy, using IRS records on charitable giving as reported on individual tax returns in 2008, the latest available year.

Communities are identified based on ZIP Codes. Not all ZIP Codes are listed. If a particular ZIP Code has an insufficient number of residents who earn over $50,000 annually, the IRS declined to release charitable giving figures, for privacy reasons. Communities are listed starting with the least charitable and ending with the most. For cities and towns with multiple ZIP Codes, the neighborhood or area is identified, with accompanying city or town name. For each listed community, the total contributions are provided, along with the median contribution, the median discretionary income, and the percent donated. A state and national ranking is also included.

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

HOT

NOT

Related Slideshow: The Most and Least Charitable Communities in RI

#72

Pawtucket (city center)

#71

Wood River Junction (Richmond)

#70

Glendale (Burrillville)

#69

Harrisville (Burrillville)

#68

Slatersville (North Smithfield)

#67

Pascoag (Burrillville)

#66

Carolina (Richmond and Charlestown)

#65

Mapleville (Burrillville)

#64

Manville (Lincoln)

#63

Hope Valley (Hopkinton)

#62

Tiverton

#61

Ashaway (Hopkinton)

#60

Cumberland

#59

North Smithfield

#58

Coventry

#57

Chepachet (Glocester)

#56

Johnston

#55

Foster

#54

Hope (Scituate)

#53

Charlestown

#52

Warren

#51

Wyoming (Richmond and some of Hopkinton)

#50

Smithfield

#49

Warwick (eastern side of city)

#48

West Greenwich

#47

West Kingston (South Kingstown)

#46

Greene (Coventry)

#45

Pawtucket (around Newport Ave.)

#44

Bradford (Hopkinton and Westerly)

#43

Albion (Lincoln)

#42

North Scituate (Scituate)

#41

Greenville (Smithfield)

#40

Woonsocket

#39

North Providence

#38

Lincoln

#37

Rumford (East Providence)

#36

Riverside (East Providence)

#35

Cranston (west of I-295)