Brushing aside the responsible-government reputation he strove to build as a state representative, Tiverton Town Solicitor Michael Marcello insists the law gives every town council president or mayor the power of the governor during emergencies.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 6, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, April 13, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
As Americans across the country attempt to deal with a global pandemic while respecting each other’s rights, Tiverton Town Council President Patricia Hilton has given herself total power over town government.
Tiverton’s Town Council became the first-mover to use the cover of new government freedoms during the COVID-19 epidemic to push through a political appointment with no transparency.
Tiverton resident and Budget Committee member Joe Sousa caused been causing a bit of a stir in town, lately. First, he made some noise about maintenance issues at the town’s still-new library. Then, this week, he spent a day noting the work schedule of a crew.
Rhode Islanders are used to splashy stories of government employees engaged in outright theft and bad behavior, so Joe’s findings, posted on Tiverton Fact Check, almost seem mild compared with that. Still, almost three hours’ worth of breaks and just a little bit more than four hours doing the assigned task during an eight-hour day — all while the town pays $600 per day to rent a specialty vehicle for the work — seems like it justifies some investigation.
Joe was this week’s guest on Tiverton on Track, for an informative, don’t-miss-this episode.
Looking out beyond the boundaries of our town, for Episode 14, the Tiverton on Track podcasters discussed the coronavirus and the daily countdown of cases, leading to panic and a better-safe-than-sorry attitude that is closing schools and cancelling activities.
Recently, two prominent Rhode Island politicians have publicly supported our Center’s long-time policy idea – even echoing our own language – to advance educational freedom for Providence families and all parents across our state.
For years, behind the scenes, I have been advising politicians and candidates – Democrats, Republicans, and independents – on the benefits of educational scholarship accounts (ESAs).
A theme that emerged during Tiverton on Track Episode 13 was the tendency of government insiders to urge the public to “move forward” from the problems and mistakes of the past. Depending on your perspective, it’s either a bug or a feature that this has the effect of making it more difficult to fix underlying problems. (Probably because a major underlying problem is often the government insiders!)
In this episode, Donna Cook, Nancy Driggs, and I discuss ways in which local government can get a handle on things, including meetings in which not everybody has to agree.
Is it time for you to get involved… to save our state? If we are ever going to change the policies that are driving away families and crippling businesses, the sad truth, my friend, is that we are going to have to change the players.
Rhode Island’s political class is so beholden to so many special interest groups and agendas, that they are paralyzed when it comes to considering common-sense, pro-growth policy reforms.
Members of the Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) are finding a single cause behind many of the problems and controversies going on in town. The guest for episode 12 of the Tiverton on Track podcast is Richard Rom, who is on the board of the Tiverton Library and who is the chairman of the Tiverton Republican Town Committee (TRTC).
Richard’s appointment to the library board generated a lot of heat last year, because he came from a different perspective than the other members. That was exactly the reason the majority of the Town Council supported him, and now he’s offering suggestions as the board figures out how to address maintenance issues and the contents of the library.
Meanwhile, a group of men who have been supporters of a faction heretofore hostile to the TRTC have suddenly registered as Republicans and have begun to attend its meetings. A big tent and conversations are great, but somehow they bring the air of a hostile takeover, rather than of an intent to build on shared values.
The single cause between these and other controversies is the sense among some in town that people who disagree with them should be locked out not only of decisions, but of institutions where they might feel comfortable.
The pervasive theme throughout Tiverton on Track Episode 11 (stream below) is that a lack of transparency and a lack of respect for confidentiality when it is justified mix to create tension in a community. That’s the case whether somebody elsewhere in the state tweets a detail out of supposedly confidential contract negotiations or the leadership of the Town Council attempts to resolve a community disagreement the way they want it resolved by keeping the details out of public view.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for February 3, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, February 10, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
A familiar subject floated through Rhode Island’s news cycle again last week when Warwick schools Superintendent Philip Thornton reported to his city’s school committee that the district should do something about teacher absenteeism:
Two schools — Wyman Elementary and E.G. Robertson Elementary — have chronic absenteeism rates of 24.4 percent and 22.7 percent, respectively. Chronic teacher absenteeism is defined as missing 18 days or more of school out of a typical 180-day school year.
Two more schools — Oakland Beach Elementary and Sherman Elementary — have rates above 20 percent.
In the 2018-2019 school year, more than 11 percent of all Warwick teachers — 100 teachers — were chronically absent, Thornton said, using data from the Rhode Island Department of Education. That said, more than a third of all teachers — 312 — missed less than five percent of school.
This isn’t just some hobby horse on which the superintendent wanted to beat for some reason. He raised the issue because teacher attendance is part of the formula that the RI Department of Education (RIDE) uses to grade the Ocean State’s schools. Looking for some means of holding our education system accountable (without actually changing anything), the state has developed metrics, and the chief executive of an organization has strong incentive to have his metrics look good.
We’re used to these spats, around here, but it’s worth stepping back a moment and plainly noting what is going on. The superintendent has identified a metric on which he believes the district can make improvements, and the relevant labor union, the Warwick Teachers’ Union, led by Darlene Netcoh, called out the troops and ramped up the objections, staking out ground for the fight. Some teachers have to work until 67, she says, which drives up the sick time, as if Rhode Islanders in the private sector have anywhere near the days off that government-school teachers get. Netcoh also attacked the numbers themselves.
Big picture, our elected and appointed officials have to be able to discuss ideas big and small, and they won’t feel as free to do that if every comment or proposal might begin the gears of the labor-unrest machine. In the private sector, management can discuss things and make plans before a possible dispute is placed in the open. In the public sector, only the unions have that privilege.
If we want open, transparent government, then we need some social (or legal) pressure on the labor unions to back off.
Results from neither Newport schools nor regionalized schools justify Portsmouth abandoning its stable situation.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for January 27, included talk about:
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I’ll be on again Monday, February 3, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
In President Trump’s economic speech in Davos, he attributes the recent economic strength of the United States to policies that put “the American worker” at their center. Agree or disagree with the president (from any of the angles at which it would be possible to do so), he raises an important point. We tend to get caught up in our preferred solutions or our own interests, to the detriment of our causes and our communities.
Listening to episode 10 of the Tiverton on Track podcast from the Tiverton Taxpayers Association, titled “Living in (And Budgeting for) a Community,” one hears that theme sneak in repeatedly.
As hints had suggested Rhode Islanders should expect, Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 (beginning July 1, 2020) includes a new program with new dedicated funding to build affordable housing. (Naturally, Democrat Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, of Providence and North Providence, a Laborers Union careerist, loves the idea.)
WPRI’s Eli Sherman summarizes the plan:
The budget, which will now be vetted by lawmakers during the coming months, suggests creating a two-tiered tax system that doubles the so-called “conveyance tax” to 0.92% on all property sales – both residential and commercial – totaling more than $500,000. The current rate — 0.46% — would apply to the first $500,000 of any transaction. …
State officials estimate the new tax would generate about $3.6 million in state revenue next fiscal year, and $8 million in each budget year afterward. The money would create a dedicated funding stream that would go into a restricted receipt fund at Rhode Island Housing, a quasi-public agency, and be controlled by the Housing Resources Commission.
This scheme brings to mind some analysis I did of tax rates in Tiverton back in 2018. My conclusion was that the exorbitant tax rate was suppressing home values at the high end of the market. At the same time, broader market forces were increasing house values at the low end. Because the tax rate is uniform across the town, and because the tax rate is set in order to match the town’s budget (not the other way around), this had the effect of moving the tax burden toward the working class neighborhoods. Their houses were worth more, while the expensive houses were worth less, so the taxes followed the value.
Of course, adding a couple thousand dollars at the point of sale will have much less effect than a tax rate that charges that amount every year, but the principle is the same. Taxing high-end houses more will make them less valuable, shifting the real estate tax burden down the scale.
At the same time, the state projects that it will be building an additional 250 “affordable houses” every year. Increasing supply at the low end of the market will tend to reduce prices there, too. So, while the increased stock will expand the low-end’s share of total value, taxpayers’ bills will decrease with the value. Whether this helps spread municipal tax bills to more homeowners will depend on whether the affordable houses are distributed evenly across the state.
This leaves the middle of the market, which will see upward pressure on its annual tax bill, while also being nudged toward the $500,000 line, where it will be more-expensive to sell.
With the old establishment players back in power in Tiverton, we’ve seen a quick return to the practices that have done so much damage to local government over the decades. Decisions are being made by a few, unidentified people in back rooms and private communications. New hoops are being erected for community groups to jump through. The law is being rewritten by the minute depending on what the Town Council leadership needs it to be. The council’s votes are becoming mere recommendations unless approved by the president.
Members of the Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) talk about that and more on Episode 9 of the Tiverton on Track podcast.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for January 13, included talk about:
For those in and out of Tiverton who have some interest in the politics and budget process of the town, the latest episode of the Tiverton on Track podcast of the Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) covers that ground:
Track 1: The Gander Hires a Solicitor
Track 2: Passing the Joint… Meeting
Track 3: What’s the Plan?
Track 4: How the Budget Thing Works
The Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) is keeping its New Year’s resolution of maintaining its podcast, Tiverton on Track, throughout 2020. The latest episode reviews 2019 and looks ahead to 2020.
Episodes of this podcast are available as they’re released on Buzzsprout, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and a variety of other services that can be found via the Buzzsprout page. Episodes will also be posted on the group’s blog, Tiverton Fact Check.
If you are a Rhode Islander who produces podcasts on your own or with a group from a conservative perspective, let me know about it. (And “conservative” doesn’t mean “far right.” At this point, anybody who isn’t a progressive is on the same side in the Ocean State.)
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 30, included talk about:
State of the State co-host Richard August invited me on for a full hour of the show to cover a broad range of topics, from Tiverton’s recall election to broad political philosophy.
12-9-19 A Different View of Matters from John Carlevale on Vimeo.
The Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) posted another episode of its podcast, Tiverton on Track, earlier this week, with me giving the opening monologue. While the content is obviously local, some of the points probably have resonance across the state. We talk about ways town government manipulates meeting rules and use the advice of its legal representation to limit the involvement of the public.
Track 1: The Silence the Public Scheme
Track 2: Heard Out on the Landfill?
Track 3: Mac’s Two Voices on Free Speech
Track 4: Fabisch Fabricates New Rules
People who are politically active locally in Rhode Island — especially those who aren’t plugged in to the state’s special interest, insider machine — may have noticed that technology and the general direction of our culture are making it increasingly difficult to get information to rise above the noise of social media and its amplification of the old-school rumor mill.
One way in which the Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) is working to address that problem is through its new weekly podcast, Tiverton on Track. Episodes will be available as they’re released on Buzzsprout, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and a variety of other services that can be found via the Buzzsprout page. Episodes will also be posted on the group’s blog, Tiverton Fact Check.
For the most recent episode, special guest Richard Rom joined me and Town Council members Donna Cook and Nancy Driggs. Rom is the chairman of the Tiverton Republican Town Committee, a member of the Tiverton Library Board of Trustees, and the initiator of recall petitions to remove council President Patricia Hilton, Vice President Denise deMedeiros, and member John Edwards the Fifth. Rom’s goal is to return the council to the TTA control that voters chose before the political stunt of an unjustified recall election in October that removed me and the council president. (Note that I’m not involved in the second recall, thinking there are more effective ways to spend time holding the power-hungry of Tiverton accountable.)
Freedom isn’t free. East Greenwich needs an engaged citizenry to ensure liberty is preserved, not just for us but all those that come after. We are merely stewards of our community, and it is our sacred duty to take care of it.
Retired Providence firefighter/EMT Michael Morse has a brief post on Rescuing Providence making the reasonable claim that “it’s okay to get paid”:
Without decent pay and great benefits I would have been forced to take my ability and passion for helping people elsewhere.
Morse’s argument is a bit of a strawman, however, and it’s one that labor unions tend to expand into a false dichotomy. Nobody seriously argues that firefighters in communities that need or want something more extensive than a volunteer department should not be well compensated. The tricky question is how much that should be.
Yes, in a more or less free market, it would be reasonable for employees to argue, as Morse does, that “it is okay to be selfless for selfish reasons.” And if a community isn’t providing pay and benefits that attract workers, it will have to increase the pay.
The problem is that unions are designed to push beyond this dynamic. We saw evidence earlier this year when legislation from Tiverton Democrat Representative John “Jay” Edwards the Fourth interfered with local negotiations to forbid firefighter union locals from continuing to negotiate contracts that the state and national unions don’t like. (Edwards was very clear about who holds the power.) This makes the compensation artificially high. It takes whatever level of pay would not force Michael Morse and his peers to take their abilities elsewhere and then keeps going.
In those circumstances, one might reasonably suggest that it is not okay to be selfless for selfish reasons selfishly. The unions would have us believe that workers who are not grabbing everything they can possibly get, by whatever means they can possibly get it, will inevitably be underpaid. That perspective causes Morse’s reasonable point to evaporate and creates a society in which neither side can ever be content.
There may be no better illustration of Rhode Island’s central problem than the foolish people celebrating the halt of a redevelopment project in Providence:
[Jim] Abdo’s request for a tax stabilization agreement, or TSA, was met with opposition from labor unions and progressive groups. Members of the groups applauded when the plan was tabled Tuesday night.
“I know Mr. Abdo is going to make out tremendously from his investment, with or without the TSA,” Nancy Iadeluca, the Rhode Island director for UniteHERE Local 26, said at a hearing about the TSA earlier this month. “What are we getting back?”
Mr. Abdo is looking to develop the former Providence Journal building and another next door, but he says he can’t secure financing for the project, pegged at $39 million, unless there’s a $2.7 million tax break. According to the developer (who has reason to present his case in the best light, of course), property taxes resulting from the project would have been $5.7 million, anyway, in addition to more than $20 million in various state taxes. All that comes with jobs and economic activity.
The article does not say, but one wonders, given labor’s involvement, if Mr. Abdo declined to promise to use union shops for his project. Be that as it may, he says he’s going to hold on to the asset, undeveloped, whether or not it takes 20 years for him to do something with it.
Many Rhode Islanders oppose these special deals that make an inhospitable economic climate tolerable for hand-picked investors, but even we might see this outcome as tragic — if only as an indicator of things we don’t see. Imagine how many deals are not being done in the Ocean State because of the environment progressive policies have created!
This is more than just tragic, though; it’s frightening, because under the progressives’ glee is the expectation that this is a step toward their “progress,” not an obstacle. Note this comment from the Providence Preservation Society’s director, who supported the deal: “These two buildings are eyesores in the core of downtown. They drive down the sense of positivity.”
Abdo says he’s patient, but his patience might be misplaced. What the progressives may understand is that an “eyesore” is “blight,” and our society has given the government authority to confiscate properties on which they can pin that tag. As Providence’s economy gets worse and worse, it may be that progressives are counting on being able to take Abdo’s property away from him, using public dollars to redevelop it into some delusional hipster dream (with expensive union labor), and taking the money to do it from the rest of us suckers who haven’t fled the state.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for November 25, included talk about:
Once again, the RI Ethics Commission proves there’s a big loophole in the Code of Ethics for elected officials who earn their livings working for government agencies.