EDITORIAL: Hey East Providence, Val Lawson Just Gave Peter Alviti a Pay Raise
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: Hey East Providence, Val Lawson Just Gave Peter Alviti a Pay Raise
Senate President Val Lawson doesn’t appear to.
Lawson was elected to represent District 14 in East Providence, but she seems to have made other arrangements.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe failure of the bridge happened under the watch of long-time Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti. He had been director of RIDOT for nearly a decade when the bridge had to be closed and had repeatedly ignored warnings about the condition of the bridge.
Alviti was functionally unqualified for the job when he was appointed.
In any other state, he would have been fired after the failure, but not in Rhode Island.
Because Peter Alviti has powerful friends.
This week, the House of Representatives voted unanimously against Governor Dan McKee’s raises for some of his top appointees, including Alviti.
The idea that Alviti would get a raise is insulting to Rhode Islanders, but his relationship with the Laborers’ Union, and the fact that the union bankrolled McKee, make it the nauseating norm.
Led by Speaker Joe Shekarchi, the effort to block the pay increases was in response to a state deficit, the impact of federal budget cuts, and increasing unemployment rate in Rhode Island.
University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro says the most recent numbers from his monthly report show significant decay in the health of the Rhode Island economy.
“I would be amazed if Rhode Island is not currently in the early stages of a full-blown recession. Remember, this month's results, as bad as they were, came before the tariff war in April, so we can't reasonably expect much upward momentum from the national economy,” said Lardaro.
Unemployment increased again this past month and has now jumped to 4.9%.
But to stop the pay raises, the Senate too had to vote against them — otherwise the raises automatically go into effect.
Lawson would not even allow the Senate to vote up or down on the raises.
McKee, who increasingly appears clueless and out of touch with reality, said, “I appreciate the outcome, which will help keep Rhode Island competitive in attracting and retaining top talent for crucial leadership positions.”
Governor, do you think any state in the country would hire Alviti? Let's take that chance. Please.
Lawson appears to answer to a higher power than East Providence residents or Rhode Islanders.
Having spent much of her career as a union boss in Rhode Island, Lawson decided to ignore the state’s financial situation and the optics of giving a raise to the RIDOT boss and chose to follow her union cronies' demands.
To the businesses who are out of business, the folks who lost their jobs — Peter Alviti got his raise.
To the hundreds of thousands who have had their lives turned upside down and had hours wasted because of the incompetency of Alviti — Peter got his.
Lawson made her decision, and Rhode Islanders got theirs.