Providence Councilor Plagiarizes Portion of His Environmental Policy From NYC, Blames Student

Providence Councilor Plagiarizes Portion of His Environmental Policy From NYC, Blames Student

Providence City Councilor John Goncalves plagiarized a portion of his response to a questionnaire submitted to all the candidates running for office in Providence. He says it was done by a “university student doing research.”

The questionnaire issued by Providence Streets Coalition asked candidates about their positions on a number of environmental issues.

In response to a question about pollution from vehicles, Goncalves response, in part, stated, “We plan to install fast-charging stations on city-owned property and install curbside level 2 chargers in conjunction with con edison in order to increase the number of public chargers across the city.”

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The reference to “con edison” is to the main energy company in New York City — the "RI Energy" of that market.

That copy and other elements were also published by New York officials.

 

Goncalves Response

Goncalves wrote in a response to GoLocal, “When exploring policy solutions, we often have input from many, including university students doing research for us. We look for best practices as well as try to avoid reinventing the wheel if the data shows promising results."

“In this case, some of that raw research could have inadvertently made its way into our final answers without attribution. It was not done in malice, and the campaign and I take full responsibility,” added Goncalves. 

Goncalves represents the First Ward (the Fox Point and East Side neighborhoods) and is running unopposed both in the primary and the general election.

 

See Goncalves' Response to the Questionnaire from material written in New York City:

• Develop a citywide network of EV charging systems

We plan to install fast-charging stations on city-owned property and install curbside level 2 chargers in conjunction with con edison in order to increase the number of public chargers across the city.

• Reduce the city’s municipal fleet and lower emissions

Technology and transportation trends encourage the city to make smart changes to its fleet, which results in fewer and smaller vehicles and fewer vehicle miles traveled. We will achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. Electrification, developing hybrid and electric vehicles, and improving fleet efficiency will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near future. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions will require getting a 100 percent clean electricity grid and using technology to enhance emergency response and other heavy vehicles in the long run.

• Encourage the reduction of emissions from commercial and fleet vehicles