Simply, RI Leaders Lack Political Will – Guest MINDSETTER™ Ken Block

Simply, RI Leaders Lack Political Will – Guest MINDSETTER™ Ken Block

For too long now, Rhode Island leaders have demonstrated a complete lack of political will. The weak-kneed leadership offered up by many mayors, town managers, legislators and even governors has left many communities in our state economically reeling.

The problem is easy to identify. When special interests come looking for new or increased compensation or benefits, these leaders cave.                      

The political pressure that special interests can bring to bear on these leaders can be intense. Warwick State Senator Mark McKenney had the temerity to vote against the outrageous firefighter overtime bill, which provides an overtime scheme for Rhode Island firefighters that most other places would never consider. At a fundraiser that McKenney held last week, more than 100 firefighters picketed the restaurant where the event was held, even parking what appeared to be a municipal fire engine right in front of the restaurant.

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The problem for taxpayers is that in most cases, they are loathed to engage in this kind of in-your-face advocacy because it is confrontational, aggressive and ultimately unseemly. Your average soccer mom or dad has no interest in picketing their elected officials, even though they feel strongly about an issue. The problem is that too many of our politicians are willing to be intimidated into making fiscally reckless decisions.

The unwillingness to anger organized labor has paralyzed decades of Providence elected officials from coming to terms with that city’s ruinous unfunded retiree liabilities.  Depending on how you calculate those liabilities, Providence can owe as much as $2.5 billion in retiree benefits that are unfunded. That comes out to well over $12,000 for every resident of the city. Note that the city of Houston, Texas declared a fiscal crisis when that city’s unfunded liabilities reached $4,000 per resident.

Current Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, in particular, has shown no appetite to address an issue that he admits has become dire. Elorza has stated that the next mayor of Providence will have no choice but to address the retiree liability issue. What is pathetic is that in Elorza’s 5-year stint as mayor so far, he has done little to address the problem that threatens to sink his city.

Sure, the mayor has spent a lot of time discussing selling off the Providence Water Supply Board in order to dump the proceeds into the gaping maw of Providence’s unfunded pension liabilities. Aside from the fact that the Water Supply Board may not be Providence’s to sell, this move would be ‘safe’ for the mayor, as it would take a smallish bite out of the liabilities without asking anyone other than Water Supply board customers to give up anything.

Once Elorza pulled the plug on this wildly unpopular proposal, he then seemed to indicate that the next mayor would have to address the problem.

It is critical to note that Elorza has more than three years left in his second term as mayor, and that he is term-limited and cannot run for mayor again. Mayor Elorza is perfectly positioned to make hard decisions regarding the city’s fiscal crisis without concern for his re-election for mayor.

If the mayor squanders his unique position to take concrete actions to solve his city’s fiscal crisis, he would not be the first to do so.  Mayor after mayor has failed to solve this problem, with many making the crisis worse rather than better. A recent example of making the problem worse is a contract for Providence school bus monitors which provides lifetime healthcare to a monitor who works 20 hours a week.  

Bear in mind that Providence receives more than a quarter of a billion dollars a year in state-taxpayer funded school aid alone. It is easy for Providence’s elected leaders to give away unfathomable benefits to part-time workers when they are in effect spending other people’s money.

 

Where are the heroes?

Who will govern based on doing the right things for the many, as opposed to the politically expeditious things for the few?  If the past is any predictor of the future, it is unlikely to be an elected leader in Providence.

The lack of political will of Rhode Island leaders is killing our state.

Ken Block is the founder of the Moderate Party, a two time candidate for governor and a small businessman.