Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - June 17, 2016
Russ Moore, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - June 17, 2016
Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - June 17, 2016
HOT
Patricia Morgan
It’s probably not a big surprise given her reputation for staunch good government advocacy, but one of the heroes of Wednesday night’s budget debate was the Morgan, the Republican who represents portions of Coventry, Warwick, and West Warwick, particularly due to her comments supporting charter schools and mayoral academies. Morgan questioned why the state needed to strip innovative charter schools of vital funding when the bloated state budget funds plenty of questionable spending.
HOT
Gina Raimondo
It’s hard to overstate how big of a win it was for the Governor last week when the leaders of General Electric announced that they’d be opening a facility in Rhode Island and bringing at least 100 jobs to the state in the short term along with the possibility of hundreds more over the longer term. This is a huge feather in the Governor’s cap since the creation of high paying, good jobs was a major promise from her 2014 campaign.
HOT
James Diossa
The Central Falls Mayor signed a budget into law last week that spends less (1 percent) than the previous year’s budget and reduces the tax rate by roughly 5-percent. Central Falls has emerged from bankruptcy much stronger, thanks to some tough financial decisions, and is showing other communities throughout the state what can be accomplished with strong, responsible leadership. Is this the future model for Providence?
HOT
John Marion
The Executive Director of Common Cause of Rhode Island deserves credit for his staunch advocacy to re-empower the Rhode Island Ethics Commission over the General Assembly. It appears that the state’s voters will be allowed to amend the constitution to empower the Rhode Island Ethics Commission since the judiciary committees of both houses have passed bills to do so. It’s fair to say this would never have happened without Marion’s leadership.
HOT
Operation Stand Down
The Home Depot donated roughly $22,000 so that the Rhode Island chapter of Operation Stand Down and local community volunteers could get together and beautify the Holly Charette Home for female veterans in Johnston and also make some renovations and repairs there this week. The Holly Charette home was named after the first female from Rhode Island to die in Iraq. On June 23, 23 of 2005, a suicide bomber attacked her convoy in the Fallujah province of the country and she was killed by the blast. The house was dedicated in her honor in 2010, and it has roughly 10 female veterans living there as a form of transitional housing at any given time.
HOT
Nicholas Zammarelli
The superstar baseball player from Rhode Island, who graduated from Lincoln High School and attended Elon University, was selected in the eighth round by the Seattle Mariners last week. Zammarelli, a great hitter, is as talented as he is hardworking (no small feat given his talent level) and rates a good chance of making the major leagues someday soon.
NOT
Cale Keable
The House Judiciary Chairman who represents Burrillville and Glocester was irked by the fact that the Senate Judiciary voted down the legislation he sponsored and shepherded through the House of Representatives that would have allowed a voter referendum on the proposed Burrillville power plant proposal. Keable released a statement decrying the fact that the tax treaty would now be decided by “the Republican Town Council”, instead of through a democratic process. Has Keable suddenly forgotten that those Republicans were elected democratically? And why wasn’t Keable a proponent of putting the truck toll issue to a voter referendum since he’s such a big fan of letting voters decide such important issues? The hypocrisy is jaw dropping.
NOT
Jorge Elorza
Providence continues to be plagued by high levels of panhandling, which intimidates city residents and guests and deters tourists from visiting the capital city. As former state representative Ray Rickman pointed out in a GoLocal report this week, the mayor and the council need to put a plan together to address this issue. Further, GoLocal reported that the salaries in the Mayor’s budget line item are up nearly $300,000 over last year—an inexplicable and unjustifiable spending increase. Not a great news week for the Mayor of Providence.
NOT
John Carnevale
The state representative who represents portions of Providence and Johnston has come under fire after a WPRI investigation was released, which claims he has been seen spending far more time at his property in Johnston, which is outside of his district, than at the property he owns inside of district 13, which he represents. To make matters worse, Carnevale was taped hiding his face with a shirt when reporters tried to question him on this issue and has refused to talk about the issue. Not a good week in the news for the state representative.
NOT
Cumulus Media
The media conglomerate that owns WPRO, LITE 105 and HOT 106, has fired its second top boss, this time John Sutherland, the company’s Vice President/Market Manager, in as many years, as it attempts to stave off bankruptcy. The company’s stock is trading at less than .50 cents a share, when just two years ago it was above $6 dollars per share.
NOT
Gun Violence
The Orlando massacre, perpetrated by a deranged madman, illustrates the fact that it’s become far too easy for madmen to get guns. The time has come for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban. It’s also way past time for the FBI to heighten surveillance on people who show radical tendencies.
NOT
Minimum Wage
The state legislature decided against raising the state’s minimum wage, which will be stuck at $9.60 per hour instead of the $10.10 per hour rate that Governor Gina Raimondo proposed. For many Rhode Island workers, there only chance of getting a pay hike, the state legislature, turned down the chance to boost their wages this year out of fear it could cripple some of the state’s small businesses.
