Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not - June 24

HOT

Steven Frias

The Boston lawyer, former state of Rhode Island attorney, and frequent contributor of columns to the Providence Journal has decided to challenge the most powerful man in Rhode Island politics this year—House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in their western Cranston House district. Frias has all the personal skills he needs to make it an interesting race—he’s eloquent, understands the issues as well as anyone, and has been around politics long enough to know how to appeal to voters. Frias will be at a significant financial disadvantage, but expect him to run a spirited, informational, and well-run campaign.

HOT

Joann Ayuso

 The personal trainer and Army Reservist is being courted by members of her community to challenge State Representative Anastasia Williams, who has found herself at the center of an ethics complaint for failing to disclose her employment with the city—and work at the John Hope Settlement House—on her annual ethics filings. (Williams also infamously said she was “ashamed if this journalism stuff” on the floor of the House of Representatives, earlier this year.) Ayuso could very well be the type of fresh, energetic, and ethical candidate that Providence voters are looking for this election year, if she chooses to run.

HOT

Bob Whitcomb

GoLocal has landed the highly-respected former editor of the Editorial Page at the Providence Journal. Whitcomb has also worked as the Finance Editor of the International Herald Tribune in Paris, and as an editor and writer at The Wall Street Journal in New York. His columns will give GoLocal readers an extra level of depth, information, and entertainment.

HOT

David Cruise

The former state senator and judicial magistrate who most recently worked as Raimondo’s legislative director has been named the Governor’s Chief of Staff. Cruise knows the lay of the land in Rhode Island as well as anyone, but given the cronyism and corruption that’s been bred by “the way things have always been done”, one has to wonder whether that’s a feature, or a bug (as the computer programmers say). In any event, Cruise is now inarguably one of the most powerful men in Rhode Island government. Here’s hoping he uses that power to benefit everyone in Rhode Island, not just the powerful.

HOT

David Cicilline and James Langevin

The two Congressmen from Rhode Island joined in with other Democrats on the House Floor for a sit in to demand action on gun control. No, gun control isn’t a magic bullet that will stop the violence and—I’ll  say it since President Obama won’t—domestic terrorism inspired by radical Islam that’s plagued us recently. But the United States Congress should take reasonable actions on gun control, including expanded background checks and preventing people on the no-fly list from buying a gun (not to mention a ban on assault weapons) since both would help prevent and mitigate future atrocities.

HOT

Teen Drivers

Little Rhody ranks the 9th best state in the country for teenage drivers according to a recent study by Wallethub. The organization gauged the teen driving environment in the 50 states by measuring three key dimensions, which included safety conditions, economic environment and driving laws. Given this good news, perhaps our high car insurance rates might come down a bit? I’m not holding my breath.

HOT

Home Sales

The state saw an increase of 5 percent in the month of May on home sales when compared to last year’s numbers over the same time period. That’s good news for the economy, as any positive economic news for our state is more than welcome at this point.

HOT

Kris Dunn

The former Providence College star was drafted 5th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in Thursday night's NBA Draft. 

Dunn becomes the 4th Friar all-time to be drafted in the top 5 behind only Jimmy Walker, Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes. 

In Minnesota, he will play alongside Ricky Rubio, Karl Anthony Towns and Kevin Garnett. 

NOT

Gina Raimondo

The Governor decided that her first use of the veto pen should be to kill a law that would have made it possible for the state to prosecute the miscreants who partake in disseminating “revenge porn” against their former exes (or hackers who steal private photos and videos). Raimondo, and other opponents of the bill, such as the ACLU, argued that it would have a chilling impact on free speech, but the law carved out exceptions for instances that would serve the public interest. If the Governor had issues with this bill, she should have raised them before it was passed, not afterwards.

NOT

Stephen Neuman

Raimondo’s Chief of Staff is out. Neuman is leaving the job to take a position with Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Neuman’s departure comes months after GoLocal reported that he was busy spearheading and crafting legislation that impacted DraftKings, the online fantasy football website at the same time his wife was interviewing for, and ultimately landing a job with the company.

NOT

Dean Esserman

The former Providence Police Chief is apparently up to his old tricks again. The New Haven Police officer’s union brass recently voted to hold a no-confidence vote for Esserman, alleging he has a bad temper and intimidates officers. The Providence Police officers union consistently had similar gripes. A no-confidence vote by the New Haven police would vindicate, or at least lend credence to the gripes of the Providence Police Officers union from the Cicilline era.

NOT

Bill Brody and Ray Meador

The two gentlemen were instrumental in the creation of the Wyatt Detention Center and heavily involved in its financial collapse, are also key players at ProvPort, which is seeking a $20 million bond from state taxpayers in order to purchase property for its expansion. Voters should just say no to that bond question given the lack of transparency surrounding it as well as the questionable history of these individuals connected to it.

NOT

Westerly Yacht Club

The organization that’s been in existence for nearly 90 years recently voted to continue to refuse to offer full memberships to women apparently under the guise of respecting tradition. Respecting tradition is only appropriate when the traditions are also appropriate. And in the year 2016, discriminating against gender simply isn’t.

NOT

Elizabeth Warren

The Senator from Massachusetts has made a name for herself by criticizing Wall Street executives for their excesses while the rest of the country has struggled under a stagnant economy. So far, so good. But how does Warren explain the fact that she has endorsed the candidate that has received the most money in campaign contributions from those same Wall Street executives, their families, employees, and political action committees? Get ready for some tortured logic. Principles are only worth anything if you stick with them even when things get uncomfortable.