Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not? - July 15, 2016

HOT

Jonathan Stone 

The Executive Director from Save the Bay made some astute points this week when he raised serious questions about the $20 million bond question to purchase land for ProvPort. Stone pointed out that the money might well be used to purchase “5.27-acre parcel owned by AARE, LLC, which houses the operations of Rhode Island Recycled Metals (RIRM), a scrap metal processing business that has been repeatedly cited by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the U.S. Coast Guard for environmental violations”, according to a GoLocal report on Tuesday. Why would Rhode Island want to purchase potentially polluted land from a known polluter?

HOT

Lisa Ranglin

The President of the Rhode Island Black Business Association made some astute points in a GoLocal piece this Thursday, pointing out that the state’s weak business ranking has had a very negative effect on the minority community. Therefore, the state should establish a new lending program that would benefit minority-owned as well as all other small businesses.

HOT

Mike O’Connell

The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Center, AKA “The Johnston Landfill”, has been awarded the "2016 Biggest Safety Improvement" award, presented by the Solid Waste Association of North America. The award was granted due to the organization’s “"profound commitment to improving employee safety through communication, best practices, increased company regulation and accident review”. This is a big feather in O’Connell’s cap, since he’s the organization’s executive director. 

HOT

Giovanni Cicione 

As reported in the New York Times, the former Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman offered an amendment to the Republican Party National Platform this week in Cleveland that would have specifically recognized that gay people are under a specific threat from ISIS. It was a wise move by Cicione to try to have the GOP show the gay community that they’re not excluded by the party. So naturally, the GOP shot down the measure, saying it engaged in “identity politics”. Good for Cicione, however, for trying to make the party more inclusive.

HOT

Westerly Yacht Club

The organization did the right thing on Wednesday night, and reversed a policy that excluded women from full membership, which had been in place over the last 9 decades. It certainly took the club long enough, but the Westerly Yacht Club deserves kudos for finally doing the right thing amidst protest from the community. Welcome to the 21st century!

HOT

Steve Frias

The Republican National Committeeman and candidate for state representative who will challenge House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (assuming he can get past a primary) made a shrewd move earlier this week in refusing to comment on Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump and vowing to continue his support for Ohio Governor John Kasich. Former Republican National Committeeman and retiring state representative Joe Trillo has a problem with this, but the voters in his district will likely appreciate the more moderate bent from Frias, and that gives him a better chance to upset Mattiello. 

HOT

Taylor Swift

She might not be good at relationships, but the Watch Hill property owner is an absolute master of making money. The Rhode Island summer resident ranked number 1 on the Forbes list of highest earning celebrities from last year, hauling in a massive $170 million, mostly from her “1989 tour.”

NOT

Gina Raimondo 

It wasn’t a good week in the news for the Governor—who has consistently promised to improve the state’s economy, from the time of her campaign announcement in 2014—when CNBC ranked the state of Rhode Island dead last for our business climate. What’s more concerning is the fact that the Governor seems to be a master at getting good public relations from national publications, and this ranking may make some of her out-of-state cheerleaders take a closer look into Rhode Island’s economic woes when judging her effectiveness as a leader.

NOT

Nicholas Mattiello

Likewise for the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Mattiello can say “jobs and the economy” until he, or we’re, blue in the face, but as the CNBC ranking shows us, it’s going to take some more aggressive economic reforms, like eliminating the sales tax all together, if we’re going to see real economic growth.

NOT

Late Providence Taxes 

GoLocal reported this week that the City of Providence employs draconian tax collection penalties. If a taxpayer fails to make the first quarter tax payment within the first two weeks that the bill is due, the taxpayer is immediately expected to pay all of their taxes in full—including residential, tangible, and car taxes. This is extremely heavy handed and the city should rescind this policy given the fact that so many Providence residents are struggling financially.

NOT

Tom Brady

The superstar quarterback from the New England Patriots was dealt another, massive setback in the deflategate saga this week when the full 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear the case.

That means, unless the US Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, the Patriots will be without Brady for the first four games this year. Yikes!

NOT

Joe Trillo

The former Republican National Committeeman and retiring state representative criticized Steve Frias, a candidate for state representative in House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s district, for refusing to acknowledge Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee. Since Trillo is a staunch ally of Mattiello, his criticisms of Frias should be taken with a grain of salt—or less. Let’s not forget: Trillo took to the House floor and told us all how lucky we are to have Mattiello as our Speaker just last year.