PC Digest: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Photo credit: Brian Thompson

Some people still are not receiving our usual daily e-mail digests, so we’ve put together a summary of recent content on the blog. Just because you don’t get an e-mail doesn’t mean we’re not still publishing lots of hard-hitting stuff! So bookmark us and visit often, or use any of the other available methods to keep up with what’s going on.

By Linda Felaco

November Town Council meeting

*In Italian, the title of the classic spaghetti Western
is actually “The good, the ugly, the bad.”

The November Town Council meeting is perhaps best summarized as “Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.”* First, our very own Tom Ferrio presented a proposal on behalf of the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee to give year-round residents a break on their property taxes. (Use Progressive Charlestown’s Magic Tax Calculator to find out how this proposal would affect you.) Then Jim Mageau took to the podium to continue his bizarre vendetta against the Friends of Ninigret. Then the town council voted in favor of both the stacking of the affordable housing commission with people opposed to affordable housing and Ruth Platner’s sham “residential” wind energy ordinance (which it appears pretty much no one expects to be enforced, presuming it could be). So while the rest of the world, and indeed the rest of Rhode Island, and in particular South County, moves forward to put wind power squarely on the list of new, nonpolluting energy sources, Charlestown sucks fumes.

Transparency in action (not)

Show us your files, Deputy Dan!

Another bone of contention at the November council meeting was an unsuccessful proposal for the council to sign on to a joint letter to the Chariho school committee demanding clarification of certain budget figures that some members of the three town councils don’t seem to think add up. Meanwhile, Will has been trying to get “Deputy Dan” Slattery to disclose the contents of the 2-inch-thick file he created in the course of his “investigation” of Mageau’s charges against Friends of Ninigret, to no avail, and has now taken his case to the attorney general. Stay tuned.

Will also delved into a troubling lack of transparency regarding the sources of the funds that bankrolled the lobbying for the state’s pension reform law.

There was also very little transparency on display at Thursday night’s Planning Commission meeting on the advisory to the Town Council on the proposed changes to the state’s affordable housing law, for which no documents were made available to the public. The old expression “Do as I say, not as I do” comes to mind. Shrubbery and parking were also on the agenda, but were shelved when the meeting ended up running over 3 hours long. Though we did learn that not only does Deputy Dan want the Chariho budget to conform with fourth-grade math, but Town Council President Tom Gentz wants council documents written in fourth-grade English.

The Pound Papers

Our investigative series on Lisa DiBello’s business dealings in connection with the town’s beach concessions continues with the Pound Papers, in which we learn that for the first time in the history of the concessions at the town beaches, this summer’s contract will not be renewed next year and will be put up for bid a year early. Let’s hope that now that the bids on the new beach pavilions have come in under budget, we’ll have better run concessions at our new facilities.

Meanwhile, "Prince Valiant" Jim Mageau has once again come to the defense of the Fair Maiden and fired off a screed vilifying Progressive Charlestown, Will and Cathy Collette, and various and sundry other individuals for <gasp> expecting a member of the town council to actually follow the rules. Will and Cathy each published separate rebuttals.

Speaking of Mageau, Will makes a modest proposal: Make Mageau a line item in the town budget.

This land is your land

Part 4 of this series on the Charlestown Planning Commission details the most powerful force in the universe, namely, the power to obstruct. Readers may be surprised to learn that under the town charter, the Planning Commission’s only real areas of authority are over the comprehensive plan and property lines.

The need for affordable housing

Tom Ferrio wrote very movingly about some real-life examples of the need for affordable housing here in town. Along those lines, I wrote about my own experiences with home buying and “sweat equity.”

Pension “reform,” signed, sealed, delivered

Our local legislators voted yes, and the governor has signed the bill. Public employees have been screwed. Their unions have been put down. Gina Raimondo is the new DINO superstar. Governor Chafee can now forget about every other campaign promise he made. And most Rhode Islanders who don’t write for Progressive Charlestown are happy. Sigh.

Redistricting

Every 10 years in the year after the U.S. Census numbers are released, the districts for state senators and representatives must be adjusted to make them equal in population. Will analyzes the potential changes to local districts for representatives and senators.

The War on Christmas comes to RI

In defense of her first piece of legislation, a symbolic resolution that the tree traditionally erected in the statehouse this time of year can only be called a Christmas tree and not any “other non-traditional terms,” Doreen Costa (R-“Peanuts”) defies Governor Chafee’s plan to call it a holiday tree and vows to hold her own lighting of her “Charlie Brown Christmas tree” in her office on Tuesday when the official tree lighting ceremony is held. Not to be outdone, the Catholic Diocese vows to hold a counterceremony as well. Meanwhile, in Sweden, the residents of Gavle have torched a 40-foot straw goat. Alcohol may have been a factor. ‘Tis the season.

And in honor of the season of giving, we’ve posted tips for shopping locally this Christmas and some alternative gift-giving ideas.

Online commenting, anonymity, and privacy

Finally, a lively discussion has been going on regarding Progressive Charlestown’s commenting policy and broader issues of privacy and anonymity. What with social networking, online databases, Google, GPS tracking, cell phone conversations in public places, and game and reality TV shows, how much privacy does anyone really have anymore?