Charlestown Tapas

• Good news - No bloodshed at Chariho meeting
• New neighbor – Manda Panda?
• Frank Maher as a campaign manager?
• NRA-RI takes another hit
• “Got Smarties®?
• How the other side lives

By Will Collette

Chariho omnibus meeting ends without arrests or serious injury

Representatives from Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton managed to get together in one room on January 15 to discuss their “differences” about the funding and operations ofthe Chariho School District without shots being fired. 

Charlestown Town Councilor Dan Slattery (CCA Party) managed to restrain himself to simply making snarling remarks about Richmond Town Council President Joe Reddish’s effort to get the towns to discuss changes to the Chariho Act. 

I had heard some rumors about minor injuries to people sitting near Slattery when bristles flew off his brush-cut during some of the more heated exchanges.

While there was some discussion of Chariho’s funding challenges, the topics that Richmond wanted to raise were largely shunned by the other two towns. 

Dan Slattery tried to stir up some controversy by challenging Chariho administrators over computers being supplied to students. According to Cynthia Drummond of the Westerly Sun, Slattery wanted to know “What is Chariho doing within their own computer security system to ensure that the firewalls are there to prevent the students from going outside?” I’ve heard he wants to make sure Chariho students are blocked from access to Progressive Charlestown.

Manda Panda buys the rights to GOP state Rep candidate Tina Jackson’s house

Jackson: paid no Fire District tax since
at least 2006

I’m not making any of this up. A company called Manda Panda Partners LLC owned by Fernando Cunha of Providence won the bid in the tax auction on the Charlestown home of 2012 Republican candidate for House District 36 Tina Jackson. 

Among Jackson’s many delinquencies, she fell way behind on paying her Charlestown Fire District taxes, having made no payments since 2006 or earlier.

Jackson is also climbing the list of delinquent political candidates who owe fines for violating disclosure rules. At the end of 2013, Jackson owes $2,906 and that amount is increasing daily.

Jackson’s tax liability was bought by “Manda Panda Partners LLC” of Providence. There are a number of professional tax sale companies who participate in these tax auctions, buying the tax liability and collecting the interest without necessarily taking the property. However, there are consequences for Jackson. Here’s how the City of Providence’s Tax Collector explained what tax sales mean to a homeowner:

Property is subject to "tax sale" when the taxes are seriously delinquent. "Tax sale" means the City asks an interested third party to pay the taxes owed to the City in your place.

In exchange for the payment, the City gives a tax lien on your property in favor of the party who paid your taxes. Unless you pay back the third party (not the City) the back taxes and fees, that party has the right, after one year and one day (366 days), to take title to your property through the court. This proceeding is called "foreclosing the right of redemption." This is a serious situation because you can lose your property by order of the court.

Frank Maher gets a new gig

Former state Senator for the northern half of Charlestown Frank Maher (R) has been named to head the campaign of Republican Dawson Hodgson to unseat incumbent state Attorney General Peter Kilmartin. Some say this puts an end to the speculation that Maher would run in 2014 against Sen. Cathie Cool Rumsey (D) who handily defeated Maher in 2012, though I think that opinion is premature.

Maher had an undistinguished career as a state legislator. His main claim to fame was winning passage of an obscure bill that reduced the penalties on criminals who use a crossbow in the commission of a crime. Why he would want to do that, you'll have to ask him.

Most recently, Maher headed the gun lobby astroturf group, “We the People [Who Are Mostly Not Residents] of Exeter,” in their unsuccessful effort to recall the Exeter Town Council majority because the Council wanted town residents to have to undergo proper background checks before getting concealed carry permits for handguns. Maher’s group lost by a two to one margin when a record 40% of the electorate turned out to vote on the first anniversary of the massacre of those little kids in Newtown, CT.

Prior to naming Maher to head his campaign, state Senator Hodgson seemed like he intended to run a lively and serious – though decidedly uphill – campaign against Attorney General Kilmartin. But with Maher at the helm, er, maybe not so much.

I was actually looking forward to seeing Maher run for office again so maybe Hodgson will have second thoughts and send Maher back to Exeter.

Rhode Island gun lobby takes another hit

For years, the National Rifle Association has been making friends and influencing people with its generous spending through its Rhode Island affiliate. But it turns out they were doing so illegally.

After a complaint was lodged by the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats (not that this will make any difference to Mike Chambers, there is no relation to Progressive Charlestown, though we like them just fine), the NRA folded its Rhode Island Chapter.

Now, the Rhode Island Board of Elections has upheld the Progressive Democrats’ complaint, confirming that the NRA did indeed violate Rhode Island campaign finance law and levied a fine of $63,000. While $63,000 is chump change to the NRA, given its gazillion dollar treasury, it is one of the largest fines issued by the Board of Elections and sets back the gun lobby’s political machine in our state.

Combine that with the waxing the gun lobby took in the Exeter recall election, and maybe we’ll see some serious gun control measures get taken up by the General Assembly.

“Got Smarties?

WPRI (Channel 12) reports that parents of students at Portsmouth Middle School received a note from school officials warning about a new substance abuse threat. Smarties® candies.

Yep, that old kids’ favorite sugar candy is apparently being ground up and then snorted or smoked. I swear I am not making this up.

From Peepresearch.org

The warning says that snorting or smoking Smarties® candies can cause nasal and lung ailments including infections, allergic reactions and (again, I am not making this up) infestations of maggots inside the nose.

I checked out this story on Snopes and looked at their message board (lots of fun). One commenter asked why school officials, if they were worried about maggots, didn’t warn against the danger of eating Smarties®. That drew this reply from one wag (it wasn’t me): “Because the fly eggs are the most nutritious part of the Smarties!”

I wonder what would happen if somebody (not me) tried snorting or smoking Peeps®?

How the other side lives

Charlestown’s ace real estate broker Ray Mott (Mott & Chace Sotheby’s Realty) put out a news release announcing the sale of another Charlestown big-ticket property, this one at 24 Lagoon Avenue in Quonochontaug. 

Though it’s relatively small by Charlestown’s 1% standards at 2,700 square feet and only has an acre of land, it sits on the Pond, and has its own dock, mooring and private beach. It sold for just under $1.7 million.

But the seller didn't make much on the transaction. According to the Charlestown tax assessor's database, Jeanne Rollings of Rye, NY bought the property in 2004 (pre-real estate crash) for $1.6 million for a net gain of $95,000 after 10 years. The property was assessed at $1.524,700 before the sale.

Speaking of opulent shoreline properties, the Ocean House in Watch Hill, Westerly, won AAA’s top rating again for the fourth straight year. It is the only Rhode Island establishment to hold a Five-Diamond rating. Its restaurant, Seasons, won a Four-Diamond rating for the fifth year in a row.