Charlestown Tapas

Ten Tasty news nuggets for Progressive Charlestown readers

By Will Collette

Red light cameras slow in coming, but coming

When Tom and I first started Progressive Charlestown, we did so just in time to cover two big summer issues in 2011. One was the proposal to build new beach facilities at Charlestown’s two town beaches to replace the dilapidated facilities we had. 

The other was the proposal by now retired Police Chief Jack Shippee to find a vendor who would install red light cameras at Charlestown’s Route One intersections.

Both efforts were vehemently opposed by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance and its legion on anonymous commenters in its “Voices of Greed” screed. Voters didn’t listen and approved the money for the beach facilities which look great and are an asset to Charlestown’s tourist economy.

In May 2012, the Town Council approved a contract with Sensys, a company they picked because they thought it was Rhode Island-based, but is actually a Swedish company with its US headquarters in Florida. You gotta love Town Council Boss Tom Gentz’s due diligence skills.

Anyway, the deal was inked and has since overcome a series of obstacles. Among them was getting RI Transportation Department approval since all of the sites are on Route One, a state road. After another year passed, finally, RIDOT gave its go-ahead.

But the latest hang-up, according to Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz, is that the “system cannot be installed until two ‘loop detectors’ are repaired.  RI DOT has the repair scheduled for late 2014. Sensys wanted the Town to pay or split the bill for repair. The Town refused. Sensys indicated they would do the repairs but so far it has not been completed.”

However, this problem may soon be resolved. According to Stankiewicz, it looks like “Sensys America will be funding the necessary repairs to the ‘loop’ detectors on Route 1 to enable the red light system installation in time for the peak traffic volume during the summer months.”

I’ve lived in communities covered by red light cameras and have seen that they work so I hope they’re up and running for our big summer rush.

Dave’s Coffee moving its headquarters out of Charlestown

The Planning Commission has been hassling Dave's over their iconic
M*A*S*H ambulance for years. Nice work, Planning Commission!
[Photo by Will Collette]

Dave’s Coffee is building a new headquarters for its growing business in Narragansett, and is also going to open another site for its popular brew in Providence. It’s hardly surprising that Dave’s is making the move to Narragansett.

Currently, they share space inside of Galapagos, and if you’ve been there, you know it’s pretty tight just for serving space, never mind for managing a growing business. 

Rather than go through the agony that would be involved in trying to create some new business space in Charlestown – and running Planning Commissar Ruth Platner’s gauntlet – chalk up another lost opportunity for Charlestown.

For an example of the kind of living hell Platner and her plucky planners put growing businesses through, click here for their torture of Arrowhead Dental over its expansion. Guess Dave’s didn’t want to go through that, and who can blame them?

Donna Walsh, Charlestown Worm Ladies get media praise

Two of Donna Walsh’s legislative initiatives received recent media praise. Last week, she was listed as one of GoLocalProv.com’s “Who’s Hot” figures for her steadfast efforts to win passage of her bill to require that magistrate judges be selected based on merit and not because “they know a guy.” 

She’s been trying to get this passed for years. ProJo columnist Ed Fitzpatrick likened Donna’s annual battle as similar to Sisyphus trying to push a boulder up a mountain. Though Fitzpatrick’s comments were laudatory, Donna’s Republican opponent Tina Jackson, who apparently didn’t read the whole article, used the article to attack Donna for her so far unsuccessful efforts. 

Criticism from Jackson about Donna’s fight for ethical judicial opponents was pretty funny, given Jackson’s multiple arrests and convictions for drug crimes, assault and theft.

Nancy Warner, founder of the Worm Ladies of Charlestown. [photo by me]

Donna was also highlighted in a Providence Phoenix story on this year’s composting conference. Donna is the author of new legislation that would require commercial recycling of food waste.

In that same article, the Worm Ladies of Charlestown were also featured for their efforts to promote safe and effective composting by using non-invasive red wiggler worms. 

I think my photo of chief Worm Lady Nancy Warner in my own piece on the Worm Ladies was a much better shot.

Double good news for Westerly Hospital

Union struggle at L&M set the stage for labor peace at Westerly Hospital
[Photo by me]

A couple of encouraging signs of health for Westerly Hospital: first, the unions representing Westerly Hospital staff have negotiated a new three-year contract without having to go through the trauma that nurses and medical staff went through at Westerly’s corporate parent, Lawrence & Memorial Hospital of New London.

As you may recall, L&M was wracked by a four-day unfair labor practice strike followed by a two-week management lock-up between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This struggle was extensively covered here in Progressive Charlestown largely because of its implications for local Westerly Hospital.

L&M workers were fighting issues familiar to Westerly Hospital – the outsourcing of union jobs by management to non-union subsidiaries. That battle finally ended in a signed contract that both sides considered fair and reasonable.

Now, apparently, L&M has decided to cut to the chase and work a similar deal with its workers without the ordeal of a long labor dispute. There are 420 Westerly Hospital workers who are members of two locals of UNAP (United Nurses and Allied Professionals).

The other good news came from L&M management on March 17 when they reported that Westerly Hospital has been restored to financial stability over the ten month period since L&M’s June 1 purchase of the hospital. They also reported on capital investments they are making at Westerly to honor their pledge to improve the hospital.

Rhode Island gun nuts upset over new bills – still smarting over drubbing they took in Exeter

I'll bet that smarts

The Rhode Island Gun Blog was simply frothing as they denounced new gun control measures being considered in the current session of the General Assembly. The gun lobby spent several weeks organizing turn-out for a March 18 day of hearings on these bills.

The gun lobby told its supporters that the situation was desperate because supporters of sensible control now have thousands of supporters across the state. Especially troubling to these gun people is this: “Legislators are emboldened by the failure of the recall effort in Exeter. They think we’re pushovers.”

They are referring to the gun nut effort, sparked by Tea Party wingnut Representative Doreen Costa (R), to recall the four Democratic Town Council members in Exeter who wanted the Attorney General to take over issuance of concealed carry permits because Exeter does not have its own police force or the means to conduct an adequate background check. This carpetbagger recall campaign was defeated by a 2 to 1 margin with voters turning out in record numbers for the special election.

Among the measures the gun lobby opposes is State Representative (and NRA member) Donna Walsh’s bill to ban firing guns from aircraft which was sparked by last summer’s helicopter shooting incident in Charlestown, saying “bummer [shooting from a helicopter] looks like fun.”

History reveals another bit of CCA Party hypocrisy

Deb Carney

In the recent tumult over the fate of the former Whalerock land purchased by Charlestown for $2.14 million and renamed the Charlestown Moraine Preserve, CCA Party pundit Mike Chambers and former Town Council President Deb Carney slugged it out over how the town should proceed. A one-sided battle indeed pitting a martial arts black belt against a blowhard – you can figure out for yourself which is which.

I think three-knockdown rule was designed to keep pugs like Chambers from suffering irreparable injury.

During that “debate,” Chambers kept referring back to the original bond that funded the town’s purchase of the property, clearly not knowing what he was talking about. 

The 2004 Charlestown Financial referendum. Note Question 1 and
compare this to the CCA-controlled Council's actions.

Without rehashing that dispute, Deb just pointed out to me that one aspect of the town’s 2004 Financial Referendum included explicitly asking for voter approval to put $30,000 into a special fund to be used for any legal expenses that might be used in connection with its dispute with the Chariho School District, another issue that Chambers used in his argument without knowing what he was talking about.

Deb says, “Contrast to the action of this Town Council to spend $50,000 in legal services for the Whalerock deal without asking the taxpayers.” 

She is referring to the deal announced by Town Council Boss Tom Gentz to spend $50,000 of town money to hire a special lawyer, John O. Mancini, to represent the town and a group of anonymous abutters without voter approval. Hell, this deal was OK’d behind closed doors with no open debate, public discussion or a vote.

What a difference 10 years and CCA Party town control makes.

No Earth Day clean-up money for Charlestown

I frequently post news items about available funds that could be used to benefit Charlestown. 

I recently posted a notice about grants available to help fund Earth Day clean-ups, figuring that since CCA Party Town Council Boss Tom Gentz made such a big deal last year about trying to get volunteers to come out on Earth Day to clean up the beachfront properties owned by non-residents, he might want the town to go after these funds to do it again. 

That would make those properties all nice and clean for the arrival of those non-resident beach folks who are such reliable contributors to the CCA Party's campaign fund.

But apparently not, since the DEM has just issued its list of grantees for this year and no group from Charlestown got any of that funding.

Danger, Danger!

Soon, you may be getting alarm notices from the CCA Party about a bill recently introduced by local state Representative Spencer Dickinson (D) who represents part of South Kingstown. The bill, H-7507, is a version of a favorite bit of regressive legislation called “no stricter than” legislation within the environmental community.

These “no stricter than” bill basically forbid local governments from enacting local rules or ordinances that place stricter environmental protections than the basic minimum standards set out in state and federal law.

Charlestown counts on the current flexibility in the law to set standards on environmental issues, such as cesspools, that are stricter than state law. Dickinson’s bill, H-5707, would eliminate that ability.

But before you all panic, let’s check a little political reality. Spencer Dickinson, who is a building contractor by trade, is an arch-enemy of the now former House Speaker Gordon Fox. Spencer’s future ability to get anything he proposes taken seriously will depend on the outcome of this week’s battle to succeed Fox – and whether Spencer backs the winning faction.

If he backs conservative, pro-business Nick Mattiello, then maybe this bill has legs. However, Spencer would then lose all liberal cred in his very liberal district and will likely lose in November. His Republican opponent is a self-proclaimed, 31 year old beauty queen.

If he backs any center-left contender for Speaker, he might come out better off, but not on this bill. 

A center-left win for the Speaker's chair would keep Reps. Art Handy (D-Cranston) and Donna Walsh on as House Environment chair and vice-chair, respectively. They can be counted on to oppose this bill.

Either way, I recommend not getting worked up over this bill. We’ll know in a week or two how the turmoil in the House shakes out and whether Spencer Dickinson remains in the dog house along with his bills.

How dangerous are Charlestown intersections?

Colin Foote - since his tragic death,
his family has been fighting for
improved safety on the road

In my February 27 “Charlestown Tapas,” I noted that GoLocalProv.com listed Charlestown’s Route One and Route 216 intersection as the third most dangerous intersection in Rhode Island. Apparently, town leaders took some umbrage at that dubious distinction, at least for that intersection. As Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz reported to the Town Council:

Recently there was an article on the internet citing the intersection of Route 1 and Rand Ross Hill Road (route 216) as one of the “10 Most Dangerous” in Rhode Island. It would appear some of the information in the article was not completely accurate. Police Chief Jeffrey Allen has noted none of the 3 fatal accidents was at that intersection and the accidents occurred over a number of years. As noted in the Charlestown Police Department (CPD) files, the fatal accidents were:

• 2010 at the intersection of Rt. 1 and West Beach Road (this took the life of Colin Foote)
• 2009 at the intersection of Rt. 1 and Prosser Trail
• 2009 at the intersection of Rt. 1 and Kings Factory Road

New South County magazine launched

The publishers of the South County Independent and Newport Daily News launched a new magazine on March 20 called South County Life. It’s always a challenge to launch a new print venture in the post-literate age of the internet and social media. I wish them the best of luck.