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| CCA Party Council member George Tremblay is convinced RhodeMap RI is a government conspiracy aimed at Charlestown |
By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
PROVIDENCE — The new statewide economic development plan moved a
step closer to adoption as a review committee recently approved the RhodeMap RI effort,
and shot back at critics.
“This is absolute nonsense,” said Robert Azar, chairman of the
RhodeMap RI Technical Review Committee during its
Nov. 13 meeting. Azar was referring to negative letters and the groundswell of
detractors at recent public meetings who suggested that adopting the new
economic plan would cede control of the state to the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD). Others have suggested the plan is an extension of
the United Nation’s Agenda 21 conspiracy.
A $1.9 million HUD grant funded much of the three-year effort to
replace the state plan.
“There are people that believe that what HUD does is come in and
take over your government at all levels,” said Kevin Flynn, associate director
of the state Division of Planning, the organization overseeing the RhodeMap RI
process. He noted that every Rhode Island city and town already accepts money
from HUD annually. All remain autonomous, he said.
EDITOR’S
NOTE: Flynn’s description of some RhodeMap foes is quite accurate and applies
to the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) leadership, especially George
Tremblay and Planning Commissar Ruth Platner. They have characterized the
process as a nefarious plot to take over Charlestown. – WC
“(RhodeMap RI) does not change anyone’s property rights, or
change eminent domain,” said Jeff Davis, a planner with the Statewide Planning
Program.
Others have protested that the government shouldn’t attempt to
promote social equity or focus on improving urban areas.
At a Nov. 12 meeting, the influential business group the Rhode Island Public
Expenditures Council (RIPEC) called for a delay on the plan's final
vote until January, when Gov.-elect Gina Raimondo takes office. Several members
of the review committee noted that the plan was designed to be in place before
the new administration is in place.
“RIPEC’s position doesn’t hold a lot of water, and their timing
seems political,” said Ames Colt, a member of the technical committee and head
of the Department of Environmental Management’s Bay, Rivers and Watershed
Coordination Team.
Flynn added that RIPEC called for the new economic plan and has
been involved in the planning and community outreach since the project launched
in February 2012. “(RIPEC) has been at the table throughout the process,” he
said.
Flynn said Raimondo is aware of the plan’s content and expressed
support for the initiative during her campaign. He and other members of the
committee stress that plan is nonbinding and that the General Assembly will
choose which parts to enact.
“This is not legislation or law," committee member Patrick
Malone said. "We are not regulating anything."
The process involved numerous public workshops to share ideas
and build community consensus on issues such as education, the environment,
energy, housing and tourism. The plan and the process for focused economic developing
were modeled on a similar effort done in Massachusetts.
“That’s how Massachusetts has done it. They have a much more
successful economy than we do, “Flynn said, “and that’s what we are going to
do.”
As for paying for those parts of the plan that are implemented,
“That’s the role of the budget office, Legislature and the governor,” Flynn
said.
The Technical Review Committee voted unanimously to send the
plan to the 35-member State
Planning Council for an expected vote on Nov. 20.