The
List
By
Will Collette
Charlestown
voters won’t have to deal with local ballot questions calling for Charter
changes (amen). CCA Party-aligned CRACers[1]
pushed a collection of ill-conceived measures in 2012 and then they mostly went
on to take patronage positions in the CCA Party town government. But for 2014,
no charter changes this year.
The
CCA Party has nominees for every open elected office in Charlestown – five for
Council, five for Planning Commission, two for Chariho School Committee and one
for Town Moderator.
Town
Democrats have fielded three endorsed Democrats for Town Council – Paula Andersen
who is running for a second term, Brandon Cleary who was elected to Planning in
2012 but is now running for Council and Ron Russo. Henry Walsh is defending his
position as Town Moderator.
For
the first time in a long time, you won’t see Jim Mageau or CCA Party Council
member Dan Slattery on the ballot. Councilor Lisa DiBello cancelled her
re-election campaign after receiving a $450,000 pay-out from the town. However,
she is still on the ballot[2].
It will be interesting to see what she decides to do if she comes in among the
Top Five.
General Assembly
races
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| Phony Filippi's Massachusetts law license |
Charlestown’s
state Representative Donna Walsh has been under attack by Blake Filippi,
who claims to live on Block Island despite almost twenty official documents
showing that he actually lives in Lincoln. Filippi says that the documents that
show his address on Block Island are all that matter and that voters should
forget all the other times he listed his address as Lincoln, including one just
three days before he filed his election papers.
Phony
Filippi[3]
has also tried to conceal his extremist politics by failing to list them on his
Ethics Commission disclosure report. He also claims to support increased state
regulation of the Copar quarry – though, as a libertarian, he doesn’t believe in government environmental
regulation. His aversion to government regulation is understandable seeing
that labor regulators nailed the Ballard’s Inn, the Filippi family flagship
business, for cheating 154 workers out of their just wages.
Nor
does he believe that Social Security is Constitutional under the Tenth
Amendment, yet he is campaigning to drop state income taxes on Social Security
benefits. Presumably, that’s before he gets a chance to abolish Social Security
altogether.
Senator
Cathie Cool Rumsey, who represents the northern end of Charlestown, faces
opposition from Hopkinton dry cleaner Elaine Morgan (R). Morgan has campaigned based
almost entirely on the state Republican campaign talking points – 38 Studios,
etc., etc. Morgan has held only one elected position – that of honorific town sergeant.
However, even that job did not go without controversy – see the attached report
that was posted on Channel 10’s Facebook page.
Similarly,
Rep. Larry Valencia (D) who used to represent half of Charlestown before
redistricting, also faces a Republican opponent, Justin Price, whose campaign
is also almost entirely based on the State Republican Party script. Price’s one
past experience in politics was to run as a Ron Paul delegate to the Republican
National Convention in 2012. Not only did Ron Paul lose, but Price came in last
among the five Ron Paul delegate candidates.
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| From Lacey McGreevey's campaign website |
Rep.
Teresa Tanzi (D), a close ally to Donna and Larry, faces a nasty challenger,
Stephen Tetzner. Tetzner has already broken the record for campaign spending,
putting over $100,000 into some of the nastiest negative advertising I think
South County has ever seen. Tetzner is a mortgage bankster who drew loan after
loan after loan from the family’s Homestar Mortgage Bank for personal real
estate acquisitions during the time when most homeowners and small businesses
couldn’t get credit. Tetzner just sent out a mailer to all voters saying the
his Number One Priority if he is elected is the Second Amendment.
Former
SK Town Council President Kathy Fogarty (D) who beat incumbent Spencer
Dickinson in the primary faces Lacey McGreavy (R), who like all of the other
South County Republicans is sticking to the state party script. She’s used to
following a script, though, because her major qualification to run is as a
frequent contestant in beauty pageants. I’m not making this up.
Senators
Sue Sosnowski and Dennis Algiere are running unopposed. Rep. Brian Patrick
Kennedy and Donald Lally are also running unopposed.
The State Slate
Rhode
Island has five statewide general officers – Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
General Treasurer, Attorney General and Secretary of State. At least four of
those offices will have a new occupant, either because the incumbent is
term-limited, not running or running for another office.
The
state Democratic Party is urging you to vote for Gina Raimondo for Governor, Dan
McKee for Lieutenant Governor, Peter Kilmartin for re-election as Attorney
General, Nelly Gorbea for Secretary of State and Seth Magaziner for General
Treasurer.
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| Almonte blew it as Auditor. |
I
am very enthusiastic about Seth who has the vigor, ideas and character for
the job. His opponent Ernie Almonte flunked the test when he was Auditor
General by failing to spot 38 Studios or the public pension crisis when, had he
done his job, we might have caught those problems before they exploded in his
face. In his campaign ads, Almonte
wants you to look at his experience. Please do. And also look at him
advocating privatizing Social Security and public pensions.
In
the September primary, I supported the opponents of Gina Raimondo and Nelly
Gorbea. But in this election, I am confident that both will do so much more
good for the state than their opponents. I grew up in Peter Kilmartin’s
neighborhood in Pawtucket and have watched his career of public service over
the years. He has done a good job as Attorney General and I will vote to
re-elect him.
That
leaves Cumberland Mayor and charter school junkie Dan McKee who’s
Wal-Mart-funding campaign tried to paint him as the guy to vote for. He is
running against one of the few moderate Republicans left on the planet,
Catherine Taylor. I have never in my life voted for a Republican, but that
might change tomorrow.
Congress
Senator
Jack Reed and Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline are all up for
re-election against amazing weak opposition.
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| Re-elect our hard-working Rep. Jim Langevin |
Jack Reed faces former state GOP
chair Mark Zaccaria who is known in Charlestown as the person who recruited
Tina Jackson to run against Donna Walsh in 2012, after apparently failing to
check out Jackson’s long
criminal record. Later, Zaccaria backed Jackson in a failed
coup attempt aimed at taking over the Charlestown Republican Town
Committee. The only question tomorrow is whether Reed’s final margin turns out
to be the largest in the nation.
Our
local Congressman Jim Langevin faces a virtual unknown and almost invisible
opponent Rhue Reis. Reis is a failed businessman who lives in a bank-owned
house and has nothing to offer other than the standard GOP script.
David
Cicilline also faces a virtual unknown whose name I can’t remember and who
doesn’t even inspire me to look it up. Yeah, my bad…but hey, that’s not my
district.
Important Ballot
Questions
Voters
should be sure to go through the seven statewide ballot questions.
To
me, it’s a no-brainer to vote YES for Questions 4, 5, 6 and 7, all of which
will fund critically needed projects that will not only create thousands of
short-term jobs in construction, but will make vital infrastructure
improvements for the state’s economy over the long haul.
Question
#4 would fund creation of a new consolidated engineering headquarters at URI
that will attract new businesses and good paying jobs, as it already has (click
here for a prime example).
Question
#5 would fund much-needed physical upgrades to important cultural icons, such
as Trinity Theater, to help us continue to make Rhode Island a tourist
destination as well as enrich the quality of our lives.
Question
#6 would fund major improvements and efficiencies for public transportation.
While it won’t bring a bus stop to Charlestown, it will make it easier for
Rhode Islanders to get around the state without always needing to hope into a
private car.
Question
#7 is another in the ever-popular series of bonds to fund our environmental
infrastructure, parks and open space. Really a no-brainer for Charlestown which
has benefited greatly from past bond issues.
Questions
#1 and #2 ask for state voters to authorize upgrading the run-down Newport
Grand slot parlor to allow it to become a full-fledged casino with all the
amenities. Yes, gambling is a crappy way to fund state government, and yes,
encouraging working people to waste their money is pretty awful.
However, for
us in Charlestown, there are two self-interest reasons to say YES. One is that without the
upgrade, Newport Grand will be toast as soon as the Massachusetts casino in the
works for southeast Mass gets built. When they close, state funding will take a
huge hit. Second, a second full casino in Rhode Island increases the odds against
some future Charlestown casino from improbable to insurmountable.
I
suppose the CCA Party folks will still vote NO simply because they like being
able to campaign against a Narragansett Indian casino boogey monster every two
years.
Finally,
there’s Question #3 which asks voters if the state should undertake to hold a
Constitutional Convention (often called the “Con-Con”). Past history with state
constitutional conventions shows that they are almost always more expensive
than anyone expected and generally results ranging from negligible to
malicious.
Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has promised that he would not push his
anti-choice, anti-gay agenda if voters approve the Con-Con. An array of
extremist groups have lined up to support the Con-Con, on the assumption that,
once the process starts, there will be lots of opportunities to sneak radical
changes into our most important governing document.
I
plan to vote NO because I simply don’t see anything good coming from it.
Get out and vote
A
fact of life for Democrats is that the more people come out and vote, the more
likely it is that Democrats will win. In Charlestown, the CCA Party is very
good at its Get Out the Vote (GOTV), especially in Charlestown’s third precinct
(the southwestern quadrant where most of their wealthy supporters live).
If
you don’t vote, don’t even think about complaining about the outcome. But
please, VOTE.
If
you don’t know where to vote, you can find out by clicking
here.
FOOTNOTES
[1]
CRAC stands for “Charter Revision Advisory Committee.” For months, this group,
dominated by the anti-wind energy NIMBYs, tried to use the Charter revision
process to pay back people whom they felt were insufficiently supportive of
their anti-wind position. Most of their worst ideas got shot down.
[2]
DiBello’s campaign is still listed as “active” with the Board of Elections and
she is subject to fines for failing to file campaign finance reports.
[3]
Filippi also claims to be an “Independent.” However, he is registered to vote
as a Republican, has had Michael Napolitano, head of the state Republican candidate
recruitment “strike force” writing supportive comments in the Westerly Sun and
Filippi is using the state Republican script for 2014 – 38 Studios, Gordon Fox,
drop taxes on pensions, etc.