Senate Finance hearing for RIDOT Director ignores concerns, hit-and-run victim’s story interrupted
By Steve Ahlquist, UpriseRI
At a Rhode Island Senate Finance Committee hearing this week, a hit-and-run victim’s testimony on the relationship between transportation and health was interrupted by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio.
“I was just trying to give my brief testimony,” said Hayley
Buckey, who suffered a hit and run accident on North Main Street in
Providence last October. Buckey spoke to Uprise RI after testifying
before the Rhode Island Senate Finance Committee hearing to
re-confirm Peter Alviti as Director of the Rhode Island
Department of Transportation (RIDOT).
“I had two main points. I was trying to make the relationship
between transportation and health clear,” said Buckey. “Someone hit me in a
crosswalk and I was reading from the [accident] report when I got interrupted
[by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (Democrat, District 4, North
Providence).]
“It was kind of a weird feeling. I was surprised.”
Before the Senate Finance Committee took public comment on Director Alviti’s reconfirmation, Alviti had taken center stage at the hearing for over 90 minutes, delivering his comments and fielding questions from committee members.
You can watch Alviti’s testimony and questioning before the committee
here. Of the 20 members of the public who had waited patiently for
their turn to testify, only 16 members could stay until they were called.
No one from the public ended up testifying in favor of Director Alviti’s re-confirmation. No transportation advocacy groups in Rhode Island publicly supported Director Alviti.
Environmental groups interested in averting
climate catastrophe, or at the very least interested in meeting the goals set
in the Rhode Island’s Act on Climate legislation, like Climate
Action Rhode Island, also opposed Alviti’s confirmation.
As Buckey read from the accident report she became emotional.
“When I read the crash report I don’t feel emotional, I mostly feel annoyed and
mad that it happened, but reading it out loud to other people made me a little
emotional because I’m anticipating other people being sad,” said Buckey.
“They had to take me to the hospital, but other people have had worse outcomes.”
“Point of order!” interjected Senate President Ruggerio. “We’re
here to hear testimony on the Director of the Department of Transportation.
We’re not here to hear testimony on an accident that occurred or something like
that unless DOT was negligent – I mean, c’mon here!”
The Senate President then slammed his cellphone on the table.
“Haley, you can continue on – move beyond the accident please,”
said Senate Finance Chair Louis DiPalma (Democrat, District 12,
Little Compton, Middletown, Newport, Tiverton), taking his cue from the Senate
President.
“She has a point!” said Providence resident Gayle Gifford, who had previously testified against Alviti’s confirmation. The rest of those in the room opposing the re-confirmation erupted into protest and challenged Chair DiPalma’s decision.
The Senate President cannot be heard but can be seen
in the video angrily responding to those protesting, only to be reined in by
quiet words and a hand on the shoulder by Senate Majority Leader Ryan
Pearson (Democrat, District 19, Cumberland).
“This is the Senate Finance Committee,” said Senator DiPalma
demanding order. “The committee will speak. Hayley continue.”
Buckey finished up her first point by saying the final line she
intended to say, then moved onto the rest of her testimony.
It’s hard to understand why the Senate President lost his temper in the hearing room. (The Senate President did not reply to a request to Uprise RI for comment.)
Since Governor Daniel McKee re-nominated him, the re-confirmation of Peter Alviti, despite the testimony of every member of the public in strong opposition, was assured.
In the end, all eight members of the committee – including Senator Samuel Zurier (Democrat, District 3, Providence) who represented many of the East Side residents who spoke in opposition to Alviti’s continued leadership at RIDOT – voted in favor. His re-confirmation now moves onto the full Senate where he will be easily and overwhelmingly confirmed.
During questioning, some Senators posed serious questions to
Director Alviti about his eight years as Director of RIDOT, though most of the
questioning was perfunctory.
Senator Zurier asked the Director if he
believes that the Act on Climate goals on reducing emissions from highway
vehicles is “an attainable goal.”
Alviti sidestepped the question.
“Whether or not I believe it is probably less important than if
the science and the data tells us that that is the fact,” said Alviti. “And
we’re investigating that now. Up until now there have been no good ways to
either model or predict what kind of scenarios, if employed, would result in
what kind of reductions. It’s new science that didn’t exist before…”
“Is it going to be DOT’s policy to hit the 45% goals for highway
vehicles by 2030?” asked Senator Zurier, drilling down.
“I think that there are a lot of factors that that depends on,”
said Director Alviti. “It doesn’t just take, for example, taking half our budget
and spending it on alternative methods of transportation because, as I said
before, the actual demand base is with the users…”
“I hope you share the sense of urgency that we had when my
colleagues enacted the Act on Climate legislation,” said Senator Zurier.
“I do,” asserted Director Alviti. Members of the public in the room listening to Alviti’s answers were not convinced.
Below are excerpts from the testimony brought to the committee
by the 16 members of the public who showed up and waited their turn to testify.
“We have to stop prioritizing discretionary funds used for
highway expansion,” said transportation advocate Barry
Schiller. Schiller noted that discretionary funds should be used to
advance the goals of the Transit Master Plan. Schiller also criticized RIDOT’s
communication with transit advocacy groups, which for the last eight years has
not happened.
“We think Rhode Island’s transportation system is outdate and
overly auto-centric, and that it has been failing, in many ways, to keep pace
with the needs of our residents, our economy and our planning,” said Scott
Wolf from Grow Smart RI. We need a DOT Director who
supports a much more aggressive implementation of the Transit Master Plan.
According to RIPTA, implementing the TMP would achieve 80% of Rhode
Island’s Climate Action target or reducing vehicle miles traveled.”
“We are concerned that RIDOT is focusing on a 20th Century
auto-centric mindset when we really need a 21st Century approach,” said Patricia
Raub from RI Transit Riders.
“Director Alviti hasn’t fully embraced the Act on Climate,”
said Peter Brussard from Rhode Island
Association of Railroad Passengers. “Highway widening projects are detrimental
at the expense of other modes [of transportation].”
“We need visionary leadership to take us places we thought we
could never go, and we have to do it now,” said Providence resident Gayle
Gifford. “We need leadership that expresses that.”
“When we asked DOT to fix North Main Street because Zachary Richardson lost his life there, we get responses that are not humane,” said Providence resident Valerie Reishuk, who is a senior citizen who does not drive. “When we speak to DOT about pedestrian death, the answers we … don’t get compassion and we don’t get that forward thinking that so many have talked about here tonight.”
“RIDOT has lied to the public about the impacts of road infrastructure projects and later admitted that they have no methodology to actually measure them which meant that it was impossible for Peter Alviti to be sure that he was following the Act on Climate,” said Providence resident Cedric Yee, who is under the age of 16 and cannot drive.
“Back in 2020 Mr.
Alviti and RIDOT knew about the dumping of contaminated soil in the dense,
working class residential neighborhood as part of the 6/10 reconstruction
project, and they let it happen under their watch then he intentionally lied
and mislead the public in statements and interviews in an attempt to cover up
the illegal activity.”
“Trying to traverse nearly any of the DOT controlled streets or
intersections outside of a care is a hostile and dangerous task,” said Sean.
“All of the leading organizations in the state that speak for
cyclists, transit riders and pedestrians oppose his re-nomination,” said Christian
Roselund. Read Roselund’s oped, “Why Peter Alviti Must Go” at UpriseRI.
“We know that our ability to meet the Act on Climate goals
depends largely on transitioning to electric vehicle, reducing vehicle miles
traveled through increasingly effective public transit and safer, broader
infrastructure for non-car transport,” said Alexander
Neidich on behalf of Climate Action Rhode Island. “Under
Director Alviti’s leadership RIDOT has deprioritized or openly opposed all of
the above.”
“Under Alviti, RIDOT has allowed the Bicycle Mobility Plan to
languish, despite trying to take credit for it here tonight. The projects the
Director tried to take credit for tonight are largely recreational greenways
and are not designed with transportation or equity in mind” said Pawtucket
resident Dylan Gyles.
“We invite Director Alviti to help us respond to the 60% of the
population who would ride bikes if they felt safe,” said Newport resident Bari
Freeman, Director of Bike Newport, presented a more nuanced
view criticizing Director Alviti’s policies but stressing the hope to work with
him in the future..
“If we want to reduce the soaring costs of ongoing road
maintenance, and meet our climate goals, we have to invest in non-car
transportation,” said Providence resident Michael
Kearney. “Mr Alviti said earlier that he’s waiting for change on
non-car transportation. That doesn’t make sense. We can’t wait for people to
use bike lanes and transit that don’t exist.”
“If Peter Alviti doesn’t believe in induced demand, the closest thing we have to a law in transportation planning, that trouble me very much” said Providence resident Evan Morman, a transportation engineer.
One more note:
The Senate Finance Committee meeting was attended by Senate President Ruggerio and Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson, who are ex officio members of every committee.
Often times, it is believed that
the presence of Senate leadership at such proceedings is a thumb on the scales,
weighting the committee towards an outcome leadership desires. On close votes,
it is sometimes the presence of ex officio leadership that
might tilt the scales.
Senator Frank Ciccone (Democrat, District 7, North
Providence) took exception to this characterization
of the Senate President and Majority Leader’s presence at the committee
meeting.
“They sit in on almost every advice and consent,” said Senator
Ciccone. “And to say that the fact that they’re here is going to affect the way
that we vote… I think that statement is totally irrelevant. [The Senate
President] is here because he has a right to be here and he sits in on the
advice and consent of every Director and Judge. So let’s make that clear. He
doesn’t influence anyone here on how they vote.”
The Senate Finance Committee passed Director Alviti’s
reconfirmation 8-0.
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