Please support positive change by supporting Charlestown Residents United

CRU slate works for all of Charlestown

By Deb Carney

On behalf of the candidates endorsed by Charlestown Residents United I humbly ask for your support for all our candidates. For Town Council: Rippy Serra, Peter Slom, Steve Stokes, Craig Marr and me, Deb Carney. For Planning Commission: Glenn Babcock and Laura Rom. And electing current Town Moderator Ray Dreczko and current School Committee member Laura Chapman.

Over the past two years we have worked to effect positive change and find solutions to issues in Charlestown.

Here is a list of just some of our accomplishments:

■ Delivered the second-lowest tax rate in the state while providing quality service;

■ Restored open and transparent government through increased meeting streaming, returning the meeting minutes to a format that provides actual information useful to the reader, stopping the abuse of removing town councilors’ items from the meeting agenda, and restoring the voice to the residents through reestablishing the Charter Review Advisory Committee as a standing committee;

■ Delivered a solution when the playground was removed from the Charlestown Elementary School due to safety concerns. The Town Council placed an item in the budget that transferred money from the town’s impact fees, at no cost to the taxpayer. The new playground is scheduled to be completed in November;

■ Worked collaboratively with the state to solve the immediate problem with the west wall of the Charlestown Breachway. Emergency repairs will be completed by the end of October. The long-term solution will take collaboration and involvement from the state and funding from the federal government;

■ Proactively worked to address the long overdue review of the town’s ordinance to bring us into compliance with state law, and the Constitution, in addition to addressing those ordinances that are outdated;

■ Provided portable lights to be used by our local youth football and cheerleading program so they can practice in the field when it gets darker earlier in the fall, rather than forcing them to practice in a parking lot. These portable lights will be used for events such as

Trunk or Treat and the New Year’s Eve bonfire, in addition to being available for town emergencies. These portable lights have no negative effect on the dark sky. When they are not in use, they are turned off; and

■ Worked with the South County Tourism Council to bring Thomas Dambo Trolls to Ninigret Park for all to enjoy.

This is a short list of some of the positive impacts for Charlestown over the past two years. I ask the voters to please allow us to continue to work collaboratively for you. We find compromise and solutions to benefit the many, not the few.

This election I ask you to please consider reelecting Rippy Serra, Peter Slom, Steve Stokes and me, Deb Carney to the Town Council and electing Craig Marr; for Planning Commission, Glenn Babcock and Laura Rom; and electing current Town Moderator Ray Dreczko and current School Committee member Laura Chapman.

The writer is president of the Charlestown Town Council and running for reelection.

He is what he is

 

From the Charlestown Historical Society

 

FALL 2024 Dear Members & Friends,   As summer turns to fall, we look back at a busy season for the CHS museum and schoolhouse. Visitors from around the states and folks looking to trace their family ancestry back to Charlestown's earliest days provided us with a constant flow of research and networking and opened new doors for the sharing of local historical information. We'd like to thank all of our CHS community for your ongoing patronage and participation, and please remember that we are open all year long at the museum and 1838 schoolhouse by appointment. The Talking Diary Project Simeon Perry's Life in Late 18th Century Charlestown The Perry family has over 300 years of presence here in South County, and this summer we were visited by one of its dedicated descendants to not only learn more of their ancestor's life, but to also introduce us to an incredible project of theirs which will allow us to communicate with Simeon through the amazing power of artificial intelligence. Between 1789 and his death in 1802, Simeon Perry kept a detailed diary of Charlestown's weather and daily happenings. Along with this information, which creates a clear picture of his family, social, spiritual and work life, there is also a database containing a diverse collection of local historical information that can be accessed to explain the world in which he lives. Simeon and AI will partner to answer your questions along with the help of a laptop, microphone and speakers. He'll tell you that he was a Quaker and frequently attended Quaker meetings. He'll give you the names of the people he met there, who his neighbors were, the name of the boat he took into Newport for supplies and the new schoolhouse which was being built that spring and even the death of his wife. Simeon and his world will come to life and transport you back in time. More to come on the presentation of the project and many thanks to this remarkable member for sharing her years of expertise in computer science that will enable this project to come to fruition.              CHS Cemetery Team Restores Church/Perry Burying Ground CH023 along Old Post Road, Cross' Mills  This year the ambitious CHS Cemetery Committee took on one of the most difficult projects of its existence. Not only was this small cemetery completely overgrown with trees and shrubs, but almost all of its beautiful headstones were lying on the ground from the effects of weather and age. With the help of a new tripod and dedicated community, these stones were repaired and reset, bringing this sacred place back to its almost original presence. Although most of our cemetery events require far less work, the undertaking of this project exemplifies the respect and passion for historic preservation. View the transformations below. We'd like to thank our Chair, Susan Angelo, Alan Angelo and Jeff Burns, and all of our dedicated volunteers for their commitment and perseverance! Charlestown Holiday Ramble Please join us on Friday, December 6th, for this annual holiday tradition along the Old Post Road. Throw on your hats and scarves and share an evening of community fun and festivity. CHS will be open from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. Hope to see you then! The Charlestown Historical Society is open year-round by appointment at: info@charlestownhistorical.org. Thank You for your patronage! Visit our website Email Us

Charlestown Historical Society | P.O. Box 100 | Charlestown, RI 02813

Proof that immigrants fuel the US economy is found in the billions they send back home

Like our parents and grandparents, immigrants come to this country for a better life and in return, make America great despite what Trump says

Ernesto Castañeda, American University

Migrant workers pick strawberries during harvest south
of San Francisco, Calif. 
Visions of America/Joe Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions of immigrants if he is elected to a second term, claiming that, among other things, foreign-born workers take jobs from others. His running mate JD Vance has echoed those anti-immigrant views.

Researchers, however, generally agree that massive deportations would hurt the U.S. economy, perhaps even triggering a recession.

Social scientists and analysts tend to concur that immigration — both documented and undocumented — spurs economic growth. But it is almost impossible to calculate directly how much immigrants contribute to the economy. That’s because we don’t know the earnings of every immigrant worker in the United States.

We do, however, have a good idea of how much they send back to their home countries – more than US$81 billion in 2022, according to the World Bank. And we can use this figure to indirectly calculate the total economic value of immigrant labor in the U.S.

Economic contributions are likely underestimated

I conducted a study with researchers at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies and the Immigration Lab at American University to quantify how much immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy based on their remittances, or money sent back home.

Several studies indicate that remittances constitute 17.5% of immigrants’ income.

Given that, we estimate that the immigrants who remitted in 2022 had take-home wages of over $466 billion. Assuming their take-home wages are around 21% of the economic value of what they produce for the businesses they work for – like workers in similar entry-level jobs in restaurants and construction – then immigrants added a total of $2.2 trillion to the U.S. economy yearly.

That is about 8% of the gross domestic product of the United States and close to the entire GDP of Canada in 2022 – the world’s ninth-largest economy.

Question 1 could open door in R.I. that should stay closed

Why give far-right activists another platform to attack civil rights?

By Mary-Murphy Walsh, Rhode Island Current

“You can pry this wedding ring from my cold, dead, gay hands.” That was Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s defiant message to Donald Trump at the Democratic National Convention, confronting his threats to LGBTQ+ rights. 

Democrats in Rhode Island might believe our state constitution shields us from such assaults on our freedoms. However, Question 1 on the Nov. 5 ballot poses a direct threat to our rights here at home. Alarmingly, most voters are unaware that the critical issue the first ballot question involves is even on the table.

Question 1 asks whether Rhode Island should hold a constitutional convention — a gathering of 75 elected delegates empowered to propose amendments to our state constitution. While this might initially seem like an opportunity for positive change, it is fraught with peril. Such a convention opens the door for sweeping alterations to our fundamental rights. Delegates could be anyone, potentially influenced by unlimited spending from out-of-state special interest groups with extreme agendas. Once elected, these delegates aren’t held accountable and can pursue their own objectives without the usual checks and balances that govern our legislative process.

History warns us of the dangers. In the 1986 constitutional convention, amendments were proposed to restrict a woman’s right to choose and to disenfranchise voters. But pro-life advocates weren’t satisfied with stopping there; their goal was — and continues to be — to erode the rights of women, workers, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color. The convention led to costly chaos and setbacks on several constitutional protections. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past.

What Would the Trump Campaign Plans Mean for Social Security?

Right-wing think tank takes a hard and realistic look at Trump's plan

US Budget Watch 2024 from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

The Social Security trust funds will be insolvent by Fiscal Year (FY) 2034, according to projections by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), at which point the law calls for a 23 percent cut in benefits.¹ Restoring solvency over the next 75 years would require the equivalent of reducing all future benefits by 24 percent or increasing revenue by 35 percent.

Vice President Kamala Harris has said she would “protect Social Security” and former President Donald Trump has said he would “fight for and protect Social Security.” Unfortunately, neither candidate has presented plans to fix Social Security’s finances despite the looming $16,500 cut facing a typical couple retiring just before insolvency.

In fact, we find President Trump’s campaign proposals would dramatically worsen Social Security’s finances.²

President Trump’s proposals to eliminate taxation of Social Security benefits, end taxes on tips and overtime, impose tariffs, and expand deportations would all widen Social Security’s cash deficits. Under our central estimate, we find that President Trump’s agenda would:

• Increase Social Security’s ten-year cash shortfall by $2.3 trillion through FY 2035.
• Advance insolvency by three years, from FY 2034 to FY 2031 – hastening the next President’s insolvency timeline by one-third.
• Lead to a 33 percent across-the-board benefit cut in 2035, up from the 23 percent CBO projects under current law.
• Increase Social Security’s annual shortfall by roughly 50 percent in FY 2035, from 3.6 to 4 percent of payroll.
• Require the equivalent of reducing current law benefits by about one-third or increasing revenue by about one-half to restore 75-year solvency.

CCA tries to distract Charlestown voters with shiny things

Don’t fall for this old trick

By Will Collette

To hear the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) tell it, if not for them, Charlestown would be lit up like a car dealership in Cranston. Unless they are returned to power, Charlestown will be lit up like convicts caught in the prison yard attempting a jail break. Without them in charge, Charlestown will look like the Las Vegas strip.

If you read their literature, this election is all about Charlestown’s dark sky. It’s not about the CCA’s financial screw-ups and mismanagement. Or about continuous tax increases during their ten years of power. Or their succession of shady land deals – over-priced properties, bogus appraisals, insider deals. It’s not about their decision to cover up their conduct by denying access to public records and denying non-CCA members to speak at Council meetings.

No, none of those issues matter at all. Just look at the shiny objects that the CCA wants you to think are a menace to you and all that you love.

My oh my, I am so sick of these people.

To learn more about the CCA's sleezy land deals, read The Politics of Charlestown Open Space.

Look, I grew up wanting to be an astronomer, at least until I found out it required a math aptitude I just don’t have. But I love sky-watching and appreciate the rare ability we have in Charlestown to see so much more of the night sky than our urban neighbors. We've run more than 400 articles in Progressive Charlestown on astronomy.

According to the CCA's campaign filing reports, these slick,
3-page flyers cost $3000+ to print and mail on a phony issue

But if you were to ask me to rank dark skies among the needs of residents, it would be on the list but not in first place by a long shot. As a voter, I’d put a higher ranking on good town management, clean water, affordable housing for seniors and workers, transportation alternatives, sound land management and honesty.

But apparently CCA leader and Town Council candidate Ruth Platner (possibly former Planning Commissar) wants this election to be all about dark skies. It sure beats talking about CCA financial foul-ups. Oh, look at the not-shiny thing!

For detail on just how badly the CCA messed up on finances and taxes, read Charlestown finances and taxes – Your choice on November 5 then read RI Auditor General finds new CRU leadership in Charlestown improved town finances to see how our current CRU Council leadership has turned things around. It also explains why the CCA is so eager to distract you with a bogus issue.

It’s worth revisiting how we got to this point. When Tom Ferrio and I started Progressive Charlestown, we found the CCA gave us lots to write about. In addition to shady land deals, Platner’s dark sky obsession figured prominently in the early years of the CCA’s rule.

For several years, Platner kept trying to figure out how to write a town ordinance to ban outside lighting, especially for sports and recreation, or at least force people to comply with using only shielded, downward facing outdoor lights.

In her early attempts, she tried to make it retroactive to cover every light in town but was told that wasn’t legal. She tried to make it compulsory on everyone, but that sparked a huge backlash.

She tried to regulate lighting as minutely as she has in such things as Charlestown’s anti-wind power ordinance or their newly released “Design Standards” that dictate down to the smallest detail what can or can’t be done with buildings in Charlestown. At one point, she went for a plan that would require you to install new dark sky-friendly light fixtures anytime you changed a lightbulb. 

Some CCA Planning Commission members had even more radical ideas, such as blacking out the town, noting that we get the best dark skies during extended power outages.

It was everyone’s worst nightmare of regulatory overreach.

Watching it was sad, but also funny. It was a battle that never needed to be fought and that’s still true today.

At the time, I suggested a better approach would be to conduct public education to pursue assisted voluntary compliance. The town could help promote dark sky lighting through property tax credits to offset the cost of retrofitting. It could also arrange a bulk purchasing plan to make it easier and cheaper to buy such things as hoods for outdoor floodlights.

But no, the CCA and Ruth don’t trust you to make good decisions.

After long and arduous failed attempts and endless public hearings, Ruthie finally got a watered down, unenforceable dark sky ordinance passed. In my opinion, she got less than she would have through the voluntary approach I recommended.

But that’s not all. It wouldn’t be a CCA campaign without an imaginary crisis, in this case “The Battle for Ninigret Park.” Like today’s phony CCA dark sky panic, it involved an approaching Armageddon sparked by the idea of after-dark activities in Ninigret Park.

To read more about the CCA’s habit of creating phony threats, read Fear and Loathing in Charlestown Politics.

This crisis featured a phony dossier – referred to as "Document #2" - held but never revealed by former CCA President and Town Council member Dan Slattery. According to Slattery, any attempt to install lights in Ninigret Park would trigger the federal government to take back the Park. And he had the proof right there in Document #2.

The town was in an uproar for months and it took an appearance by regional US Interior Department office Elyse LaForest to establish that (a) Charlestown owns Ninigret Park, (b) no, the Interior Department had no plans to take back the Park and (c) under the federal program that transferred decommissioned military land to local governments, there were almost no instances of land reverting back to the feds.

In those rare instances, it was usually because the local government asked the feds to take the land back.

After an investigation by the RI Attorney General, Dan Slattery admitted that there wasn’t actually anything in “Document #2, his Ninigret dossier.

There were casualties in the Battle for Ninigret Park, of course, since the CCA needed blood. Town Administrator Bill DiLibero and Parks and Rec Director Jay Primiano lost their jobs.

So here we go again, another election and another bizarre CCA conspiracy theory.

Like I said, I am so sick of these people and the way they behave. After all this, how dare they ask for your vote.

There really is an "October Surprise"

Remember Janary 6 on November 5

Adam Kinzinger and Jim Langevin join for provocative discussion with students at URI

Democracy at stake

Kristen Curry 

Self-described renegade Congressman Adam Kinzinger made his first visit to Rhode Island this week. Despite the state’s notable blue streak, its appreciation for the occasional Republican politician (see Chafee Hall) and noted independent streak made it a welcoming spot to hear Kinzinger’s message, shared most recently in his book, Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country, published last year, and on his substack.

On Tuesday, the former U.S. representative visited the University of Rhode Island, where students and community members have been mulling and debating the meaning of democracy this fall.

Kinzinger’s visit was a warm one—at times humorous—with little talk of blue or red and more discussion of the impact of the political on the personal and what recent and current events mean for young people today. 

The candid conversation was hosted by his former colleague and friend James Langevin, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001-23 known for reaching across the aisle in both his political work and post-legislative life.

Investigation finds insufficient evidence to prosecute McKee for influencing award of ILO contract

But report shows it was still a sleezy deal

By Alexander Castro and Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

 An email sent by Julia Rafal-Baer to an out-of-state colleague references a request for proposal with a winking emoji. The Office of the RI Attorney General saw the email as suggesting the ‘the procurement process was manipulated from the outset,’ according to a report released Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Screenshot/Rhode Island Attorney General)

The awarding of a multimillion-dollar state education contract in 2021 flouted state procurement laws, but there’s not enough evidence to press criminal charges against Gov. Dan McKee and his advisers.

So concluded the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General and the Rhode Island State Police in a report issued Tuesday, marking the end to a three-year probe into the now-abandoned contract with the ILO Group.

“The Governor and his administration did not follow state procurement rules and regulations — the evidence of that is plain and cannot be seriously disputed,” Attorney General Peter Neronha concluded in a 14-page memo. “But enforcing state procurement rules is not within this Office’s responsibilities. Our job is to determine whether crimes were committed.”

Neronha and Col. Darnell S. Weaver, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, are scheduled to take questions from reporters at Neronha’s office in Providence on Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors and Rhode Island State Police pored over thousands of records obtained through a combination of court-authorized search warrants, other legal avenues and in response to public records requests, and conducted interviews of more than 25 witnesses, including state officials, officers and employees. The AG’s website on Tuesday afternoon posted a trove of memos, emails, text messages, conflict of interest forms and campaign finance filings with the state Board of Elections.

The investigation found the $5.2 million deal with the ILO Group was in the works as McKee’s team prepared for his transition from lieutenant governor to governor in early 2021 to fill the unexpired term of former Gov. Gina Raimondo after she was tapped as U.S. Commerce Secretary.

But, “the evidence is cloudy and contradictory in places,” Neronha wrote. “Cloudy and contradictory evidence rarely if ever justifies a prosecution, and seldom leads to a successful one. We choose not to bring one here.”

Raytheon gets busted

Military Contractors Return to Their Old Ways 

By Philip Mattera, director of the Corporate Research Project for the Dirt Diggers Digest

In the 1980s and 1990s the big military contractors developed a reputation as some of the most corrupt major corporations in the United States. They were at the center of numerous scandals involving brazen overcharging in their dealings with the Pentagon, and they were often accused of providing defective equipment. 

Because the Defense Department was so dependent on them, these companies continued to be awarded lucrative contracts.

By the 2000s, the weapons makers were no longer in the spotlight as other industries such as the giant banks, Big Pharma, and the oil majors came to be viewed as the main corporate villains. After the arms companies got involved in arming the Ukrainian government to resist the 2022 Russian invasion, some ESG investors began to argue that the likes of Raytheon and Northrop Grumman should no longer be excluded from ethical portfolios.

A recent announcement by the Justice Department suggests that the military contractors have not changed their old ways. DOJ reported that Raytheon Company, now a subsidiary of a parent company known as RTX, is paying $950 million to resolve allegations in several categories.

First, it was accused of cheating the federal government by providing “false and fraudulent information to the DOD during contract negotiations concerning two contracts with the United States for the benefit of a foreign partner — one to purchase PATRIOT missile systems and the other to operate and maintain a radar system.” 

The deception caused the government to pay Raytheon $111 million more than it should have received. To settle this case, which is one of very few contract matters handled as a criminal offense, Raytheon paid a penalty of $147 million.

The second allegation involved additional instances in which the company provided “untruthful certified cost or pricing data when negotiating prices with the DOD for numerous government contracts and double billed on a weapons maintenance contract.” Raytheon paid a whopping $428 million to settle this civil action.

The third allegation involved bribes paid to a high-level official of the Qatari Air Force to obtain contracts. To resolve charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, paid a criminal fine of $230 million and other penalties. This and the other criminal charge were resolved through two deferred prosecution agreements, meaning that the company did not have to enter a guilty plea.

DOJ’s actions came less than two months after RTX paid $200 million to the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls to resolve allegations of violating the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) in connection with unauthorized defense exports.

Vote ‘yes’ on Question 8 in Charlestown

Support open and transparent government

By Steven J. Williams

Attention Charlestown residents. On you ballot, in the section titled “Local Questions,” there is Question No. 8, titled Council Meetings & Conduct. This question seems innocuous, but it is important for all of us regardless of affiliation.

The intent of Question No. 8 is to allow any council member the right to add any reasonable subject to the agenda without it being voted off by other council members prior to a public council meeting. 

In the past, prior to a public council meeting there was an “agenda-setting meeting” with only the council members and town administrator present to vote on what would be placed on the agenda for the public council meeting. 

The agenda-setting meeting had one rule: you couldn’t discuss the agenda item. As a result, suggested agenda items could be voted off with no reason given. 

These meetings were stopped, but must not happen again, which is the purpose of this charter change. Council members should not be able to vote off an agenda suggestion before it is presented to the public. It defeats the purpose of a public meeting if they vote prior to the public meeting.

When I was on the Town Council, at an agenda-setting meeting I suggested two agenda subjects; one was related to military exemptions and the other to accounting of dredging funds; both reasonable subjects. Both were voted off by the four Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) council members. 

This had happened previously to me, so it was not a one-time experience. Later, it also happened to Charlestown Residents United (CRU) council members. What is the point of a public council meeting if your agenda items can’t be heard? But, this is how CCA works — decide out of the public eye, then follow up with a predetermined script for public consumption.

The CCA in its brochure states the vote for Question No. 8 is a “toss-up” — don’t be fooled by the nonchalance. Prevent agenda-setting in the future. Make sure you approve question No. 8, otherwise council members could be deciding issues at an agenda-setting meeting the public will never know about

A version of this article appeared as a Letter To the Editor in The Westerly Sun on October 29, 2024.