Back to the Future with Buddy Cianci????

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Can Buddy do it again and then are we that stupid and masochistic to be fooled a third time?

I have just read where Buddy Cianci, the independent candidate for mayor of Providence and two time convicted felon, has 38% of the public supporting his candidacy for a third round of fooling the public. I will admit up front that I do not live or vote in Providence, so maybe I should not be critical of the Providence electorate. The voters of Providence certainly have the right to elect their own mayor. The rest of us Rhode Islanders should respect that right. However, when the mayor of Providence engages in actions that harm the welfare of all the citizens of Rhode Island, then I feel we have a right to express our opinion and to advocate for what is in the interest of the whole state.

Buddy, The Prince of Providence, did many things for and to Providence during his tenures as Mayor, but these all followed one rule. That rule was if it was good for Buddy then it must be good for Providence. A corollary to that rule was, if it was good for Providence, then Buddy should be paid first. Corruption, the charge that eventually landed the mayor in prison and forced him out of office for the second time, is a TAX on the people.It is a tax just like the City's official taxes, except that the money goes to one individual who, in turn, buys the votes, loyalty and services of a gang of co-conspirators. The divert funds slip away from the public interest and into the pockets of those who privately benefit from the conspiracy. It means that we pay more for less and lower quality for the public services that our tax dollars were supposed to support. Do we need this again?

I recently had the opportunity to read Mike Stanton's book," The Prince of Providence: The True Story of Buddy Cianci, America's Most Notorious Mayor, Some Wiseguys, and the Feds." I was truly surprised by the depth of corruption upon which the Providence Renaissance was build and the price the citizens had and have to pay to correct the problems created. 

The Providence Journal as recently conducted a Providence Journal./WPRO political poll which shows Cianci, at this time, 9 - 24 - 2014, leading his opponents with a 38% preference of those polled while the Democratic candidate, Jorge Elorza is polling 32.4% and the Republican,Harrop at 6%. But as the Projo pointed out in an editorial on 9 - 26 - 2014 that name recognition is still a major factor in the results. More significant, I feel, is that 41% felt that Buddy;s corruption conviction would have little or no impact on their view of the candidate.

I would strongly suggest any objective voter in Providence take the time to read Stanton's book to gain an understanding of the Buddy, the man, and Buddy, the MAYOR. If ever there was a case of Breaking Bad this is a classic one. Has anyone ever wondered what happened to Pfizer's plan to locate a major plant at Fields Point? Why and how we, as a State, lost all those jobs and tax revenue that that deal would have produced? How the ego of one local politician to get ahead of the Governor for credit for the deal, scotched it? Read the book!

We don't need to go back to the Buddy future. The world has changed and Rhode Island has changed. Rhode Island needs to go into a NEW future with a new outlook and new image. Providence plays an important role in that effort.

Buddy is filled with ideas, some pipe dreams, some outlandish, and some very sound and practical. Let him use the bully pulpit of his radio show to expound on these. But let's have a new voice, more in tune with the times, and who is willing to work with and for the community take charge of Providence;s future, rather than working for himself and his cronies.

  

CONGRATULATIONS RHODE ISLAND

 The Providence Journal has just announced the following:

Update: RI among 10 winning 'Race to the Top' millions

ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Education Department says Rhode Island, eight other states and the District of Columbia will receive money in the second round of the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" school reform grant competition. Department spokesman Justin Hamilton says the winners are: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. The amounts of the grants are expected to be announced later.


Superintendent Gist and the superintendents, teachers and parents who have supported the application reflect the hard work and commitment to the welfare of our children. Your hard work has been rewarded. Now we have a chance to improve our educational system into the one we need to prepare them to grow, develop, mature and prepare for life in the 21st century. To those who have opposed the process for short term and regressive ideals about the role of unions and work to rule, it is time to put that behind you and join in building Rhode Island into what it can become, instead of fighting to keep it what it has become.

Again, Congratulations to those who work so hard for it and to the students will benefit from the grant.

But a word of caution, this is only the beginning. Let's make certain that the plan is followed, the results evaluated and the system is really working.

Fireworks and the RI General Assembly -- a Combustable Mixture

Insane, Short sighted, incompetent and forgetful is the only way to describe the RI General Assembly and a Governor who goes along with them.

On June 16th, 2010 the RI General Assemble and The Governor gave approval of the

Fireworks bill

This morning the Projo carried this story about fireworks in a public building,Motel guests evacuated after fireworks set off

On Thursday, February 20, 2003, The Station nightclub fire occurred beginning at 11:07 PM EST. Located in West Warwick, Rhode Island, this is the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history, killing 100 people, four of whom died after being admitted to local hospitals. The fire was caused when pyrotechnic sparks ignited flammable sound insulation foam in the walls and ceilings around the stage. This subsequently created a flash fire that engulfed the club in 5½ minutes. Some 230 people were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured. Video footage of the fire depicts its initial growth and the exit blockage which hindered evacuation



At least one person appears to remember and care. I just received the following bulletin from the Providence Journal.

From the Projo 6/21/10 Breaking news.'The state fire marshal on Monday expressed concerns about the newly adopted law that allows the sale of fireworks in Rhode Island, but he stated emphatically that it does not permit the use of gerbs -- the kind of indoor pyrotechnic that set off the Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people in 2003. Jack Chartier, the fire marshal, said that under the new law, only "consumer grade'' fireworks, such as sparklers and poppers, are allowed to be sold to anyone 16 years of age or older. He said these type of fireworks are only permitted outdoors"

It does not take a genius to know what Albert Einstein observed.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I guess our elected officials are as insane as those who elect them.

Trust comes before respect in education reform

The Providence Journal story "Hundreds of RI teachers rally to protest policies of Commissioner Gist" describes the continuing self defeating conflict between the Rhode island Teachers unions and the Rhode Island educational system and their taxpaying supporters. This guest posting reflects one person's take on the situation

Guest posting from Ethnographer

The question of trust and respect seem to be at the heart of the teacher vs public controversy now taking place here in Rhode Island. If these issues are not resolved between the teachers and public, it doesn't matter what the union or the courts say, the educational system in Rhode Island will continue to fail the students and the tax payers.

The industrial labor management mind set shared by the teacher's unions and the school systems is at the core of the current dispute. It is an outdated business model based on the lack of trust between the owners of capital and the workers who use that capital to make a commodity product that the capitalist owner sells to the public. If you believe that students are coffee beans, that model works well.

However, if you believe a student is a Human being, then this model does not work. An educational system in a modern civilized society is supposed to produce a human being who is an educated, self supporting adult who can perform to the best of his or her ability as a citizen in the community. Such as system would be based on a human investment business model.

So what happens when you can't trust the system to produce the results you expect for your child? Why should you respect those who are responsible are messing up the job and producing an inferior product?

Parents, employers, and taxpayers are tired of hearing the complaints from the unions about pay levels, tenure, seniority, and pensions. These complaints offer only one solution to the larger educational system-wide problem. That solution is based on the theory that more money and security paid to teachers is the only thing preventing better performance.

The wider problem is not more money for teachers, the problem is better and more effective allocation of the current educational budget and resources to address the needs of the student. Cutting programs and services in order to pay higher wages and pensions to teachers is not the answer. But the unions fail to recognize this, asking for higher pay instead.

The unions, in selecting this solution, are responding to a problem brought on by mandates created by the General Assembly and Federal government. These mandates create "mission creep" problem by imposing more responsibilities upon the classroom teacher. These are responsibilities that they are not trained for or given resources to deal with effectively. Based on the industrial model, the unions respond by asking for more money for a heavier workload and more restricting work rules. Again, this makes sense if you are producing and now packaging coffee beans.

Who is responsible for this? The community and the parents are responsible when they ask their legislatures to mandate services for children that should be the responsibility of parents and performed at home. These services are imposed on the schools and, in turn, to the classroom teachers.

Our society has imposed more and more parental responsibilities upon the nations schools and their teachers. No longer is their only job to teach and educate the student in a set of proscribed skills; instead teachers are also expected to be a social worker and handle the problems the child brings into the classroom from home; to be a psychologist who diagnosis and treats psychological disorders and mental health issues that the student has; to act as a police officer to detect incidence and enforce rules against problems such as child abuse, bullying, substance abuse, etc. that may be brought into the school or classroom. No amount of pay increase is going to solve the problem of too much responsibility, limited time and resources, and inadequate staffing that are brought on by these mandates. No amount of money is going to solve the mission creep problem.

It is no wonder that the teachers are frightened and don't trust the school system to come up with a fair evaluation system. What are teacher going to be evaluated on? Are they being evaluated for their role as teacher, or social workers, or psychologists or police or all of the above? All they hear is "TEST SCORE."

This concern is expressed, for example,in this quote from the story.

“Poverty is an issue, and it has to be addressed,” said Debbie Scarpelli, a Pawtucket teacher. “We are there for our kids. But I have kids coming into school who had a brother shot in a drive-by. I have students who arrive from other countries whose first year of formal education is seventh grade. I don’t think it’s fair that only teachers and principals are held accountable for this.”

A school system that relies on a single quantitative measure as an indicator of quality, such as A Single Test Score, is using the same industrial labor management model that the union is. That "test score" is effectively the "profit" for the capitalist. And as we all know, profit bears no relation to the quality of the product produced by labor, only to the skills of lawyers and accountants to manipulate the numbers.

The problem teachers fear is that they will evaluated not as teachers but on the basis of their other roles. That test score is a combination of what the student brings into the classroom, something which is outside the teacher's control; and what the teacher can teach him or her in the classroom. But what part of the score belongs to the student and what part has been contributed by the teacher? Where do you draw the line? This is the question.

Trust can only be regained if the evaluation criteria are real, fair, and meaningful for both the teacher and parents. It is up to their respective representatives, the school system and the union, to find the common ground. Instead they are now maximizing their differences. They should come to an agreement that their common ground is preparing students to become educated and productive citizens.

Real means the teacher is evaluated only on what is done in the classroom. The impact on the students should be measured by what they know at the beginning the term and what they learned at the end of the term. For the parent, it is a perceived improvement in the student's total behavior both in the classroom and outside of it.

Fair is that the teacher is evaluated only on their teaching performance in the context of the classroom and school population. This is where they have control of their destiny and it is what they can honestly be held accountable for. They should be evaluated based on their teaching of these students, not on how they perform as social workers, police man, etc. For the parent, it is that their child's teacher is taking a personal interest in the child's educational needs.

Meaningful means that the teacher is being evaluated on the student's overall progress and not a single test score. For the parent it is a visual objective body of evidence that their child is being challenged and making progress. This is, for example, where a portfolio system is a more effective measure for individual progress as well as teacher performance.

Respect can be earned only when the parties involved can learn to trust one another. Building trust is the first step to education reform. Trust can come when the representatives of the teachers and the parents get away from the industrial business model and adopt a human investment model.

Ethnographer

Addendum - Bangkok West

This is an addendum to yesterday's post and clarification

In light of yesterday's story about the teenage stripper, the Providence Journal this morning carries the following story, Providence legislator seeks to ban underage stripping

Rep. Joanne Giannini, D-Providence, said she is working on a bill that would ban anyone younger than 18 from working in strip clubs.

The story goes on to say that the teenager in question was from Massachusetts and was using a fake ID to get the job at the time.

This case may be an unusual and exceptional one, but it points to piece-meal approach that the legislature goes about when dealing with critical public policy issues. Loopholes whether by intent or ignorance are a hallmark of this part-time one party body. Short term and narrow political thinking have been the SOP (standard operating proceedure) of the RI Assembly for all too long. But as long as the people of RI are happy beggaring each other, it will continue.

What do you think about the Governor's Report on the Economic Development Council?

Shakeup sought for economic agency

09:07 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 22, 2009

By Benjamin N. Gedan

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE –– A panel reviewing the state’s economic development agency issued a blistering report Tuesday, criticizing its performance as “fragmented, disjointed and without focus.”

http://www.projo.com/news/content/BZ_EDC_REORGANIZATION_04-22-09_UTE41U3_v188.39431fc.html

My take on the subject:

I am a RI native-born who left the area after college and spent 20 years plus living outside the region and working nationally and internationally. When I came back here 20 years later, I realized just how much potential there is here. I am still waiting for the folks who I left behind when I left to see that potential.

EDC was created shortly before I came back.There have been a number of initiatives, plans, reorganizations, leaders, and development philosophies. The comments in the article are, from my perspective, soft compared to what might have been said.

I share the feelings of many natives who have returned to RI after time away, and the newcomers who see the beauty and potential of the Ocean State.

Many want to roll up their sleeves and do something.

Back in the early to mid 1990s, I was part of group -- Vision Rhode Island -- that evolved out a series of public meetings initiated by citizens and professional planners. Our goal was to stir things up and shake the power that be out of their narrow, boxed in short term thinking. We want to promote a We survived for about four years until the energy ran out. We ran into a lot of inertia and passive aggression from the powers that be.

There are some very dedicated people working at EDC but they are handicapped by the lack of leadership and consistency from the top and political interference of an incompetent legislature. All the talk about economic development turns out to be code for short term survival. (My opinion).

There is a definite need for a grass roots effort to bring change and to bring together a coalition of interests that are willing to take the long view and commit to it. Whether that is possible, I am getting to an age where I still hope but expect not in my lifetime.

The very strength of RI -- its strong sense of individualism and minimalism (39 cities and towns in what anywhere else would be an average size county) is also its greatest weakness.

Catching up -- The Separation of Powers

Although the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was formally established and recognized by the British crown in 1663, the year 2008 finally brought Rhode Island into the 19th Century -- politically. Rhode Island declared its independence from England on , May 4, 1776, two months before the other 12 American colonies. As an "independent" territory Rhode Island retained the 1663 Royal Charter as its foundational document.

Rhode Island was the last colony (13th of the original 13 states) to accept statehood when on May 29, 1790 the General Assembly ratified the Constitution. However, the foundational political document for Rhode Island remained the 127 year old colonial charter.

As a result of this "conservative" response to liberal opportunity, the Rhode Island General Assembly has been governing authority in the state for over 340 years. The charter was modified by the first State constitution ratified in 1842. But this did not result in a significant redistribution of political power.

What do I mean by governing authority? I mean that the political powers of legislation, administration and adjudication have essential rested in the State legislature. Supposedly in the hands of the people, this form of democratic tyranny places the full political power of government in the hands of the Speaker of the House and President of the State senate. That is, until 2004, when 78% of Rhode Island voter approved an amendment to the 1841 state constitution, specifically establishing the separation of powers.

It has taken 4 years of public effort to overcome the obstructionist Democrat dominated legislature to final rest the powers assigned to the executive and judicial branches from the legislature. In 2008, a banner year, the judiciary finally had the backbone to rule in its own interest and confirm the principle of separation of powers. Edward Acorn of the Providence Journal describes the importance of this event.


Edward Achorn: A toast to courageous Rhode Island leaders

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

EDWARD ACHORN

RHODE ISLAND ENDURED more than its share of horrible news in 2008, but just before Christmas something wonderful unfolded — a coda to an inspiring story, suggesting that the state can, indeed, move forward, in spite of the powerful forces invested in dragging it down. All it takes is tireless work and courage.

In a landmark ruling that will be remembered, perhaps, as the crowning achievement of Chief Justice Frank Williams, the Supreme Court unanimously stood up for separation of powers, the constitutional amendment passed by nearly 78 percent of the voters in 2004

Separation of powers ends the legacy of 340 years of the overweening dominance of the General Assembly in Rhode Island, an unbalanced system that has contributed mightily to political corruption over the years. The amendment means that here, at long last, as in the other states, the legislature will write the laws, the executive branch will implement and enforce them, and the judicial branch will interpret them.

This is the system America’s Founders enshrined in the federal constitution. They well understood the dangers of despotism and corruption when legislators are permitted to implement the laws they write (or an executive is empowered to dictate the laws).

“The accumulation of all powers . . . in the same hands . . . may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny,” James Madison wrote in No. 47 of the Federalist Papers.

And such an accumulation, to some degree, has afflicted the Ocean State for centuries now, with the results we now see in government dysfunction and resulting economic malaise.

In the four years since voters passed the amendment in a landslide, the General Assembly has worked hard to implement much of it. Legislators had to be removed from boards where they were exercising executive powers, and to shift to their proper role of providing oversight of the executive branch.

But lawmakers could not resist clinging to one glittering jewel: their appointments to the Coastal Resources Management Council. The council is a goldmine for politicians, because significant money and power is involved in coastal development in the Ocean State. So the legislature petitioned the Supreme Court for a ruling about whether it could retain that power, under a section of the constitution that stated “it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide for conservation of the air, land, water.”

The argument was as specious as it gets. The General Assembly could still exercise that “duty” in a legislative role — writing laws — without wielding executive powers unconstitutionally. But no one knew what the Supreme Court might decide.

After all, the court relies on legislators for the funding of its budget every year (and, thus, for patronage and other power), and it is never a good idea to buck the leaders of the General Assembly. And there was the new $88 million Blackstone Valley courthouse the chief justice was seeking. Would politics come before the law?

Politics did not come first. The court, in what must be regarded as a courageous act of devotion to the state constitution and the rule of law, backed the right of citizens to self-government through the ballot box and the amendment process. It ruled that the voters meant exactly what they said they meant about SOP.

Those who write the history of this state will remember that. And they will remember the courageous leaders who worked for years to get the separation of powers amendment onto the ballot — sometimes against their own party bosses, at the risk of losing their jobs and local grants, and seeing their legislation tossed in the trash.

Those men and women of courage included some stalwart fighters: Sheldon Whitehouse, Lincoln Almond, Nicholas Gorham, David Cicilline and Michael Lenihan (among many others). Citizens groups, notably Common Cause under Philip West, led the charge. And, lest we forget, both Governor Carcieri and House Speaker William Murphy contributed to the passage of bipartisan legislation that brought this issue before the voters.

Some powerful figures sneeringly told me the public could never comprehend or care about such a complex constitutional issue, and I was roundly and personally attacked in testimony before the legislature for the crime of writing about SOP. But in the end, people who love this state kept plugging away.

It all goes to show: Rhode Island can heal itself. If it really wanted to, it could remove the straight-ticket ballot, the legacy of corrupt machine politics. It could wrest public schools away from special interests and shift the focus back to students. It could start serving the general interest, and stop honoring felons who betray the public.

What it will take are people who willing to challenge mean-spirited politicians and special interests who are masters of the low blow. Fortunately, there are good people who have the courage to do that. Even if they are maligned now, they should know their character will shine in the light of history. Those who stood in their way are the ones who will end up on the ash heap.

I think the court’s decision, putting an end to this long and exhausting struggle, is cause to open a bottle of a champagne. Here’s to the good citizens who made SOP happen, and to a 2009 when Rhode Island begins to lift itself back on track.

Edward Achorn is The Journal’s deputy editorial-pages editor (eachorn@projo.com).