Question of the Week: If Pawtucket can enjoy brighter prospects, can the same thing happen in other investment-starved Rhode Island communities? Read on for more on that. Thanks for stopping by for my weekly column. As usual, your tips and comments are welcome, and you can follow me through the week on the twitters. Here we go.
1) While an ambitious $400 million development plan unveiled in Pawtucket this week is preliminary and subject to change, it could mark a dramatic turning point for a one-time industrial powerhouse marked in recent years by a string of tough challenges. Through it all, Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien has remained on an even keel, declining to publicly lash out, even with the loss of Memorial Hospital and the pending exit of the PawSox for Worcester. Last March, I reported on Grebien’s efforts to move Pawtucket forward. The photo that ran with the story depicts the mayor standing “on a riverfront vacant lot on Division Street that he hopes will become a site of future development.” Now, that area is targeted for development – including housing, retail and river walk – as part of Fortuitous Partners’ Tidewater Landing project. Pawtucket still needs to acquire the Apex site and part of the area on Division Street, and Fortuitous has to raise the money for an estimated $300 million in private investment. A national economic downturn could potentially scale back the development. But Fortuitous’ Principal Brett Johnson, a Brown University alum, vows that Rhode Island’s new yet-to-be named minor league soccer team will start playing at their new stadium in 2022. (Johnson, who helps run the Phoenix Rising team in Arizona, calls RI the best U.S. market for soccer without a pro team.) The prospect of eminent domain could offer leverage in Pawtucket’s effort to buy the Apex site. And perhaps most significantly, in a sharp contrast from the multi-year PawSox saga, the Tidewater Landing proposal has the support of Gov. Gina Raimondo, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, without any need for further legislative action. Just the fact that the troika was together in the same room – something that hasn’t happened in many months – indicates the amount of buy-in for the plan.
2) Mayor Grebien, during an appearance on Political Roundtable this week, cautioned that some details could change during a 120-day due diligence phase for the $400 million development. As it stands, here’s how the financing would work: Fortuitous Partners would pay to build what is currently planned as a 7500-seat riverfront soccer stadium. The public contribution from Pawtucket/the state of $70 million to $90 million would come in the form of new state taxes generated by the project, a process set in motion by tax incremental financing legislation passed by the General Assembly earlier this year. (In an example of how politics makes strange bedfellows, Fortuitous also plans to use the Opportunity Zone program created by the Trump administration to support its investment.) Grebien said Pawtucket taxpayers would not be on the hook if the development fails to generate enough tax revenue.
3) Will Tidewater Landing be a game-changer as far as trying to keep Hasbro in Pawtucket, perhaps at the Apex site? As Mayor Grebien contends, the Fortuitous development – combined with the forthcoming train station on the Central Falls border — offers the prospect of the kind of vitality sought by the corporation for a new HQ. “We’ve heard from them over the years that they want to be in an active zone for their employees and stay here in Rhode Island,” Grebien said on Roundtable. “With this proposal … it should align with them, and Commerce right now has the lead of having conversations with them.” Commerce spokesman Matt Sheaff said the agency remains “closely in communication with the senior team at Hasbro regarding their plans.”
4) Aside from potentially changing the narrative in Pawtucket, the development project offers a lot of political upside, including how top state officials and Mayor Grebien get some of the pride of authorship. What’s more, Speaker Mattiello – recently castigated by ProJo columnist Mark Patinkin for the pending departure of the PawSox – can ostensibly claim vindication in the form of a more promising development. And two of the state lawmakers who fought hard to keep the PawSox in Pawtucket, Sen. Sandra Cano (D-Pawtucket) and Rep. Carlos Tobon (D-Pawtucket), sponsored the TIF legislation that proved crucial for the proposal. (Sen. Finance Chairman William Conley (D-East Providence), a cosponsor, was also a vocal advocate for the PawSox plan.) Yet if elected officials want a reality check, apparent solutions are few when it comes to bringing fresh investment to other hard-hit communities ranging from West Warwick to Woonsocket.
5) Don’t miss my colleague Lynn Arditi’s latest blockbuster investigation on emergency healthcare services: how 12 patients have died in Rhode Island over the last three years after being brought to hospitals with misplaced breathing tubes.
6) With slightly more than three years left in her second term, Gov. Raimondo has picked David Ortiz as her chief of staff. Ortiz was the deputy manager of Raimondo’s successful re-election run last year and he’s well-liked around the Statehouse. Changes were anticipated in the governor’s office, since outgoing CoS Brett Smiley is widely expected to make another run for mayor of Providence, in 2022. Raimondo named Smiley on an acting basis to succeed Michael DiBiase (soon to be executive director of RIPEC) as director of the state Department of Administration. But Senate President Dominick Ruggerio wants Smiley to go through that chamber’s approval process. That appears to reflect concern from some senators about Twin River exec Marc Crisafulli’s description of being threatened by Smiley (which Smiley denies). Finally, former RI Senate majority leader Dan Connors, who helped start the lobbying operation at Duffy & Sweeney earlier this year, is joining the governor’s team as a senior adviser.
7) Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien’s name has been floated as a potential lieutenant governor candidate in 2022, but the mayor said he is not considering a statewide run. “I’m here, I love my job,” Grebien said on Bonus Q&A. “If I could retire from this job – I say that to everybody. I’m 52, so I’ve got a little while to go. And with all these great projects, and this economic vitality coming, I want to be here for the end of it.” Grebien is serving his fifth two-year term; his next election is next year. He said he wants to continue as mayor as long as voters will support him.
8) Mixed news on RI’s economy: On one hand, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed this week praised the Navy’s decision to award a $22.2 billion multi-year contract to to General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. “to build nine new Virginia-class submarines, with an option for a tenth submarine that would potentially raise the overall contract value above $24 billion. “This contract is a major win for Rhode Island that will bring a host of economic benefits to the state,” Reed said in a statement. “It means submarine production at Quonset stays on course and continues full speed ahead for the next decade and will lead to further jobs and investment in the state.” Yet on the other hand, Lifespan, Rhode Island’s largest hospital group, is looking to cut costs after announcing a $35 million loss for 2018-19 – a situation attributed in part to the closing of Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket. And in the absence of an agreement for heightened collaboration between Lifespan, Care New England, and Brown University, jitters continue about the future of Rhode Island’s healthcare landscape.
9) The RI Democratic Party continues to face criticism, from different sides of the spectrum. Here’s an excerpt from an op-ed circulated this week by Democratic political consultant Kate Coyne-McCoy, who ran a super PAC for Gov. Raimondo in 2014: “If Democratic women in RI truly desire voice and opportunity for impact, we need to step up and work together– not wait to be asked by the men who have overstayed their welcome. This requires the support and commitment of both men and women. It requires us all to champion programs that invest in girls and women in areas such as healthcare, education and training. It requires us to demand that businesses examine their structures, policies, marketing, investments and culture. Lastly, it requires a commitment to diversity– not just gender diversity, but a diversity of all intersectional identities. It requires our leadership. History clearly demonstrates that the way to increase the numbers of women serving in elected office is through primaries and challenges to incumbents. I understand that frightens some. In my experience it invigorates and improves the quality of leadership and increases the attention to the issues important to families. I am hopeful that the RI Democratic Women’s caucus will continue their success and blow through the barriers created by men from both in and outside the Party.” … Meanwhile, Arlene Violet, the one-time GOP AG, has biting words in her Valley Breeze column: “Quick! What do former U.S. Rep. Claudine Schneider, former secretary of state and former candidate for lieutenant governor Susan Farmer, former Gen. Treasurer Nancy Meyer, former Secretary of State candidate Barbara Leonard, former statewide candidate Kathryn Power and this writer all have in common? The answer is that they were all endorsed by the Republican Party, starting almost 40 years ago. Former House minority leader, Lila Sapinsley, was selected by her GOP brethren to head the top post in the legislature. She was followed by a host of other talented women legislators. This is also true of the GOP party chairs, culminating in the present chairwoman, Sue Cienki. Now look at the Democratic Party. In 2014 Gina Raimondo did not receive the endorsement. It was only when she and Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea actually won their respective terms did they get subsequently endorsed by the Democrats. Before them, no woman received an endorsement. So, it is not surprising that there is a revolt by female Democrats against the misogynist attitude capsulized by former senator – and now lobbyist – Stephen Alves, of the Democratic State Committee. When some Democrat women wanted to change a bylaw, he retorted, ‘If a pig grunts, you don’t grunt back.’ ”
10) From Chris Barnett at the RI Foundation: On Saturday, December 7, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, “More than 300 parents, students, educators, policymakers and leaders from the nonprofit and for profit sectors will gather at the R.I. Convention Center to brainstorm tactics to improve pre-K-12 public education in Rhode Island. Participants will work with a set of strategies developed by the Long-term Education Planning Committee, a 26-member group convened by the Rhode Island Foundation last year to come up with recommendations. Gov. Gina Raimondo, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, House Education Committee Chair Joseph McNamara and state Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green are expected to be on hand at 3:15 p.m. to listen to the results of the day-long brainstorming session.”
11) David Morales this week announced a Democratic primary challenge to state Rep. Daniel McKiernan (D-Providence), who first won election in 2014 by defeating Maria Cimini. (In 2018, McKiernan bested primary challenger Belen Florez by 130 votes.) From Morales’ news release: “David is an advocate for issues that affect all Rhode Islanders; our economic prosperity, supporting greater equity and improving educational outcomes, and standing up for the rights of immigrants. Whether he is testifying at the state house or taking direct action to address unjust immigration policy at the Wyatt Detention Center — he always shows up to fight for his community. He is the youngest graduate from Brown University’s MPA program and is proud to call Mt. Pleasant, Elmhurst, and Valley his home. ‘I was raised by a single mother, and I understand the difficulty working families experience. I know how hard you have to work to get ahead because I saw first-hand how much the deck is stacked against regular people,” Morales stated. “At 16, I started doing farm labor to help support my family. In high school I took college courses at night, graduated from college at 19, and got my Master’s in Public Policy from Brown University at age 20. For many this would be the ‘American Dream’, but I still struggle to pay my bills, much less, invest and save for a future. I know far too many families and friends in House District 7 who are also working hard to make a living, but are still living paycheck to paycheck because they can’t find a job that pays a living wage. From those who are lucky to have one, they are still unable to save. Even worse, many people who have made house District 7 their home are rapidly being priced out.’ ”
12) Pawtucket is just one of the Rhode Island communities where rising pension costs, for police and fire in this instance, are consuming a growing proportion (11 percent) of taxpayers’ dollars in the city budget. “It does impede the [city’s ability to pay for] services,” Grebien said on Bonus Q&A. “Having said that, we have the obligation.” Grebien said Pawtucket is making progress to getting those pensions funded at a 60 percent level, something that he expects to happen within the next 10 years. The mayor also credits unions for showing some flexibility, although he said the full medical provided for retired firefighters, with no co-pay, is financially unsustainable.
13) With the Trump administration imposing new requirements on food assistance for the poor, advocates like RI Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff say that will mean thousands more Rhode Islanders will go hungry.
14) “There’s a Google doc to track the Gannett layoffs” …. Ken Doctor expects even more consolidation among the handful of remaining big newspaper companies.
15) Need some ideas for great books to give as holiday presents? The NPR books concierge has you covered.
16) Besides being a savvy political observer, Matt Jerzyk is a bona fida soccer savant. Jerzyk was on the cutting edge of blogging when he introduced Rhode Island’s Future more than a decade ago with a lot of scoops and insightful analysis. Now, Jerzyk has unveiled a soccer-only blog larded with useful info for anyone interested in the game and its evolution in Rhode Island. Here’s one example from an initial listicle: “Mayor Grebien’s communications director, Wilder Arboleda … grew up in Pawtucket, went to Tolman HS and rose to prominence as the Captain of the PC Men’s Soccer team and also starred for the New England Revolution U-23 team. He even scrimmaged against Leo Messi & the Argentina team in 2016!”
