Question of the Week: Would the mayor of Fall River make Buddy Cianci blush? 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) Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo remains unstinting in her support of a proposed extension, until 2043, for IGT to provide the bulk of gambling services to the state. While the RI Lottery’s removal of 360 under-performing IGT video slots from Twin River raises questions for some, Raimondo cites that as evidence of how the Lottery is imposing accountability on the vendor. “In the new proposal, there’s even more teeth in the accountability for IGT,” the governor said on Political Roundtable this week, “so there’s a guaranteed automatic upgrade of machines.” Raimondo points to state Senate hearings (starting September 19) on the IGT proposal as a way to build transparency into the process. “I think this is a good deal for Rhode Island,” she said. “If you did an RFP, there’s no way to guarantee the [1,000 or so] jobs. There’s only three companies in the world that do this business, and there’s only one of them that’s in Rhode Island.” Raimondo downplays her ties to Donald Sweitzer, the IGT lobbyist who formerly chaired the company and who she backed as treasurer of the Democratic Governors Association (“He’s been involved with the DGA for 30 years.”) Ultimately, Raimondo contends, she’s supporting the same path traveled more than 15 years ago by GOP Gov. Don Carcieri. “This is exactly how the state did it in 2002, 2003,” she said. “And at the time Governor Carcieri was heralded for bringing about a revolutionary deal that secures 1,000 jobs. So we’re following the exact same process. We’re guaranteeing 1,100 jobs [and] keeping the company headquartered here.” (For opposing views, see comments in last week’s column from Brian Newberry and Steve Frias.)
2) Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, 27, has been arrested for the second time in two years. He faces accusations from federal investigators of conspiring to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from marijuana companies. Correia is slated to be on the ballot in a preliminary election slated for September 17. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
3) Gov. Raimondo blames Twin River for RI’s slumping gambling revenue, and she says the state has asked the entity with casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton for a plan to address the situation. With competition from a new casino near Boston, “We’ve known for a very long time that Encore was coming, and they, particularly in table games, you know the table games is where they really had a drop, it’s almost as if they did nothing plan for it and said, ‘Encore is here.’ So we’ve asked Twin River for a corrective action plan, because the competition is there and we have to get more competitive to compete,” Raimondo said on Bonus Q&A. (The response from Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle: “We work collaboratively with the Lottery on an ongoing basis to further refine our offerings, promotions, marketing programs and customer outreach. That process certainly continues in the wake of the recent Encore opening impacts. We further report the same to the Lottery Oversight Committee on a monthly basis.”) Raimondo said she’s hopeful the state’s new sports betting app – which debuted this week – will lead to more revenue from phone-based betting. But the state is counting on $22.7 million from sports betting this fiscal year, a pittance compared with $309.5 million anticipated from video slots. If critics are right in predicting a downward trend in video slot revenue, Rhode Island could be hard-pressed to replace that. (Is southern New England a saturated market for gambling? Scott MacKay has some thoughts.)
4) Add former Providence Mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr. to the lengthy list of RI Democrats who are contemplating a potential run for governor in 2022. “I am thinking about it,” Paolino, who serves as RI Dems’ national committeeman, tells me. “I’m not there yet, but I am giving it some thought.” Paolino, whose firm has considerable real estate holdings, says he needs to consider business and family factors, and he doesn’t expect to make a definitive decision any time soon. But Paolino, who continues to speak highly of Gov. Raimondo, said he believes Rhode Island is gripped by a lack of urgency in addressing some issues. Referring to the late former governor Bruce Sundlun, Paolino said, “He didn’t believe in kicking the can.” Paolino placed third in a three-way Democratic primary for governor in 1990, with Sundlun and Francis X. Flaherty, and he hasn’t run for office since getting bested by David Cicilline, now a U.S. congressman, in the 2002 Providence Democratic mayoral primary. Those considered potential Dem candidates include developer Colin Kane, U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, former wind power exec Jeff Grybowski, and a range of current office holders ranging from General Treasuer Seth Magaziner and Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea to Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and Lt. Gov. Dan McKee (and maybe AG Peter Neronha).
5) My latest Q&A with RI Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green.
6) Imagine a place marked by decaying infrastructure and only piecemeal efforts to address the situation. Think we’re talking about Rhode Island? Nope. Douglas McGarrah, a partner at the heavyweight Boston law firm Foley Hoag, makes the case in Commonwealth Magazine that Mass Gov. Charlie Baker and other Bay State officials are thinking too small in correcting the transit woes that increasingly afflict the Hub. McGarrah also points to Boston’s Big Dig as a project, that albeit frustrating at times, unleashed massive new investment: “Now, 30 years later, we are at another critical juncture, with an outdated and broken-down rail and transit system. In cities around the world we see what a modern, efficient, safe, and reliable transit system can do to relieve congestion and improve air quality. With the wealth of this city and region, there is simply no good reason why we can’t have such a modern transit system here in Massachusetts.” Whether Massachusetts officials take McGarrah’s message to heart could have a big impact on such things as an envisioned express train to Providence and the long-discussed North-South rail to New Bedford.
7) Gov. Gina Raimondo said although undecided, she’s leaning toward making a renewed push in 2020 to legalize recreational marijuana in Rhode Island. The governor said she now thinks it was wise to further expand medical marijuana as an incremental step. Yet it remains unclear if lawmakers will want to vote on marijuana legalization in an election year, especially now that the new charges against Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia underscore the potential intersection between legalized marijuana and political corruption.
8) U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has one of the most secure seats in the U.S. Senate. But human-rights activists are still trying to make him feel some heat on what’s happening in Yemen. According to the campaign finance watchdog site realsludge.com, “Reed says he wants to end U.S. support for the coalition fighting in Yemen, but he has not been as consistent on the issue as many other Democrats, including his counterparts who lead the Armed Services Committee in the House. He voted to pass the NDAA without the Yemen language in June, and in March 2018 he was one of just 10 Democrats who voted to table a resolution from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would have removed U.S. forces from hostilities in Yemen. (Months later Reed flipped and voted in favor of the resolution.)”
9) New on Facebook this week: “Providence Journal Insiders is a closed group for subscribers to network and engage with Providence Journal staff and each other over local news stories. You can expect regular interaction with Journal reporters and editors; lively discussions; Q+A’s and Ask Me Anythings; subscriber-only deals; early access to subscriber events like press tours and book launches; and a steady stream of content delivered directly to you and designed to promote good, well rounded living. So jump in and don’t be shy! This group is moderated to keep things civil and productive, but we welcome contributions, questions, statements and even cute pictures of your dog (or cat, bird, horse, etc). Our subscribers are our most important asset, and we want to hear from you.” This follows on the heels of how Dan McGowan, now of the Boston Globe, created a well-read (and lovingly curated) Providence politics FB page years ago while working at WPRI.com.
10) The Mosaic podcast from The Public’s Radio – about immigration – is well worth your attention. One of the most recent episodes, about how a family of immigrants from the Congo became part of an Armenian congregation in Providence, highlights the great storytelling typical of the pod.
11) The Sunrise movement will be in Providence this weekend. Via email from the group: “The summit represents the peak of a powerful summer of organizing throughout Rhode Island and the whole northeast region. We have grown from a single hub in Rhode Island to three fully-fledged hubs representing Providence, South County and Brown University. We’ve staged multiple actions to push the climate conversation in our state towards the action we need and we’ve grown our base and our organizing capacity steadily over the past few months. The solidarity and inspiration I feel in being able to work with so many committed young people in the fight for justice is something I cannot possibly overstate …. Join hundreds of people as we take to the streets of downtown Providence to tell our elected leaders that we’re in the midst of an emergency, and we need them to act like it! This is by far the biggest action that Sunrise Providence has ever planned, and will be one of the largest demonstrations of popular power in Providence in recent memory. You won’t want to miss it.”
12) Fascinating discussion on “Inheritance,” about how a DNA test taken on a whimsy revealed how the man who a woman thought was her father wasn’t really her dad.
13) Back in the early 2000s, battles flared between residents in downtown Providence and the nightclub owners they blamed for attracting misbehaving young people. The concerns were mostly about things like noise and public urination, although there was a high-profile case that involving the cold-blooded slaying of two college students. In the time since, violence has become a more common concern associated with Providence nightclubs. This week, the City Council said it will hire a local law firm “to look at the processes and procedures of the Board of Licensees from the top down,” according to a news release, “In 2016 the Council engaged former Attorney General Jeffrey Pine to do a comprehensive overview, and this is a continuation of that process. In addition, the Council is also pulling together a working group of nightlife business owners, public safety officials, and elected officers to come together to discuss best practices. The Pine Report, as it has been called, was compiled to assess the Board of Licenses’ adjudication process and to equip the board members with tools for best practices. “We must provide a framework for our nightlife businesses to operate with the know-how of how to handle and deescalate issues that might arise at their establishments” said Council President Sabina Matos.
14) Ranked-choice voting could be coming to Massachusetts, thanks to an initiative petition certified by the state AG. Considering how a string of RI governors, from Lincoln Chafee in 2010 to Gov. Raimondo in 2014, won with less than 50 percent of the vote, ranked-choice voting could have a noteworthy impact if it ever came to the Ocean State. Via WBUR’s Ben Swasey: “Here’s how ranked-choice voting works: Voters could, if they want, rank candidates in order of preference. If one candidate wins more than 50% of support after the initial round, that candidate wins. But if no candidate receives majority support, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated, and that candidate’s voters are divvied up, based on voters’ next-highest-ranked picks. This process is repeated until one candidate crosses the 50% threshold.” Yet as Swasey notes, “Critics of ranked-choice voting, as the Eagle-Tribune reported this week, say it is confusing and “leads to sleepy campaigns … where candidates avoid hot-button topics because they don’t want to alienate potential supporters.”
15) Kudos & congrats to the independent environmental news site ecoRI, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The nonprofit plans a celebration on September 19. Here’s some of the backstory: “Passion and a bootstrap mentality propelled ecoRI News in its early years. The organization experimented with mission-aligned fee-based services to fund its journalism. This included getting paid to manage recyclables and compostables at local road races and events. In 2013, ecoRI News launched a fee-based food-scrap collection service in Providence — the first of its kind. ‘Those were the spaghetti-on-the-wall years,’ [co-founder Joanna] Detz said. ‘We tried everything, and I think that creativity and passion got us over the hump revenue-wise while we built name recognition and trust in the community.’ The organization sold its compost program in 2016, and now ecoRI News gets all of its funding from donations, grants, and local underwriters. Carini, Detz, and senior reporter Tim Faulkner, who has been with ecoRI News since 2010, draw a full-time salaries. After a successful yearlong capital campaign, ecoRI News raised money to expand its newsroom and add another full-time reporter, Grace Kelly, last month. ‘To have survived 10 years and to have raised enough funding to expand our newsroom — we must be doing something right.’ [co-fouder Frank] Carini said.”
