TRANSCRIPT:
Ian Donnis: Welcome back to The Public’s Radio.
Joe Shekarchi: My pleasure to be back. It’s one of my favorite media stops.
Ian Donnis: Let’s start with the big story of the week the controversy involving dubious signatures gathered by Sabina Matos’ campaign in the first congressional district. You’ve been around politics for a long time.
Joe Shekarchi: Not as long as you.
Ian Donnis: Well, actually longer. Are you surprised that Matos’ campaign is getting buffeted by negative headlines due to an unforced error involving the collection of signatures?
Joe Shekarchi: I’m not surprised about the headlines. I’m surprised about the error because lieutenant governor has run for office many times has been the City Council president and lieutenant governor, and these are mistakes that are very preventable. So it is surprising somewhat.
Ian Donnis: What does this show about Matos’ campaign?
Joe Shekarchi: I think it’s a reflection of her staff, and I think they weren’t paying attention and these things you have to pay attention.
Ian Donnis: Let’s switch gears to the Cranston Street Armory. The McKee administration announced this week that it no longer plans to work with Scout Ltd, the Philadelphia company that had hoped to redevelop the Cranston Street Armory. There’s talk about possibly transferring control the armory to the city of Providence, do you support Governor McKee’s approach on this?
Joe Shekarchi: I don’t know enough about the — I have not read the JLL report, I have seen only basically a slide stack of it. Based on that report, I think that there is some reason that this deal needs to be revised or reworked or, or possibly transferred to the city of Providence, I have very limited knowledge of the details of this. But I I’m concerned about the fact that people seem to be focusing more about that terrible episode in Philadelphia. My perspective [is] from someone who sits as the speaker of the House — I have to look at the entire state. And when you’re talking about state dollars, you have to be very careful about it. Based on that limited review of the information I have, and I emphasize the word limited, it does not appear to be a good deal for the state. Now, I think the particular use for that neighborhood is a very good use. And I would recommend to the governor to see if he can work some kind of an arrangement with the city of Providence, and possibly transfer ownership over the city of Providence. And then it seems to be a very good strong support, community=supported use. And I encourage the mayor and the governor to work together.
Ian Donnis: Providence has been a cash-strapped city for years. Is the idea of transferring it to Providence just a recipe for keeping the armory in limbo for many years to come?
Joe Shekarchi: I don’t think so. I think that Scott proposal, as I heard was I understood again, in a very limited way that there was opportunity for some federal tax credits. I know the city was also talking about putting some money, and the state, there’s going to be collaboration of money. I think that the Scout needs to put some money in as well. If you’re going to partner up with a private entity, I always like to have some skin in the game. So I think that possibly there’s a deal there. I just think it needs to be reworked so that everybody’s protected and everybody has an interest in it.
Ian Donnis: After officials with Scout described bad behavior by Rhode Island officials during the Philadelphia visit earlier this year., you said that wasn’t a good look for Rhode Island. Do you think any specific steps are required to try and rehabilitate Rhode Island’s out of town image?
Joe Shekarchi: I always think that Rhode Island should be — When we’re competing or while looking to do business with out of state entities, we should always put our best foot forward. Clearly that was not the case. Both those individuals are no longer employed by the state. Thank goodness for that. And I think that as we move forward, we should learn all of us as a state should learn from this and that we’re sending representatives out to represent the state that they need to behave properly.
Ian Donnis: The state Ethics Commission recently voted to investigate a complaint filed against you by the state Republican Party. What do you say about this? Is there any validity to the argument made by the state GOP?
Joe Shekarchi: No. I trust the Ethics Commission to go through a process. I said in statements it’s politically motivated. At that same time they put that filed a complaint against me they put out a press release saying because we filed an ethics complaint don’t pass any of Speaker Shekarchi’s housing package. It was clearly motivated. It was an issue that did not pass the General Assembly, was over six years ago. I said what I’m going to say. I’ll have more to say at the conclusion of the Ethics Commission investigation. I’m gonna let the professionals do their job.
Ian Donnis: The General Assembly this year approved and Governor McKee allowed to become law a presumptive benefit for firefighters suffering from hypertension and heart disease. The League of Cities and towns, which lobbies for municipalities, says this is a misguided measure that will ramp up expensive costs for municipalities. How do you respond?
Joe Shekarchi: Well, I wish they were a little bit more vocal and specific in their opposition to the bill that was proposed. They seem to be focused on a lot of more of the opposition was focused on the other firefighter bill would have to do with PTSD. But I will tell you that when we move a bill and a bill of that magnitude, we listen to all the testimony, and there was clearly a lot of support. And you see the vote both in the House and Senate was strong, overwhelming votes. So this was a presumption, it’s a rebuttable presumption, I don’t know if your listeners will understand that. But that has to do with a presumption regarding a legal proceeding, that burden on will now be shifted to the cities and towns to prove. That still requires three medical professionals to make some kind of a certification. And it just shifts a little bit of the burden in the process. It doesn’t automatically guarantee anybody any right to any kind of a disability pension.
Ian Donnis: Governor McKee has described himself as a top advocate for cities and towns. Considering that are you surprised that he did not veto that measure?
Joe Shekarchi: That was up to the governor to make that decision. No, I wasn’t surprised. I know, some people were surprised. But I will tell you that there was not that level of opposition for this particular bill until like after it passed, that it was for the other firefighters bill, which the House did not pass.
Ian Donnis: You alluded earlier earlier to the housing issue. You championed a series of bills this year, all of which passed except for one, to try and address the housing crisis in Rhode Island. Do you believe the state is bringing enough urgency to the housing crisis right now?
Joe Shekarchi: I certainly believe what we’re doing much more than we’ve ever done in the past. I’m extremely proud of the package that we passed 13 of the 14 bills passed. And it was signed or became law and I think that we have now. Yes, to answer your question. We have a housing secretary. I will just reiterate since I became speaker, I pledged to make housing a number one priority. I’m continuing to do so. We have elevated this, we have initiated programs and bills. The Pay for Success bill specifically attacks homelessness in Rhode Island, we made an unprecedented amount of money, $250 million dollars was used of ARPA money for that. We made millions, hundreds of millions of dollars of investments this year, in creating a Department of Housing, staffing the department, creating low income tax credits for properties. We have empowered Secretary Pryor in filled his toolbox with a lot of tools that will make housing an attainable goal to relieve the crisis that we have. But I want to point out this is a crisis that’s been in the making for 30 years. It’s not going to be solved overnight, and it’s not going to be solved quickly. We need to increase housing supply as quickly as possible because there’s a strong housing demand.
Ian Donnis: The one bill in your housing package that did not clear the legislature would have made it easier to create accessory dwelling units, also known as granny flats. there was opposition in the state Senate. Why is it so difficult to pass that kind of measure when everyone knows that Rhode Island needs more housing units?
Joe Shekarchi: I think that the people who are opposing it or some of the advocates or some of the local communities that are opposing it haven’t read the bill. This particular bill was — It’s the number one priority nationwide and in Rhode Island by AARP. But it’s also a high priority for a lot of the housing advocates. It’s worked very successful in many parts of the country. They don’t understand it. People fear what they don’t know or they hear a little bit on a, you know, excuse me a radio talk show that isn’t exactly 100% true. And they get afraid of what they don’t know. And I think that’s part of the process. We’re going to continue the fight. I’m proud of what we passed. I’m proud of the ADU bill, I plan on passing that early and continue to work with our partners in the Senate and I want to congratulate the Senate for passing 13 out of 14. I’ll take that any day of the week. That’s a pretty good batting average, even the Red Sox would like that.
Ian Donnis: The new state budget includes millions of dollars meant to foster a life sciences sector in Rhode Island. That’s another issue that you’ve championed. What are the key steps to realize this mission moving forward?
Joe Shekarchi: We need to make sure we appoint the right person to lead this effort and the right chairman of the board and put together a really top notch, high quality board in the way the board is structured, we’re gonna have a lot of negative meetings remotely. So we can have out of state people — we have to attract young and entrepreneurial people to Rhode Island who want to stay here grow a business and create high paying private sector jobs. I like the way this has been structured, emulating Massachusetts. We’re never going to be Harvard or Kendall Square, but we certainly can be just as good or better than Worcester and or Marshfield, which also have bioscience hubs. There was a company 10 years ago, you may have heard of it called Moderna and that was a startup tech so we have the opportunity to high quality of life here in Rhode Island. Especially in the Providence area, that 195 area. I want to make a go of it. I want to at least try. I think Rhode Island should try for this and I think we should look for something. We’re not going to see benefits of this. I want to make it clear that I’m not going to be Speaker forever and the — whether this is a success or a failure will be judged after I’m gone. But I think that we owe to meet the needs of today. But we have to look at what we can do for the next generation of Rhode Islanders. And that’s why we did this. And that’s why we did a lot of the environmental act on climate legislation as well.
Ian Donnis: Donald Trump faces unprecedented legal problems for a prospective presidential candidate. But even many Democrats are concerned about Joe Biden, He would be the oldest president in US history. He seems a little bit shaky at times. Are you concerned that if Donald Trump is the Republican candidate that he could outflank Joe Biden?
Joe Shekarchi: No, because I’d be more concerned to be quite honest with with Ron DeSantis. Because I think there’s a there is a growing and a very strong anti Trump movement in this country. And I think every day that seems to be another indictment coming or investigation coming. It hurts the Trump brand. Now, we’re not seeing that in the polls, because right now you’re polling inside of the Republican Party. But when you poll in you open your polling screens up to the general public. There’s a strong and growing negative rating for Donald Trump, and I’m not concerned about him becoming a President, again.
Ian Donnis: With about a minute left, what can the state do to move forward development projects that seem on hold right now due to the high interest climate, such as the Superman rehab and the Pawtucket soccer stadium?
Joe Shekarchi: I think what we need to do is we have made a commitment, we need to make sure that we are ready to act when private partners in those particular projects are ready. We have made commitments that state has to honor their commitment, we have to be — just as we were talking earlier about negotiating with out of state people, we have to honor our word and make sure we’re ready, willing and able to perform. I think the state has done that in both of those particular cases. And we have to wait for — unfortunately, when a high interest rate environment that makes banks very nervous and makes entrepreneurs and builders and developers and people want to take a shot at Rhode Island nervous, but that’s it. This is not a unique Rhode Island situation. This is happening all over the country with because of high interest rates,
Ian Donnis: Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi. Thank you very much for joining us.
Joe Shekarchi: My pleasure. Thank you very much. Always enjoy coming on your show.
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For years, lots of people bought newspapers mostly for the sports page. Having a solid sports reporting staff was a requirement for any metro daily. But times are changing. The Providence Journal gets a lot of its professional sports coverage from its parent, Gannett. And even The New York Times recently announced plans to eliminate its own sports department, since the Times owns a sports-focused digital presence known as The Athletic. But there is one media entity with a local presence that keeps doing things the old-fashioned way, cultivating print and online readers with a robust sports section written by its own reporters. You can read more about that in my Friday TGIF column, posting around 4 this afternoon on my twitter at IanDon and on our website at the publics radio.org.
That’s our show for this week. Our producer is James Baumgartner.
I’m Ian Donnis and I’ll see you on the radio.
