Couldn’t say it better than @RobeSmit: “‘Instead of calling it X, Rhode Islanders are just gonna call it ‘where Twitter used to be’” You can follow me through the week on WTU2B. Here we go.
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STORY OF THE WEEK: Rhode Island is experiencing one of its periodic spasms of embarrassing headlines. First, there was the disastrous trip by two state officials to Philadelphia. (The officials no longer work for the state, but the Cranston Street Armory remains in limbo). More recently, the signature-gathering mess involving Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos’ CD1 campaign emerged as the top political story of the summer. While there’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Rhode Island in recent history, the signature controversy raises concern about ballot access in the state, in part since (via WPRI) the state Board of Elections doesn’t appear interested in scrutinizing questionable signatures collected by Matos’ campaign. A criminal probe of the matter is ongoing, and Jon Berkon, a lawyer for the LG’s campaign, maintains that she got well more than enough legit signatures to qualify for the ballot. But we live in a time of widespread cynicism about government and elections, so a lack of broader account of what happened (including the presence of a few signatures of deceased individuals) could contribute to that. Some Republicans, including the iconic Ronald Reagan, have long argued that government is the problem – a view supported over time by some pro-business groups. So when Democrats, who believe in a more expansive view of government, are behind moves that erode public confidence, they are arguably acting against their own cause. Still, there’s been little public conversation about possible changes to shore up the ballot-access process. And given the RI GOP’s inability over time to build a larger legislative presence (or to put someone in the governor’s office since 2006), it’s unclear how much the landscape in Rhode Island may change.
ON THE OTHER HAND: It’s summer, voters will make up their own minds about recent events, and The New York Times is telling the world about cool things to do in Newport.
FALLOUT: The state Ethics Commission voted this week to open an investigation into a January lunch at the Capital Grille attended by Gov. Dan McKee, his chief fundraiser, lobbyist Jeff Britt and two officials from Scout. The governor’s campaign maintains the complaint filed by the state GOP is politically motivated.
ELSEWHERE IN CD1: Gabe Amo, Sabina Matos and Aaron Regunberg unveiled TV ads, while Don Carlson touted a $240,000 media buy … Regunberg got the Bernie Sanders’ endorsement, Matos continued to get backing from trade unions, Sandra Cano rolled out more legislative and municipal support, and Amo continued his emphasis on retail politics … Most of the candidates took part in a forum staged by the RI Democratic Women’s Caucus.
SUBSTANCE: The Rhode Island House this year passed a measure to legalize the herbal substance kratom, but the bill died since it didn’t clear the Senate. Now, the substance is the focus of some wrongful death lawsuits in other states.
CITY HAUL: The Providence City Council voted this week to hire lawyer Max Wistow, known for leading the state’s effort to recover 38 Studios’ money, to recoup millions in tax benefits granted to a top downtown property owner, Buff Chace.
THE HOMELESS: Rhode Island’s housing crisis hits hardest for those on the economic margins, including unhoused people. Karen Santilli, CEO of Crossroads RI, the largest local provider of services for the homeless, said she perceives an unprecedented degree of commitment and investment at the state level (after officials struggled to respond to a surge in people living on the streets during the pandemic).
Here’s Santilli’s response (via Political Roundtable) to the biggest obstacles to making more progress: “I would say that our biggest obstacle right now is really and truly the lack of apartments that people can afford. I get calls and emails every day from elected officials, businesses, people in the community who know of someone that is losing their apartment, because the rent is going up and they can’t afford the new rent, or their landlord has a family member moving in and they have to move out. And people are still living paycheck to paycheck, they don’t have the funds to be able to secure a deposit first and last month’s rent indoor security deposit. And so really, truly having the affordable apartments available for people to move into. But also, you know, there’s this crisis that we read and hear about that I believe is also impacting people experiencing homelessness around behavioral and mental health, and the lack of resources for people to get the help that they need once they’re housed to maintain and stabilize their housing.”
LOOKING BACK: Pining for the bygone days of the 2023 General Assembly session? You can rewind all the feels with a 16-page review of RI’s FY2024 budget and the legislative session from the Economic Progress Institute. On the whole, EPI said, “Although some proposals did not advance or receive hearings, and the General Assembly did not adopt any of the proposals put forth by the Equity Impact Campaign, the 2023 legislative session and FY2024 budget brought many welcome achievements, including meaningful investments in people, programs, and policies.” RI KIDS Count has its own legislative look-back, pointing to victories in a range of areas, including for children (an increase in the earned-income tax credit, the creation of a state low-income housing tax credit, the allocation of $45M in ARPA money for affordable housing and homelessness),
TAKES OF THE WEEK: Various views from a mix of Rhode Islanders.
Local historian and RI National GOP Committeeman STEVE FRIAS: “The Matos signature scandal was revealing. WPRI-TV, Channel 12, showed that two local boards of canvassers accepted five forged signatures as valid. Although these forgeries were known, the Board of Elections accepted them and did not investigate. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan once wrote that an administrative agency ‘is not intended to be a passive arbiter, but the guardian of the general public interest’ and ‘empowered to investigate and gather evidence beyond that presented by the parties.’ If the BOE had used its investigatory power, maybe it would have learned that Ms. McClaren had not witnessed all 194 of her “valid” signatures. In 1996, the R.I. Supreme Court took state Rep. Barbara Burlingame off the ballot for not witnessing some of her signatures. In the end, people must be willing to enforce our election laws. In 1948, 13 signatures on the nomination papers of Walter Sundlun, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, were forged, and in the primary, about 660 votes were illegally cast. However, no one was ever charged. A bipartisan U.S. Senate Committee issued a report on the 1948 election. After interviewing the Board of Election, the attorney general’s office and other election officials, it noted ‘all were either unable or reluctant to establish evidence of illegal voting.’ Hopefully, this time it will be different with Peter Neronha as attorney general.”
State Rep. DAVID MORALES (D-Providence): “EIGHT HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX BILLION DOLLARS. On Thursday night, the U.S. Senate passed the ‘National Defense Authorization Act’ which will direct $886 billion to the Pentagon, literally a Guinness world record for defense spending! For context, the US already spends more on the military than China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Germany, France, South Korea, and Japan COMBINED. Furthermore, the Department of Defense is the only federal agency that cannot pass an independent audit as it continuously fails to track its spending and account its assets. Despite these literal facts of concern, the NDAA passed without much debate as it received a final vote of 86 to 11. Now the NDAA goes back to the US House for a vote and reconciliation. Naturally, this brings me to our local congressional race where almost all candidates have been unable to distinguish themselves in regards to their policy views. Therefore, I’m curious as to how CD1 candidates would vote on the NDAA bill as a member of congress. In other words, is there a candidate or candidates that would publicly oppose an increase in military spending that would further enrich profitable defense contractors? Thankfully, local peace organizers (East Bay Citizens for Peace, the Sisters of Mercy, and the RI Anti-War Committee) will host a candidate forum to discuss peace issues on Monday, August 7. Perhaps then we will see a clearer distinction among candidates running to represent RI’s first congressional district on this important issue.”
Strategist and consultant CARA CROMWELL: “The CD1 special election race was sleepy until it wasn’t. The discovery of forged signatures (from live and dead voters) on Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos’ petitions gave her what seems like a never-ending stretch of bad headlines. Her decision to wait to speak out gave her opponents — namely Gabe Amo — an opportunity to step up to the cameras, get some airtime, and build momentum. Now almost two weeks later, the controversy is still in the news and there is little doubt that it has changed the race. Three takes: 1) In a campaign cycle that is compressed like this one, a day is equal to a week and candidates need to execute very quickly. If you don’t, your opponent will (and there is not a lot of time left on the clock to recover). Early voting begins in approximately 448 hours. 2) Voters are now paying attention to the race and getting educated. In this race, none of the candidates were considered well-known, so the signature crisis essentially broke the race wide open. Candidates with good resources and organization stand to benefit most. 3) Our elections system works because of hard-working local election officials. We’ve seen this have an impact in national elections and here’s a great example of how their diligence matters close to home. Thank you to all the local election officials who do their jobs and help us maintain trust in the process.”
CORTNEY NICOLATO, president/CEO of the United Way of RI: “Rhode Island is at a crossroads with some of the most pressing issues we will ever face, namely a housing crisis and an underperforming education system. During this most recent legislative session, more than 200 bills were passed with many receiving Gov. McKee’s signature. Behind each of these were often immeasurable hours of constituent engagement, policy work, discussion and testimony on Smith Hill. These laws all represented the commitment our elected leaders have made to our state’s residents and to helping Rhode Island thrive. Our state must put the same level of effort into enacting these new laws as we do in forming them. This must be a team sport and should not fall on the shoulders of our legislators. This requires community collaboration, evaluating long-instituted processes, sharing data, and creating repeatable moments where we analyze whether laws have met the intention. Housing, with historic investments and new laws set to offer much needed flexibility for housing production, is a great place to start.”
RIGHT WHALES: A clash is playing out between Maine’s lobstering industry and efforts to save the 300 or so remaining right whales in the Atlantic. “If we don’t stabilize and begin the recovery, they will be gone within a couple of decades,” former RI DEM head Janet Coit, now assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, tells PBS NewsHour. “They will be extinct. They will be wiped off this Earth.” Vessel strikes and entanglements with fishing gear have killed a number of whales in recent years. The lobster industry contends it’s getting too much blame for the problem.
GONE TO THE DOGS: House Speaker Joe Shekarchi — who counts pooch Merlin among his trusted advisers — has organized his annual benefit on Monday, Aug. 7 at Quidnessett County Club in North Kingstown for a trio of animal shelters: Vintage, Anchor and Warwick. Tickets are almost sold out. The event comes amid reports of animal shelters being swamped with returned pets.
KICKER: Yep, I’m still on Twitter, more than 14 years after joining, and I’m not going to call it X. Via the NYT: “Many Twitter users, who have spent years tweeting and building up their presence on the site, appeared alienated by the shift. ‘Has everybody seen the (eXecrable) new logo?’ the actor Mark Hamill tweeted on Monday, with the hashtag #ByeByeBirdie. Others saw the move as Mr. Musk’s latest blow to the site, with some stubbornly saying they will still call the site Twitter and will continue to ‘tweet.’ When brands become verbs, it’s the ‘holy grail,’ said Mike Proulx, a vice president and research director at Forrester, because it means they have become part of popular culture. ‘The app itself has become a cultural phenomenon in all sorts of ways,” he said. “In one fell sweep, Elon Musk has essentially wiped out 15 years of brand value from Twitter and is now essentially starting from scratch.’ ”
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org
