Bark at the moon, eh, Ozzy? I’ve heard worse ideas. Welcome back to my Friday column. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.
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1. STORY OF THE WEEK: With the lazy days of summer upon us, seasonal political speculation tends to focus on the looming race for governor next year: will House Speaker Joe Shekarchi jump into the race? What will Attorney General Peter Neronha do? Can Helena Foulkes seal the deal with voters? How will the size of the Democratic primary field affect the outlook for Gov. Dan McKee? Getting less attention: how the legislation passed each year by the General Assembly — particularly the budget — has an outsized impact on the lives of Rhode Islanders. And although we’re months away from a more active phase of the next legislative campaign season, forces are galvanizing at different points on the ideological spectrum in hopes of shifting the legislature to the left or the right. This could set the stage for an unusually dynamic and competitive slate of races for the General Assembly. Read all about it in items 2 + 3 + 4 ….
2. PROGRESSIVE PUSH: More than 40 people attended an organizing meeting Tuesday staged at the Broadway office of SEIU 1199NE by Reclaim RI and the Rhode Island Working Families Party. Reclaim’s Daniel Denvir tells me the goal is to run progressive candidates up and down the ticket next year, from municipal races and school committees to possibly federal offices. “People are fired up to fight Trump and they know they need to replace establishment Democrats to do it,” Denvir said. This week’s meeting followed a Zoom attended by about 100 or more people after Zohran Mamdami’s surprise June 24 win of the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. Denvir said Mamdami’s win — and the popularity of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s anti-oligarchy tour — shows that Democratic insurgents need to embrace a bold platform based on working class issues and affordability, including higher taxes for the wealthy, more funding for RIPTA and emphasizing housing rights. WFP has had a number of successes in electing progressive lawmakers since coming on the scene about 10 years ago. Denvir declined to cite a target number for progressive legislative candidates next year, although he said he hopes for a wave and that he’s elated by the level of enthusiasm this far out from campaign season.
3. LEVESQUE’S LEVERAGE: Dave Levesque, owner of the Brewed Awakenings chain of coffee shops, was a vocal critic of COVID-era restrictions on Rhode Island businesses. He’s now leading a new effort, The League of Rhode Island Businesses, that has established political action committees (PACs) in every local city/town and plans to create a 501c4 with the goal of supporting a slate of legislative candidates next year. The effort expanded, Levesque said, after Speaker Shekarchi told him during a meeting that critics of legislative priorities need to be more active and involved if they want to influence the process. (Levesque said he reluctantly took on the leadership of the League; the other co-founders are lawyers Steven A. Moretti and Robert Peretti and developer Shane Piche, owner of Centerdale Revival in North Providence.) Levesque is a supporter of President Trump, although he said backers of The League of Rhode Island Businesses include Democrats, independents and Republicans, and that the group is open to supporting Ds and Rs. On its website, the league said its top principle is: “Supporting existing elected officials that have common sense. Politicians that simply support good bills, regardless of their party, and fight against bills that attack our freedoms. We will use our vast resources to keep them in office.”
Storied campaign strategist Jeff Britt has consulted with the group. Generally speaking, Levesque told me, the League supports reducing government spending, lowering taxes, opposing truck tolls, and supporting gun rights. The group is already backing one candidate, criminal-defense lawyer Leah Boisclair, who has filed to run as a Democrat for the district represented by state Rep. Tina Spears (D-Charlestown). Levesque told me that the league will only support candidates with a realistic shot of winning, possibly four to five for the state Senate and three to four in the House of Representatives. He said a challenge to Rep. Enrique Sanchez (D-Providence) is unlikely, although the races on the League’s “wall” include House 9 (Sanchez), House 30 (represented by Rep. Justine Caldwell, D-East Greenwich), House 31 (Rep. Julie Casimiro, D-North Kingstown) and House 67 (Rep. Jason Knight, D-Barrington, a prospective AG candidate), and Senate 4 (the group appears to support Democratic primary winner Stefano Famiglietti), Senate 19 (Sen. Ryan Pearson, D-Cumberland) and Senate 36 (Sen. Alana DiMario, D-Narragansett).
4. REALITY CHECK: Back in 2020, the Rhode Island Political Cooperative surprised the powers that be on Smith Hill with a series of legislative wins. Two years later, the establishment struck back, and the Cooperative petered out, although some progressives still made their way into the General Assembly. The status quo has mostly persisted since then, with the GOP holding just 10 seats in the House and four in the Senate, and the House in particular trending somewhat more progressive than in the past.
5. MEGA MORALES: The political press buzzed with takeaways after Zohran Mamdami’s surprise primary win in June. At the same time, it’s not exactly news that the national Democratic Party remains lost in the wilderness after losing support and the White House last year. How can Democrats reconcile these two trends? I put that question and a few others, via an email interview, with state Rep. David Morales (D-Providence), who is kicking the tires on a possible mayoral run next year.
TGIF: The presidential election last year highlighted the declining appeal of Democrats. How can the party reconcile calls to move to the center with the success of a DSA member like Zohran Mamdani?
DAVID MORALES: The declining popularity of Democrats has been most intense among corporate Democrats. In my view, the party’s division isn’t left and right but rather among those Democrats that fight and those that fold. What sets Zohran apart isn’t just his policies, it’s also his willingness to take on entrenched power represented by Republicans and Democrats alike. At the same time, left-wing candidates like Zohran are meeting voters not with incremental change or incomplete solutions, but with an urgency to the issues that matter most to working families: housing, education, and safety.
TGIF: You are an unapologetic leftist and someone with a pragmatic reputation. How do you make that happen in your role as a state rep?
MORALES: I’m proud to fight for the dignity, affordable housing, quality education, and livable wages that our neighbors need to thrive. These are not some radical dreams, it’s what most working people want and deserve. I carry those values into everything I do, while recognizing that I have the responsibility to build bridges in order to create change. It takes grassroots organizing, coalition-building, and persistence. Inside the Statehouse, I work to turn bold ideas into concrete action like guaranteeing healthcare coverage to every child in our state, regardless of immigration status. Outside, I stay grounded in community, because that’s where real power comes from. I don’t believe in compromising on values, but I do believe in doing the work to make those values law.
TGIF: The Providence chapter of DSA rescinded its endorsement of you in 2023 after you supported Joe Shekarchi for speaker. Does this point to a broader problem with ideological rigidity among Democrats?
MORALES: Both the Democratic Party and Democratic Socialists represent broad coalitions of people who don’t always agree on strategy, but often share values related to healthcare, housing affordability, and public education. My focus has always been on delivering real, tangible results for working-class people in Providence. I welcome anyone who shares that mission to work alongside me.
TGIF: Finally, you are considered a potential candidate for mayor of Providence next year. Where do you stand with that and upon what will you base your decision of whether to seek that office?
MORALES: Three years ago, Brett Smiley campaigned on a promise to make Providence “the best run city in America.” Instead, his years in office have been marked by mismanagement and neglect, rising displacement driven by the housing crisis, and a failure to protect our immigrant neighbors living in fear as ICE violates our sanctuary city policy with no pushback from the mayor’s office. While I remain focused on supporting my constituents across Mount Pleasant, Valley, and Elmhurst, every day I have constituents and neighbors throughout Providence tell me that they expect and deserve better leadership from their mayor.
6. CITY HAUL: Speaking of Providence, the death last weekend of David Sweetser, 70, head of the company that owned the ‘Superman Building,’ casts more uncertainty on the future of the iconic Jazz Age structure. Efforts to redevelop the building have inched forward since the last Bank of America worker left in 2013, but ‘Superman’ use of one HVAC system, as well as rising construction costs and plunging property values for some downtown towers, complicate the outlook. Whether a change this session in a tax credit is enough to truly activate a 2022 redevelopment plan remains to be seen.
7. HOUSING: That Rhode Island is far from alone in facing an entrenched housing crisis offers little consolation. In one sign of the extent of the challenge, the median age for first-time homebuyers has climbed to 38 — up from 31 a decade ago. Meanwhile, Ireland-based Big Red Barn cut the ribbon this week for the company’s first modular home in Rhode Island. The homes might make a dent in the housing crisis, since they sell for less than half of the soaring median value in Rhode Island.
8. TRANSPO: My colleague Ben Berke reports on the largest proposed bus cuts in the history of RIPTA: “The proposed cuts, which are laid out in detail on RIPTA’s website, would affect 58 routes total, 17 of which would be eliminated entirely. In an interview after announcing the proposed changes at Thursday’s board meeting, RIPTA CEO Christopher Durand said they would result in the largest reduction to bus service in the authority’s 59-year history. ‘This is absolutely devastating for bus riders,’ said Liza Burkin, a Providence resident with the Save RIPTA Coalition. ‘This is going to leave riders stranded by the side of the road and trapped in their homes and not able to accomplish their daily lives.’ Durand said the service cuts provide a way to balance RIPTA’s budget without raising fares or laying off staff. But a press release RIPTA published later in the afternoon said a fare increase remains a possibility. The statement said the agency is facing a deficit of $17.6 million.”
9. CLIMATE CHANGE: The deaths associated with recent flooding in Texas underscore the importance of accurate information about the weather. On a related note, U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo and Rep. Jared Huffman of California, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bill meant to block the White House from closing NOAA offices, including one in Rhode Island.
10. UNCIVIL RIGHTS: My colleague Lynn Arditi has followed the story of Mack Blackie, a homeless Woonsocket man held for 31 days for a crime he didn’t commit. In the latest development, a lawsuit filed by the RI ACLU has led Woonsocket to enter into a $500,000 settlement. Via Lynn: “Blackie spent more than a month locked up at the Adult Correctional Institutions on the felony breaking-and-entering charge because he couldn’t afford to pay the bail. (The felony charge has been dismissed and the case expunged from Blackie’s record.) ‘This case serves as a stark reminder that our government continues to fall short of living up to the promises guaranteed by our Constitution,’ Joshua D. Xavier, a Warwick lawyer representing Blackie on behalf of the Rhode Island ACLU, said in a statement released by the ACLU Thursday. Woonsocket City Solicitor Michael J. Lepizzera, Jr. said in an email that ‘the city is pleased that the matter is behind Mr. Blackie, the officer involved and the Woonsocket Police Department (WPD).’ Lepizzera credited the officer involved for ‘acknowledging his mistake’ and agreeing to a demotion from detective to patrol officer.”
11. ROYAL FLUSH: One of the small things I noticed during a recent vacation in Malta was the widespread availability of clean public toilets. Whether it’s a reflection of national pride, the mood set by life in the Mediterranean or something else, the presence of this amenity can be a blessing for visitors and locals alike. So there was cause for celebration when nonprofit developer One Neighborhood Builders, in partnership with the City of Providence’s Parks Department, held a recent ribbon cutting for public restrooms at Merino Park. In a news release, Dominique Resendes, associate director of community infrastructure for ONB, said, “Prior to today, many families faced the challenge of being at the park and needing to use the restroom which required them to find a local cafe or store where they can use the restroom only after making a purchase; with the installation of these restrooms, we have eliminated this burden. Participatory budgeting allowed us to use an innovative solution to address community priorities – both a need for restrooms in the park and a desire to promote environmentally sustainable practices.”
12. KICKER: The Great Gatsby is celebrating its centennial. As A.O. Scott writes, “A century after its publication, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s slender novel about a mysterious, lovelorn millionaire living and dying in a Long Island mansion is among the most widely read American fictions.”