Get your PVDFest on this weekend. 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: Politics is not foremost in the minds of most Rhode Islanders. Any number of things — the resumption of school and college, the approach of football and the slow fade of summer — occupy more brain space. But we’re inexorably moving closer to a big election year, and the time for more candidate announcements is fast approaching. Media attention thus far has focused, understandably, on the marquee race for governor. But there will be many other campaigns. One potential match-up to watch involves a Democratic primary challenge for Providence Mayor Brett Smiley. State Rep. David Morales, 26, (D-Providence) remains non-committal about whether he will pursue that, but his critique of the incumbent makes him sound like a candidate-in-waiting. During a long-form video interview earlier this week, Morales said he favors capping annual rent increases at 4% as a way of confronting the housing crisis. What’s more, he supports charging a lower property tax rate for a modest home in Silver Lake, for example, than a luxury property assessed at $3 million. The message of affordability comes straight from the playbook of Zohran Mamdani, a fellow Democratic socialist who became a progressive icon by winning a New York City mayoral primary earlier this year. Whether this translates in Providence, against a candidate who isn’t Andrew Cuomo, is a big question. While The Wire reminds us that being mayor can be a thankless job, Smiley has avoided any significant blunders and he remains an odds-on favorite for re-election, with a big fundraising edge over his potential rival. Still, it’s worth remembering that even as Smiley made his way to victory in the 2022 primary with 42% of the vote, 59% of Providence voters preferred his two rival candidates.
2. TIMING: The conventional wisdom holds that Rep. Morales would be wiser to wait until Mayor Smiley is termed out in 2030. Morales doesn’t seem to have much love for the CW. As the son of a single immigrant parent in the agricultural community of Soledad, California, he earned a four-year degree by the time he was 19, and Morales’ bio says he got a master’s in public policy at Brown at age 20. The third-term rep will turn 27 later this month and he has a fundraiser at the Narragansett Brewery to mark the occasion. If Morales runs for mayor and wins, he would take office at age 28 — one year younger than when Joseph R. Paolino Jr., at 29 in 1984, became the youngest mayor in Providence history. Interestingly, Paolino and Morales represent two divergent trends in Democratic politics. Paolino, Rhode Island’s Democratic National Committeeman, tells everyone who will listen that the party needs to move to the center to win over more voters. Morales says the hand-wringing about Democrats’ direction is a distraction from what the party should be doing: emphasizing affordability.
3. THE MESSAGE: Morales’ communication ability is one of his top political assets. Here’s an excerpt from our interview, regarding Mamdani’s victory in NYC: “I think it demonstrated to us that the idea that there’s division within the Democratic Party is not so much one of ideology, but one around how we message and how we fight for the issues that we care most about, specifically issues that matter the most to working people and families. And a lot of this comes back down to the question of, ‘Do I have enough money at the end of the month to be able to pay for my rent, to pay for childcare, to pay for my groceries, do utilities and everything in between?’ And Zohran was able to deliver a message saying that ‘From the mayor’s office and the capacity that I have through that office, we’re gonna push every lever to make your life more affordable, to make your day-to-day life less stressful.’ And that’s a message that we have to embrace.”
4. LG WATCH: Xaykham “Xay” Khamsyvoravong, an at-large city councilor in Newport, tells me he’s considering any and all options — including a possible run for lieutenant governor next year. Khamsyvoravong cut his teeth running Frank Caprio’s winning 2006 campaign for general treasurer. He previously served in the ceremonial role of mayor of Newport, and he serves on the Governor’s Workforce Board. With Rhode Island facing a host of challenges, he said he’s considering how he can have the most impact (possibly in Newport) and plans to make a decision heading into the new year.
5. RULE OF LAW: President Trump has made no secret of his antipathy toward wind power for years. Opponents cite various arguments — visual blight, the environmental toll of leftover turbines, fallout for the seafood industry. Asked about this, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told me, “What I find remarkable is that we don’t hear about the adverse environmental effects of wind farms across this country.” (H/t Steve Ahlquist for a transcript and video of the AG’s news conference.) Neronha maintains there are “obvious benefits” to wind power, including cleaner energy and the prospect of lower prices. But his main point in announcing a lawsuit against the Trump administration, filed with CT AG William Tong, is that dramatic reversals in federal policy need to have some basis in law. “If he wants to behave like a yo-yo, that’s up to him, but you can’t run government that way,” Neronha said. “The decision-making has to be rational. And it has to be rational because not only do Rhode Islanders, but industry relies on predictability and rationality.” Neronha said the lawsuit has favorable odds of sparking a resumption of work on Revolution Wind, which is meant to provide electricity for 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and he said a decision on injunctive relief could come within days or weeks.’’ Supporters say the project is 80% complete.
RELATED:
***In a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Gov. Dan McKee requested a one-on-one in-person meeting to discuss the issue with President Trump. McKee said the stop-work order idles workers while undermining efforts to expand the state’s energy supply.
***U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, squared-off during a hearing with Adam Suess of the U.S. Department of Interior about the stop-work order for Revolution Wind. You can watch the exchange here. “With all due respect, bullshit,” Magaziner said at one point when Suess declined to specify the reason for the stop-work order.
6. GREAT NORTH: Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi sat down with Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey at the MA Statehouse on Thursday for their first in-depth conversation. Shekarchi tells me they didn’t discuss his possible bid to run for governor or other overly political topics. The Warwick Democrat said they did talk about possible collaborations on issues ranging from housing to healthcare. On the former, Shekarchi said one concept involves a coalition of states dividing an order for modular homes. The latter could involve the kind of vaccine alliance announced by Healey in the wake of narrower recommendations from the CDC. “She really impressed me,” Shekarchi said of the Bay State governor.
7. PAY IT OFF: Don’t look now, as Tay-Tay and Travis plan their nuptials (reportedly in RI, natch), but the ‘Taylor Swift Tax’ is spreading to other states, and there various angles.
***“The tax hikes are being driven by tighter state budgets and populist anger over housing costs,” reports CNBC. “States are looking to offset budget cuts expected from the new tax and spending bill in Washington. At the same time, the housing market has become a tale of two buyers, with the middle class and younger families struggling to afford homes while the luxury housing market thrives from wealthy all-cash buyers.”
***Quartz: “Taylor Swift’s potential wedding venue could face this real estate tax”
***Ouch! Swift and Kelce could face higher taxes due to ‘the marriage penalty.’
8. CHANGING SEASONS: For a lovely palate cleanse from an internet full of flotsam and jetsam, check out my colleague Ben Berke’s narrated photo essay on a timeless end of summer classic, the New England clambake: “Hot rocks, seaweed, and clams are the core elements of this ancient style of cookout, which a Quaker meeting in Dartmouth, Mass. has held annually since the 1880s.”
9. CONVERGENCE: As Lynn Arditi and Felice Freyer report, rising housing costs are putting health at risk for older residents. Excerpt: “In Rhode Island, more than one in six people who were homeless in 2024 – 1,572 people – were 55 or older, according to an analysis for The Public’s Radio by the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness. It’s why some organizations are coming up with creative approaches to help older people find housing, as well as medical care. Before [Roberta] Rabinovitz’s husband died, she had lived a middle-class life in the suburbs of Boston. Her husband managed an auto parts store; she worked as a senior credit analyst for a health care company. But by age 50, she was a widow with little savings. When her husband died in 1992, she said, he had no health insurance or pension. And like many women widowed in their 50s, after children are grown but long before social security kicks in, her finances deteriorated along with her health.”
10. RI POLI-MEDIA PEOPLE IN THE NEWS: Miguel Matos, nephew of Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos has been named director of the MLB office in the Dominican Republic. “From dreams to reality. Your hard work, character, and passion got you here,” the LG wrote on Facebook. “The whole family is proud beyond words.” …. Jeff Levy announced his campaign for the open Ward 2 City Council seat in Providence. David Caldwell has also announced a campaign and Matthew F. McDermott, a fellow Ward 2 resident, has also organized a campaign organization …. Michael Sroczynski has been named president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI). He previously served as executive vice president for the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association …. Jennifer La Luz has been promoted to VP of Operations at Kent Hospital.
11. BEAT THE DEVIL*: Media reporting and criticism by Dave O’Brian, Mark Jurkowitz and Dan Kennedy in the Boston Phoenix became a staple in my journalistic consumption after I landed in the Hub as a college kid long ago. It was a fresh, informative, behind-the-scenes and sometimes revelatory way of examining the Fourth Estate. Years later, Rhode Island’s media landscape offered ample fodder when I worked at the Providence Phoenix. To bring things into the present, Behind The Story, via WPRI, features interviews with local reporters and discussion about our work. Eli Sherman and Dan McGowan were kind enough to invite me on this week.
*This was the name of a media column in The Nation.
12. KICKER: The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS are pursuing new ways to serve our audience as we prepare for the formal launch of our new name, Ocean State Media. Perhaps you’ve seen my long-form interviews with newsmakers including Attorney General Peter Neronha. We plan to formally launch One on One with Ian Donnis as the successor to Political Roundtable later this month. We’re also producing shorter video pieces covering topics ranging from Ben Sukle talking about how to make it in the restaurant biz, how to make a good meal on a budget, how the cool kids are dressing up at RISD, and what locals have to say about top of mind concerns in Narragansett and other local communities. The latter piece closes out with a sonic sample from Vinny D, the Singing Barber, who used to ply his trade in North Providence and who said he cut the hair of notables ranging from Judge Caprio to Raymond L.S. Patriarca.
