October 24, 2010
Open Thread: Ballot Question 4
The floor (aka the comments section) is open, for people who’d like to discuss why they will or will not be voting for or against the fourth question that will appear on the Nov. 2 Rhode Island ballot...
OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION BONDS -- $14,700,000Voting yes authorizes the state government to borrow the money for the projects described above. Without voter approval, the borrowing cannot occur.Approval of this question will authorize the State of Rhode Island to issue general obligation bonds, refunding bonds, and temporary notes in an amount not to exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000) for the purpose of acquiring title to all or a portion of land in and around the former Rocky Point Park for the purpose of establishing the same as a public park, and three million two hundred thousand dollars ($3,200,000) for the purpose of transferring title to 25 India Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903 from the department of transportation to the department of environmental management, with the funds to be used to reimburse the US federal highway administration for the market value of the property preserving the same as open space and for recreation, and to further issue general obligation bonds, refunding bonds, and temporary notes in an amount not to exceed one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) for the purpose of improvements and renovations to Fort Adams State Park in the city of Newport dedicated to the preservation and public accessibility of the Fort.
I'm voting for it. Good stewardship is an essential part of conservatism, and there are things aside from money that are worth conserving.
General economic malaise and the tin-eared legislature pushes Rhode Islanders away, but the beauty of the state keeps them here. If we can't fix the former, we can at the very least preserve the latter...
Posted by: Miller at October 24, 2010 6:38 PMVoting yes on any of these is saying "I don't pay enough in taxes today. Tax me more."
Too many people have no idea that new taxes need to be raised to pay for these things and then complain when their taxes go up.
Posted by: Patrick at October 24, 2010 8:08 PMI will not be voting for any Bonds this year or in future elections unless and until I see the Smith Hill Banditos enact legislation and take other measure that demonstrate some fiscal sanity.
The Legislature FY2010 budget is $37,430,724 or 255% of the requested bond. How can we spend so much and get so little adult behavior in return?
Posted by: chuckR at October 24, 2010 11:04 PMI'm not voting for this. While I do think Rocky Point should become 'public space', the 'Shooters' site in Providence should be a private, tax-paying bar, just like it used to be. There's already a giant public-access park right there, anyway.
I know several people interested in re-opening it as a bar with a public mooring attached, so you can arrive by road or water. Shooters way way ahead of its time, a bar like that would be a wild success today.
Posted by: mangeek at October 25, 2010 1:59 AMNo. Rocky Point would make a great private theme park or water park but will probably go to luxury home owners, Shooters should be private and Fort Adams needs to get their own ballot question.
Posted by: michael at October 25, 2010 7:44 AMThis is a bad proposition and I urge rejecting it.
Why are we paying the federal government $3.2 million for land? Did the feds originally pay us for that land? I bet not.
The other expenditures are easily deferrable. When you're broke and out of work, you don't load up the credit cards just because you like to spend money. It's time to break the addiction, and these spending bills are the place to start.
Posted by: BobN at October 25, 2010 1:50 PMThe problem I have with all of the bond issues is that they are all "bundled." Each expenditure should be a separate question. Suppose one could justify supporting say, Rocky Point or Fort Adams, but didn't want to support Shooters? I have the same problem with the the URI chemistry / RIC arts bond.
Posted by: NJ at October 25, 2010 5:38 PM