Adventures in Town Government
The timing of Wisconsin’s contribution to the era of global protest coincides profoundly with a new report on pensions from the Rhode Island Senate: The new report also factors in the cost of other post-employment benefits, which cities and towns, as well as the state, have only recently begun to show on their accounting statements.…
This being Rhode Island, one expects it to be a long shot, but it’s worth noting that Patricia Morgan (R, Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick) has filed legislation to repeal the Caruolo Act: The Caruolo Act allows school committees to file suit against their taxpayers when they overspend their budgets. Rep. Morgan’s legislation would eliminate this…
Some elected officials, in Tiverton, are encouraging their fellows to ignore the past while constructing the next budget. My Tiverton-Little Compton.Patch column, this week, I suggest that such an approach is, well, improper: It certainly shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion that a tax base that grew by 2% over a period of 28% inflation can…
Gary Trott tries to apply too much common sense to public-sector budgeting: What should a Rhode Island city or town do if it suddenly finds itself with a surplus of unspent funds amounting to nearly $6 million? You’d think that it would do the responsible thing and not spend those funds in order to ease…
The idea of a tiered diploma system is causing much teeth-gnashing in Tiverton and elsewhere. My Patch column, this week, explains the effect of the proposal and points out that a related topic really ought to be the controversy to which every School Committee meeting is dedicated: In light of that change, a cynic (or,…
The Tiverton Town Council meeting has already been running very long, and there’s still a full agenda page of meaty topics. On the floor, right now, is a discussion of what the Town Council can do to make the town more “business friendly.” I touched on this topic not long ago. The first to speak,…
My Tiverton Patch column this week explains why I’m suing the Town of Tiverton: The entire episode was further evidence that government in Tiverton, as in the rest of Rhode Island, has long been characterized by an insulated cooperation. Officials and bureaucrats willingly making things happen for each other, connecting the letters of the law…
Among the first items under discussion at the Tiverton School Committee meeting is whether the School Committee should subpoena Town Treasurer Phil DiMattia to appear before it, since he has opted not to attend their meeting at their request. Committee Member Carol Herrmann noted that it might be worth waiting to see whether the fact…
Back in 2007, I argued against non-partisan elections in Tiverton. Those who disagreed took a very community-oriented view: ARGUING AGAINST asking Tiverton voters whether they’d like to return to partisan elections after one cycle of nonpartisanism, Charter Review Commission member Frank “Richard” Joslin made two points that have the ring of Rhode Islandry: First, that…
The Democrat trio of Tiverton’s state representation — Rep. Jay Edwards, Sen. Walter Felag, and Sen. Louis DiPalma — appeared before the Tiverton Town Council tonight. Here are my notes: Edwards started out by noting his request for legislation enabling biannual licensing reviews (or longer). Felag: The budget is the major issue, and Governor Lincoln…