Adventures in Town Government
At an impromptu press conference following this morning’s Economic Forum, Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri gave a strong hint as to where efforts to address the latest budget shortfall will focus. This is part of the Governor’s answer to a question on whether the state will be seriously looking at consolidating services between cities and…
One ray of hope in the evening — perhaps gleaming a little more brightly because of my proximity — is the success of Tiverton Citizens for Change. In summary, four out of five of our endorsees made it onto the seven-person council. Our one school committee endorsee won the greatest number of votes! Our two…
Well, I was able to cheer something: Some good results for Tiverton Citizens for Change, so far, and if they hold: Four of our endorsees made it on the seven-person council. The school committee results couldn’t have been better: our candidate (meaning an original member of our group) led the vote percentage for school committee).…
Further to a prior conversation thread, Anchor Rising does not specialize in scoops. But if someone – in this case, Will Ricci of the Ocean State Republican, with access to a telephone but not a computer – kindly offers one, this contributor at least will not refuse it. East Providence teachers met this afternoon to…
Some last-minute pre-election teacher contract controversy has arisen for Tiverton voters’ edification: Superintendent William Rearick and School Committee Chairwoman Denise deMedeiros thought they were close to approving a contract for the teachers this week, saying this is the closest they have been in more than 16 months of negotiating, but teachers union President Amy Mullen…
For those interested in some video highlights of the last six months’ events in Tiverton budgetary politics, Tiverton Citizens for Change has a video up on its Web site. Watching it all unfold again, it’s remains difficult to believe the scam that the local government pulled to get the budget that it wanted. It also…
Anybody interested in changing the way in which Tiverton’s government conducts business should consider attending Tiverton Citizens for Change’s volunteer/candidate night tonight. We’ll be looking for people to help in myriad ways, from canvassing neighborhoods to putting up yard signs, but even those who aren’t able or willing to help out are invited to meet…
My return to the Providence Journal editorial pages today offers a synopsis of recent establishment v. reform events in Tiverton, with the suggestion that, since the powers who be are interconnected across the state, so should the reformers be aware of and cooperate with each other: There seems to be little reason for residents of…
There’s something peculiar about the tack that the incumbents of Tiverton are taking against Tiverton Citizens for Change (TCC) — implying some shadowy intention to be vague about our agenda. We have no solution, they say, and it doesn’t require much political savvy to imagine their fingers twitching in anticipation that we’ll offer something up…
Soon-to-be-former Town Councilor Brian Medeiros (who isn’t running to maintain his seat) expresses a potentially alarming notion about governance: Government is supposed to help us all do things we can’t do individually. If he’s talking about communal defense against plausible military attack, then I’d agree. If he’s talking about making teachers into an unaccountable class…