Adventures in Town Government

… They actually managed to delay me by involving my extended family in the plot. My brother-in-law’s mother-in-law is moving, and we claimed her washing machine; of course, it had to be taken this evening (of course). But they are too tricky by half, because they moved the school committee meeting from the high school…

I feel as if I should be speaking up about the town fees that are rapidly increasing before my eyes, but I really haven’t done my homework on them. I present as an extenuating circumstance the vast learning curve: Tiverton has a lengthy planning document. There’s a massive spreadsheet for the budget. There are countless…

My decision to attend this week’s town council meeting was not a reaction to Ed Achorn’s latest Projo column, but it could have been: LOCAL OFFICIALS in Rhode Island talk a good game about financial woes, but they act as if they have money to burn. And they will keep on doing it — as…

[Whispering.] I’ve infiltrated a Tiverton Town Council meeting. They attempted to delay me by placing a slow-driving woman in my path, but I persevered. I expected an attempt to drive me away with boredom, but they inadvisably postponed the actual meeting to make way for professional interviews for labor counsel. No doubt, however, they’ll follow…

Apparently, I’m not the only resident of Tiverton who knows that something wicked is this way coming: The Rhode Island budget deficit will bankrupt the state in just a few years. I wonder if most of the state’s citizens are aware of just what this means: • Governmental collapse. • Extreme cuts in essential services, such as…

Jon Pincince of the RI Law Journal, blogging both as someone interested in Rhode Island legal issues and as a South Kingstown resident, provides an interesting summary of the trash hauling situation in his town. Apparently, the South Kingstown Town Council is leaning towards implementing a system that makes it illegal for anyone but one…

Go beyond addressing his concerns before he’s even asked. It also helped to quell my ire that it took over two hours for the Tiverton zoning board to get to the matter of renovations to the school next to my house last night. While I waited, I was able to peruse the project plans and…

After a bit of consideration, I’m not so sure I’ve the resources to up and leave Rhode Island. There’s an ire that rises when one feels trapped, but at the same time, brawling has its attractions, and a couple of community items have recently led me to believe that there’s another path to take than…