Adventures in Town Government
For this week’s conversation, John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the complete lack of will to fix education for Rhode Island kids or reduce abuse for Rhode Island taxpayers.
If the development on which Nicole Dotzenrod reports for the Valley Breeze begins appearing in other communities, it could be a sign of a worrying trend. In the town’s most-recent hiring effort, five applicants met the minimum standards, one chose a different career path, another didn’t pass the interview and background check, and one rejected policing…
For this week’s conversation, John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss Rhode Island progressives’ inability to come up with solutions for problems that their policies have created.
Mark Zaccaria argues, for Rhody Reporter, that local officials should start getting used to having a line item for cyber-security as more and more of their activities move online. Of course, it would be nice if the costs of new technology could be offset (and then some) by the savings in labor and productivity that high-tech…
As the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs, state government has been slow to give up its enhanced powers (and may never give up their easy access to them, now that they’ve got a feel for them). But COVID-restrictions have come with other benefits for government insiders — most especially the ability to keep the public at arm’s…
Something in Dan McGowan’s Rhode Map column today reminded me of a question I had for Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera. Asked by McGowan what has surprised her in her first 100 days in office, Rivera replied, in part: “I’m surprised by the enormous stress of providing basic city services while, at the same time, tackling…
The Providence Journal’s headline on a Katherine Gregg story draws attention to an important point about what is hidden: “RI lawmakers ask: Should police face stricter discipline?” Put simply, the bright spotlight on race makes conspicuous what the politicians, unions, and activists are trying to keep off to the side, in the dark. International Brotherhood of Police…
For their weekly conversation, John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss Governor Daniel McKee avoiding the underlying problems at Zambarano, the media ignoring the underlying violence of BLM rallies, Providence ignoring the underlying issues with public safety, and the implications of fundraising results from Congressmen James Langevin and David Cicilline.
I hope everyone was able to keep safe and as warm as they could through the storm. The cleanup has begun, and even probably ended in many towns. However in some places, we hear about the plows’ inability to keep up and even still some people complaining that their road hasn’t seen a plow yet.…
Paul Rahe’s written an excellent essay explaining why libertarians ought to be social conservatives (via Instapundit), which is a point on which I’m writing for future publication. For the moment, though, this paragraph is more immediately relevant: In America, [Tocqueville] found institutions, mores, and manners antithetical to what he took to be democracy’s natural drift.…
