Central Falls

Towns Serving at the State’s Pleasure

By Justin Katz | October 19, 2010 |

Ted Nesi reports that Superior Court Justice Michael Silverstein has found the Central Falls receivership to be constitutional: As I mentioned back in July, the big constitutional question here was whether or not putting a city or town into receivership represented a permanent change in a municipality’s form of government. Administration lawyers and Pfeiffer argued…

If I Were a Betting Man, I’d Bet On Judge Michael Silverstein Throwing Out the New Receivership Law…

By Carroll Andrew Morse | October 6, 2010 |

…or at least significant chunks of it. I opine this after reading John Hill‘s report in today’s Projo which highlighted a particular line of questioning asked during yesterday’s oral arguments on the constitutionality of the municipal receivership law, to the lawyer for Central Falls receiver Mark Pfeiffer…[Judge Silverstein] pressed [lawyer Theodore Orson] on the lack…

How Central Falls’s Property Tax Rate Nearly Doubled Year Over Year

By Justin Katz | August 30, 2010 |

There’s been some question, in the comments sections, about differing tax rates reported for property in Central Falls. John Hill explains what happened: Last year, the total value of residential, commercial and industrial real estate in the city was just under $685 million. The new valuation, based on sales figures from the past year, was…

Fighting Tyranny Inherently Breaks the Rules

By Justin Katz | August 27, 2010 |

I’ve been meaning to comment on the latest development in the governance of Central Falls: the city council’s decision to hire an independent lawyer, apparently without knowing how it will pay the bill if Receiver-King Mark Pfeiffer, appointed by the state, refuses to allow it. The move by the council is a reaction to state-appointed…

You’re All Missing the Point on Central Falls

By Justin Katz | August 20, 2010 |

I don’t know if it’s a Rhode Island municipality v. municipality thing or massive frustration with the insider v. outsider structure of our civic culture, in this state, but the commenters to my Central Falls post are marching all around the point. Patrick writes: … I understand the point that you’re making, but I think…

The People of Central Falls Should Fire Their Receiver

By Justin Katz | August 20, 2010 |

… only they can’t, because the people who govern Rhode Island have decided that bond ratings justify a sort of economic martial law. They simply don’t believe that democracy works. So, bond rating agencies’ threat to devalue Rhode Island’s ability to borrow more money (which it shouldn’t be doing, anyway) has given a single man,…

Because Once You Suspend Democracy and Make a Single Public Official Into an All-Powerful Governor-General with the Power to Spend Money Any Way He Sees Fit, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 18, 2010 |

Will John Hill‘s reporting in today’s Projo help convince people that suspending democratic governance really doesn’t address the source of the fiscal problems we have here in Rhode Island…The court-appointed law firm that oversaw [Central Falls’] finances from May to July has advised the state the bill for its two months of work and other…

Turnaround Dictator Comes with Big Bucks

By Justin Katz | July 28, 2010 |

If there are going to be public-sector pensions, then judges should receive reasonable ones, and somebody being paid to turn around a failing municipality should be compensated well for undertaking the responsibility, but state Senator William Walaska (D, Warwick) has a point about the amounts involved in Central Falls: I was outraged when I read…

Concerns About Process in Central Falls

By Justin Katz | July 22, 2010 |

The city of Central Falls is surely better off without Mayor Charles Moreau in office, and many of us likely share the opinion (from afar) that he’d best serve the state by taking this opportunity to quietly exit public service (which phrase I type with some difficulty, in this context). But let’s take a moment…

Slow Improvement, or Spinning Wheels?

By Justin Katz | July 22, 2010 |

Little by little, we appear to be moving Rhode Island’s political structure in the right direction: A new law championed by East Providence officials has changed how its candidates and Central Falls’ election contenders collected voters’ signatures. A provision in each of the communities’ charters said voters could sign only one candidate’s nomination papers. The…