Then Again...What Do I Know?
Local commentary by Roger Bouchard as published in the Woonsocket Call on
March 06, 2008
Washington
If you wonder how
Rhode Island
wove its way into the fiscal abyss we find ourselves, look no further than
this report. The
Pew
Center,
a think and research tank in
Washington,
studied all 50 states.
Rhode Island
received a grade of C- on a report card of a performance study.
Rhode Island
fell short of the national average of B-, which 18 states received.
Utah,
Virginia
and
Washington
took an A-, the highest grade, while
New Hampshire
received the lowest grade, D+. The study pointed out
that “contributing to Rhode Island’s grade were continuous and worsening
fiscal problems, such as dependence on one-time revenue to balance ongoing
expenditures, and “trimming” that has left one maintenance worker for
every 75 state bridges.” The state has structural deficit compounded by an
employee pension system with one of the highest unfunded ratios in the
nation. Moreover
Rhode Island’s
budget process is disconnected from performance measures while the state
faces a large and growing debt. Of the 50 states we came in 49th
in poor performance not a big surprise if you follow
Rhode Island
government.
|
Woonsocket
Does
Woonsocket
need another Homeless Shelter? Do we need one for men only? Do we need
one on
Burnside Avenue?
Under the sponsorship Blackstone Valley NeighborWorks Corporation
(formerly Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corporation) the group
is seeking Community Development Block Grant money to open the
shelter. Pastor gene Giguere of the
Harvest
Community
Church
made the pitch for the funding before the city council Monday night.
His church provides winter overnight shelter for men from November to
April but this shelter proposal for an abandoned house on
Burnside Avenue
would be year round. Giguere says Family Resources would manage the
shelter. Pastor Sammy Vaughn of St. James Baptist church and the
Rev. Gerald F. Finnegan of
St
Charles
Borromeo
Church
also spoke in favor of the shelter. The council took no immediate
action on the proposal.
Providence
Legislative grants
irked a
Bristol
resident to complain in a letter to the editor. William Colleran
complained about legislators who “bask in the benevolent glow that
emanates from the third floor of the State House.”
Colleran writes that the money is distributed disproportionately to
favored legislators. Using the Senate as an example, $1,086,023.00 was
ladled out, with all 38 senators receiving from $9,500 to $107,000.
The top five “contributors” sucked up 31 percent of
up-for-grabs funds. The king and queen of this legislative handout
were Senate President Joseph Montalbano and Senate Majority Leader M.
Teresa Paiva-Weed. The top five are: M. Teresa
Paiva-Weed (D.-Newport) $107,000; Joseph Montalbano (D.-Lincoln)
$75,000; Sen. Rhoda Perry (D.-Providence) $61,000; Sen. Leo Blais
(R.-Coventry) $48,700, and Sen. Dominick Ruggerio (D.-Providence)
$47,500. In the House, a mere $552,000 was
distributed out to the rank and file.
Woonsocket
The
Woonsocket
City
council is ahead the curve on a proposal from Governor Carcieri who
wants to force municipalities to hold public hearings to review
tentative labor agreements before they are finalized. Councilman John
Ward reminded me that the City Council passed an ordinance last
October requiring public review of contracts. The actual wording of
the code of ordinances reads no
collective bargaining agreement between the City of Woonsocket and any
labor organization shall become effective unless and until ratified by
the Woonsocket City Council.
At least one public hearing shall be held prior to city council
ratification of any collective bargaining agreement. An official for
the teachers union (NEA) claimed the move would lead
to harassment and unnecessary political pressure. The lobbyist
retorted “We elect officials to negotiate contracts. It’s sort of like
letting other people negotiate contracts.” Carcieri’s office suggested
that increased public input would lead to better contracts.
Woonsocket
Woonsocket
taxpayers authorized city officials through a bond issue five years
ago to borrow 90 millions dollars to fund the city’s unfunded pension
liability account. A debate has evolved between city council members
John Ward and Leo Fontaine and the city’s administration as to the
performance of the money managers. Finance Director Robert Strom in an
exclusive WNRI interview last Friday admitted that the fund in the
last few months has eroded down to 83 million dollars due to volatile
market conditions and so the local investment board has decided to
seek bids to find a new money management firm possibly firing Wilshire
Consulting from its current role. Fontaine explained, during another
WNRI interview, that city council members were given a rosy picture of
the fund while in reality the fund was barely keeping ahead of itself.
Fontaine suggested if the funds had been properly managed during the
good years of the stock market, there would have been ample money in
the fund to weather the recent financial downturn. Fontaine was
alerted by a new appointee to the investment board of the fund’s
mediocre performance. The fund has generated almost $34,000,000 in
payments to retirees since the money has been invested.
Woonsocket
With all the
retirements these days of
Woonsocket
officials, has the time come for Mayor Menard to retire before her
term ends? Maybe yes, says Mayor Menard in an
interview Tuesday morning. But the reason will come from the
legislature at the State House not local political adversaries. “If
there are going to be extreme changes in the (state) pension rules and
requirements to retire and that would affect me, then that would chase
me out. At some point after 26 years of service to the City of
Woonsocket
I have to think of myself and my future.” The mayor is aware that
statewide pension reform is under consideration and if the reforms
short-circuit her pension, she would consider a premature departure.
|
ROGER BOUCHARD is general manager of radio station WNRI. His column appears every Thursday in the Woonsocket Call. He can be reached at rogerwnri@prodigy.net.
News/Talk 1380 WNRI
786 Diamond Hill Road
Woonsocket, Rhode Island 02895-1476
Business Line: 401-769-6925
Talk Line: 401-769-0600
Talk Line: 401-766-1380
Toll Line: 800-949-WNRI (9674)
Fax: 401-762-0442
ARCHIVE
Webmaster's Note - I've been looking at various websites on the internet, and thought it might be a good idea to keep an archive of past articles.
