Residents hit MAGA majority on the Chariho School Committee for secrecy, bad decisions, and shutting down public comment

MAGA and education is an oxymoron in more ways than one

Steve Ahlquist

I’ve been covering the Chariho School Committee on and off this year, from the first two meetings where the new conservative 7-5 majority pulled some shenanigans to make sure their preferred choice for chair of the committee, Moms for Liberty candidate Louise Dinsmore, secured her seat [See: here and here], to a so far unsuccessful attempt to go after libraries, face masks, Title IX, and trans kids [See: here and here].

Chariho is a regionalized school district with representatives from Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton. The School Committee is made up of four people from each town. What has so far prevented the conservative majority on the Chariho School Committee from enacting their radical wishlist is the sustained local opposition of residents who attend meeting after meeting to defend their school system.

At the April school committee meeting, the conservative majority, led by Chair Dinsmore, voted not to extend Chariho Superintendent Gina Picard’s contract. Superintendent Picard’s contract expires in 2027, and the committee voted against extending it to 2018. The auditorium where the meeting was being held was packed with residents and students there to support Superintendent Picard. To the anger of those in attendance, Chair Dinsmore refused to allow public comment, effectively silencing dissent.

At last night’s meeting, which had time for public comment on the agenda, a packed house let the committee know how angry they were at the conservative committee members for voting against extending the superintendent’s contract and not allowing public comment.

“The school committee has created a large leadership problem for itself,” said resident Chris Kona. “When Dinsmore, Chapman, Phelps, Hopkins, Tefft, and Champlin voted not to extend Superintendent Picard’s contract, they did not explain why.”

Kona said the school committee now appears difficult to work with, and any current employees thinking about retirement will be heading toward the door.

“As you establish a reputation for bullying and being capricious, whether it’s your goal or not, it will be much harder to recruit good talent in Chariho,” said Kona. “Chariho’s going to become a stepping stone for administrators and teachers. It’ll be a place where folks come, do a couple of years, get a resume bullet, and then move on to a place where they know they can build a stable future. Then we’ll have to take whoever we can to fill the gaps. We’re creating a brain drain here as talented teachers and administrators leave for higher ground.

“Maybe you don’t see this as a problem, but organizational change manifests with the people in the organization. You must align them with your vision, meaning they must trust you. You’ve broken all that, and fixing it will take real work.”

In solidarity!

Here comes another wave of far-right Chariho attackers

Who are the candidates that signed the Moms for Liberty Pledge in Rhode Island?

STEVE AHLQUIST

This is NOT part of their agenda

The Washington County Chapter of Moms for Liberty has been busy collecting candidates up and down the ballot in Rhode Island, challenging for elected positions on at least one school board, two town councils, Rhode Island’s House of Representatives, and the United States Senate. 

In all likelihood, many other candidates would find themselves aligned with the values of Moms for Liberty, labeled a far-right extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. So far only ten nine Rhode Island candidates have signed onto the Moms for Liberty Pledge.

What are parental rights? Lauren Gambino offers a decent explanation in The Guardian, writing:

“Republicans are leaning into the education culture wars, championing policies that they say will give parents more of a say in their children’s education, from the subjects they are taught to the books they read, with hopes of appealing to suburban voters who recoiled from the party during the Trump years. In their telling, Republicans are the defenders of America’s schoolchildren whose education is threatened by a leftwing ideology that promotes activism, racial history, and gender fluidity over academic outcomes.

“But critics and many educators say conservatives are using the term “parents’ rights” as a guise to advance a right-wing education agenda that undermines public schools, whitewashes American history, and marginalizes LGBTQ+ students.”

The Washington County Chapter of Moms for Liberty has been vocal against trans rights and supported the banning of books from school libraries. They have also opposed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.

The ten nine Rhode Island candidates who have signed the pledge so far are:

Diane Tefft – Candidate for Chariho Regional School District

In a two-way race, Tefft, a Republican, will go head-to-head with Democrat Gregory Avedisian. Tefft’s name is misspelled on the Moms for Liberty website.

Louise Dinsmore – Candidate for Chariho Regional School District

Louise Dinsmore is a co-chair of Chariho Forgotten Taxpayers, a conservative group that hosted Nicole Solas, a Rhode Island anti-trans parents rights activist and a senior fellow with the Independent Women's Forum, created to promote a “conservative alternative to feminist tenets.” “Who am I really?” asked Dinsmore at the Solas event, “I'm a vocal taxpayer and Richmond resident concerned about how my tax dollars are being spent by the town and the school district.” Though Dinsmore plays up her fiscal conservatism, signing the Moms for Liberty Pledge and hosting Nicole Solas shows that she is also interested in the culture war.

Dinsmore’s candidacy for a seat on the Chariho Regional School District is interesting considering that the co-chair of Chariho Forgotten Taxpayers, Clay Johnson, (a #ParentsUnitedRI candidate) was illegally placed on the School District after a resignation, and was only replaced with the rightful winner of the election after a court battle and Rhode Island Supreme Court decision. 

[See: With ties to hate groups, #ParentsUnitedRI offers slate of conservative extremists for local office and Conflicting laws leave contested Chariho School Committee vacancy up to RI Supreme Court]

Anthony D’Ellena – Candidate for Narragansett Town Council

D’Ellena is the 2022 Field Organizer for Rhode Island Republican Party and Vice Chairman of the Narragansett Republican Town Committee. He has testified at the State House in favor of Representative Patricia Morgan’s anti-trans legislation.

D’Ellena’s Twitter is a hotbed of inflammatory right-wing rhetoric.

Catherine Canavan – Candidate for Narragansett Town Council

Canavan is an anti-wind turbine activist spreading the false narrative that wind turbines kill whales.

Helen Sheehan

Though she signed the Moms for Liberty Pledge and currently serves on the Richmond Town Council, Sheehan is not running for re-election.

Jasmin Roy – Candidate for Hopkinton Town Council Town

Roy is the Vice-Chair of the Washington County Chapter of Moms for Liberty and she testified at the State House in strong support of Representative Patricia Morgan’s anti-trans bills.

Jessica Drew-Day – Candidate for State Representative, District 33

Drew-Day is running against Representative Carol Hagen McEntee, a Democrat. She is the recently elected president of the South Kingstown Republican Party. Though she signed the Moms for Liberty Pledge, Drew-Day is on the right side of the Bonnet Shores Fire District issue.

Lisa Marie Leavitt – Candidate for State Representative, District 31

Republican Marie Leavitt is challenging Democratic incumbent Julie Casimiro in District 31.

Examples of Marie Leavitt’s attitude towards the LGBTQ community and book banning can be seen on her Facebook campaign page:

Patricia Morgan – Candidate for United States Senate

Both of the Republican candidates challenging Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for his Senate seat have signed the Moms for Liberty pledge.

Representative Patricia Morgan is the primary sponsor of anti-trans legislation in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. This year she disrupted the committee hearing her bill by loudly talking during public testimony. [See: Representative Morgan disrupted the committee hearing of her bill]

Though she claims that her bills are designed to protect children, during her testimony she said, “I wish we could say it till 26, but I'm at least hoping that we can say till 18 because we shouldn't be allowing it.”

Raymond McKay – Candidate for United States Senate

Both of the Republican candidates challenging Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for his Senate seat have signed the Moms for Liberty pledge.

Though McKay portrays himself as a fiscal conservative with strong views on immigration, signing the Moms for Liberty pledge shows that he is not immune to the allure of being anti-LGBTQ and banning books.

As of this writing, the Washington County Chapter of Moms for Liberty has not officially endorsed any of the above candidates. Instead, these candidates voluntarily signed onto the Moms for Liberty Pledge, signaling their support for the values and goals of the Moms for Liberty organization.

There are parallels and connections here to another right-wing effort to use “parental rights” as a wedge issue in local politics. Two years ago I wrote about #ParentsUnitedRI, a right-wing hate group that stood against LGBTQ rights, opposed the teaching of history through any kind of racial lens, and fought against COVID-19 precautions throughout the pandemic. In that piece, I showed that the group had ties to overt white supremacist hate groups like CORR (Citizens Organized to Restore Rights) and Super Happy Fun America (SHFA).

Some of the same people involved with that effort have signed onto the Moms for Liberty Pledge, including Representative Patrica Morgan, Jessica Drew-Day, and Helen Sheehan. This latest effort is just a recast of the same old idea: conservative operatives tearing a page out of the right-wing playbook and trying to take power through town councils and school committees. It’s important to know who you’re voting for.

STEVE AHLQUIST is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

CPD reports the red light cameras are FINALLY working

For the first two weeks, violators will receive warnings

By Will Collette

After a two and a half year delay, Charlestown's two sets of red-light enforcement cameras finally started operating Tuesday morning at 10 AM.

Charlestown Police Chief Jeffrey Allen says that “Tony Ruscito [contractor Sensys America rep] informed me that the red light cameras are up and running.  As per the original program the first two weeks will be a warning period.” That warning period will run until the 20^th of January.

These are two sets of cameras that will film cars running red lights while going either north or south on Route One at the intersections with East Beach Road and West Beach Road. During the warning period, vehicles caught on camera will get a warning. After that, violators will receive $85 tickets.

The CCA: Political party … or cult?

Part 2 of “CCA rhetoric versus reality”

By Neniu Sciu
Click here for Part 1

I have a confession to make.

I’ve been calling the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) a political party, but I’ve since seen the error of my ways. I’d say I’ve seen the light, but we have a dark-sky ordinance.

I was wrong, and the CCA is right. The CCA is not a political party.

They’re a cult.

Likelihood of settlement in DiBello case increases

Council schedules second closed-door meeting on DiBello case at town lawyer’s office in Warwick

By Will Collette

The Charlestown Town Council has posted notice of yet another closed-door, executive session meeting. This one will take place in Warwick, at the office of Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero. The only item on the agenda is discussion of Councilor Lisa DiBello’s lawsuit against the Town of Charlestown. This will be the second closed door meeting on the DiBello case this week.

Charlestown Town Council holds meeting in Warwick on Thursday

It will also be the first time I can remember a Charlestown Town Council meeting being held outside of Charlestown. Under the state’s Open Meetings Act, members of the public are entitled to attend – in this case, you can drive up to Warwick – although you are not entitled to witness the executive session. Presumably, Ruggiero’s office will make some provision for spectators who want to see what goes on before and after the Council enters its executive session.

I could find no provision in Charlestown’s Home Rule Charter that actually requires Charlestown governmental meetings to be held in Charlestown. Maybe this is a trial balloon – after the election, if the CCA Party retains power, they might decide to hold meetings in western Connecticut or Florida to make it easier for their campaign financial backers to attend.

But I digress. Two closed door meetings in the same week with the second one in the town lawyer’s office tells me that something big is up. Probably a settlement. As I have often noted, cases like this almost never go to trial; they are almost always settled, and often when the municipality’s insurance carrier[1] insists on it.

The best way to understand the issues is to start by reading the allegations Councilor DiBello filed against the Town and nearly a dozen past and present town officials. You can read her allegations in their entirety and in her own words (well, as interpreted by her lawyer) by clicking here.

UPDATED: How much is LarryLand worth?

What will it cost the taxpayers to end a decade of high anxiety?

By Will Collette

How much is it worth?

No matter the outcome of the Zoning Board of Review hearings on Larry LeBlanc’s proposed Whalerock industrial wind project, Charlestown’s on-going nightmare will continue. 

It will continue until either Larry LeBlanc builds something on his 81 acres overlooking Route One that will give him and his partners a profit or somebody pays him the price he needs to walk away.

Town Council meeting on Monday

Here’s your preview

By Will Collette

The Town Council meets on Monday, May 13 at 7 PM. This month’s agenda is light compared to the usual, although last month provided plenty of surprises when Councilor Dan Slattery decided to go on the attack against the Rhythm & Roots Festival at the behest of his constituents in the Arnolda neighborhood.

There are plenty of opportunities for flare-ups in this month’s agenda, too. If last month was any indication, this Council term has now reached the point where a monthly battle sparked by Councilors Slattery, Lisa DiBello or Council boss Tom Gentz is de rigeur.

There is a proposal for expanded aquaculture in Ninigret Pond on the docket; that could provide an opening  for Slattery to raise hell on behalf of his Arnolda constituents. There’s also an item describing the plans for summer activities at Ninigret and the efforts by Friends of Ninigret Park to raise money in support. That could set Slattery off, too. Or Councilor DiBello.

We’ll know Monday night whether any of these dormant volcanoes blow.

This is Progressive Charlestown’s regular monthly service where we unravel the Town Council agenda and present it in the actual order the agenda items will be heard – this Council always jumbles the published agenda beyond recognition. And of course, I’ve added my own color commentary and previews.

UPDATED: Special Budget Hearing on Monday night

Tax increase proposed by Budget Commission despite HUGE excess surplus

By Will Collette

24 18 cent per $1000 tax hike even though we are running 
a huge surplus? Thank you, CCA!

UPDATE: hardly anyone showed up at tonight's budget hearing which took a total of 20 minutes.

Town Council boss Tom Gentz reported that the Chariho school district plans to go to voters for a second time, this time with no increase over FY2013 - a total reduction of $623,000.  Voters rejected the first Chariho budget.

This will save Charlestown $178,243, presuming voters approve the revised Chariho budget on May 14.

Next Monday, May 13, the Council will vote on the final version they will send to Charlestown voters on June 3. 

Gentz said he will propose reducing the town budget by $167,510 to reflect the savings (and some offsets) and that will reduce the proposed tax hike from 24 cents per $1000 to 18 cents.

Former Council member Gregg Avedisian challenged the proposed tax hike and the Budget Commission's choice to spend excess surplus funds on capital costs rather than tax relief to the many financial beleaguered residents. See detail below.

Council member Dan Slattery (CCA) argued that because the Budget Commission are hard working and because Charlestown has a low tax rate, we should raise taxes (even though we don't really need to). Slattery noted some cuts to town services and staff - but did not address Avedisian's point about the town's purely voluntary decision to spend surplus funds on capital projects rather than tax relief.

UPDATED: Council OKs expanded camping for Rhythm & Roots

Crisis averted, but town fault lines widen

If Dan Slattery had his way, this would be the only approved entertainment

By Will Collette

On a 5 to 0 vote in its Special Meeting, the Town Council approved the one item on the agenda: the request from Rhythm and Roots promoter Chuck Wentworth for an added camping spaces for 200 people that would allow his staff and volunteers to stay together in one location.

Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz presented the Council with his recommendation that they approve the request based on his consultation with town department heads. Read his memo here.

During the course of the meeting, many residents voiced their opinions, pro and con. Generally, several  Arnolda neighborhood residents voiced their general opposition not only to the Festival but to many other human activities in the Park while most others supported R&R. However, the chair of the Arnolda Association said that she polled the members and the majority were in favor of the proposal.

Arnolda resident Dave Bailey, who also serves on the Budget Commission, spoke at great length about the cumulative “damage” caused by such activities as the events, the community garden, the ice rink, the now dismantled MET tower and on and on.

Charlestown Briefs

Peeps®, job openings, money, flu, nuclear shut-downs, meteors, moving out, politics and more
By Will Collette

Time once again for Peeps®

Ash Wednesday was February 13 so we’re trucking on toward Easter which is, as all Progressive Charlestown readers know, famous for its Peeps® diorama contests. Yes, Peeps®, one of the four major food groups become the main media for some lovely works of art.

Creative folks all across the country are challenged to come up with their own little tableaus using Peeps® to win contests by newspapers and organizations all over – including Progressive Charlestown. While we did not get as many amazing entries as the Washington Post did – their annual Peeps® contest is the granddaddy of them all – but we were pleased. So, Peeps®, get cracking and come up with your own creations. Send us a digital photo and we’ll run the best of them in Progressive Charlestown.

Temporary Jobs.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Coup attempt on GOP Town Committee

Plus, Tina Jackson cited for multiple campaign finance violations

Jackson violated campaign finance law

By Will Collette

NOTE: this article originally ran on Saturday, pre-scheduled before the lights went out. Since most Charlestown readers probably missed it on Saturday, here it is again.

Tina Jackson, who has been pushed by state GOP chair Mark Zaccaria to take over Charlestown's Republican Town Committee has some more messy fallout to explain from her failed attempt to unseat state Representative Donna Walsh.

We've just learned that Jackson has a long string of campaign finance violations and the fines for those violations are increasing daily. This is hardly a great shock, given Jackson's long criminal rap sheet and wide-ranging legal problems, all of which came out during her campaign.

Inexplicably in view of this public record, out-going GOP Chair Mark Zaccaria picked Jackson to spearhead a "reorganization" of the Town Committee which was to begin at a February 4 meeting at the Breachway Grill.

But there was minor hitch - the GOP Committee members had already reorganized the town committee for the new term at a meeting on January 30. Five of the nine members who had filed their paperwork last summer and were duly certified to service called the meeting where Gregg Avedisian was elected as the new GOP town chair.

Charlestown news briefs

Town Dems and GOP re-organize….Coastal Ponds Commission meets Monday….Try CRAC – you’ll like it….Larisa’s workload….St. Andrews serves….Chariho kids shovel….Free at last, free at last
By Will Collette

Charlestown Democrats announce committee officers and roster for the 2013-14 term.

The new town Democratic team for the 2013-2014 term was announced by the CDTC. The CDTC has a full roster of 15 members. Cathy Collette and Tim Quillen remain Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively. Tom Ferrio moves to Treasurer and Suzanne Ferrio takes Tom’s former post as Secretary. Details here.

Tina Jackson takes over?

Charlestown Republicans hope to re-organize.

Failed candidate for state Representative Tina Jackson has apparently taken charge of re-organizing the moribund Charlestown Republican Town Committee. She has called a meeting for that purpose for Monday night, 7 PM at the Breachway Grill. Details here. 

There’s an interesting problem with this: under state law, all municipal party committees are required to reorganize every two years in January after each general election. Next Monday is February. But, hey, this
isn’t the first time that Tina Jackson has violated the law - or the most serious.

Santa's letters to Charlestown: Dear Paula

Dear Paula,

Watching for Santa

I have to keep this brief as I just found out that the Charlestown Planning Commission is seeking an FAA restraining order banning me –well, actually anyone except bats, birds, and waterfowl - from entering the air space above town.

Charlestown voters have spoken

A big night for the CCA

By Will Collette

Well, Town Council Boss Tom Gentz and Deputy Dan Slattery will be returning to the Town Council in their old slots, and now they have a third CCA true-blue in George Tremblay who will have to vacate his Planning Commission seat to take a seat on the Town Council. 

Democrat Paula Andersen, a first time candidate, also won a Council seat coming in third. She will be the first Democrat on the Town Council since 2008.

Councilor Lisa DiBello will also return, in her own manner, to the Council.

Incumbent Gregg Avedisian was defeated. The bottom finisher was Jim Mageau.

Planning Commissar Ruth Platner also won re-election to a new six-year term which will mean she can run her string on the Commission to 22 years if she serves out her term. She is joined by CCA candidates Gordon Foer (who was re-elected) and newcomers Connie Baker (who can’t tolerate meetings longer than 90 minutes) and Jan Knost. 

Democrat Brandon Cleary, a professional firefighter in Cranston, won the fifth slot. Brandon will be the first Democrat to sit on the Planning Commission in many years. [Readers - if you remember the last Democrat who served on Planning, please post a comment or send an e-mail with the name and year].

Here are the numbers posted on the Secretary of State's website:

Still due: some straight answers from Councilor DiBello

DiBello offers drama instead of facts

DiBello on "Let's Make a Deal" on Oct. 4 where she contradicted what
she wrote in her Sun letter

By Will Collette

Charlestown Council member Lisa DiBello is a very skilled performer. Her favorite character is playing the victim. That’s how she got herself elected in 2010, playing off a sympathy vote arising from her May 2010 firing for cause. 

Now it seems, based on her October 25, 2012, letter in the Westerly Sun, her 2012 reelection hopes rest on another sympathy vote, this time claiming that I am bullying her by writing and documenting her conduct as a former town employee, present town Council member and active litigant against the town of Progressive Charlestown.

Ms. DiBello’s victim act is a true tour de force, given that she is suing the town of Charlestown for $1.5 million in a conspiracy lawsuit that, if you read her own words in her lawsuit, is at once wildly fantastic when it comes to the actual conspiracy and also very damaging to her own cause. By her own words, Ms. DiBello describes how she practically dared former Town Administrator Bill DiLibero to fire her by defying his supervisory role over her and then was SHOCKED when he did.

Time for Answers from Councilor DiBello, Part 5

Does Councilor Lisa DiBello plan to play “Let’s Make a Deal” with the CCA, Charlestown?

By Will Collette

Word around town is that Councilor Lisa DiBello, fresh off of her appearance on “Let’s Make A Deal” (click here to watch) where she won three TV sets worth $4998, wants to make a deal with the Charlestown Citizens Alliance to cash out her $1.5 million in legal claims against Charlestown (perhaps in a lame-duck session in early November after the election) in return for her support of the CCA’s slate in the November 6 Election.

The recent settlement in a precursor case (more on that below) lends credence to the rumors that Lisa is about to get what’s behind Curtain #3.

TONIGHT: CCA Surprise!

Promises of consultation broken

Planning Commission and Town Council pop short-notice workshop

By Will Collette

You just can’t beat the CCA-controlled Town Council and Planning Commission for their “open, transparent, professional and civil” approach to town government.

With the barest, minimum legal notice, no fanfare and no supporting documents posted on Clerkbase, the Town Council and Planning Commission have sprung a special “workshop” to discuss forming a “Historic District Committee” on Monday night. There’s not even a CCA e-bleat.

The last time this issue was discussed was at the July 9 Town Council meeting, raised by Marge Frank as an issue that should be considered. Planning Commissar Ruth Platner immediately stepped up to the podium to argue against having a Historic District Commission because, she said, it could apply very strict rules to historic areas. Click here to listen to the discussion.

Time for answers from DiBello, Part 3

Light load and still always absent

"Because I DON'T really care"

By Will Collette

This is a continuing series challenging Charlestown Council member Lisa DiBello to substantiate the June 25 attacks she made from the Council dais against me and Progressive Charlestown for publishing what she claimed to be false and misleading information about her.

On June 27, I presented documentation raising serious questions about DiBello’s fitness to serve on the Council now, never mind being reelected.

It’s been two months, and not a peep from DiBello.

In this installment, we’ll look at some new information about one aspect of DiBello’s “service” to the town and she how well she kept one single commitment she made.

“I don’t recall” ever seeing a deposition like this

Sworn deposition by Charlestown Land Trust Treasurer sheds light on why the Y-Gate Scandal was such a fiasco

For the whole Nonsequitur cartoon, click here

By Will Collette

Even if the still unknown “private buyer” goes ahead with the purchase of the Westerly YMCA’s abandoned campground, the Y-Gate Scandal is not over. Yet to be resolved is Dr. Jack Donoghue’s lawsuit that blocked the Charlestown Town Council from forking over $475,000 for a worthless conservation easement on the derelict property.

Town Council President Tom Gentz (CCA) is staking his political future on his “leadership” in the Y-Gate process, his pride in how the Y-Gate deal was put together and his grief at seeing the deal fall apart.

To see my earlier reviews of Gentz’s role in Y-Gate, read here and here. 

I doubt Gentz, or Councilor Gregg Avedisian, the other key Y-Gate proponent, will find much comfort in revelations found in Charlestown Land Trust Treasurer Russ Ricci’s 61-page sworn deposition.

Dr. Donoghue’s lawsuit claimed the town committed two Open Meetings Act violations. The first was in February when the Council majority, led by Council Boss Tom Gentz, voted to spend $475,000 without properly advertising its intention to do so. The judge in the case has already ruled that the town did indeed violate the law by doing so.