Deputy Dan Slattery returns to do a drive-by on the Charlestown budget

Former CCA leader decides to try to sway Charlestown voters

By Will Collette

Before getting into the surprise Letter to the Editor by former town councilor and Charlestown Citizens Alliance leader Dan Slattery, I urge you: VOTE!

You have until the close of the polls on Monday, June 1 to vote on Charlestown’s proposed $16+ million town budget. I hope most of you have put your ballot in the mail so it arrives in Monday's mail at Town Hall. 

If you still have your ballot, you have two added ways to make it count. First, drop it off at the white drop-box outside and next to the main entrance to Town Hall. Second, you can go in person to the one open polling place – Charlestown Elementary School, 8 AM to 8 PM. Be sure to wear your mask.

And, I hope, you will vote NO to a very bad budget (CLICK HERE for my reasons for calling it that).

Now, let’s talk about Deputy Dan’s re-appearance in Charlestown politics.

Deputy Dan used to be a Charlestown Town Council member under the CCA Party’s banner. He served as vice-chair under Tom Gentz and did not run for re-election in 2014. He later moved out of Charlestown and he writes his May 27 Letter to the Westerly Sun Editor from North Kingstown.

Slattery mainly sticks to CCA Party boilerplate arguments for the proposed budget except for his opening paragraph where he asserts:

“As a former Charlestown Town Councilor and eight-year member of the town’s Budget Commission, I always made decisions and voted based on the facts. I believe any vote on financial matters or public policy should reflect what is best for the entire town and not special-interest groups. Don’t be misled by misinformation campaigns that paint this as a bad budget and offer alternatives that would adversely affect the town’s quality of life, such as a 15,000-seat concert venue in Ninigret Park.”

Wow. There’s a lot to unpack in this one paragraph. I think three Slattery claims deserve priority treatment: 

(1) how Slattery's actions were always acted based on the facts; 
(2) how budget decisions should be made without regard for special interest groups and 
(3) his amazing claim that somebody wants to use the budget surplus to build a 15,000 seat concert venue in Ninigret Park - where he got that, I don't know.

In his time in Charlestown, Deputy Dan was a non-stop fountain of Grade A horseshit, coming up with one whopper after another. He ALWAYS could be counted on to back special interest (i.e. CCA) schemes, many of them described in THIS article.

Finally, I think Deputy Dan’s fantastic notion about the 15,000 seat concert venue may be the way he remembers the Battle for Ninigret Park. That brutal and bloody battle started when Slattery confabulated a draft proposal by then Parks & Recreation Director Jay Primiano to get DEM recreation money for lights to allow kids to have a few extra hours of football practice time during the fall.

That idea never came to be but, in Slattery’s mind and by the power of mass hallucination in the minds of CCA followers this proposal somehow became a “football stadium” with tiers of bleachers and who knows what else. (That imaginary stadium may have morphed into Dan's imaginary concert venue.)

But wait, there’s MORE! 

According to Dan, the idea of this imaginary stadium was so abhorrent to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, custodians of the National Wildlife Refuge adjacent to Ninigret Park, that the Interior Department was on the verge of exercising its “right” to take Ninigret Park back from the town. This, because Deputy Dan had DOCUMENTS showing that Charlestown didn’t actually own Ninigret Park. (He was wrong - CLICK HERE.)

We actually had to bring in Elyse LaForest, regional head of the National Parks Service’s Federal Lands to Parks Program to calm people down and assure them that Charlestown DOES own Ninigret Park and the Interior Department had no intention of taking the Park back. And as the time to put up or shut came, Deputy Dan really didn’t have the documents he said he had.

That may have been the worst of Deputy Dan’s wild excursions with the truth, but there are others that are noteworthy.

Slattery, Charlestown’s Top Cop

Slattery frequently touted his federal law enforcement
credentials.

For example, there was the time he accused Frank Glista of dishonesty when Frank built a donation box that was set out at Ninigret Park events by Friends of Ninigret Park to raise small amounts for the benefit of the Park. 

At a town council meeting, Slattery waved a folder that supposedly held evidence to back up his claim of Frank's malfeasance.

So I filed an open records law request to SEE those documents. After a lengthy give-and-take with the Attorney General’s Office, Slattery admitted he was running a personal investigation without town authority. 

He never disclosed what was in that folder claiming it was his private property. I declined to appeal, even though the AG's office encouraged me to do so because at this point, Slattery's half-baked, unauthorized witch hunt had been exposed.

Slattery versus Alien Invaders

Slattery set off another wild goose chase because he had heard people were somehow encroaching on town properties. Allegedly, some gardeners had plots that spilled over into town-owned space. 

So Slattery got the Council to commission a broad search and inventory of all town properties – including some tiny parcels such as the spots along the road where we have storm water cisterns.

These were dubbed Charlestown’s Phantom Properties.

No evidence was found of Deputy Dan’s alleged encroachment. 

Nonetheless, Slattery wanted to fence or rope off these newly unveiled phantom properties and have them signposted against alien incursions. 

That idea died when other Council members did a little arithmetic and realized this would cost many thousands of dollars to deal with a largely imaginary problem.

Slattery versus the Water Board

Slattery launched another one of his crusades when he found out that his perennial enemy Frank Glista was negotiating with the Rhode Island Water Resources Board to sell undeveloped property he owned to be set aside by the Water Board to meet future water needs.

Slattery again confabulated the facts to claim this was a scheme to pump out Charlestown’s water and send it elsewhere. Plus, he claimed, the state Water Resources Board had no right to conduct any business in Charlestown without the Town’s expressed approval. This new "Slattery Doctrine" was supposed to apply to ALL state and federal agencies whose "agents" set foot in Charlestown.

He gave the state Water Resource Board director a 2-hour grilling, accusing him of every short of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby. His behavior was so awful that even Tom Gentz was moved to publicly apologize.

In fact, Frank Glista had every right as a private land owner to sell his land to whomever he wished. The state Water Board, as well as dozens of other state and federal agencies can and do conduct activities consistent with their mission within Charlestown’s boarders without the Council’s permission. 

And finally, if anyone but Frank Glista had decided to convert a nice big parcel of land into open space to protect water resources, the CCA Party would be jumping for joy.

RHOTAP

Truth be told, I miss Deputy Dan

I could go on with lots more Deputy Dan stories – we wrote 401 articles referencing Slattery. The earlier ones go into lots of juicy detail. But I will stop with one of my favorite Deputy Dan schemes. 

Dishonorable mention goes to Deputy Dan's "Australian Ballot" scheme - read about it HERE.

In 2012, when many families were still hurting from the Great Recession, Charlestown Democrats proposed a Homestead Tax Credit to give tax relief to full-time residents. 

The CCA Party stomped the idea to death because this would have caused modest tax hikes for rich absentee land owners who provide most of the CCA Party’s campaign revenue.

But the CCA Party knew it needed to do something to show it cared for cash-strapped Charlestown families, so they gave the job to Deputy Dan, their go-to guy.

He came up with the “Resident Home Owner Tax Assistance Program,” RHOTAP for short.

Under Slattery’s RHOTAP, a "truly needy" resident could petition a new 5-member citizen tribunal for tax relief by writing an essay about why you were truly needy, not at fault for your reduced circumstances and how tax relief would allow you to keep your home. 

If you oversold your need, leading the tribunal to believe you were too far in debt to be saved, you were S.O.L.

You had to give the tribunal all your financial records AND a signed authorization permitting the tribunal to rummage around in any records they wanted to examine.

Finally, you could be required to come before the tribunal to tell your story in person – presumably in public, given the state Open Meetings Law. I guess the model Slattery used was the old quiz show “Queen for a Day.”

This insane idea was referred to Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero for "review" and was never heard from again. Until now.

What happens when you ask a question at Town Hall?

STONEWALL STANKIEWICZ

By Pat Kent

A version of this article ran as a letter to the editor in the Westerly Sun.

Talk about getting stonewalled!; Charlestown Town Administrator, Mark Stankiewicz has the process down. 

On Aug. 30, 2015, the Westerly Sun published an article regarding the appointment of Program Director and acting parks director, Vicky Hilton as the new Director of Parks and Recreation for the town of Charlestown. 

The job became vacant in the spring when the town forced a resignation from then Parks and Recs Director, Jay Primiano.

As I read the article by Brooke Constance White it indicated Stonewall planned to sit down with Mrs. Hilton after the summer was over to see what type of capital improvements and parks programs should be instituted going forward. 

As a taxpayer, it would seem to me these are questions which should have been asked during the hiring process. 

After reading the article, I emailed Mr. Stankiewicz on 8/29 and ask him for information about where the position had been advertised and; how often and how many applicants responded.  On 8/31, I received this in an email from Mr. Stankiewicz:

Getcher red-hot Charlestown Tapas

Crunchy news bites back by popular demand

By Will Collette

But first, check out the baby goat which has nothing to
do with anything in this article.

One of the by-products of my summer semi-sabatical has been fewer editions of Charlestown Tapas, our special collection of news tidbits. But now that summer is over, I hope to catch up on the backlog and bring this popular feature back.

First, some congratulations.

To us here at Progressive Charlestown for hitting the two-million mark for page-reads (people actually reading an article not just “hits”). Tom Ferrio and I started Progressive Charlestown in January 2011 as an alternative voice on politics in Charlestown, and never expected this kind of readership.

Belated congrats to Charlestown Housing and Zoning official Joe Warner for being named by the Governor to the RI Building Code Standards Committee. It’s an important position, so this is yet another recognition of Joe’s good work.

And also congratulations to Vicky Hilton for being picked as full-time Parks & Recreation Director. Vicky had been serving as acting director after the forced resignation of her former boss Jay Primiano. Vicky deserves the job on merit, but no doubt the Town Council preferred hiring her than having to publicly post the job and then have to deal with an application from ex-Councilor Lisa DiBello who received special permission from the Ethics Commission to apply if the job was opened up.

Jane Weidman also gets congratulations for being bumped up from part-time to full-time Charlestown Town Planner. The move became pretty much a sure thing after Block Island dropped Weidman from their payroll as part-time planner (Weidman was doing the same job for both Charlestown and Block Island) – without explaining why. Those reasons matter naught in Charlestown where the key criteria for Town Planner is to do exactly what CCA Party matriarch and Planning Commission leader Ruth Platner wants.

Chuck Wentworth deserves high praise – and got it in a very nice Projo piece doing just that – for the just-completed 35^th annual Rhythm and Roots Festival, one of the few remaining large events done in Ninigret Park. It’s hard to tell how long this tradition will continue, given the interest of many of the key Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) backers in ending most human activity in Ninigret.

CORRECTION: Council meets TUESDAY night

New management staff appointments, Ninigret Park “consensus,” new proposal for Gen Stanton Inn

By Will Collette

Corrected Date: Color me embarrassed. I forgot that the Rhode Island-only VJ Day holiday means the August Council meeting runs on Tuesday the 11th, not tonight. Mea Culpa.

The Town Council holds its Dog Days of August meeting on Monday Tuesday night with a fairly light agenda.

They will almost certainly promote Vicky Hilton to become permanent Parks and Recreation Director. She has done a great job at P&R and earned the promotion by stepping in as acting Director after her former boss Jay Primiano was forced to resign.

The Council will almost certainly promote part-time Town Planner Jane Weidman to become full-time now that she was basically fired by Block Island as their part-time planner, while performing the same job for Charlestown. I still want to know why Block Island (a.k.a. New Shoreham) dumped Weidman – and didn’t even tell her. 

She found out when she read the new town budget and saw that she was zeroed out. But as long as Weidman does the bidding of Charlestown Planning Commissar Ruth Platner, no one needs to ask any awkward questions.

The other item of great interest is the first official action on a proposal by a Christian drug treatment group to buy the General Stanton Inn and use it as a half-way house and treatment facility for women with drug problems.

The program, Teen Challenge, is a 15-month program. They plan to move from the Elmwood section of Providence to Charlestown to get away from the street crime and put the young women into a more peaceful setting, according to a Westerly Sun story on the proposal. They have a $1.4 million purchase-and-sale agreement to buy the Inn from Janice Falcone for $1.4 million.

This is only the first step in the process. If there are fireworks at this Council meeting, as I expect there will be, it could either end quickly or get dragged through a mine field as it tries to get through the Planning Commission and perhaps the Zoning Board of Review. 

All of these decision-making bodies are totally controlled by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance which generally doesn’t like anything new and different. 

It will be interesting to see what they do with a proposed drug treatment facility. 

Here is the agenda for the meeting with the town’s links to documents.

Charlestown Town Council meeting preview and predictions

Rumble strip rumble likely to be meeting highlight

By Will Collette

The clown car rolls again.

The Charlestown Town Council holds its regular monthly meeting on Monday, June 8 at Town Hall. Like most of the meetings of the current all-Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) Council, most of the issues have already been decided and consigned to the “consent agenda” where they will be dispatched in one vote without discussion and debate.

Issues that will actually be discussed will almost certainly end with unanimous votes because that’s how town government under the CCA Party rolls. I am pretty certain that the outcome for each and every item on the agenda has already been decided at the monthly CCA Party Steering Committee meetings which is held at a secret time and secret location, closed to the public, with no published minutes, and probably in gross violation of the state Open Meetings Act.

First up on the agenda is a pretty sorry bit of hypocrisy where the Council will acknowledge the recent, well-deserved awards given to the Parks and Recreation Department, whose director Jay Primiano was recently forced to resign and whose functions the CCA Party seems determined to gut. 

But the show must go on, so count on Council Boss Tom Gentz to put on his Uncle Fluffy act to praise Acting P&R Director Vicky Hilton to the hilt, all the while working to stick a dagger in her back – up to the hilt.

Then comes one of the guaranteed highlights of the meeting – concerned citizens living on or near Route One where the state DOT is considering installing rumble strips. To see a lot more detail on this controversy, click here.

Here’s the official agenda with links to items provided on-line through the IQM2 data service. My commentary appears in Bold Red next to the item.

UPDATED: Charlestown Financial Election news bits

As the clock ticks down to Monday’s vote, the bovine excrement flies!

By Will Collette

The update adds information on the Attorney General's office decision on Jim Mageau's open meetings complaint against the Town Council and also adds links to Sun letters to the editor that appear in Saturday's edition.

On Monday June 1, a small portion of Charlestown’s electorate will turn out at Town Hall between 8 AM and 8 PM to vote on the town’s budget and on three hot ballot questions. Campaigning is intensifying.

The supporters of Petition #1 to authorize $1 million to act on the long-delayed Ninigret Park Master Plan have their yard signs out. Hopefully, this is generating more support from voters for work on the Plan and on long neglected maintenance problems at Ninigret Park, Charlestown’s Jewel in the Crown.

Turn out will be critical next Monday to pass this measure to support Ninigret Park and to block the CCA Party’s Terrible Two warrant questions.

UPDATED:Mageau claims Council violated Open Meetings Act, but the Attorney General disagrees

According to the Westerly Sun, Jim Mageau has filed a formal complaint against the Charlestown Town Council for stonewalling questions from the public at the special hearing the town held on the budget and ballot questions. As you may recall, Council Boss Tom Gentz and his Greek chorus of fellow CCA Party Councilors essentially turned away public questions on the two CCA warrant questions, basically saying they didn’t have to answer.

The CCA Party Councilors’ conduct was so awful, it was singled out for criticism in a Westerly Sun editorial. The Sun rightly noted that this is the kind of arrogance that arises from one-party rule.

In his complaint, Mageau is arguing that, yes, they do have to because that’s the whole idea behind a public hearing. However, the Attorney General's office says that public officials are NOT required to answer or engage in any exchange with citizens. Mageau told the Westerly Sun that he will look into filing suit in Superior Court.

We have enough open space in Charlestown

It’s time for some recreation

By Linda Felaco

A version of this article ran in the Westerly Sun on May 21^st as a letter to the editor.

On Monday, June 1, Charlestown voters will be presented with two warrant items, both initiated by the Town Council, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA), as well as a citizens’ petition that is most decidedly not CCA-endorsed and that the CCA would squash if it could.

Warrant Question #1 would authorize $2 million in bond funding for open space purchases, and only open space. Past bond authorizations have been for open space and recreation, but the CCA party opposes recreational facilities. 

Witness their rabid but ultimately ineffectual opposition to the beach pavilions in 2011 and their recent ouster of Parks and Recreation Director Jay Primiano, whose job has not even been advertised by the town despite the imminent start of the busy summer season. So this time the CCA is not even suggesting that any of the bond money could be spent for recreational purposes at all.

The CCA maxed out their last open space credit card on the 2013 purchase of the 75 acres on the Charlestown Moraine formerly known as Whalerock, so the CCA spins this question as “replenishing the town’s depleted open space funds.” 

Because the sale price offered on the moraine property was exactly the same as the amount of the then-available bond funding, mirabile, mirabilis, the CCA was able to authorize the purchase on their own recognizance without putting it to the voters as they had demanded with the beach pavilions. 

Now, like junkies needing their next fix, the CCA Party’s leaders are jonesing at the thought of having to go hat in hand to the voters for the money to buy the next parcel that comes along.

Memorial Day tradition

Ninigret – past, present and future

By Will Collette

This weekend, to honor Memorial Day, we will continue Progressive Charlestown’s tradition of running a series of essays by Frank Glista and a series of photo arrays featuring one of Charlestown’s most distinctive pieces of land, town-owned Ninigret Park and the adjacent Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge in its former incarnation as the Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Field (NAAF) during World War II where thousands of Navy pilots trained, including former President George H.W. Bush, father of George W.

This year is destined to be another contentious year for Ninigret Park as voters go to the polls on June 1 to decide whether to actual put some funding, $1 million in this case, into actually going forward with the Ninigret Park Master Plan. The ruling CCA Party is totally opposed to this bond petition and only allowed it to appear on the special Town Financial ballot because they have to (more than 300 Charlestown residents signed the petition).

If that bond issue passes, and I hope it does, the next struggle will be to get our CCA Party rulers to actually spend the money. I am willing to bet that they will simply impound the money. Rhode Island is one of several states that forbid the Governor from impounding funds appropriated by the General Assembly, but it’s an open question whether a municipality can do that.

I predict another major fight over Ninigret – and this ties in very closely with the reasons why we celebrate Memorial Day – if the Quonset Air Museum decides to try to relocate to Ninigret Park.

Some context for the informed voter

A brief, recent history of open space and recreation issues in Charlestown

By Linda Felaco

We all love open space

EDITOR’S NOTE: On Monday, June 1, a small percentage of Charlestown’s voters will go to Town Hall to cast their ballots for the town budget and three important ballot questions on land use. These issues have a history that goes back a very long time, back to Charlestown's founders taking land from the Narragansett Tribe. We’ve been covering that history since we launched Progressive Charlestown five years ago. My colleague Linda Felaco has gone through our articles to look at the biggest land use fights to create a bibliography to help you educate yourself before you vote.   - wc

Land use issues are highly contentious in Charlestown. In fact you could say that pretty much every issue of any magnitude somehow involves land use. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the major open space issues that have come up in the past few years. In each of these battles, the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA), the town’s ruling political party, has repeatedly demonstrated the lengths it will go to to prevent town residents from having any say over how town-owned properties are used.

DiBello get green light to go after her old job

Ethics Commission cracks open the “revolving door”

By Will Collette

Lisa DiBello during one of her several game show appearances. Does she
have a "Ray of Hope" of getting her old job back?

Ex-Town Council member Lisa DiBello has been given the go-ahead by the RI Ethics Commission to bid for her old job as Parks and Recreation Director.

DiBello has a long and colorful history in Charlestown that started in 1988 when she was first hired as Parks & Recreation Director. 

The first big public flap occurred in 2005 when she reported overhearing a lewd conversation about various Charlestown women between former Town Administrator and current Budget Commission chair Dick Sartor and Tax Assessor Ken Swain.

Nourishing news nuggets for Progressive Charlestown readers, including good news for Taylor Swift

Charlestown Tapas return with results from District 33 primary, Ashley Hahn’s new job, law enforcement from the best to the worst, the latest in our local hospital feud, racism in Rhode Island, housing, nukes and jobs

By Will Collette

Bit of an upset in Democratic primary for House District 33

Democratic primary winner Carol Hagan McEntee

Three Democrats went into the May 5 Democratic primary to replace resigned Rep. Donald Lally for the district that includes South Kingstown and Narragansett. The apparent front-runner, US Rep David Cicilline’s sister Susan Cicilline Buonanno took an 11^th hour hit when she was hit with an ethics complaint for using the phone and e-mail of Cranston's Gladstone Elementary School where she is principal to conduct campaign business. 

That’s a no-no, although she said it was an honest mistake, apparently thinking it was OK to use city property (and time on the clock) for personal stuff.

Well, that may have convinced enough voters to swing to her opponent Carol Hagan McEntee, a South Kingstown Town Council member, and give McEntee the win by 75 votes out of 1300 cast.

McEntee now goes on to face Republican challenger Robert A. Trager and two registered Democrats running as independents, Elizabeth Candas and James L. McKnight Jr. in the June 9 special election.

GoLocalProv, which is becoming more and more like Fox News, immediately speculated that Congressman Cicilline may be in trouble. Because his sister lost a primary. Because of a self-inflicted wound uncovered by somebody’s opposition research. GoLocal noted that Cicilline Buonanno raised 30 times more money than Hagan-McEntee and had the big name endorsements, including House Speaker Nick Mattiello.

Personally, I think GoLocal is reaching, but they’re entitled to their opinion. With a strong Democratic Party in South Kingstown, Hagan McEntee is the clear favorite to win on June 9 in this very Democratic district, but South County was full of surprises in the most recent election cycle. A four-way race could complicate the results on June 9.

Ashley makes another jump

No one was surprised when Charlestown Town Planner Ashley Hahn resigned in November 2013 after doing six and a half years of hard time under the whip of Planning Commissar and CCA Party leader Ruth Platner. It was a bit of a surprise that Ashley picked West Warwick for her next gig, with all West Warwick’s financial trouble and political rancor.

Playing monopoly, playing dirty, playing rough

Charlestown Tapas: 17 tasty nuggets for the refined news palate

By Will Collette

In case you missed it: L&M/Westerly Hospital exec wants a Westerly monopoly

Bruce Cummings is playing the blackmail game again

I had meant to comment in the last edition of Tapas about complaints by Bruce Cummings, CEO of Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, the owner of Westerly Hospital, to the Westerly Town Council about South County Hospital’s plan to expand its services into Westerly through a new medical office building under construction on Route One near Dunn’s Corner.

Bruce Cummings, as you may recall, was responsible for last year’s awful strike and lock-out at L&M that put hundreds of hospital workers out of work between Thanksgiving and Christmas, 2013. Cummings hard-nosed union-busting style also shows itself with cutbacks in services not only at the parent hospital in New London but also in Westerly.

While Westerly may be somewhat indebted to L&M for keeping poorly managed Westerly Hospital open, for Cummings it was a pure business decision because he bought the distressed hospital at a bargain basement price and expanded his empire across the state line.

He has done little to improve Westerly Hospital’s less than stellar rankings for quality of care, safety and patient satisfaction, perhaps because L&M ranks pretty low among Connecticut hospitals. Clearly, workers' rights and quality care are not Cummings’ priorities.

But for Cummings to have the gall to tell the Westerly Town Council that South County Hospital is “poaching” patients and that the Council needs to be mindful of all the jobs Cummings saved by picking up Westerly Hospital for peanuts is plain outrageous.

Town Council meets Monday night

CCA-controlled Council to advance town budget that raises taxes for the seventh straight year

By Will Collette

Source: Charlestown Tax Assessor web page. The CCA took
over control in Charlestown in 2008 and raised taxes every
year. The new rate of $10.10 wil be the highest since 2004.

The new, improved Charlestown Citizens Alliance Rump Committee, also known as the Charlestown Town Council, meets on Monday. This is a meeting they could have phoned in, since as you can see in the official agenda below, there’s almost nothing there to discuss. But since the CCA Party took control of every elected office in Charlestown, they can get away with stuff like that.

At the front end, the Council will issue a resolution marking the recent death of Henry Walsh, a man they did not respect in life but who will now be “honored” with a document oddly labelled “Walsh Reso Respect” in the town’s on-line version of the agenda. I am not making this up. Stay classy, CCA.

They will discuss the proposed budget and while would normally be a big deal in other towns with other political dynamics, here in Charlestown it is what it is. Taxes will go up again, for the seventh year in a row, as I predicted. Under the proposed budget, taxes will go up by 2.36% to a new rate of $10.10 per $1,000 of valuation. The budget calls for raising more than half a million dollars more.

Every single year the CCA has controlled Charlestown town government, they have raised taxes. Every year. And every year, they claim they are saving the taxpayers money. Watch them do it again this year.

And every year, town taxpayers swallow that bullshit whole. I don’t expect this year to be any different and I doubt there will be much of value said about this budget at Monday’s meeting. So it goes.

This new budget package will also include a new $2 million bond issue solely for open space acquisition and excluding recreation. We’re not really going to need any new recreation money since, signaled by the ouster of Parks & Recreation Director Jay Primiano, the CCA Party plans to padlock Ninigret Park for active recreation use after this season.

There are a number of recreational events on the agenda, including Rhythm and Roots, but according to the advance agenda, they will not be discussed and will instead be largely considered under the “consent agenda.”

After disposing of the numerous consent agenda items with one vote and no discussion or debate (simply reading off the consent agenda items will take longer than the Council’s actual action), the Council then moves on to the weighty matters of the evening. 

Namely, they will discuss their outrage and/or support for several measures being considered by the General Assembly, including my favorite, the “Taylor Swift Tax.” That’s a state property tax on $1 million-plus properties owned by non-residents.

I love the idea of the Taylor Swift Tax so naturally, the CCA-controlled Council hates it, especially since they get most of their campaign funding from rich non-residents with those million dollar properties.

Anyway, they will get a chance to do a little partisan blustering and political show-boating. Then they will pass a resolution ordering the dispatch of a letter expressing their outrage and/or delight at each item to every member of the General Assembly, the news media and all the ships at sea.

Hey guys, let me tell you a little secret. NOBODY in the General Assembly gives a Flip about what the Charlestown Town Council thinks about ANY issue. Except maybe Flip Filippi. Or maybe alleged police impersonator state Senator Elaine Morgan.

Ah, that’s feels better now that we’ve cleared that up. So, without further ado, here’s the Monday agenda. The links are all developed by the town and tie into the new IQM2 public access system that replaced the cranky old Clerkbase system.

Primiano gets ousted

Controversial, though popular, Parks & Recreation Director forced out

By Will Collette

Jay reading from his new book at the Charlestown Land Trust's
Farmer's Market. Read the review HERE. It's pretty good.

Next Wednesday night, the Charlestown Town Council will discuss the departure of Jay Primiano as Director of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department at a closed-door executive session prior to setting the agenda for the April 13 Town Council meeting. 

Sources tell Progressive Charlestown that Primiano, long a target of attack by leaders of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party), has been forced out though the reasons and terms and conditions that have not yet been disclosed.

Primiano is a member of the quasi-union of Charlestown department heads and as such, has some contract and bargaining rights that will have to be honored unless the Council has found some basis to dismiss him for cause. That seems unlikely since there have been no public actions taken against Primiano. One source tells me Primiano signed the separation papers today though I cannot confirm that. Jay has not responded to my request for comment.

Town Department heads were instructed to stay mum about Primiano’s ouster, if not keep it a secret. Yeah, like that's going to happen in Charlestown!

No good deed goes unpunished

Planning Commission tears into children’s play shelter at Ninigret Park

By Will Collette

Proposed play shelter - the latest big threat to Charlestown's security?

If only the shelter had been slightly smaller. 

The Charlestown Parks and Recreation Department came to the Planning Commission with its latest improvement for Ninigret Park, a play shelter for children (and others), intended primarily to serve as a play area for the town’s summer camp when the weather is bad.

The money for the project comes from a large state DEM grant so the town can make Ninigret’s facilities cleaner and more handicapped accessible, and from revenues the town has collected from the handful of permissible activities at the Park. Topping off the funding is more than $20,000 worth of free labor from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 57, lined up by Parks & Recreation Commission chair Tim Quillen.

Sorry, kids, you are NOT a Charlestown priority.
Certainly NOT a CCA priority.

The structure is an concrete pad with four steel pillars at the corners that hold up a hurricane-rated metal roof. It would be set up at the site used previously for a large canvas pavillion.

It has no walls and is set flush to the ground to make it safe and accessible. It will allow summer camp children to continue to play even when it's raining. 

But, as you read on, you will see that the health and safety of the children is less important than the concerns raised by some of the neighbors and by Planning Commissar Ruth Platner.

Two bureaucratic hitches made this elegantly simple and clearly sensible project far more complicated than it would have been in any sane universe. First, the structure is 30’ x 84’ covering 2,520 square feet. If it had only been 2,000 square feet or less, the plan could have been handled administratively by the Town Planner. But those extra square feet triggered the requirement that it go to the Planning Commission for approval.

The second hitch came when Town Zoning Officer Joe Warner suggested that maybe the state Fire Marshall needed to be consulted to determine whether the totally nonflammable, wide-open structure used only during the daytime needed illuminated fire exit signs or even a sprinkler system. Oh, Joe, say it ain't so!

Oy vey.

A Bounty of Organic Vegetables right here in Charlestown

Yeah Team!!!

By Pat Kent

What a summer! The Charlestown Community Garden has surpassed all previous harvests.  Year to date, the garden has harvested 5,000+ lbs. (2.5 tons) of nutrient dense organic vegetables and the fall crops are sure to continue to increase the bounty.

All produce is donated to local food banks, which include Jonnycake Center of Westerly, the WARM Center in Westerly, Meals on Wheels, St. Andrew’s Lutheran Food Pantry in Charlestown and the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center in CT. 

Charlestown Tapas

Congratulations, Sgt. Phillip Gingerella!...and lots more news bites

By Will Collette

Screen shot from CPD's Facebook page

Charlestown Police Sergeant Phillip Gingerella deserves high praise for his rescue of a vacationing New Yorker who decided to ignore warning signs of rip currents and went out into the rough 8 to 12 feet high surf at Blue Shutters Beach. Sure enough, 55-year old Michael Novak of South Salem, NY was overwhelmed and stuck 400 feet offshore clinging to a boogie board. His wife called 911.

Sgt. Gingerella, a former lifeguard, was first on the scene, followed shortly by Parks & Recreation Director Jay Primiano. Gingerella stripped down, grabbed a life vest and dove in. Jay Primiano grabbed a life guard torpedo float plus rope and a reel. 

By the time Gingerella reached him, Novak was too exhausted to swim out to a rescue boat so the sergeant brought him in instead, aided by additional rescuers from Charlestown Ambulance & Rescue and Dunn’s Corner Fire District.

Sgt. Gingerella told the Providence Journal the surf was “pretty wicked.”

Novak, a suburban NY liquor store owner vacationing in Charlestown, declined further treatment or hospital transport after his rescue. Though this brave rescue got well-deserved local and even national coverage, what you don’t see in any of the coverage is Novak or any of his family members saying “thank you,” or any mention of consequences for Novak, whose stupidity put others’ lives at risk. But I guess being a New Yorker on vacation means never having to say “I’m sorry.”

Charlestown unemployment climbs again

One month ago in Progressive Charlestown, I celebrated the dramatic drop in Charlestown’s unemployment rate for June to only 5.7%, a rate we had not seen since before the Great Recession. Unfortunately, it didn’t last.

Even though Rhode Island’s overall unemployment rate continues to drop, our town unemployment rate went back up to 7.2% for July, a one month increase of almost 30%. The jump in Charlestown’s unemployment was driven by a large increase in the number of local workers who are now collecting unemployment benefits – 67 new claims.

Town Council meets THURSDAY

Back in the refurbished Town Council Chambers

By Will Collette

The regularly scheduled Town Council had to be postponed due to a glitch in publishing the meeting notice in the Westerly Sun. The Sun didn't print the notice, so the Council either had to re-schedule or violate the state's Open Meetings Act.

Normally, this Town Council violates the Open Meetings Act with impunity, but this time, they decided that postponing would be better, especially since the Attorney General is currently considering their fate in another alleged OMA violation (click here for details).

So they'll meet Thursday, 7 PM. in the newly refurbished Town Council chambers.

As usual, I've done up this month’s agenda and added my snarky comments after a number of items.

Book Review: Swim that Rock

Charlestown Parks & Recreation Director’s first novel

By Will Collette

Jay Primiano, Charlestown Parks & Recreation Director, has written (on his own time) his first novel, Swim that Rock, with his long-time friend John Rocco. Rocco has written or illustrated twelve other books and won the coveted Caldecott award in 2012 for his illustrations in his book Blackout. He was the one who approached Jay with the idea of writing a book together.

The book draws on their mutual experience as quahoggers in the waters of Narragansett Bay. Jay first started at age eleven as a hand for his friend and neighbor Gene Beebe, captain of the lobster boat Sea Hunter. Later on, Jay got his own boat, and met John Rocco when young John was hanging around the docks looking for a way to get a job working on the boats.

Jay tried him out and found him to be a good picker, and took him on. They worked together for five years before going along on separate career paths but nonetheless stayed BFFs.

John’s pitch to Jay happened in 2004 and, as you know if you do the math, this book was a long-time coming.

However, after reading it, I can tell you it was worth the wait. This book is being marketed toward young adults. However, I think adults interested Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island culture and the life of the men and women who try to earn their livings on the water will enjoy this book, too.