Linda Silveira and Bethany Reese with winning design.
At Monday night's Town Council Meeting, the Portsmouth Business Association (PBA) announced the winner of their contest to design next year's town transfer station sticker. PBA President Linda Silveira and board member John Vitkevitch congratulated the winner, PHS student Bethany Reese, whose entry featured a recycling logo and wind turbine.
Reese will also receive 150 "PBA bucks," said Silveira, "which can be used at any PBA member in town."
Town Council President Peter McIntyre congratulated Reese and thanked everyone involved in the competition. The design will be featured on transfer station stickers which will go on sale at Town Hall early next year.
Editorial note: Story 2 of 4 from Monday's Council meeting. Still to come: skate park and PEDC annual report. Why is the week before holiday break so crazy at work? Sigh.
There was a hearing at last night's Portsmouth Town Council on the proposed "Dangerous Animals Ordinance," which had already been through a couple of runs past the council, and was up for a final tweak and vote. But nothing — and I mean nothing — is simple with some people. And when Dame Judy Staven got to the microphone to question whether the enumeration of dangerous animals was properly written, the Town Solicitor Andre D'Andrea had to explain that items set off by commas are parallel and that "domesticated snake, monkey, chimp" (as a list of banned animals) did not, in fact, imply the distribution of domestication across all the other terms. Okay, whew, we got that sorted. Maybe there could be a quick vote here...
"Would you add large iguanas?" Councilor Tailgunner Gleason popped in suddenly. "They're very scary."
So the Council hauled Portsmouth Police Chief Lance Hebert up to the podium, and he talked about the Federal and State guidelines for animals which are considered unsuitable, and reassured the Council that the proposed ordinance was actually an extension and amplification. But as to adding language specifically about iguanas, the Chief wondered, "Well, where do we stop?"
"Right about here, I hope," muttered Councilor Jeff Plumb.
But that was not to happen.
"I've seen four-foot iguanas," said Gleason. "It's not something you want to sit next to."
The Council called the question and Gleason's motion to amend the ordinance failed, 4-1, with her the lone vote in support. Then, when the Council proceeded to vote on the original motion to approve the ordinance, she said, "I'm going to make it 4-1" and voted against it.
She didn't get her iguanas. She didn't support an ordinance to protect people from other vicious critters.
I mean, really. Look at those lizards. What else could possibly be that scary?
Okay. I can think of one thing.
Editorial note: This is the first of several posts on last night's Council meeting. It ran reeeeelly late.
RI Ethics Commission Attorney Jason Gramitt addresses officials
The Portsmouth Town Council chambers were packed tonight, as over 60 elected and appointed officials and town employees came out for a presentation and Q&A session with RI Ethics Commission attorney Jason Gramitt. Councilors Peter McIntyre, Keith Hamilton, and Jim Seveney, as well as school committee member Cynthia Perrotti attended, as well as members of many appointed boards and commissions.
Gramitt complimented the town on the turnout. "I was at a municipality last night where there were 8 people," he said. "It means a lot that this many people take the extra time."
He also reassured the officials in the audience that Portsmouth does well in this area. "I'm a proud resident of Island Park, and our Executive Director, Kent Willever, is a resident of Portsmouth. You always deliver. We breathe a sigh of relief when we don't have to worry about our own town."
But that didn't mean he was letting anybody off the hook: "I assume that if you came here tonight, you have at least one question."
For the first part of the hour-long session, Gramitt provided an overview of the Ethics Commission, established by constitutional amendment in 1986 with jurisdiction over all public employees and a mandate to address conflicts of interest and financial disclosure.
Gramitt stressed that it is not the conflict between public duties and private life which is the problem. "We expect everyone to have them. What violates the code of ethics is when you have that conflict of interest and don't do anything about it."
He stepped through a series of tests. Is it "reasonably forseeable" that
1. A decision I am helping to make,
2. Will result in a financial benefit or detriment,
3. To: A) Me, B) A member of my family, C) My outside employer, or D) My business associate
4. Or, even if no financial impact, is a family member a party to, or participant in, the matter being discussed.
"There is no such thing as a conflict of interest that is too small," Gramitt said. And family members, under the new nepotism rules, go out to first cousin.
Business associates means people with active or forseeable relationships. "That lawyer who represented so-and-so a couple of years ago," said Gramitt, wouldn't count. But membership on boards — even of nonprofit associations — would. He gave the example of a Little League officer also on the School Committee who might run into a conflict if they were asked to provide a field at a reduced rate.
And while there are cases where private interest and public duty might seem to conflict — for example, voting on tax rates — there is a "class exception" where the official or relative is a member of a large class and receives no particular benefit.
And what do you do when you find you have a conflict? Recuse yourself, and do it right up front. "The moment the matter is called," said Gramitt, "Not when the discussion is over and it's time for a vote."
He discussed the best practices around recusal. "I'll tell you what the law requires," he said, "But because this is my town, I'm going to give you advice on how to do it better than that." Once you recuse, he said, you are a member of the public, so if it's an executive session you need to leave. If it's open, you're allowed to be in the room. But as to staying on the dais, "There's nothing in the code that says you must get up from that chair," Gramitt said. "But, would you allow a member of the public to sit in an empty chair during a Council session? Best practice is to get up from the chair and sit in the audience with the rest of the public."
He suggested you might even want to leave the room, "If it's a hotly contested issue and you can't control yourself."
Gramitt talks with Town Administrator Bob Driscoll and Council President Pete McIntyre
Conflicts many times, said Gramitt, are not clear cut. "Think of football field with the 50-yard line separating ethical from unethical behavior. People sometimes think they can march right up to the 50 yard line," Gramitt said. "You really need to go back 10 yards on each side. It's a big gray zone. That's where all those questions are going to fall." And the best advice: "Stay out of the zone. Hold yourself to that higher standard."
The evening wrapped up with a discussion of gift regulations (no cash, no gifts over $25 or $75 worth in a calendar year from any interested parties) and a question-and-answer session.
The Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC) delivered an update to the Town Council at their meeting last night, and the while there was significant progress to report on the group's planning work, the economic picture facing the town is challenging, with a projected budget gap growing to nearly $20M by 2020 unless additional revenue streams are identified.
"A revenue shortfall is 'business as usual,'" said John Palmieri, co-chair of the Strategic Planning subcommittee, as he showed a chart of projected expenditures and revenues for the town. "Rhode Island is near the bottom of the country in business-friendliness. Portsmouth doesn't need to sit down there with the rest of the state. We can be better by being more friendly and lowering the cost of doing business in the town."
Palmieri updated the Council on the strategic planning work over the past year to develop "revenue positive initiatives," an inclusive process which included two workshops (see here and here) with a third scheduled to follow in November. The entire presentation from last night will be posted on the Town Web site, and the PEDC will deliver a full report to the Council in January.
As if to underscore the financial challenges, the Council dealt with an agenda item to transfer $186K out of the fund balance to cover lower than expected revenues and overspent expenditures at the transfer station. While this was not entirely unexpected — there were concerns voiced when the Council voted on the sticker fee back in May — the additional hit to the fund balance was clearly not welcome news. The vote was 5-1, with Karen Gleason the lone dissenter (Council President Peter McIntyre was absent; VP Huck Little chaired the session). A full report on transfer station operations was promised to the Council in October.
The Council also discussed a letter of resignation from Prudence Island Fire Chief Thomas Gempp, with Councilor Dennis Canario expressing "serious concerns" about the basis for his departure, which Canario characterized as a response to the experience level of personnel being promoted to specific positions.
Driscoll noted the Council's limited authority. "The Prudence Island Volunteer Fire Department is an independent organization; they can elect whoever they want."
Portsmouth Fire Department Chief Jeff Lynch echoed this point. "I don't have any jurisdiction," said Lynch, adding, "I have gone over there twice to do some basic training. If it sounds like it's going to be a serious call, we respond to the Island."
Citing a need to discuss the issue further with Chief Gempp, the Council moved the item to their next meeting.
There was a report by Town Administrator Bob Driscoll on the results from the working group convened to consider the question of an Island Park skateboard area. "We had three very good meetings," said Driscoll, "And came up with points everyone agreed on. The group did approach the School Committee, and is now working to review school properties that might be available." When questions came from the Council about the originally proposed Island Park site, members of the group responded.
"It is two completely separate issues," said Lori Rinkel, "We do still want to have the small venue, but we understand the problems that the neighbors think would happen. I'm more than happy to continue working in our ad hoc group."
"The bottom line, we felt that a decision from the Council would drive a large wedge between the two opposing sides of the community," said Brian Whittier. "That's pretty much the way it was left. We felt it was better to sit back for a little bit."
In other business, a proposed wildlife feeding ordinance aimed at curbing coyote populations was approved for advertising and a future hearing will be scheduled.
The next meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night, when an attorney from the RI Ethics Commission will present to the Council and other Town committees and boards.
Full disclosure: I am a member of the ad-hoc skatepark committee.
Tags:
Localblogging, 02871, Town Council, Strategic planning, skate
RIPEC Executive Director John C. Simmons speaks to Portsmouth residents.
There is a straightforward descriptive piece to be written about the meeting of the Portsmouth Town and School Committees last Wednesday night with John Simmon and Ashley Denault, the main authors of the RI Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) "Aquidneck Island Consolidation Feasibility Study." And in that kind of story, which would be suitable for a newspaper or other "objective" reporting venue, there would be all sorts of tables and graphs, telling quotes, and a smattering of audience questions to leaven the progression through an unremittingly grim economic analysis.
"We all know that the S3050 tax cap is squeezing the life out of our schools and towns," an Important Official Source in the the obligatory second-graf quote might note ruefully, "Yet we maintain the polite fiction that this is the best we could do."
This, however, is no such story. Let me say up front that I am, as School Committee chair Dick Carpender suggested, keeping an open mind. But I believe that transparency is the new objectivity, and to be transparent about where I'm coming from, I care first about the students. The numbers have to work, absolutely, but I want any decisions about our school system to be made in a rational, fact-based fashion, and in my opinion, the RIPEC presentation was a magic show. A very skilled presenter and his charming assistant treated the public to an evening of PowerPoint prestidigitation: look, over here — if you consolidate schools, 8 million dollars will appear!
Chart IV-1, page 92. (click to embiggen)
Simmons, who spoke for about an hour to just 28 Portsmouth citizens and a quorum of both the Council and School Committees, returned repeatedly to the chart on the left, which shows the status quo (tax revenues under the current regime against expenditures) compared to the increasingly complete regionalization approaches, labelled Models 2-6 in the report. The sad gray rectangles below the baseline show projected deficits; the colorful bars above the X axis shows where you could "put that $8M back into education." Take no action? That black deficit bar means a "changed school system." This is both a burning platform for change and a drool-worthy lottery prize all wrapped up in one killer chart.
But like all magic shows, the RIPEC presentation relies on not looking behind the curtain. Because, off stage, what is driving the downward march of revenue projections (and the black bar) is the S3050 tax cap. There is an old proverb for paranoids: "If you get them asking the wrong questions, you don't have to worry about the answers." By taking as an unquestioned given that allowable increases on the tax levy will continue to shrink by a quarter-point each year, the RIPEC report makes a force of nature out of a legislative fiat.
For those who need a backgrounder on the S3050 tax cap (see discussion of tribbles here, and Sen. Paiva-Weed explaining it here and here), the core idea is that towns are limited by law in the amount they may increase the total tax levied, and that this total increase is being reduced by a quarter-point each year. Last year, the total tax levied by Portsmouth was $40,361,114, and since the S3050 cap was 4.75%, this year, for the coming budget, we were restricted to an increase to $42,278,267. Next year, we will be limited to a 4.5% increase, until we reach 4%, where we theoretically stay forever. These magic numbers don't reflect the real increases in costs that towns and school departments have faced.
Before we even *think* about regionalizing, I believe it would be useful to consider what the numbers would look like if you froze the S3050 tax cap reductions. Not increased them, just froze them where we are at 4.75%. Oh, and for another scenario, what it would look like to allow towns to "keep the growth." Right now, as the tax base (the total taxable property value in town) increases, the tax rate an individual would pay goes down. Instead of a 4.75% increase, the effective tax rate increase is lower than what we should be paying under S3050. Taken together, these two measures seem to add up to just about closing the gap for Portsmouth, assuming salary increases held at the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the middle-range assumption from RIPEC's study.
Here are my assumptions in creating this chart. For simplicity, I've assumed a 1% growth rate — a number based on data from the last three non-revaluation years. Computing the precise increase in tax rate requires adding the yearly new property value to the tax base ($3.2B), then working through what the tax rate would be on that, compared to how much the tax rate shrinks under the S3050 regime.
And, of course, I am assuming that it is possible to modify S3050, just as RIPEC has assumed that it would be possible to close Rogers one high school. Look, I know these are deviant assumptions, but that's one of the things that makes financial modeling art as well as science. My friend Adam's father, the respected economist Benjamin Chinitz (OBM), used to note the contingency of ingoing hypotheses with a laconic, "Assume a can opener."
That said, the data appear to suggest that if Portsmouth wanted to cover the costs of its school system, it could, if the state would let us. RIPEC tacitly acknowledged this in their presentation Wednesday night (in chart 17, they showed that levy increases of about 5% would be required).
Wouldn't it make sense for any regionalization plan to ensure that all the entities have the strongest possible balance sheets going in? Unrealizable savings are a fact of life in mergers, and coaxing the value from synergies requires a lot of hard work (work that will, theoretically, be done by less people.)
I completely agree with RIPEC on the current picture. We're in a hole, no question about it. But a purely economic argument for regionalization is like saying "if you only dig with two shovels instead of three, look how much slower you'll go. A school will disappear here, and savings will magically appear over there.
If there is enough political will to regionalize the Island, I respectfully suggest there should be enough to push the legislature to freeze S3050.
When you're in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
I would have linked to the presentation from Wednesday night, but despite promises from the presenter that it would be posted "tomorrow," as of Sunday, 9-27, I still could not find it on the RIPEC Web site.
Full disclosure: I don't like taxes any more than you do. I'm not suggesting we pay more taxes. But I am suggesting that we not pay less. Also, the central metaphor of making things disappear in one place and appear in another will be familiar to those who have seen The Prestige. You can smile knowingly as you consider what happens to things that are magically teleported...
Tags:
Localblogging, 02871, Town Council, School Committee, Schools
L-R Marge Levesque, Jim Seveney, Keith Hamilton, Jeff Plumb, Bob Driscoll, Susan Lusi (back to camera, Richard Carpender)
The Portsmouth Consolidation committee, created by the Town Council in June, met for this first time this evening to begin looking at ways to achieve efficiencies and combine services across the town and school department. Among the next steps agreed to in the hour-long session were inviting ADP to conduct a review of the school payroll process, a look at all service contracts (trash, plowing, etc.), and talks between staff in areas of overlap such as facilities, public works, and IT.
The chair, Town Councilor Keith Hamilton, said he was happy with the session. "I just want an open dialogue," said Hamilton, adding that the goal was an end to "us against them" between the town and schools.
In addition to Hamilton, the committee includes Councilors Jeff Plumb and Jim Seveney, School Committee members Richard Carpender and Marge Levesque, Town Administrator Bob Driscoll, and Superintendent Susan Lusi. Council President Peter McIntyre sat in but did not participate.
Also attending the meeting was Town Finance Director David Faucher, who fielded questions about his capacity to take on some of the workload of departing schools finance person Christine Tague, leaving at the end of the month. Several saw Tague's departure as an opportunity to explore a restructuring of responsibilities. One example proposal was separate business managers for school and town both reporting in to Faucher.
Suggesting that the committee try to do at least a few weeks of analysis before filling the position, Hamilton said, "It's a lot more gutwrenching to come to the conclusion that we don't need that position and lay somebody off."
Supt. Lusi offered a cautious response. "It would be easy to walk away from this meeting and say the school department is defensive and doesn't want to let anyone go. I agree we should review it all," but, she cautioned, "I have not seen anything of this magnitude accomplished in 4-5 weeks."
Councilor Jim Seveney reminded the group of the importance of proceeding methodically. "I recommend we establish a structure for how we're going to choose and analyze each thing." He also voiced the importance of formal Requests for Proposal (RFPs) and a transparent procurement process.
While acknowledging the need to manage the process by the book, Plumb also reminded the group that it was important not to "come up with reasons not to do things."
Another area of interest was IT, where the town is generally felt to be lagging behind the schools, but both Seveney and Hamilton wondered about the possibility for outsourcing. "IT isn't a core competency," said Seveney. Said Hamilton,"We have an outfit up the street that does outsourcing up and down the Island."
Lusi urged the committee to prioritize. "I do want to know how people want me and the department to be spending our time. IT has come light years, and to reward the people the Berkshire Report have said are [performing well] and understaffed with an RFP to outsource them would not be my managerial choice," said Lusi. "Let's not take potshots at everything. Berkshire says our IT is good."
Moving the meeting along — and almost making good on his promise to get the group out in an hour — Hamilton wrapped up by reviewing the next steps. "Is there a bombshell in here that we're suddenly going to save $500K? No. But if we can save $1K here, $500 there, we can save the town some money." And before considering any of the larger regionalization questions proposed by the RIPEC study, said Hamilton, "We need to get our house in order first."
Next meeting, August 31.
Disclosure and commentary: As a volunteer member of the school Information Technology committee, I just don't see the opportunities for wholesale outsourcing. What I have seen is a very lean, well-focused group. It is one thing to outsource break/fix in a business where computers are tools, or service contracts for administrative systems. But in a knowledge enterprise, like education, where the IT must be strongly aligned with business goals, you need an (admittedly thin) layer of domain-specific experts and architects who know how to enact the culture of the organization with digital tools, and outside IT guys and gals just don't have those chops. You can outsource a server, but not the expertise to determine what collaboration tools to put on it to execute the strategic plan. That's a personal opinion, but it is informed by 25 years as an IT professional in both education and private sector gigs.
In the last two years, we have finally gotten our elementaries out of the 1980s, implemented a slew of new systems, and have an aggressive tech plan for moving forward. Not a strong argument for radical change.
Tags:
Localblogging, 02871, Town Council, School Committee
Escape Bridge connecting Island Park and the Hummocks
A group of residents in the Hummocks section of Portsmouth has proposed to the RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and the Town Council that the Escape Bridge, which connects the neighborhood with Island Park, should be converted to pedestrian use and repairs be deferred to the ailing structure. The bridge, which carries Point Road, has seen its weight limit reduced to 4 tons and has been targeted by RIDOT for urgent renovation.
Grafton "Cap" Willey, of Point Road has been circulating a petition seeking support for the idea, and in a letter to RIDOT Director Michael Lewis says the span, originally intended for emergency egress during flooding, "has become a major thoroughfare for traffic from Island Park to the Route 24 on ramp which has been a detriment to a predominantly residential area on both sides of the bridge." Limiting the bridge to pedestrian traffic, the letter continues, would make the neighborhood "safer and quieter" and notes, "In this time of budget shortfalls and with RI needing a lot of work on its infrastructure and roads, this is a case where the repairs could be delayed and the funds used for more pressing projects." (See the complete letter and petition.)
In an interview conducted by e-mail, Willey explained the group's aim. "Our proposal is to limit the bridge to pedestrian traffic with retractable gates controlled by the Town for evacuation of Island Park in the case of flooding and emergencies which was the initial purpose of the bridge when it was built as an escape bridge in 1961. The problem for the neighborhood is that it has become the major access and exit to Island Park and has too much traffic for the residential neighborhood that is Almy Point and the Hummocks. It has become dangerous for the walkers, the children and the pets. The police department does not have the resources to enforce the speed limits through the neighborhood and the illegally exhausted motorcycle traffic during the summer disrupts the peacefulness of the residents at all hours of the day and night. People can exit from Island Park just as easily via Boyd's Lane which is a much safer and less populated road."
Willey went on to say, "I have overwhelming support from the neighbors. The DOT is open to the idea of saving money depending on what the Town officials think about it. The initial reaction of the Town officials is not enthusiastic at this point." When asked how many had signed the petition, Willey replied that he had "not added up all the signatures" but that it was "in excess of 30."
Asked for RIDOT's response, Chief Public Affairs Officer Dana Alexander Nolfe said, "Director Lewis told Mr. Willey in an email that he should bring his ideas before his elected officials of the Town as well as his state legislative delegation. The Town represents the voice of the people and we take our cues from what they say."
Portsmouth Town Administrator Bob Driscoll said the issue has been placed on the agenda for the next Council meeting, and expressed serious reservations about the proposal and "the cavalier way it dealt with public property, public safety, and public responsibility." Driscoll went on to say, "We have all seen some fairly bizarre agendas being advanced in an attempt to take advantage of 'these tough economic times.' This one, if serious, would take the cake, at least locally. I advised Cap that his proposal was a 'nonstarter' and will contact Director Lewis."
Portsmouth Emergency Management Director Jim Lowrimore had not responded to an e-mail seeking comment by press time.
Full disclosure and commentary:
I have a personal stake in this: I live on Gormley Ave, and about once a year there is flooding on Park Avenue severe enough that Boyd's Lane is inaccessible and we have to get out over the Escape Bridge (see coverage, below). I live in the house where my mom escaped the '38 Hurricane, and her stories about our Island Park neighbors who did not survive are never far from my mind in hurricane season. The tattered blue plastic ties still flap on the phone poles 16 feet above the sidewalk across from Flo's Clam Shack, marking high water from that storm.
While I can also understand the safety concerns of Mr. Willey and the neighbors, I just don't see restricting the bridge as the right solution — especially if the proposal is to defer critical repairs.
In my opinion, this is the wrong lever. If there are problems with noise and traffic safety, those should be addressed through specific mechanisms: traffic calming, enforcement, and education. Achieving traffic reduction by closing a bridge makes no more sense to me than keeping kids from using profanity by opposing a skate park or controlling housing density by refusing to consider sewers. These may be appropriate goals, but it just doesn't seem to me like the right way to get there. To a person trying to pound in a nail, just about anything may look like a hammer. But that doesn't make it one.
Portsmouth, RI, 07/27/09. During a Portsmouth Town Council session debating a proposed skateboard park in the Island Park section of town, Pro skateboarder Aquiel Brathwaite was interrupted by Councilor Karen Gleason who prevented him from speaking because of a T-shirt graphic containing an image of figure with raised middle finger. He was not permitted to speak until he hid the image. Full transcript after the jump.
NOTE: Transcript is a best-effort approximation based on the video captured from Channel 18 Public Access; audio quality made it difficult at times to decipher the words.
AQUIEL BRATHWAITE
Good evening (inaudible)
COUNCIL PRESIDENT PETER McINTYRE
Will you give your name?
BRATHWAITE
Aquiel Brathwaite (inadible)
McINTYRE
Could you speak into the... (crosstalk) speak into the microphone, tell us why you're here, because at the beginning of this you were introduced as a professional skateboarder, and what I'd like you to do here tonight is, if we have a park, and we haven't made any decisions, this Council but if it's [age] 8 to 11 I want to know if you would come down and skate at that skate park.
BRATHWAITE
First and foremost, one thing that's really sad about...
COUNCILOR KAREN GLEASON
Excuse me... I'm really sorry to interrupt you, however. I apologize. But if you could, take a minute, go out to the men's room, and put that t-shirt inside out, I would have... (crosstalk from meeting attendees)
BRATHWAITE
(to attendees, signaling for quiet) Wait, wait, wait.
McIntyre (gaveling for order)
Please, please
GLEASON
I would appreciate you doing that
BRATHWAITE
I 100-percent respect where you're coming from. Me being a professional athlete with endorsements, I get all types of clothes to wear. I respect where you're coming from, I know that all of you have...
McINTYRE
(as several attendees walk out)
Everyone, please...
BRATHWAITE
(to attendees)
Hey, guys, this is not respectful.
McINTYRE
Geez, I can't believe this.
BRATHWAITE
(to Council) I'm personally sorry for what just happened
McINTYRE
That's all right. What I would like you to do...
BRATHWAITE
Want me to turn my shirt around?
McINTYRE
Sure you may, why don't you step out into the...
BRATHWAITE
Just take 30 seconds (rotates shirt with graphic to back)
GLEASON
I think you should put it inside out
McINTYRE
Oh, Karen...Gleason. Alright, now, you're all set, now take your time. Tell us, like you said, you're a professional skateboarder, explain to the Council here and the public that's sitting here, if you would go into a skate park that is for 8-year-olds to 11-year-olds.
BRATHWAITE
Personally?
McINTYRE
Yes
BRATHWAITE
No, sir, I'm a professional, I skate on a whole (inadible). I travel the country to skate, I make a living off skateboarding, I mean six figures a year. These people sitting here (gestures at audience) if they laugh, they giggle, they really don't know what skateboarding is. Do you realize that Rhode Island has the highest drug and alcohol underage use of any state? Per caipta? Do you realize that kids need an outlet, they need something to get away. America has the highest obesity rate of any country because kids do not go outside. Building a skate park in the neighborhood. Yes, we are noisy people. Granted. Yes, we are. But at the end of the day, we are still humans. You can talk to us. You can up up and be like, 'the park's closed.' Is there lights at that place? If there are, they need to be turned off when the sun goes down. Kids can't skate after dark. There are so many solutions to this that there shouldn't be people that are instantly like 'this is a bad thing, this is bad.' Skateboarding saved my life. I'm from a family of 13, I grew up with nothing, now I have a 6-thousand square foot home. Do you realize that without skateboarding, especially living in Rhode Island, I wouldn't have become nothing. There's kids that need this. There's a next generation of kids that, what else do they know, besides skating. Once they can't skate, what do you think they're going to turn to. You guys have to look at this as, this is not just building a skate park, this is paving the future for a lot of the kids from the whole of Aquidneck Island. This is not just building a skate park, you guys are looking at it the wrong way. This is an outlet for kids. You'd rather have kids running around your neighborhood, breaking into your homes, stealing, breaking stuff, or would you rather have a pack of kids in the skate park. Granted, a lot of skateboarders do have foul mouths. That is true. I respect that 100%. A lot of skateboarders are, foul, you know, but to instantly stereotype a person like that, it's a bad trait that humans have. But with that being said, a skate park that's built for the younger kids is a great, great, great outlet for them. It's a great way for them to disperse their energy. When kids are in the house, running around constantly, what do they have to do? Videogames and sweets. Oh, I'm going to bring my 9-year-old son down to the skate park, let him skate around for a little bit, he's going to have a blast, we go home and read a book, go right to sleep.
McINTYRE
Thank you.
BRATHWAITE
I don't think you guys should instantly oppose this thing. It's something that needs to be thought about. There's pros and there's cons, it's like building a basketball court, building a baseball court. Someone said that police and ambulances... all you guys pay taxes here, right, I do. All of our tax dollars are already going to these resources.
McINTYRE
Thank you very much. Dennis?
COUNCILOR DENNIS CANARIO
Just wanted to get your name?
BRATHWAITE
Aquiel Brathwaite, B-R-A-T-H-W-A-I-T-E
CANARIO
You're a very intelligent young man, thank you very much
BRATHWAITE
Just trying to show you that not all of us are ignorant people. I'm sorry that I didn't take my shirt off (inaudible) but I still have to hold my ground somewhat.
GLEASON
I have a question, Mr. McIntyre. I don't mind your shirt, your whole shirt. I mind the fact that you're throwing the finger on that shirt and...hold on a minute, I'm speaking, and then you're going to have a turn. Because what we have are some issues that have come up. And some concerns. And you are role modeling for our youngsters that are going to be at this park, alright, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, okay? Now, hm. Now what I would ask you, and your friends out in the hall, who kinda got offended with me because I asked you to turn your shirt around or inside out...listen, I'm not interested in the money, okay, what I'm interested in is, we need to come up with some kind of an agreement that everyone in the neighborhood is going to be satisfied and is going to accept. We can't have a war here. We got people sitting on one side of the room and people sitting on the other side of the room, and, it's you folks that are going to make this or break this. Because if you don't make it, they're going to be back before us three months from now, you spent fifty-thousand dollars and we have to take everything apart. [6:18] So I'm going to ask you folks, are you going to show up not wearing profanity shirts? Are you going to use, allow profanity on the playground when there's other kids younger than you there, because if you are, I'm going to personally come down there myself and say look this is not acceptable. And, number three, are you going to set up a little committee that's going to have littering, and by the way we do recycle in this town, you going to have a recycling bin for us?
BRATHWAITE
First and foremost, we should already have things set up that deal with the trash, that deal with the...
GLEASON
Are you folks going to do this?
BRATHWAITE
If I have to move back to Rhode Island, to ensure that the kids of Rhode Island have a park to skate? I will. I just flew 3,000 miles to talk with you.
GLEASON
And they have an issue with swearing, profanity. How are you going to handle that?
BRATHWAITE
Once again, you can't...Freedom of Speech. (inadudible) I personally will voice my opinions to the person, I have no problem doing that.
GLEASON
What about your friends behind there?
BRATHWAITE
My friends, behind me, first and foremost what they did...
COUNCILOR JEFF PLUMB
Mr. President, I'd like to move the question. I think we've debated this long enough.
GLEASON
Well, wait a minute now...we need to settle this. We can't just have people walking out without an agreement.
[VOICE]
He's not part of our group
GLEASON
I know, but he's going to be a role model...
PLUMB
Move the question
McINTYRE
We've heard both sides here now tonight, what I'm going to tell you is what I think, and then the Council will decide what they're going to do. I don't know why the two sides can't get together here, cuz is looks like you have a side here that has worked since 1996, Mr. Dennis Canario here was a detective at that time, so what I'd like to see you do is both sides get together and come up with a workable system. What I'm hearing here tonight is that this is not going to be a large skate park, it's going to be for younger children. [voices]
GLEASON
Don't leave...
McINTYRE
Karen, please
GLEASON
They're having a problem back there, they're saying that it's not true
McINTYRE
Just...please...Karen... We've heard your side, we've heard both sides, I'd like to hear the Council what they have to say.
Full disclosure: I am a resident of Island Park and a member of the group supporting the skate park.
Cross-posted at RI Future.
Update: Correction to Aquiel Brathwaite's first name. The sound system wasn't working in the chamber on Monday, but that's really no excuse. Just missed this one. Sorry.
Skate park supporters Beverly Kelly, Cheryl Augustine, and Lori Rinkel address Council.
In an occasionally heated meeting of the Portsmouth Town Council this evening, about 40 citizens supporting and opposing a 2,400 square foot skating area in the Island Park (IP) playground brought their perspectives to the Council.
Rhonda Riley and Brian Whittier spoke for the anti-skate-park group, and presented a list of issues of concern to them as abuttors and close neighbors. Acknowledging that there is a "makeshift" skate area in the basketball court, Whittier handed out photos to the Council purporting to show the increase of trash. He also raised concerns about parking, alleging that the people who would use the facility are not IP residents. He argued that there had been an increase in bad language and vandalism, and an "incident of a dummy left holding a beer can." Expressing doubts about the size, he said "$50K? Does this sound like a small park?" He went on to say "The majority of the surrounding community is in agreement with these concerns."
I rose to speak and told the council that, yes, on occasions where I visit with my 10-year-old, that I have heard language. Kids are teenagers. You're going to hear some language. But giving them a place to learn a skill, develop mastery and positive self worth, well, that to me outweighs the negative concerns. And I urged the Council not to take the petition from those opposed as monolithic sense of where IP stood, since they had not even come to my house.
Kathy St. Laurent, a member of the IP crime watch, had originally supported the proposal, she said, but "the findings have changed our minds." The IP playground she said was not an appropriate place for the park. "We would not want it to be outside our bedroom window."
Madeline Pencak, a member of the original IP playground committee, said that the group "had met 34 times and there was never any mention of a skateboard park." She said, "No one was ever informed. We were never approached. It only came to light recently."
Lori Rinkel spoke for the skate park, and reminded everyone that the initial petition had been circulated at the 2008 block party. And that in just the last few days, since a letter to the paper on Saturday, the group had come up with a counterpetition with 160 names. She minimized the risk of people traveling to IP to skate this park, which is explicitly designed for 8-16 year olds.
Beverly Kelly read a letter from two abutters who couldn't be there. One, from Robin Pacheco, acknowledges "there may be occasional noise, but the joy and community building far outweighs the negative," and goes on to say, "The kids have already turned part of the basketball court into skate park. The children are already using skateboards. It's already here folks, it's just not engineered safely."
Cheryl Augustine expressed the wish "that group opposing would have met with us." "I personally met with Rhoda Riley after her letter in newspaper," said Augustine, "but nobody else from group even called us." And Augustine did offer one correction on the timeline: "Planning for this playground started in 1996. This was not just made up yesterday; this [a skate park] has always been in the plan."
Cheryl went on: "I'm one of the original members who created this playground. It was years in the process. I didn't give up because I believed that kids needed a safe place to play. I believe we are advocates for the kids. We are willing to work with the opposing group, talk about fences, add shrubs to berm the noise."
The pro-skate group had brought a professional skater, Aquiel Brathwaite, who said, "There's a next generation of kids, if they can't skate, what are they going to turn to. This is not just building a skate park, this is an outlet for kids."
It is somewhere in this exchange where Councilor Karen Gleason asked Brathwaite to step outside to change his shirt. He defused the situation by turning it backward. I had been standing next to him, and couldn't see what she found offensive. I promise to capture the clip and post it since it seemed such a bizarre moment to me — a public official telling someone they may not speak to a government body because of the clothes they are wearing?
And Gleason took this as indicative of how people would dress at a skate park. "Are you going to show up wearing profanity shirts?" asked Gleason.
Brathwaite took the high road. "I flew back here 3,000 miles just to talk." He responded. She's talking about shirts, he stayed on message. This round goes to the skater.
Plumb, quite sensibly, tried to move the question, and the council all seemed quite willing to let the neighborhood talk through this rather than make a snap decision that at least half would be clearly unhappy with.
"I'd like to see people talk this out, get some of these questions answered and come back to the Council," said Plumb "Hopefully this can be handled neighbor to neighbor."
"People are asking council to choose up sides," said Seveney. "What I suggest is the neighborhood get together and act like a neighborhood."
"What bothers me is what I saw here this evening," said Dennis Canario. "Divisive groups. That's not what Portsmouth is about. We're one in a million. we have a great bunch of people in IP and I know we're going to work through this."
Council President Peter McIntyre asked the groups to convene a workshop with Town Administrator Bob Driscoll in the next few weeks and come back with a proposal in September. Gleason specifically asked Andrew Kelly, who made the mistake of sitting in the front row, if he would participate, to represent teen agers.
Then the Council took a 5 minute recess, since it was already coming up on 10pm. I had to get up for work tomorrow, so I left. If there were any more fireworks, please leave 'em in the comments.
Update: Correction to Aquiel Brathwaite's first name.
Supporters of the proposed Island Park skate park will want to show up at the Portsmouth Town Council meeting tomorrow night to offer public comment on an agenda item: "Concerns regarding location of proposed skateboard park, R. Riley." According to sources, a group has been circulating a petition expressing concerns about the project and placed the item before the council.
Lori Rinkel, one of my neighbors, did the preliminary work on the skate park proposal and secured the approval of the Council last October to move forward with grant proposals, including participation in a Community Development Block Grant approved at a meeting in April.
At just 2,400 square feet, the proposed space is smaller than many Portsmouth backyards. "You don't get a lot for $50K," said Rinkel in an interview today. "In fact, even the guy who drew up the plans said people are going to drive right by this park and not want to skate it." Rinkel said she had not seen the petition.
I'm assuming this is the same R. Riley who last month had letters in the Sakonnet Times and Newport Daily News. Couldn't find Riley's letter to the editor on the Sakonnet Times site, but it was still available in Google's cache here.
I must confess, I don't find the arguments presented in this letter particularly compelling, and I'm hoping that folks will turn out tomorrow night to support this effort to give our kids a fun space to play.
Full disclosure: I live in Island Park and support the skate park.
