Harriet Lloyd: When Taxpayers Show Up and Speak Up

Harriet Lloyd: When Taxpayers Show Up and Speak Up

Are Rhode Islanders really as politically uninformed, complacent and apathetic as they are often said to be? Has the “ I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” mentality leapt from the silver screen to the Ocean State voter?

For a variety of reasons, real or imagined, moving people to action has been a major challenge in Rhode Island, even as scandal at the highest levels, convictions of legislators and local politicians, and other flagrant examples of criminal conduct have become commonplace. While many have given up, left the state, or simply withdrawn into their private cocoons, there are some indications that the Rhode Island taxpayer-citizen-voter may actually be stirring.

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Three recent examples offer some hope for a rebirth of citizen activism by a public “mad as hell” over the actions of political leadership that has taken a step too far.

In Westerly, the Town Council recently convened a regular meeting before the largest turnout of residents in recent memory, who came to make their displeasure known at the proposed action of the Council to adopt: 1) a resolution to include a major part of the Misquamicut Beach into the Westerly Sewer District, and 2) a proposed ordinance to authorize a $24 million sewer project in Misquamicut.

In an effort to avoid a town-wide referendum, the Council proposed to fund the project by a combination of Town surplus funds, a state grant, and a revenue bond for approximately $19 million. The revenue bond funding mechanism was the spark that ignited the fire because it was designed to permit the Council to take unilateral action, rather than requiring approval by the Town citizens for a general obligation bond. On two previous occasions, town-wide referenda for the proposed sewer project had been rejected by voters, who now saw the council making an ‘end run’ on behalf of property developers.

In a heated five and one-half hour session, speaker after speaker excoriated the project, individual members of the Council, and the manner in which the project had been designed. What Council members had expected to be a quick approval of both items turned into a defeat of both measures by 5 to 1 votes - and an agreement that any future plan would have to be approved by a town-wide referendum.

In Portsmouth, citizens have made their discontent evident with regard to a malfunctioning windmill located since 2009 on the campus of Portsmouth High School. The windmill project was approved by voters in 2007 by passage of a bond issue for $3 million. It stopped working last June when its gear box failed. By then, the company that built and installed the windmill had gone out of business.

Replacement of the gear box is estimated to cost between $600,000 and $700,000, while the amount remaining to be paid on the original bond issue is about $2 million. Irritated at the prospect of adding more cost to what many regard as a serious mistake to begin with, Portsmouth citizens have demanded that a new study be conducted by those who made the original recommendation to move forward with the windmill project. The purpose of the study will be to inform the community about the mistakes made leading to its original approval. Indeed, due to considerable community concern, the Town Council has adopted a motion to request its Economic Development Committee to undertake such a review.

A short distance away, the Sakonnet Bridge has become the site of another display of citizen distress. In the face of plans by the State to place a toll on the bridge, residents of
Aquidneck Island have made their anger known. Through public demonstrations, letters to elected officials and local newspapers, and appearances on talk radio, those who will be affected by the toll edict are expressing their views loudly and clearly.

All three of the above matters profoundly affect not only the taxpayers and voters of each community, but also others across the State whose leaders face similar quality-of-life decisions. Far too often and for too long, such decisions have been made by a select few, confident that “no one who matters cares.”

It still may be too soon to accept the Westerly, Portsmouth and Sakonnet Bridge examples as proof of fundamental change – and this is, admittedly, an election year when politicians are feeling particularly insecure. And certainly, Rhode Island’s entrenched politicians are hardly famous for their concern for the public well-being when it conflicts with their own interests. Yet, these recent examples demonstrate one important fact: when the public arises to express its view, arrogant politicians, like deer in the headlights, stop and reassess.

It is the public’s approval that remains the bottom line for elected public servants, and Rhode Island citizens who have participated recently in the democratic process by showing up and speaking up should take pride in some significant accomplishments.