Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot & Who’s Not? - October 14, 2016

HOT

Brandon Bell

It looks like the Chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party is poised to file a complaint against Governor Gina Raimondo over her failure to report the fair market value of the rental space for her campaign kick-off event in 2014. The property, located at the Hope Artiste Village, is owned by controversial developer Lance Robbins, who was recently awarded a $3.6 million by the state Commerce Corporation to rehab lofts there. It’s nice to see someone willing to try and hold the Governor accountable on a legal level.

HOT

Sam Bell

Also give credit to Sam Bell, who shares the same last name as the GOP Chairman, but for the most part, polar opposite political views. Bell, the state director of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, however, does agree that the Raimondo campaign’s usage of the Hope Artiste Village space to launch her campaign at a rate below fair market value doesn’t pass legal muster.

HOT

Denise Barton and Amy Retsinas Romero

US Attorney Peter Nehronha appointed the two women Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Rhode Island this week. Barton, an experienced prosecutor who has 5-years of experience as a county and state prosecutor in Massachusetts and 14 years overall, will work in the criminal division. Retsinas Romero, who is assigned to the civil division, has clerked for the United State Court of Appeals for the Third District and was a former staff attorney for Rhode Island Legal Services and Community Legal Aid in Worcester, MA

HOT

Jonathan Nelson

The leader of the Rhode Island-based private equity firm Providence Equity Partners is having himself a very good year, as the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the firm’s investment in the sports marketing group Learfield Communications will earn the company about $425 million, once it’s sold to . to Atairos Group Inc. That’s not a bad day at the office, if you ask me.

HOT  

URI Men’s Basketball

The University of Rhode Island Men’s Basketball team, led by Coach Danny Hurley, has all the tools for a memorable season. All of their stars from last year that were injured, including potential All-American E.C. Matthews, are returning. That’s led several pundits and polls to place them in the pre-season top 25. It should be an exciting year for Rhody basketball fans!

HOT

Center for Resilience

The Rhode Island based non-profit organization, which focuses on helping bring resources to urban schools in order to fund mindfulness programs in the classrooms, is having a conference on October 21, and a dinner that evening, at the Omni Providence Hotel.

The event will feature several speakers, including the makers of the Academy Award winning film, SPOTLIGHT. For more information, contact Vanessa Weiner at (401) 400-1490.

NOT

Brett Smiley

The Governor’s Chief of Staff displayed a questionable temperament during the Presidential debate on Sunday when he used profanity in a tweet showing his disgust for Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump. We’ve all said words that we regret in the past, but the Governor’s Chief of Staff (her number 2 man) needs to display a sense of decorum at all times, even in cyberspace.

NOT

Robert Lancia

The Republican state representative from Cranston promised that he would use his newly formed nonprofit organization named “Bob  Lancia Ministries” in 2009 and in 2014 pledged to open a waffle house staffed by veterans. Yet seven years later the nonprofit has raised less than $700 and raised only $125 towards the waffle house—despite seeking press attention for these initiatives. Sounds like Lancia has some work to do.

NOT

Steve Frias

In the wake of the revelation of some revolting comments by Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump over a decade ago, the Republican National Committeeman, who is opposing House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in Cranton’s District-15, refuses to answer the question as to whether he plans on still supporting the candidate. It’s a question that Frias, at this point, really should, one way or another, answer.  The voters deserve to know.

NOT

John DeSimone and Jan Malik

The two state representatives were recently bested in their respective state representative races in September. Now, both men are attempting to run write-in campaigns in a desperate attempt to hang on to their seats. Both men are all-around good guys who have served the state honorably, but this write-in talk reeks of desperation, as they’ve never been successful.

NOT

Jorge Elorza

So apparently, Providence now has another sister—this time it’s Álvaro Arzú, Guatemala’s capital. For anyone who is counting, that’s our fifth sister city. Providence would be much better served is Mayor Elorza started to show some sense of urgency about correcting the city’s dire financial situation instead of signing ceremonial documents, before we find ourselves in bankruptcy.

NOT

Presidential Race

This has to be the most embarrassing presidential races in modern history. On the Republican side, we have a candidate bragging about groping women. On the Democratic side, we have a candidate who openly admitted, in private emails, (hacked by Wikileaks) that she often has “public and private” positions on issues—in other words, she lies. What a sad disaster of epic proportions.

NOT

Recreational Marijuana

While neighboring Massachusetts is set to vote on the legalization of marijuana in next month’s elections, 11 Massachusetts physicians groups have come out publicly opposed to the measure. The physicians point out that states with legalization have significantly higher rates of usage among minors, and that’s a good reason to oppose the measure indeed.