One Hundred Thousand Hits and Still Counting

The Unethical Lynching of David Rodio

David Rodio, former Building Official in the Providence Department of Inspections and Standards, was charged with violations of the city’s ethics laws in order to make Mayor Jorge Elorza’s do-nothing Ethics Commission look like it was doing something. The Commission’s January 10, 2018 vote to proceed with an investigation against Rodio was staged by the mayor’s media messaging machine as a press event, with informational packets ready to distribute to reporters as soon as the vote was announced.

A few weeks later, on February 21, the Commission without fanfare dropped its case against Rodio after its own investigator determined that Rodio had not violated the city’s code of ethics. Rather than dismissing the case outright, the Commission in early March quietly dumped the case file in the lap of the state ethics commission, but without entering any formal complaint against Rodio. Since then, the Rhode Island Ethics Commission has taken no action against him.

Rodio, by all accounts an honest, competent, 24-year employee of the department with a clean record, could well be accused of an instance of poor judgment. His infraction — if in fact there was any — should have been resolved as an internal personnel matter. Instead, Rodio was pushed out of his job — compelled to resign in order to preserve his city pension — because he would not cooperate with the dubious practices of the department’s Director Jeffrey Lykins and its unqualified Deputy Director Kevin Mahoney.

Mayor Jorge Elorza announcing his first appointees to the Providence Ethics Commission in February 2015. Photo credit: Dan McGowan WPRI

The Objective Facts Behind Elorza’s Plan to Sell Providence Water

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s plan to monetize the city’s water supply is ideal material for a four-part mystery series with a twist ending.

In part one, entitled Status Quo, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission keeps the lid on the rates charged by Providence Water, constraining the utility to earn a zero rate of return. (Yes, zero.) So it’s a mystery why any potential buyer of the city’s water supply would have the remotest incentive to do so.

In part two, entitled Political Persuasion, we find out whether the city’s lobbyists can convince our state legislators to strip away the Public Utility Commission’s regulatory jurisdiction over Providence Water. In part three, The Negotiations, we learn whether the recently reported “serious discussions” with the Narragansett Bay Commission about acquiring Providence Water are really serious.

Part four is, of course, The Denouement. Once the General Assembly gives the Narragansett Bay Commission the green light to acquire Providence Water, we find out how much our the newly deregulated public water utility hikes its rates to finance the acquisition, after having denied all along that it would do anything of the sort. If rates rise to anywhere near what customers currently pay for their water in Newport, the extra money forked over by Providence consumers may cover the entire acquisition cost in a little over a decade. So, we end up financing a significant chunk of our pension legacy through our clean, clear water bills.

What a splash.

Source: MRV Valuation Consulting LLC, Valuation of Providence Water Supply Board Water Assets, August 8, 2017, Figure F-3.

The School Camera Speeding Tickets Are the New Car Tax, but Super Regressive

It’s about time we had some solid facts about the new automated cameras that have generated an estimated twenty thousand speeding tickets since they were installed near Providence schools late last year. So I sought out and analyzed the data on the first 18 thousand tickets issued from December 13, 2017 to March 3, 2018. Does the evidence support proponents’ contention that the cameras are an important policy tool to protect our children? Or does it bolster the claims of aggrieved citizens that the ninety-five-dollar tickets are nothing more than a municipal money grab?

Here’s what I found. The overwhelming fraction of tickets were issued at times and on days when few if any students were actually entering or exiting their schools. In fact, the number of tickets dropped off markedly at precisely those times when school gets in or lets out. The financial burden of the tickets has fallen predominantly on vehicle owners in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools. On average, these neighborhoods tend to house families with lower incomes. Far and away the richest neighborhood of the city, by contrast, has been almost completely spared.

Relationship between volume of speed camera tickets and 2016 median family income among 12 contiguous zip codes overlapping the boundaries of the city of Providence RI. The darker the color, the higher is the volume of tickets. For example, the zip codes 02908 and 02904, both shaded dark green, with respective volumes of 2,569 and 2,528 tickets, had respective median family incomes of $43,906 and $44,535 in 2016. The volume data are based on the zip codes of vehicle registration for a total of 18,109 school speed camera tickets issued during December 13, 2017 through March 3, 2018. The estimates of median family income are based upon U.S. census data. The red lines show the boundaries of the city of Providence.

How Not to Run a First-Rate City (Grandfathering Providence)

The Providence Department of Inspections and Standards, under the direction of Jeffrey Lykins, exempts properties from the city’s zoning laws with no legal basis. Abusing a little-known provision in the city’s zoning ordinance that allows him to grandfather a specific property as a “non-conforming use,” Lykins has repeatedly acted contrary to the strict dictates of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. His arbitrary practice of spot zoning has enhanced the perception of widespread favoritism — if not outright corruption — and undermined the sense of equal treatment under the law that is essential to the economic development of our city. It is high time for our mayor and city council to stop perpetuating a system that gives one person unilateral power to hand out favors to some, and not to others.

From page 4 of The Providence Zone Plan, 1923

The City That Endangers the People It is Supposed to Protect

This is a story about dereliction of duty. It is a story of how the mayor, the commissioner of public safety, the city solicitor, the board of licenses and the board’s legal counsel have systematically created a serious public hazard.

“Since taking office in January of 2015, my goal as the 38th Mayor of Providence has been to build a city that works for all its residents,” boasts Mayor Elorza on his Welcome to Providence! page. The reality, however, is quite different. Providence is indeed a city that works for some of its residents.

While it crushes others.

Jesus Titin’s Sunday Car Shows

Jesus Titin began operating Mi Sueño Disco, a restaurant with live and DJ entertainment, at some point during 2007 or 2008. In August 2011, Mi Sueño, Inc. acquired the property at 1070 Broad Street from Gianfranco Marrocco. Since at least 2012, Titin has been holding an outdoor event called a “car show” at Mi Sueño on Sundays during the warm weather from about noon to 7:00 p.m. While one might ordinarily associate the phrase “car show” with the display of antique or hyper-modern vehicles, the specialty cars in Titin’s shows are equipped with novel, multi-unit speaker assemblies that play music during the events. While some cars are displayed in Mi Sueño‘s interior, most appear to be stationed outside in the parking lot.

Video clip of a Car Show at Mi Sueño Disco, posted on Instagram on August 21, 2016.

All the Bribery

Here’s the testimony of Acelia Terrero, the proprietor of Ada’s Creations, appearing before the Providence Board of Licenses on September 3, 2015. Ms. Terrero first addresses then chairman and state senator Juan Pichardo through a translator. After the Board’s counsel Louis DeSimone offers his legal advice and Pichardo tries to interject something, Ms. Terrero responds directly in English.

TRANSLATOR HAMLET LOPEZ: She said to Senator Pichardo to stop by to the business. She wants to speak to him face to face. And all the stuff and all the briberies that was being done in our business. We — she is going to be public about it. Everything that they gave her here, and she is going to make it public so everybody will know all the things that are going on with licensing department and all the bribery.

ATTORNEY TO THE BOARD LOUIS DeSIMONE: Then I would tell her on the record that she should report those items to a Providence police officer or detective so that an investigation can be conducted and that the guilty parties can be punished.

BOARD CHAIRMAN JUAN PICHARDO: I would suggest also on the record–

ACELIA TERRERO: I represent this to the mayor and he is going to listen to me, because what they’ve been doing is helping their friends and that’s why they steal $29,000 from me.

How did we get to this singular moment in Providence history? Did Acelia Terrero’s explosive accusations of bribery ever go anywhere? The answer to the latter question, we shall soon see, is no and yes.

Ninety Thousand Hits and Still Counting (Truth Bath)

Truth Bath

Having endured the squishy generalities and sugar-coated platitudes offered by Mayor Jorge Elorza at Providence: An Economic Recovery Story, a recent event sponsored by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, I feel compelled to offer a more honest, hard-hitting version of the Real State of Our City.

In The Arena: Rickman, Steele, Harris, Stenhouse, and Paolino

On February 25, 2018, panelists Ray Rickman, Sharon Steele, Johanna Harris, and Mike Stenhouse joined Joe Paolino In The Arena to discuss economic development in the jewelry district, the I-195 corridor, changes in the Providence Board of Licenses, and gun control.

In The Arena, February 25, 2018, ABC6 WLNE-TV, Providence

“After Juan Pichardo left and Dylan Conley came in, there was this hope that things would improve at the Board of Licenses. … Not only haven’t they improved, but I would posit that they are worse.”

 

 

Broken, Broken, Broken

Based upon the facts uncovered in this article, I call on the mayor of Providence to launch a complete investigation of the job performance of Jeffrey Lykins, Director of the city’s Department of Inspections and Standards, with a specific focus on possible instances of unwarranted favoritism and conflict of interest.

Jeffrey Lykins worked for David Corsetti.

On November 1, 2011, then Mayor Angel Taveras appointed Jeffrey Lykins as Director of the Department of Inspections and Standards. In a resume attached to Taveras’ submission, Lykins referred to his experience at “Premier Development, Inc.” from 2006–2009.

Excerpt from the resume of Jeffrey Lykins, attached to Mayor Angel Taveras’ submission to the City Council, dated November 1, 2011, appointing Jeffrey Lykins as Director of Inspections and Standards.