The Independent Townie

While I take issue with Mr. Briden’s comments in his ‘rebuttal’ to my previous letter circulated in other media forums. Including his attempts in his response to obfuscate the issue by claiming some kind of agenda to silence him and his attempts to paint me as smearing him, while championing the First Amendment regarding Mr. Kevin Oliver’s remarks which smeared both an elected official and city employee.  I am hoping the subsequent dialogue I had with him at the February 20 Council meeting has mostly resolved the issue.  So the record is clear for readers, Mayor Briden, when Mr. Oliver finished and asked if anyone wanted to respond, stated, on video the following when Mr. Faria said he would accept the invitation to comment. “Under our rules though we really… no no no no no no, these are the rules, we follow the rules, the rules are the same for everyone. We don’t regulate the content of speech and when they’re up there we don’t say anything, the rules apply equally

Nicholas Oliver, one of the first to announce to be the first Mayor of East Providence took to social media to announce he was suspending his campaign. Oliver had been the first to kick off his campaign this summer. He is the CEO of the Rhode Island Partnership for Home Care.  In his message, Oliver cited a "personal matter involving my children" as the reason for effectively ending his bid for East Providence' highest office.  Oliver ended his message thanking his friends and supporters "Suzanne and I have been grateful for the amazing and humbling support of our community. I know that this would have resulted in a winning campaign to lead our city toward its much-needed fresh start."  Oliver also asked for privacy at this time.

A lingering topic since they were passed by the voters in 2012, the charter amendments enacting four year terms for the city council and school committee were a hot topic at the February 20th Council meeting. Former Councilwoman Chrissy Rossi addressed the matter and the history of amendments during the Communications portion of the meeting, finding general agreement from Councilmen Botelho and Faria. Botelho himself came with research he had been doing since the beginning of the council term. During the early days of the term he also questioned the issue of the four year terms and cautioned the potential for the same to happen to the mayoral form of government warning that it could "vanish in the mist." The 2012 ballot question, which passed by 54%, would have granted four year terms to the council and school committee starting in 2014. However, they were never codified as part of the city charter. The matter was put before the General Assembly for ratification at th

Former East Providence City Councilwoman and School Committee member Chrissy Rossi announced via Facebook on February 21st that she would be seeking to be East Providence's first elected Mayor. Rossi joins Nicholas Oliver, Roberto Dasilva and James Russo in a so far subdued campaign for the top city office. Rossi started her political career on the East Providence School Committee representing Ward 4 from 2010 to 2012, during her term on the School Committee, she often clashed with the state appointed Budget Commission, particularly its chair Michael O'Keefe. Rossi was a key supporter of middle school sports in both her School Committee role and in the community. In 2012, Rossi sought the Ward 4 City Council seat against incumbent Michael DiGoia. DiGoia dropped out of the race before the election. During her tenure on the City Council Rossi often challenged Acting City Manager Paul Lemont as well as then Ward 1 Councilman and Council President Jim Briden. That tenure