The Independent Townie

NOTE: Max Brandle is our School Affairs Contributor and a Senior at East Providence High School  East Providence High School has been standing since the Eisenhower Administration. Since it opened its doors in 1952, it has generated thousands upon thousands of citizens who have contributed to our community, and our nation. It has employed countless teachers who possessed a complete devotion to professionalism. The city is always grateful to what has remained the cornerstone of our community for more than half a century. As the ancient maxim goes, “He who opens a school door closes a prison door.”   On March 5th the city council approved the new school bond in a 5-0 vote. The choice of finalizing this bond will now be up to the voters this November. As of early estimate, the new school would cost between $115 to $120 million. Renovating it would cost almost as much, and would only kick the can further down the road. The final cost is now placed at $189 million, wi...

In the March 30 Commentary piece (“Wrestling With the Demons") June Coan shared her experience while on the East Providence High School wrestling team. We aim to convey the facts with accuracy and have removed portions related to current events that could not be corroborated at this time.

Editor’s Note: In the March 30 Commentary piece (“Wrestling With the Demons") June Coan shared her experience while on the East Providence High School wrestling team. We aim to convey the facts with accuracy and have removed portions related to current events that could not be corroborated.   As the news broke on Channel 10 that the East Providence High School wrestling team had been implicated in an incident involving drugs, alcohol and an obscene sexual prank, I felt angry, angry that it took this long for the veil to be lifted. For the truth to be uncovered. And now, I have my voice and I will use it. This was not the only incident. It may, however, have been the only incident that has ever gone public. Until now. I was on the wrestling from 2001 to 2003, my junior and senior years. I was a victim of a similar act, along with other forms of abuse while on the team. And I wasn’t alone. But nobody did anything. The 2001-2002 season was my first year of wrestling. It als...

It may not sit well with those who wished to seek office this year, but barring a court action, there will be no 2018 City Council election. Voters will go to the polls to choose who will lead the city's executive branch, the first "strong" Mayor. But the legislative branch will continue and bring needed consistency and institutional knowledge as we transition our form of government. The City Council will play a different but still vital and powerful role in our city. Those that think the Mayor will be an elected dictator and completely run government, sans the City Council passing a budget, are mistaken. Our City Council will be a co-equal branch of government, similar to the Governor and General Assembly and the President and Congress. The Council will simply no longer choose and oversee the chief administrator, we the voters will do that instead. I have been vocal in my support for the current City Council putting in place the four year terms that were approved...

By Kevin K. Hall

One of the greatest privileges and responsibilities we have in a representative democracy is the right to vote for those who represent us.  Great pains are taken to make sure that the electoral ballot is fair and that voters have the right to determine their representatives, as well as determine the length of time they are to be in office.    However, there is now a proposal afoot in the East Providence City Council which, if allowed to transpire, would turn this last principle on its head in the name of “procedural error.”  In its fervor to right a previous ballot controversy around the validity of a 2012 City Charter Amendment initiative to change the Council’s term in office from 2 to 4 years, the current Council is prepared to create a far graver crisis: that of democratic illegitimacy.    In order to get to the bottom of the issue, we must start in 2012 when the East Providence electorate voted to alter the City Charter to have both the C...

By Kevin K. Hall

Whether an issue in our civics education, a purposeful attempt as a smear campaign or just a love of drama and knee-jerk reactivity. It seems that one part of our governing system continues to be missed in recent discussions which is that everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty. I see that resources like Court Connect, hosted by the Rhode Island judiciary, made for the sake of transparency are now being used as a 'gotcha' against both public officials and residents alike. Some are using these resources to "dig up dirt" on others. Cases are being posted without the facts of the case being clearly presented, being used to paint people as criminals when a deeper look shows charges were dropped or the person acquitted. It is forgotten, perhaps purposefully, that a charge is meaningless without a conviction. One can look as well to the allegations against city employee Leah Stoddard, the facts of which have been nebulous and have been mischaracteriz...

I've served as the public sector Business agent for Teamsters Local 251 for the past 5 years. In my role as Business Agent, one of my duties is to negotiate labor contracts with many towns, municipalities and quasi public sector agencies throughout Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. Recently, the Independent Townie ran a story on interim East Providence City Manager, Tim Chapman. The article suggested a possible conflict of interest and one City Councilor, Anna Sousa, alleged possible ethics violations based on some legal work that Mr. Chapman was performing for the City of Pawtucket. Based on my experience dealing with multiple Cities and municipalities I have to disagree with this assessment or, at the very least, suggest this type of activity is much more widespread and accepted than most are aware, according to the comments I have read. I have seen many examples of City Managers moonlighting on other projects, but one such circumstance stands above all the rest....

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 appl...