Hello, lovers! Lots to cover from these past two weeks, so let’s get right into it.
In the News
The YMCA is now offering free community classes
The department of public works sent a list of possible projects, including roads to resurface, for the town council's consideration in utilizing the $18 million infrastructure bond
The ice rink, unused during warmer months, received money from the Royce Family Fund to construct two padel courts with room for an additional two pickleball courts (“Does it have to be pickleball,” Councilor Mary Scialabba asked)
Plus, here’s how our RI senators voted in the recent confirmation hearings:
Senator Reed | Senator Whitehouse | |
|---|---|---|
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State | Yea | Yea |
John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency | Nay | Yea |
Peter Hegseth, Secretary of Defense | Nay | Nay |
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security | Nay | Nay |
Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury | Nay | Nay |
Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation | Nay | Yea |
Lee Zeldin, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency | Nay | Nay |
Douglas Burgum, Secretary of the Interior | Nay | Yea |
Christopher Wright, Secretary of Energy | Nay | Nay |
Douglas Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs | Nay | Nay |
Pamela Bondi, Attorney General | Nay | Nay |
Eric Turner, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | Nay | Nay |
Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget | Nay | Nay |
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence | Nay | Nay |
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services | Nay | Nay |
Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture | Nay | Nay |
In case you’re keeping track, that makes Senator Reed 6.25% and Senator Whitehouse 25% a compliant little bootlicker. 🙏
Town Council
February 10 - Regular Meeting (agenda)
I think my (very sloppy) notes speak for themselves on this one:
descent into madness
This was super boring, sorry! But there's a link to the slideshow, if you're interested.
MARINA STUDY
The town manager is going to take over the work regarding the Westerly Marina. President Duhamel wants the Economic Development Commission (EDC) to be involved. Councilor LaPietra wanted the Board of Recreation to be involved, too. The town manager was perfectly capable of asking for support from those groups if he needs them, but the councilors wanted to argue about this for an excruciating amount of time. I don't think they even took a vote on anything. What a waste of time.
PERMANENT HOUSING COMMITTEE
More discussion on the creation of a permanent housing committee, with an impassioned defense from Councilor Healy. Councilor Aiello, of course, has to chime in to defend the actions of the previous council (for which he was president) whenever there's even a whiff of a suggestion that their previous actions led to a current situation, positively or negatively. It makes me want to leap into traffic. I believe they took a vote to create the permanent committee, with Aiello, LaPietra, and Van Dover against, but I was so braindead from the nonsense that I don't even remember.
RESIGNATION
David S. Reid from the Harbor Management Commission wrote in his letter of resignation that the commission was subject to "unprofessional and unethical" treatment from former councilor Lombardo (unnamed in the letter but, like, we know).
School Committee
February 5 - Regular Meeting (agenda)
Due to a lengthy executive session, the budget session (item 11c) was postponed until next week (see below for February 11).
RIDE STAGE II CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN
A team of consultants went through all of the school buildings to see which capital improvements would be the most urgent and/or the best use of the town's finances. The updated plan, due to RIDE next week, is a wishlist for all needed work and the estimated costs. By submitting the plan (after some discussion, the committee voted unanimously to do so), the town wasn't mandated to perform all the work; rather, in order to receive RIDE reimbursement, the project had to be listed as part of this five-year plan, so there was no downside to including as many ideas as possible.
The School Committee bylaws allowed for speakers to return to the podium for an additional five minutes after everyone else has spoken. The School Committee voted 5-2 (Wycall and Walston against) to make the following changes:
The first open forum (agenda items only) will have a five minute time limit with only one opportunity to speak
The second open forum (any matters within the committee purview) will have a three minute time limit, but speakers will be allowed to return once all others have been heard
Apparently, this has got some history, which quickly became apparent by the committee's refusal to put the motion to a vote at all. It seems like they were waiting for the state to provide some additional funding, which never came through, and other fundraising efforts had already stopped. As a part of this discussion, Mike Ober made an interesting related point: people complain about their taxes and funding the schools, and also complain when the schools do nothing for their kids. Lori Wycall, who seems to have some knowledge about the project, replied that her objection is on principle against the quality of work and lack of transparency about the process.
February 11 - Budget Meeting (agenda)
Another straightforward one, THANK GOD - I was still deceased from the town council meeting the day before. As a reminder, these budget meetings have been purely educational so far, with school administration (led by Superintendent Garceau) presenting their needs to the school committee for questions and comments.
More departmental budget presentations: internships and the future of the CTE program; special staffing needs; potential upgrades to phones, internet, computer hardware and software.
The 2026 budget is shaping up to be a 1.45% overall increase from 2025, including a 3.09% increase in appropriation from the town, which they expect to receive a hard time about from the town council. "Level funding means level service," Superintendent Garceau said. The budget is due on March 6 to the Board of Finance.
Other Boards and Committees
Architectural Review Board (February 6) - it looks like there's some objection from the Watch Hill Conservancy to the demolition of an existing (historical?) building on Bay Street and repurposing of the lot into mixed retail/residential use
Conservation Commission (February 11) (no agenda or minutes provided)
Zoning Board (February 12)
Economic Development Commission (February 13)
Licensing Board (February 13) - this one has a list of local events this year!
I'm aiming to put out the next newsletter on February 28 or March 7, depending how much content gets crammed into the meetings on the 24th and 25th. And if you never hear from me again, it's because my brain can't handle this foolishness any longer.
Just kidding: I love to suffer!
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