The Truck Stop Rears Its Ugly Head, Again!

On Wednesday the 26th of August, at 7 pm, the owners of the property next to Exit 1 (The Gingerella’s) and Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores are going to appeal the Planning Board’s decision to deny the development of a truckstop at Exit 1.   We will be back in the Ashaway Elementary School.

So, we’re going to have to do it all over again.  Get as many people as you can together to go sit at the meeting, even if you don’t voice your displeasure, the presence of so many people sends a very clear message.  I think the total last time was 170 people?  Let’s see if we can do as well this time.

It’s a pain, I know.  But it needs to be done.

I’ll see you there.

Liars, Fools and Scoundrels

I’m not sure which applies to this letter to the editor in this morning’s Westerly Sun:

Love’s Travel Center would be positive for area

I grew up on a farm on West Street, Ashaway/North Stonington. I lived in that area for 30-plus years, so I was only a mile or two from Exit 1. I know and love the area. It is where I consider home.

I am a real estate agent, and I am involved in the sale of the property proposed for the Love’s Travel Center at Exit 1, and I support the project. I know what many people might think: “she is commission driven,” and although I will benefit financially from this sale, it is more than that. With the economy in the dire straits, homes are being boarded up, fore closed on, and short sales are happening everyday in our area, I do not understand why some in Hopkinton would want to reject the positive growth that the Love’s Travel Center will bring to the area? Love’s has of fered a lifeline to our community, with tax revenue, tourism traffic, jobs and potentially much, much more.

As a realtor, I very rarely show a home in Hopkinton without the first response from the buyer being “property are taxes too high.” Last week, I was fortunate to take a contract on a home on Cedar Knolls Drive by encouraging the buyer to consider Hopkinton because of the “growth on Exit 1.” I explained to my buyers, it is my understanding that growth around Exit 1 such as Love’s should help bring down the tax rate because they will pay taxes and not add one new student to the schools or need to add any additional town services. They will just create jobs and pay taxes, I consider this a win, win for every one!

I think Love’s is a positive for this area, and I think we should welcome them with open arms. We should thank Love’s for choosing us as their destination stop, and for providing a gateway to South County, Westerly and our wonderful beaches!

Sandra Bliven e-PRO certified agent Coldwell Banker Cahoone Westerly

So let me break this down into the applicable facts:

1.  This is the real estate agent who will garner an enormous commission from the sale of these 18 acres.  Let’s assume those 18 acres are worth $500,000, conservatively.  If this agent has negotiated a 3% cut, she’ll get $15,000.  6% is a standard commission, amounting to $30,000.  And the property is probably worth more than $500,000.  SANDRA BLIVEN IS MAKING A KILLING IF THIS HAPPENS.  She can deny her bias, but are you stupid enough to believe her?

2.  We will get $50,000 in taxes.  If the Town Council had any balls, they could cut that amount without breaking a sweat.  They do not have any balls, I have already discussed that issue at length.  That $50,000 in taxes amounts to a $0.01 per thousand decrease in your taxes?  Your taxes are based on $17 million.  $50,000 is a drop in the bucket.  And if state aid dries up, your taxes will be based on $23 million.

3. Tourism?  Is this woman a liar, a fool or a scroundrel?  I have travelled the country.  When I travel the country, I stop at a truckstop to get gas, food and get back on the highway.  No one who stops at a truck stop stops there to see the sights, especially not in podunk Hopkinton.  Oh, ah, look at the fantastic tree!  Is it possible this woman is mentally retarded?  Or maybe she just wants her $30,000 commission?  

4.  Jobs?  Ok, 5 people to run the Arby’s and a cashier for the pumps. All of them getting paying minimum wage.  Now that’s a real investment in job creation!  

5.  Even Vinnie Cordone, that hack of a former Town Councilor, the boob responsible for the idiotic “development” at Exit 1 that has generated no new jobs and little in new tax revenue OPPOSES the Truck Stop.  And if he can finally come to his senses, is there anyone left to fool?

6.  No new services?  A truck stop just screams, “we need more cops”!  When people stop in Hopkinton, traveling I95, you get all kinds of people.  You get families, your get RV’s, you get the elderly couples and you get the drug runners, pimps and prostitutes.  A truck stop in town is going to REQUIRE us to have more cops.  And since each new cop costs $60,000 to $80,000 for salary and benefits, we end up paying more taxes to have a truck stop in town!

7.  Sandra Bliven “loves” the area, she grew up here.  But she doesn’t live here now, does she?  She lives in Westerly.  She doesn’t really care what it looks like or sounds like or smells like in Hopkinton.  Come on, are you fooled by this load of crap?  I certainly am not.  She is interested in her commission.

In conclusion, don’t be fooled.  A truck stop is an assinine idea.  It is the next step on the slippery slope into turning Hopkinton into industrial Cranston or Warwick.  Let’s put a stop to this now and show Sandra Bliven that her greed has no place in Hopkinton.

Planning Meeting Postponed until July 1st

Because so many people showed up to protest the Truck Stop at Exit 1, the meeting was put on hold to accommodate everyone.   Town Hall holds 73 people.  A good bit more than that showed up for the meeting.  While that is good news, the bad news is we all have to show up again on July 1st, when they find a bigger room for the meeting.

According to the Sun,

  ”Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, of Oklahoma, is pitching plans for a 145-space truck stop with fueling stations, an Arby’s drive-thru restaurant and convenience store for the 18-acre site.  Planning Board Chairman Alfred W. DiOrio said he was “thrilled” with the turnout, but suggested postponing the meeting to a larger to-be-determined venue because members of the public have the right to be present for hearing.”

So that is exactly what we’ll end up with if we don’t go back on July 1st.  Oh, and lets not forget the aquifer full of diesel….

Mobilizing to Stop the Truck Stop

I would love to talk about how our esteemed Town Manager is leaving (hoo-rah!), but this morning I got a call from a friend, who talked to a friend, who talked to another friend to deliver some bad news. The subject of conversation was the giant truck stop they plan on building on Route 3, right off Exit 1.  Apparently, this thing is in the advanced stages of planning.   The 18 acres directly north of the commuter parking lot are going to be turned into a 24 hour truck stop. 

There a lots of reasons not to let this happen. Can you say crime?  Can you drugs?  Can you say prostitution?  Can you say giant trucks hauling ass through Hopkinton at all hours of the day and night?  They plan on building it on top of our aquifer.  Who pays to truck in bottled water when all of our wells are full of hydrocarbons?  How will we sell our houses when we have no wells?  How much lower would you like you property taxes to go?   And finally, how historic do you think historic Hopkinton will look with acres of trucks on its backdoor?  

In exchange for turning Hopkinton into industrial Warwick, we’ll get a measly $50K in taxes a year. 

How do we stop this insanity?  Show up to the Planning Board meeting at the Town Hall on Wednesday, June 3^rd  at 7pm and raise hell.   Listen, you may like economic development, but there is no good reason for this atrocity.  

This is a stupid, stupid idea.  We need to fight it, we all do.  There are a lot of things that go on in this Town that happen by either fiat or plain apathy.  Don’t let this be one of them.  A lot of Town meetings dont really matter.  But this truckstop does matter.  And this meeting is very important. 

The Planning Board will need all the ammunition we can give them to shut this down.  What we need is a mob.  Apparently there are 3 other cases that night and no one is sure of the agenda, but we need to fill the halls.  Get a baby sitter, get off work, do whatever it take to make this meeting.

DeLibero On The Move?

I got a tip that our favorite Town Manager, Bill DeLibero, is a finalist for the job of Town Manger in Charlestown.    Seems odd to me, that he wants out of Hopkinton so badly.  However, considering the Scuncio/Mauti lawsuit (more details to follow), I guess I am not surprised.  Anyone have any more info on this or is it just an unsubstantiated rumor?  FYI, my source is generally pretty reliable.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this shakes out.  My source also says that the official announcement of the finalists is scheduled for May 6th-ish. 

Aside from Mageau, I never paid any attention to Charlestown, I didn’t even realize they were without an Town Manger.  I suspect that without one, their Town has never run more smoothly….

Better Late Than Never (or the Transparency Train Derailed)

I just couldn’t pick a title.

“Better late than never” because the Sun finally got its butt in gear and reported on the Hopkinton ticket quota.  ”The Transparency Train derailed” because Felkner is full of  proverbial “no comments” for this story; which is funny because he can’t shut his mouth when it comes to the School Board.  Perhaps he is educable!  Has he learned how not to say the first thing that comes into his head?  Or perhaps he is just angling for a bigger political career and doesn’t want to ruin it by saying something stupid?  Again.

Anyway, the point of the Sun’s article is that the Town Council insists that they did not request the policy, it is the Police Department’s business and the Council knew nothing about it.  I happen to believe their excuse.  I suspect that the Manager did have something to do with it, after all, he is the Chief’s boss, but the Town Council doesn’t have a freaking clue about what is going on in Town, nor do they care, so they are automatically off the hook.

Some delightful quotes from the article:

DiLibero, who is out of town for the week, told The Sun Monday on his cell phone, “I just don’t want to comment on it any further.”

Bad time to go on vacation, eh Billy?  Don’t worry, the cops are actually all over the place all the sudden so I suspect this will fester for a few more months.

Councilor Beverly P. Kenney said that, prior to learning of the leaked policy, “I believe the police department was doing their job.”  She also declined to elaborate on the matter, saying, “I have not had a chance to investigate it.” She said she plans to speak with DiLibero first as “that’s the chain of command for us.”

Excellent.  I am ever so comforted when Delores Umbridge speaks.  Call out the High Inquisitors!

Capalbo declined to say what she thought of the policy because of conflicting statements from Baruti and Police Chief John S. Scuncio reported in the Journal story on why it was implemented.

I’m sure she was thinking, “colossal stupidity”.  I know I am.

Thompson said she is confident the issue will be resolved internally by the department, saying — like Capalbo — it is a personnel matter to be dealt with administratively, not by the council. She said she does not plan to tell the police department what to do with the policy.

It is a good thing we didn’t elect these people to actually do anything!   The Town Council cannot interfere in an investigation, they can tell the Police Department to cut it out with the quota.  But that would require some  testicles, figuratively speaking.

Although Thompson noted she has yet to read the email on the policy, she said, “As a resident, I find it distasteful.”

I am glad someone does.

Scuncio and Baruti did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment. 

Smart move, their first one so far.

And life goes on.  Keep you eyes open, in the past 3 days I have seen more Hopkinton cops than I have seen in the past year.  They are diligently working on their quota and they are coming for you!

It’s Official, The Hopkinton Police Department Sucks

From today’s Providence Journal (see the Projo for the whole article, I’ve just taken excerpts from it):

 Police have ticket ‘target’ in Hopkinton

By Bruce Landis, Journal Staff Writer 

If you drive through Hopkinton, keep this in mind: The officers you see are each required to write 20 traffic tickets per month, “more or less,” under a new Police Department policy.

Excuses, like being busy doing something else, or having taken vacation days, “are not acceptable,” Lt. Daniel C. Baruti said in a March 3 internal e-mail that spells out the policy.

The point of a police department is to enforce laws, not generate revenue for the town coffers.  But instead of cutting the Town budget and reining in spending, we’re trying to bilk the public out of more cash.  I guess we need to make sure the Municipal Court pays for itself!

The e-mail says, in bold, italic type, “Do not forward this e-mail.”

Clearly, the HPD is also stupid because if you put anything in an email, it will end up becoming public knowledge.  And the juicier it is, the more likely it will end up in the papers.

Baruti, Police Chief John S. Scuncio and Town Manager William A. DiLibero acknowledged Hopkinton’s policy after The Journal obtained a copy of the e-mail.

However, they denied that it amounts to a ticket quota. Instead, the lieutenant described the numerical goal as a “target.” He said he was surprised that the term “quota” has popped up. “I didn’t even think of the word ‘quota’ ” until a sergeant brought it up, he said.

A rose by any other name is still a rose.  So is a duck…

Baruti and the other local officials said that the policy is a management tool intended to make the police more productive. Although it has drawn some criticism, Baruti said, the policy is legal and that they have no intention of abandoning it.

Making up crimes and giving out unnecessary tickets is not an indicator of productivity.  Making up crimes to charge people with is criminal.

Baruti’s e-mail said that the department’s “production level” has fallen and that the town manager and some members of the Town Council “are very dissatisfied with our numbers.” He said he thinks a decline in the department’s ticket production reflects a lack of motivation.

Uh, duh.  We have too many goddamn cops and there is not enough to do.  It appears to me that the HPD is trying to justify their existence when in fact, there is very little justification for having 16 officers on the HPD.

The e-mail also looks ahead, saying, “The plan is to focus on traffic tickets to start. We will look at arrests and incidents later.” Baruti said that doesn’t mean setting targets for arrests.

Well that’s good!  I would hate to have the police show up to arrest me because they needed to arrest SOMEONE!

Baruti said it isn’t aimed at individual officers. DiLibero said, similarly, that he and some council members were concerned about a “lack of activity” by the police in general.

Once again, because there is nothing for them to do.

Scuncio, on the other hand, said the policy is aimed at a single officer who does practically no work. One example of his lack of effort, the chief said, is that month after month, the officer writes no tickets at all. The chief said the officer’s inactivity “really creates problems” because new officers “see this guy doing nothing.” He didn’t identify the officer, saying he didn’t want to single the officer out.

And this is not grounds for dismissal?  But then again, when the police chief is actually a member of the police union, things tend to a get a little “cozy”.

Chief Scuncio said the new policy hasn’t had the desired effect. “He still hasn’t written any tickets,” the chief said. “Nothing’s changed.”

And so you continue to promulgate the policy?  That’s pretty dumb, don’t you agree?

He said he’s reluctant to try to discipline the officer because of the difficulty under the legal and contractual protections provided to Rhode Island police.

Perhaps the Town should more aggressively negotiate police contracts in the future?  To prevent this from happening?  

Capt. David A. Ricciarelli, assistant director of the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy, said he knows of no similar policy in other departments. He gave several reasons why ticket quotas should be avoided. They are “publicly distasteful,” he said, and give the public a negative impression when the police depend on the public’s help to enforce the law.

Well, I guess Hopkinton is just special that way.

“A quota policy can only generate disrespect for, and cynicism about, law enforcement,” Brown [the RI ACLU Executive Director] said , and it suggests that “police enforcement is more about making money” than enforcing the law.

That’s OK Mr. Brown, we don’t have much respect for the HPD anyway.  This just gives us another reason to consider cutting their budget.

Thanks to Bruce Landis, this was a great article.  Someone is finally shedding some light on the crap going on in Hopkinton government.

North Stonington cuts Town Budget by 8.1%

According to the Westerly Sun’s Chris Sheldon, North Stonington, the Town RIGHT NEXT TO US across the State Line has dropped their Municipal budget from $5,923,323 to $5,443,768.  Hopkinton is about $380,000 short in its budget, North Stonington is only $181,000 short.  So our CT neighbor lost less in revenue and was able to cut almost $500K from their budget.  If we were able to do that, our taxes would decrease by >3%, instead of increasing by that amount.  So far, Hopkinton has only been able to cut $41,000 from our budget.

So North Stonington is proof that it CAN be done.  Why CAN’T we do it?  Any answers, Town Council?  Town Manager?  Are we just fat and lazy, as I suspect?  Or are we going to keep blaming contracts, the same type of contracts that North Providence has gotten a judge to overturn?

Good job Town Council!  Or not.

This is also made more amusing by Felkner’s letter to the Sun.  He bemoans the fact that the title, “Seniors could lose free lunch”, was unfair to the Town Council and apparently pissed him off.  Welcome to Rhode Island, Bill. Despite the fact that I quote the Sun incessantly, as a newspaper it is self-serving and generally of pretty poor journalistic quality.  Although in the past year, the new editor has improved things quite a bit.  But that is besides the point.  My point is, stop being such a whiner.  I was thinking of titling this post, “Felkner continues to whine”.  In the context of the pissant cut that removing the meals director will result in, you are making a mountain our of a mole-hill by writing a letter to the Sun.  So go take a look at the North Stonington budget and then make some real “change” in Hopkinton instead of pretending that you are doing something when you are CLEARLY not.

Oh, and how’s that fight with the School Board going?

Thank You, Mr. DiLibero

The Westerly Sun reports that the Town Council is proposing to cut the Director of Senior Meals (is that the official title?) but the seniors will still get their meals. The only change will be administration.  The current Director, Mark Radicioni, is pretty pissed and intends to see if the union can help him keep his job.  Personally, I think he should be put in charge of the GIS Department and save us some money that way.   But the article goes on to say,

 Because the meal site director was a position included in a union contract with the town, DiLibero told the council Radicioni may be able to file a grievance.

Well, we only have one person to blame for the union contracts:  William DiLibero.  Ok, that may not be entirely true.  DiLibero may not have been involved in all the current Town contracts, but he has been involved in some.  I would like to know if he was involved in this one?  And if so, why is it written in such a way to permit a person to file a greivance/etc. if they are let go when their department is closed down?  It seems like a pretty simple contract clause to me:  If your department is shut down for any reason, you can and will be fired.  Apparently not.  Bill, please write that down and keep it in a safe place for future reference (ie the next contract negotiation).  Here is a better thought, hire a professional to negotiate our contracts next time.  Preferably one from out-of-state!  Lets stop being pennywise and pound foolish, shall we?

New taxes anyone?

According to Ms. Vicki Goff of the Westerly Sun, Hopkinton’s tax rate may increase by as much as 3%.  Initially, the Town was predicting a marginal raise of less than 1% but obviously, things have changed.  I am not surprised.  The Town kept the tax rate stable last year by using some overly optimistic numbers about how much money we would actually collect.  When you monkey around with the numbers, you can expect to eventually pay the piper.  But the Town Manger did not still expect to be in Hopkinton, so the hit-and-run tactics are completely understandable.  This year we are losing a good bit of state aid and we can expect to collect fewer taxes.  So unless we spend less, you and I need to come up with the cash.

But there is a bright side.  You can keep your taxes stable by voting down the budget in June.  Other Towns are cutting staff and laying people off and THE COURTS ARE LETTING THEM!  If the Town Council is hesitant to lay people off, we can do it for them by voting the budget down.  It’s that easy.  A rejected budget means a flat budget, the same one as last year.