Dedicated to bringing fiscal responsibility and transparent government to Tiverton, RI.
Posted in Town Council on Jul 17th, 2010
Government reform is, ought to be, and may have to be a coherent movement from the municipality to the federal government. Here in Rhode Island, it’s easy to see how a broad set of principles and tactics applied across government tiers have corrupted (and expanded) government and hobbled our society, and mutual support and [...]
Posted in FTM, School Committee, Town Council on May 4th, 2010
Just so’s you know, I was on time for tonight’s School Committee meeting, but the committee voted to recess until 8:15 p.m. so everybody could race across town and attend the special Town Council meeting about postponing the financial town meeting (FTM). Upon the gang’s arrival at the Community Center, the Town Council voted [...]
Posted in FTM, Town Council, Videos on May 1st, 2010
At the end of last Monday’s Town Council meeting, members of TCC took the opportunity of the agenda item “Financial Town Meeting” to raise the matter of Town Administrator Jim Goncalo’s package of false documents, sent to the state with the intention of getting an uncertified waiver for the council and School Committee’s preferred combined [...]
Posted in FTM, Town Council, Videos on May 1st, 2010
Posted in Town Council, Town Treasurer, Videos on May 1st, 2010
My video record of last Monday’s Town Council meeting doesn’t match live viewing when it comes to discerning the delight that Councilor Louise Durfee clearly derives from grilling Town Treasurer Phil DiMattia, but the point comes across. At this point, it’s beginning to seem like a monthly event.
Toward the end of the exchange, DiMattia [...]
Posted in FTM, Tiverton, Town Council on Apr 26th, 2010
Many options presented themselves for my attendance, this evening. Dinesh D’Souza is speaking at Brown. A Tiverton Tea Party group is having its inaugural meeting on the north end of town. But I’m at the town hall. (I’ll have to chide Mr. D’Souza for not better coordinating his schedule with mine.)
I’ve [...]
Posted in FTM, Spending, Town Council, Videos on Apr 10th, 2010
Posted in FTM, Spending, Town Council on Apr 5th, 2010
I was a couple of minutes late to the Town Council meeting because of construction on Highland and boy did they jump right in. I’m trying to get a handle on some new budget numbers. The upshot is that, try as they might, the folks at town hall can’t get the tax levy [...]
Posted in FTM, Taxes, Tiverton, Town Council, Videos on Apr 2nd, 2010
So you can watch the drama for yourself:
Posted in Town Council on Apr 1st, 2010
One hears about the political advantages of incumbency, but the Newport Daily News article that Marcia Pobzeznik published on Tuesday about Monday night’s Town Council meeting takes it to a new level. Essentially, she limits herself to quoting town officials’ perspectives on various budget matters. For example:
Town Councilwoman Louise Durfee said she “cannot [...]
Posted in FTM, School Committee, Tiverton, Town Council on Mar 29th, 2010
They’ve jumped right in with the School Committee’s notes for the Town Council, with two basic points:
The school department believes that they were shorted in the current year. Depending on what funds must be counted in the budget for purposes of the mandated local “maintenance of effort,” it could be anywhere from a quarter [...]
Posted in FTM, Spending, Taxes, Tiverton, Town Council on Mar 22nd, 2010
I’ll be liveblogging from the Town Council meeting, tonight, once again, although once again, the topic in which I’m mainly interested has been slated for the end of the meeting. Hopefully, we won’t be listening to people asserting ambiguities that don’t exist for over an hour tonight.
7:20 p.m.
During discussion of community block grants, the [...]
Posted in FTM, Taxes, Tiverton, Town Council on Mar 15th, 2010
In case you missed it, here’s the extended conversation about municipal policy for exceeding the state-imposed tax cap from the March 8th meeting of the Town Council:
Posted in Tiverton, Town Council on Mar 12th, 2010
Of all the goings on and matters of public interest within its scope, it’s odd that the Newport Daily News would spend an editorial on Tiverton Town Council Member Hannibal Costa’s comparison of federal mandates on the town (with threats of withheld funding) to the Nazis’ rise to power. From Wednesday’s Daily News:
… comparing [...]
Posted in FTM, Taxes, Tiverton, Town Council on Mar 11th, 2010
The long discussion of Town Solicitor Andy Teitz’s initial draft of a proposed policy for exceeding the state-imposed cap on towns’ tax rates (PDF) brought forth some, well, poorly considered statements from folks who give the impression that they want the law to be different (in order to make it easier to increase taxes).
By way [...]
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