It’s time for the Sox to start another winning streak. Thanks for stopping by. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, Threads and X. Here we go.
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1. STORY OF THE WEEK
If you think downtown Providence faces a challenge bouncing back from the pandemic, Chris Marsella would like a word. The head of Marsella Development, which led the long-ago development of Capital Center (and more recently, the Track 15 food hall), invokes his father, Romolo “Ron” Marsella: “Anytime we talk about struggles and things that we think need to take place, all he says is, like, ‘Look how good you have it. You should have seen what it was like in the ‘70s and ‘80s.’” That’s a fair point. For all of the current difficulties, downtown Providence is very different from what it was like before an elaborate river-relocation makeover. But the challenge is real: like many cities, PVD struggles in the wake of the pandemic with fewer office workers, less pedestrian foot traffic and slumping values for office towers. For now, downtown Providence retains a split identity, alternatively feeling vibrant if, say, there’s an event at the Amp, or desolate and a bit spooky after-hours in the absence of such activity. So what is the fix? Part of the answer is attractions like Track 15, which recently recorded its one millionth visitor, according to Marsella. Joseph R. Paolino Jr., a major downtown property owner, sees the pending move of RIPTA’s bus hub to Station Park (near the train station) as another key. Paolino and Marsella joined me on One on One this week to talk about the future of downtown. Both also point to restoration of the state historic tax credit as an important tool to foster downtown’s evolution as a residential neighborhood.
2. GOV RACE
Helena Foulkes is running something of a modified Rose Garden strategy, using every opportunity to tout her support while trying to avoid anything that would cut into her lead in a series of polls. Gov. Dan McKee has a little more than six weeks left to try to change the dynamic in the campaign before the primary. On Thursday, he jumped on Rhode Island Energy’s announcement of higher winter electricity costs to cast himself as a defender of the people – and in opposition to the General Assembly and state regulators. “Right now, is the time to take action,” McKee said. “Call your reps, your senators, the PUC, to follow the lead that we’re providing today to lower the cost for the families that live in the state of Rhode Island.” In related news, a union-backed poll showed McKee nearing striking range of Foulkes, although as longtime WPRI analyst Joe Fleming noted, the finding is an outlier given a series of polls showing a double-digit lead for Foulkes. For her part, Foulkes’ spokeswoman Angelika Pellegrino said McKee has failed to reduce Rhode Island’s high energy costs during his more than five years in office.
3. INDEPENDENTS’ DAY
Buy yourself a beer if you predicted back in 2014 that the two candidates in the GOP primary for governor – Ken Block and Allan Fung – would run as independents (Block for governor, and Fung for state rep) 12 years later. While it’s true that independents form the largest bloc of voters in Rhode Island (and Massachusetts), running without party apparatus poses other challenges, even if party identification is weaker than in the past. As Brown University’s Wendy Schiller once told me, “an independent candidate has to be doubly inspirational and crystallize his or her message around one or two issue areas that have strong resonance with the voters.” (That was in the context of Lincoln Chafee’s independent bid for governor in 2010, and yes, he squeaked through.) Block and Fung both have considerable name recognition from their previous campaigns, not to mention savvy from their experience in business and politics. A key question for Block’s campaign is the extent to which he can lure GOP voters to support his independent run, particularly when a subset of ardent Trump supporters has little love for Block’s debunking of the president’s false story about a stolen election in 2020. Speaking more broadly, as Nancy Lavin recently reported, independents often face an uphill fight.
4. PVD MAYOR
The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce shared word via email this week of a “Young Professionals for Smiley” event at the Providence G at 5 pm on July 31. That speaks to how PVD’s business establishment has a bit of agita about David Morales’ campaign for mayor. In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has balanced similar concerns by hiring a partner at McKinsey and former FTC Chair Lina Khan, who previously worked with David Cicilline in Congress on the issue of tech monopolies. Morales supporter Daniel Denvir used a Boston Globe op-ed this week to respond to Smiley’s focus on Denvir’s goal of making PVD “a laboratory for municipal socialism. Excerpt: “I’m not ashamed: with David Morales as mayor and a progressive majority on the City Council, we should do everything we can to explore, experiment, and innovate the most effective people-centered policies possible.”
5. PAYING FOR WAR
Costs continue to mount as the U.S. war in Iran continues. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, while requesting $70 billion more in funding, this week put the bill at $37.5 billion. During a One on One interview in May, Stephanie Savell, director of Brown University’s Costs of War Project, said official estimates tend to be on the low side, while downplaying related costs. A related tracker at Brown points to a $73.6 billion energy cost burden for American consumers – almost $600 per household – since the start of the war.
6. REVOLVING DOOR
The coming week is a big one for former House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and the future of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. By the close of business on Monday, Superior Court Judge Richard Licht will make his ruling on whether to send a revolving door complaint against Shekarchi back to the state Ethics Commission or to effectively squelch the complaint (barring a successful appeal). Then at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the state Judicial Nominating Commission is poised to conduct interviews with Shekarchi and the four other candidates for the SCORI vacancy – Christopher Bush, Laureen D’Ambra, Luis Matos and John Roberts – and to narrow the field through recommendations to Gov. McKee. The historic nature of the revolving door debate was manifest in those who attended the hearing in Licht’s court, including former Senate President William Irons, complainant Michael Yelnosky, former ProJo political columnist M. Charles Bakst, longtime former Common Cause of RI head H. Philip West Jr. and Mel Topf, a former Ethics Commission member who was an outspoken advocate for government reform dating to the early ’90s. The hearing itself was salted with references to local political history, including how Licht was a state senator when he first ran for lieutenant governor in 1984 and how the legislature rejected Gov. Lincoln Almond’s Supreme Court nomination of Margaret Curran (who would go on to oversee as U.S. attorney the 2002 Plunder Dome case against Buddy Cianci). On a related note, Shekarchi’s lead lawyer, Thomas M. Dickinson, was one of the former speaker’s professors at Suffolk University Law School.
7. IMMIGRATION
ICE this week detained a Providence man, Chansareth Hong, who has lived in the city for nearly a half-century. An array of elected officials sent letters in support of Hong, whose immigration status was complicated by drug convictions he received as a teenager in 1997. Hong’s niece said he is the primary caretaker for his elderly mother and his 9-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal. More on the story from colleague Ben Berke.
8. PRIME PARKING
Back in the day, the Red Fez (RIP) used an ad in The Providence Phoenix (RIP) to wink at its location in the Downtown Parking District. Those two institutions are long gone, but renting downtown parking spaces to visitors going to PPAC, Trinity Rep or out for dinner remains lucrative even after the pandemic. Joe Paolino said high interest rates are part of the problem: “I would even sell some of our lots if somebody wants to come along and do some development there,” he said on One on One. “But for me to do it right now with interest rates at 8%, it doesn’t make sense.” OTOH, Chris Marsella told me that he remains very open to developing something on the surface parking lot behind Track 15: “It’s highest and best use should not be a parking lot, a service parking lot in the center of downtown. We are always looking at what could potentially be there” – possibly some combo of hospitality, a hotel and residential.
9. TICKED OFF
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed is among those calling for more funding against the growing threat posed by ticks. He’s backing a $90 million boost for research, surveillance, testing and other measures. According to Reed’s office, “Data collected through URI’s TickEncounter program, led by renowned URI researcher Dr. Thomas Mather (also known as ‘The TickGuy’), shows a 1,300 percent increase in Lone Star tick encounters recorded by residents in the Ocean State over the last decade.” If you want to enjoy a burger or steak on the grill over the summer or beyond, the spread of tick-borne Alpha-gal syndrome can ruin your day by posing serious health risks.
10. KICKER
One year after President Trump spearheaded an effort to cut funding for public media, the story is largely one of resilience. Yes, hundreds of public media staffers have been laid off, and we lost more than 20 colleagues at Ocean State Media through voluntary departures spurred by belt-tightening. But as NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik reports, listeners and viewers have stepped up their support, with record contributions at some stations around the U.S. In an email to supporters, Pam Johnston, president/CEO of Ocean State Media, thanked them for standing up: “You gave generously and encouraged your friends and neighbors to do the same. Your strong support affirmed something we’ve always believed: trusted local journalism, lifelong learning, and community connection are worth preserving, protecting and investing in. Thank you for being there when we needed you most.”
