Headlines & Opinions (Click "Archives" or "Articles" for older material)

New Boat for Fire Dept
May 10, 2012

The Little Compton Volunteer Fire Department has procured a boat for the Town using funds from donations.  The boat was purchased for $48K and equipped with the latest navigation and communications technology bringing the total to $65K.  The "Fire Boat" will be leased to the Town for $1 per year and used by the Fire Department for rescue related work in Narragansett Bay.  Efforts are underway to get a boat slip at Sakonnet Point to avoid having to haul the boat to the boat launch wasting valuable time in a rescue operation. The boat is 25-feet long and is powered by twin 200 horsepower Yamaha outboard engines. This project could not have been done without the help of Lt. Graham Brewster, LCVFD and Lt. David Wood, LCFD. The two worked closely throughout the winter to bring this new rescue boat to the highest of standards. This boat will be wonderful upgrade from the currently used 1970s Boston Whaler. The Town Council expressed its gratitude to Jack Crook, President of the Volunteer Fire Department for this acquisition, and the members of the organization.

Principal Gibney Resigns
May 9, 2012

Tonight the School Committee accepted the resignation of Principal James Gigney effective June 30, 2012.  No specific reason was given for the resignation other than the School needs new leadership for moving the school forward.  Mr. Gibney's contract was scheduled to end June 30, 2013.  Part of the settlement agreement is that Mr. Gibney's health insurance will continue to be paid for out to June 30, 2013, and he will be given a portion of the salary he would have made in 2013 had he stayed.

Tax Rate to Increase 0.94%
May 3, 2012

The Budget Committee announced that the tax rate for 2012-2013 will increase by less than 1%.  That is an additional 5¢ per thousand. The rate goes from $5.33 per thousand to $5.38 per thousand. Note: The cost of the School bond will not be seen until July 2013.

If your home is valuated at $400,000, you will see a tax increase of $20 for the year.

The Wilbur and McMahon School Renovation
Project Status

Students To Attend Class On Veterans Field
March 21, 2012

The School Committee and School Building Committee have chosen Veterans Field to house Grades 5, 6, 7, 8 during the 2012-2013 school year while renovations are made to the Wilbur & McMahon School.  Temporary classroom modules will be erected on Veterans Field immediately following this year's Chicken Barbeque.  The picture below shows the temporary classrooms (in yellow) placed on Veterans Field. Grades K through 4 will be housed in St. Andrews Church and the Congregational Church during the same period.  Details not yet finalized.

We Won A Big One
March 2, 2012

As oppressive government continues to whittle away our freedoms and muzzle those who speak out, the Little Compton Taxpayers Association (LCTA) won a lawsuit that will have repercussions throughout the State.

On October 27, 2010 - just before the last election - the LCTA published a newsletter (click here to see the newsletter) that included a sample ballot in which the LCTA's voting recommendations were put forth.  Republicans, Democrats, and Cool Moose candidates were recommended.  Included in the list was John Loughlin running for Patrick Kennedy's seat, and Joe Quinn running for School Committee.  We also recommended against former School Committee Chair, Mike Harrington. 

16 candidates were recommended.  12 of them won with 8 of them running unopposed.

Evidently, Brett and Johanna McKenzie (Little Compton residents) were dissatisfied with this newsletter and, through frivolous complaints with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) and the RI Board of Elections (RI-BOE), tried to silence the LCTA by removing its First Amendment right to free speech.

With respect to the FEC, the complaint was against both the LCTA and John Loughlin for neither one of them reporting the "expense" of the endorsement.  The FEC quickly recognized this as an invalid complaint and dismissed it in a letter (click here to see the FEC letter) to the McKenzie's.  They also dismissed the complaint against John Loughlin.  Note: The FEC has a $250 threshold.  The amount of money spent on the Loughlin endorsement in the newsletter was less than $5.

But Rhode Island being Rhode Island, political hacks making up the RI-BOE saw an opportunity to seize control of taxpayer groups such as the LCTA and block their ability to do what they do (endorsements, newsletters, newspaper articles, web sites, and letters). 

The RI-BOE charged the LCTA with "coordinating" its endorsement of Joe Quinn running for School Committee since Quinn was also a member of the LCTA's Board of Directors.  If Mr. Quinn had participated in the endorsement, it would have been "coordinated".  But, as a matter of ethics, Mr. Quinn recused himself and played no role in the newsletter.  The RI-BOE agreed that this was the case even though they ignored it. 

The RI-BOE had the LCTA "guilty as charged" even before the hearing began.  The hearing proceedings were along the line of kangaroo court where facts didn't matter and proof wasn't required.  The LCTA was found guilty and warned not to do it again.

Baloney! The LCTA refused to roll over and take this.  A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed with the US District Court, Judge John McConnell, Jr.  Attorneys Robert Senville and Carolyn Mannis represented the LCTA, and the RI Attorney General represented the RI-BOE.  The LCTA asked for a copy of the tape recording of the hearing, but the tape was suddenly found to be inaudible... just as it was in a separate action involving Ken Block who ran as a Moderate in the race for Governor.  The RI-BOE gave the same reason - the tape machine operator caused the problem.  Once again, this is Rhode Island!

Early on, the Attorney General indicated that he had nothing to defend the RI-BOE's actions with.  To try to avert having this discovered in court, the RI-BOE withdrew its findings against the LCTA and attempted to declare the case moot before Judge McConnell.  As with many cases, the judge urges the opposing parties to try to settle out of court.  That is what Judge McConnell did in this case.

There was a settlement which vindicated the LCTA, invalidated the McKenzie's misguided adventure, and repaid both the LCTA and its Attorneys for all the money that was spent - $45,000.  If the Attorney General's costs and the Court's costs are included, the bill to the taxpayers is on the order of $100,000 - all because the McKenzie's did not like the outcome of the election and tried to silence the LCTA.  They should be made to pay these costs for wasting the time of so many people and wasting so many taxpayer dollars.

Click here to see the Consent Order that ended the case.

Click here to see a GoLocalProv.com article on this subject by Donna Perry on March 1, 2012.

The LCTA has asked Little Compton's Senator DiPalma to look into this matter and initiate action against the RI-BOE such that this does not happen again.  It is a good lesson in freedom of speech being defended, and a warning to those who cannot win the public debate and, instead, try to muzzle those with opposing points of view by manipulating and abusing the public process.

Chalk up one for the LCTA!

No more Treasurer & Tax Collector Elections?
February 23, 2012

The Budget Committee Chairman, Scott Morrison, appeared before the Town Council tonight alerting the Council that for 2 years in a row, the Town's fiscal audit revealed serious deficiencies in the financial management of the Town. The report cited serious deficiencies in the handling of and accounting for Town funds.  Mr. Morrison quoted the auditors as follows:

"The Town's system of financial reporting and internal controls over financial reporting is not adequately designed and that the Town does not possess the requisite internal human resource capabilities."

Mr. Morrison further stated that the ultimate responsibility for management of the Town's finances rests with the Town Council and, therefore, the Council must make changes that are deemed to be necessary to insure the Town's finances are properly managed.

The Budget Committee's suggested course of action is to change the Town's Home Rule Charter to make the Treasurer and Tax Collector positions appointed by the Council rather than elected in the general elections

The Council agreed to look into this. More to follow.

The Wilbur and McMahon School Renovation
January 31, 2012
(Revised 2/2/2012)

Finally, the School Committee has produced a renovation plan that resolves the problems associated with health, safety, and building code deficiencies that have plagued the facility for many years.  The plan appears to be much more affordable than any plan previously proposed by the School Committee's building committee. 

As presented in previous articles on this web site, the following is a history of the cost proposals that the School Building Committee (SBC) has proposed:

• JCJ's "Option 5" (Sep 23, 2008) was $22.5M ($35.6M with int)
• DB's estimate (Oct 10, 2010): $28.3M ($44.8M with int)
• DB's estimate (Oct 28, 2010): $23.3M ($37M with int)
• DB's estimate (Nov 8, 2010): $21.6M ($34M with int)
• DB's estimate (Feb 25, 2011): $19.2M ($32M with int)
• DB's estimate (Mar 9, 2011): $18.9M ($31M with int)

 ("JCJ" is JCJ Architects, "DB" is Durkee Brown Architects)

The cost proposal on the table now is $17,646,178 including interest on a 20-year loan.  The RI Department of Education (RIDE) will pick up 40% of that cost leaving the Town's share at $10,587,707 over the course of 20-years.  Click here for a complete cost breakout.

The effect of this expenditure will be a tax rate increase of approximately 4.7% or 29¢ per $1,000 of assessed value.  This is worst case.  The final tax rate may be less. The table below gives a glimpse of the homeowner's annual out-of-pocket cost for this project based upon the assessed value of the home. 

Click here for a list of health, safety, and code deficiencies in various work areas.

Click here for a lists of costs for the various repairs.

On January 19, 2012, the Town Council voted to put this expenditure to an all-day referendum rather than a Special Financial Town Meeting.  An all-day referendum is conducted in similar fashion as an election where the gym is open all day for voting.  This gives every registered voter in Little Compton - even those who are absent - the opportunity to vote yes or no on this project.  There will be three public hearings prior to the referendum.

This is the most expensive project ever undertaken by the Town of Little Compton.  There is little question that work needs to be done at the school.  If the voters say no, the repairs are still needed and will have to be done on a pay-as-you-go basis. The choice is yours.