Why to Vote Yes for a Constitutional Convention in Rhode Island:
The moment is here to have a discussion, if not take action finally.
Feel free to check the entire blog archives from “Political Pulse” & “Salzillo Report” on the 2024 primary cycle, rural outreach, redistricting litigation, base dynamics, campaign organization, the current media landscape, the issues at stake, Project 2025, Build Back Better, the progressive movement, the true story about former 2024 VP contender Gina Raimondo, and much more.
So much has been covered recently in the Campaign 2024 blog editions over the past few months (never mind the past year). The party conventions. The withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the 2024 presidential race. The assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The campaign agendas most American voters still don’t know about. The track records and resumes of both major presidential candidates. The significance of events down ballot this year. Campaign logistics and election information. And there will be more, but for now, let me offer a local reprieve with Rhode Island politics. Feel welcome to browse through the sites to review the entire archives of past blog posts on all kinds of topics.
And be sure to check out the new blog notes, which I intend to use more in the near future for this dramatic election year on Substack, Medium, and LinkedIn.
Speaking of Rhode Island, I hope some of you take a look at the Moshassuck Critters YouTube page. For those wanting a little stability and peace from election politics, nature and music might be your best friend for that. My friend Greg Gerritt is not just a videographer and photographer. He is a lifelong environmentalist who ran for State Senate in Maine in 1994, and ran for Mayor of Providence in 2002, the year Buddy Cianci resigned from City Hall for a second time after the Operation Plunder Dome conviction (1 of 26 counts). Environmentalism runs through Greg’s bones.
So for those wanting a little peace and quiet, Moshassuck Critters (named for the river in the area that goes right into Downtown Providence & eventually Narragansett Bay) is the place to go. Subscription preferences can be found on its YouTube channel.
We will now circle back to the Question 1 proposition for Rhode Island voters in November (not the only state to have ballot initiatives by any stretch), which is whether our state should have a Constitutional Convention for 2025-2026 for the first time since the mid-1980s. It is a question Rhode Island voters are asked every 10 years, and here is why voters should have one next year.
Let’s begin with the opposition. Of course, there are some in the opposition who are concerned about what a constitutional convention (ConCon for short) would do to them. It might, key word of the day folks, reduce the power of General Assembly leadership. It might put guardrails and slightly reign on what is considered to be absolute control for the Rhode Island Democratic Party, which the RI Attorney General Peter Neronha recently described the one-party General Assembly for a long time as being “a benevolent,” or even “malevolent dictatorship.” It might open up the state government, which would be an uncomfortable position for state department heads to be in who relish the secrecy that exists today. And it might change the way some things are done in this state to be more reform-minded, which if enacted, would impact special interests groups and high-paid lobbyists on Smith Hill who dominate state politics behind-the-scenes now.
But there is also an opposition concerned about the unknown, who would rather prefer the devil they know than the devil they don’t know. What wormholes could open if ConCon becomes a reality and not just a hypothetical? Whether they are women in this state, or minorities that have heard about 1986, I tell them not to be worried about the unknown too much.
There is a reason such issues are not being discussed, because we know where Rhode Islanders stand on so many of them. Abortion? An abortion ban proposal failed by a two-thirds vote in 1986. Even in that type of political environment, Rhode Island voters did not want to restrict abortion access for those who needed it in worst case scenarios. Rhode Islanders want some common sense gun safety measures, like red flag laws. Rhode Islanders support same-sex marriage laws, which were passed by both Democrats & Republicans 11 years ago in 2013.
Nationally, states like Ohio, which it did in 2023, are protecting abortion access. Missouri legalized marijuana and repealed right-to-work in 2018. Oklahoma expanded Medicaid access on the ballot. All of which is to say there is no reason for anyone in Rhode Island to fear ideological consensus in our state is going to be overturned by any dark money groups. In fact, it’s almost fair to say no amount of money can overturn the will of the public in this state on those kinds of policy issues.
These are issues not being discussed, and frankly never were from the beginning. ConCon is about how our state government works today. And people across the aisle, from 2014 progressive favorite for Speaker of the House Mike Marcello, RI civil rights icon Ray Rickman, well-respected East Side State Senator Sam Zurier, & Independent voice Vincent Marzullo, to former GOP Attorney General Arlene Violet, former RNC Committeeman Steve Frias, former Operation Clean Government head John Carlevale, & RI Historian Laureate Patrick Conley, are supporting ConCon because they know Rhode Island can do better for its people than what we have now in today’s government.
Sure, it is possible shoreline access is a question that comes up in a ConCon. So is the question over education as a right in Rhode Island’s Constitution. But these are only some of the good government proposals at hand. Below are some of the top priorities:
Almost all people will say our public records laws are broken, dysfunctional, and not up to the current times. I applaud AG Neronha for doing his best to enforce them when so few are willing to act. It is abundantly clear that when secrecy is present, corruption and distrust will thrive.
Look at the state’s pension system. No one has confidence in what the health of the pension system is or what it can truly offer to workers & retirees because all of the investment portfolio records are kept secret & confidential at the discretion of the State Treasurer’s office and the ERSRI since current US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo enacted the 2011 system overhaul & pension cuts. These offices allowed those dealing in the state pension system to not have to disclose the fees we taxpayers owe to those high-risk and very expensive hedge funds, private equity firms, and venture capital companies, which actually have performed worse than expected for years in our system. We don’t even know the extent of the decade-plus contract to Raimondo’s own Point Judith Capital enterprise, how they performed, which is reportedly not very good, and where and whom the pension money went to. Just one case for public records law modernization, and to be a leader for states facing similar challenges in pension system transparency, from Minnesota & Ohio, to Kentucky, & even California (as recommended blog page Pension Warriors covers immensely).
Here’s another one: Providence Public Schools. Like many state government agencies today, the state-controlled Providence Public Schools plays games over public records access, whether it is mostly redacting documents released, releasing documents that were otherwise already attainable, or even charging advocates and press outlets to get the documents they want. The state Department of Education and state-controlled Providence Schools under Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green is run more like a secret racketeering operation than it is a legitimate, public education jurisdiction. Absolute mockery to how things really should be.
It’s also time to have an Inspector General. Look at the Washington Bridge fiasco, where we don’t even have a contract in place to rebuild the bridge long term. $500 million flushed down the toilet, with more costs to come. Potential negligence and incompetence that was ignored not just by the private contractors, but by state Department of Transportation officials and its Director of 9+ years, Peter Alviti. Warning signs were pushed aside by NDAs enforced as early as 2016 at the behest of Raimondo & Alviti. If we want to prevent more Washington Bridges or events of that scope that require extensive federal help, we need an Inspector General’s office now.
We also need voters to have a say on similar large-scale economic projects like “PawSoccer,” and 38 Studios, instead of it being decided by a handful of individuals behind closed doors (for the local press, keep an eye on a pending release of new 38 Studios documents, in the hundreds of pages, not seen ever before up to this point).
We need real campaign finance reform in this state, instead of loosening the rules for high-paid lobbyists and other special interests as we just did in the past legislative sessions. It is one important reason as to why 2024 is seeing a record of General Assembly incumbents run for office unopposed in their primary or general elections.
We need to strengthen the Ethics Commission for plainly obvious reasons, just as we can consider citizens’ ballot initiatives as other states have done.
We also need fair redistricting where Republicans are about 40% of the state’s electorate, but only about 12% of the General Assembly body as a whole. And that isn’t even the whole story from redistricting cycles against more progressive reformers, as was the case in 2012. If people in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and even Alabama & Louisiana can fight for it, so can we Rhode Islanders.
Those are the stakes of having a Constitutional Convention. Although these reforms are not guaranteed with a Yes vote this November because ConCon needs to put such initiatives on the ballot in 2026 again for voters statewide to approve or oppose, it is at least worth having the discussion. It is clear that we need to have a discussion, instead of shutting the process down entirely.
It is true that a lot can come from such a broad process. Uncertainty is a fair worry many voters have. But here’s a question every voter must have in mind for Question 1 this November. Do you think the status quo is any better for you today? Do you think the status quo we have now is doing you or your family or your community any service in recent memory? Do you think the people of this state, the voters, are being given a fair shake to lobbyists like payday lending reform killer Bill Murphy, or political allies to people such as Commerce Secretary Raimondo, or the most powerful officeholders leading our state today? Maybe the Raimondo team thinks so, but I sure don’t, and I’m a lifelong Democrat with real Democratic values saying that.
And since the last ConCon, I don’t think we have moved on from the Rogue’s Island reputation that has plagued us from the 1990s banking crisis, to Plunder Dome, to the Senate President Irons scandal, the Great Recession performance, the 38 Studios backroom deal fiasco, the 2014 FBI raids, the 2016 GA resignations, the UHIP disaster, the DCYF catastrophe years & decades in the making, the loss of the PawSox to Worcester, the disgraced House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (who made his own rebellion possible), the Eleanor Slater Hospital debacle, or the Washington Bridge. Not to mention the consistently poor business rankings and common sense of RI’s dismal economic track record period. I don’t think the status quo is serving us best based on that kind of resume.
And that is why as a Democrat, but also as a Rhode Islander and as an American, that I implore voters in my home state to vote Yes on Question 1 to hold a Constitutional Convention next year.
On that note, have a Happy Labor Day weekend!