! CONTROL TAXES !
BRING IN OFF-SHORE INVESTORS - CREATE JOBS
- AND CUT SCHOOL EXECUTIVE COSTS -
THE TAX MAN COMETH - HELP ME DEAL WITH THIS ISSUE
We have elders who must give up their homes because they can't afford the taxes. We have schoolchildren that are denied schoolbooks because there is no money. We even have people living in boats because their houses were taken away. This not the time for more taxes.
We have businesses all over town that cannot pay their taxes. Hundreds of marine-trades jobs are in jeopardy, right here in Warwick. This is our invisible economy - the people by the sea. We must protect our jobs or we are truly doomed. Especially our jobs by the bay.
Mayor Scott Avedisian can't have it both ways. He cannot flip-flop between "helping the little guy" and imposing big taxes on everybody to fund now empty promises he made to motivate people to vote for him.
Some of our City employees live in Warwick, and they are hurting too. They care about our City. They are us. We are all in this boat together. And, it is sinking. We need a bailout too! But that is not going to happen.
We need a new mayor. I would like to be that person. I would love you to vote for me in the Republican Primary on September 14, 2010. What will I do that is different? Represent the people and the businesses in Warwick. Save as many jobs as I can from the tax collector. Give our young people a chance to succeed. Give our elders a chance to live out their lives in the place they built with their own hands.
My background is in creating jobs on Indian reservations, managing pension fund risks, controlling healthcare costs, and federal grant writing. I have set up city, state, and federal programs to hold down healthcare costs. Our City employees plan does not have a Blue Cross employee wellness component. I will fix that. Tort reform will help a lot, too. We need to examine tort reform.
Vote for Richard Langseth for Mayor of Warwick in the September 14, 2010, Republican Primary.
Paid for by Richard Langseth, Republican Candidate for the Mayor of Warwick (LangsethForMayor.com, Richard Langseth, Treasurer)
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CENROC - CREATING JOBS IN WARWICK
The Central Rhode Island Regional Opportunities Center (CENROC) is jobs creation facility that I am currently working on. It provides access to capital to create jobs in Warwick, Rhode Island and the surrounding area. This includes Kent, Washington, and Newport Counties in the State of Rhode Island. The targeted categories include U.S. Health and Human Services research, technology and logistics/manpower support, U.S. Department of Defense logistics and contracting support, U.S. Department of Interior contract logistics support, and marine industries support.
Recognizing the advantage that local Native American groups offer for access to federal procurement, it will team up with the Rhode Island Indian Council, an urban center for Native Americans. The companies being supported by CENROC will include American Indian industries but we will not limit our activities to working with native people. CENROC will be open to all United States citizens.
CENROC's goal is to infuse foreign capital into local companies. They must promise to use the funding to create additional jobs in the area. This brings back some of our lost capital. It supports industries that have a geographic or government procurement requirement (Buy American Act) to do business in the United States. These are stable jobs that will not move overseas.
A Regional Center is defined by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security as an economic unit, public or private, engaged in the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation and increased domestic capital investment.
I will continue to work on this project in the upcoming months recognizing the fact that many of us in Warwick really need jobs now and know that government stimulus jobs are still over the horizon.
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WE ARE GETTING SQUEEZED
While gathering signatures at Meadowbrook and around the neighborhoods I heard from many voters. Over 500 signed my nomination petitions. Nobody likes what is going on in Warwick. Many voters, especially the elderly, are making hard choices. They are paying their taxes but can't afford it.
The Mayor's report to Wall Street shows that our average income has been almost flat for the past ten years. Yet, taxes and city expenses keep going up and up. That's why many of us feel squeezed. We need to apply the brakes now!
I have already won one battle: Competitive Bidding at the Warwick Sewer Authority. The Mayor has been bypassing bidding for large sewer projects for the past two years. That is crazy. At my urging the State DEM now requires that sewer projects go out to bid. The first bid has come in under this program. The bid: $1 million lower than the former no-bid arrangement. That will save Sewer Authority customers on property assessments.
I have already won one battle: Competitive Bidding at the Warwick Sewer Authority. The Mayor has been bypassing bidding for large sewer projects for the past two years. That is crazy. At my urging the State DEM now requires that sewer projects go out to bid. The first bid has come in under this program. The bid: $1 million lower than the former no-bid arrangement. That will save Sewer Authority customers on property assessments.
ARE TAXES AND SEWER ASSESSMENTS TOO HIGH?
THEN, VOTE FOR LANGSETH FOR MAYOR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
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DIVERTED TAXES AND VOLUNTEERISM DURING DISASTERS
I have fought for affordable government here in Warwick for many years. But, our efforts have been overwhelmed by state politics and a bad economy. The General Assembly cast aside simple solutions. Statewide 911 is a good example. Virtually all emergency calls, 700,000 per year, are handled twice. The 911 tax pays for the State center in Scituate. But, we in Warwick, must pay for our local dispatch through property taxes.
This needs to be fixed - considering how much the General Assembly has taken away from our vehicle tax base. We need to make sure that Warwick is getting State revenues designated for our City. Don't send our share to some far off place.
I am not shy about discussing Warwick's problems with our General Assembly. Especially when it comes to revenue diversion. Statewide 911 is an excellent example. Our 911 taxes should pay for emergency dispatch services and not be lost in some general fund somewhere.
As a lobbyist for the Greenwich Bay Watershed Group, I heard Dr. Michael Sullivan, the head of the state Department of Environmental Management, ask the General Assembly to fund an enhanced flood warning system for the Pawtuxet River. He pointed out that state officials knew the day before the flood that the damage would be massive. But, alarms did not go off. Should some of our 911 taxes that disappear into the state coffers to pay for who knows what be used to make sure the flood alarm is sounded next time? I think so.
Our dedicated fire and police stand ready to serve, no matter what. But, they need help and support, especially in the time of crisis. We need a citizen-supported emergency plan to help out during the next hurricane. As volunteers, my father served at the Howard Farm. His fire truck is now being restored by the Jamestown Volunteer Fire Department. I served in my home town and on the Connecticut Forest Fire crew; my son is serving in Iowa. Even thinking about laying off public servants is painful. Yet, it may happen even before I become mayor.
We need a plan to deal with this mess, a plan to keep our public servants on the job. Fill in during emergencies with volunteers to do the paper work. Have you ever read the fire and police union agreements? They make provisions for emergencies like hurricanes.
But the overtime becomes impossible to deal with. Funding overtime to deal with floods and hurricanes creates a fiscal crisis of its own. We need to set up a volunteer program to help out during emergencies. Tying up trained officers to fill out federal forms during emergencies drives our taxes through the roof. And, could lead to layoffs.
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MARINE TRADES JOBS IN WARWICK
As Executive Director of the Greenwich Bay Watershed Group, members of my team -- the late Leah Robinson, the late Steve Insana, and several others -- worked with other neighborhood groups, marina owners, environmental experts to put in place a better Greenwich Bay Special Area Management Plan (SAMP).
The team won a national fisheries award. On the last Tuesday of his life, Steve Insana asked me to run for Mayor to keep our work going to protect our culture and environment. This is what I am doing.
Did you know that the Bay generates jobs? I have studied our tax roles and find that 100s of small businesses in Warwick deal in marine trades and serve and entertain boaters who come from all over. That is why the Special Area Management Plan is vital to our future. It protects vital jobs, right here in Warwick. I am very proud of what we, as volunteers, accomplished to protect our economic base.
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JOBS AND THE WARWICK INTERMODAL
Our kids have moved away. Corey drove off to Omaha in the January blizzards last year. Here Corey and his wife Madi are taking their grueling forest fire certificate tests in Iowa. Next stop? The Peace Corps. We would like them back in Warwick.
Many of us share the vision of having our children living in town, even if they work in Boston. To do this, we need to make the Intermodal work. This train station can take our people, young and old, to good jobs. That way, those of us who need to commute to jobs in Boston can do so. It is a way of creating jobs for our people.
I am pushing for AMTRAK. With AMTRAK we would have a successful economic development zone at Hillsgrove rather than empty mills, plants, and office buildings. AMTRAK brings in the jobs. I will get AMTRAK to Warwick if I have to walk to Washington to do so!
The T.F. Green Airport Area Economic Development Plan, a component of Warwick's Comprehensive Plan, points out that federal funding for high-speed rail projects require airport links. I am investigating this grant stipulation to determine how we in Warwick lost out on our high-speed rail link to the Warwick Intermodal Train Station (The Interlink). This is called "policy wonk" stuff. It's what planners and grantwriters do to "win" previously promissed services.
In the end, I fully expect to be able to report to the people of Warwick that I fought for AMTRAK service to the Intermodal and won! The existing Mayor has done nothing to push for AMTRAK. We need a change.
I pleaded with the State Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation for years on the need for train service from Providence to Warwick - not just commuter rail to Boston. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation finally agreed in early August. Now, we have MBTA train service coming that will drop people off in Warwick in the morning and takes them away in the evening.
Believe it or not, service to Warwick was not in the cards until I pushed for it. This is what the Mayor of Warwick needs to do. Get involved at the state level to get services to our City. Pound the pavement at the State Office Building. That is one reason why we need a new Mayor in Warwick.
Other projects around the city languish while our people pound the pavement, looking for jobs. The Apponaug Company site owned by the DOT needs to be recast into our "Gateway Park." The money for the Apponaug project sits there in the DOT vault doing nothing. Let's take it out to create jobs. Our current Mayor has done nothing to unlock this cash vault. I don't understand why Apponaug looks like a Detroit ghetto!
Vote for me, Richard Langseth, for Mayor of Warwick.
Working together we can bring our City back from the brink of despair.
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