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Wetlands? Not for long
The CRMCscrews the pooch in Bonnet Shores

A marvelous — if upsetting — story by the BeloJo’s Peter Lord (a longtime buddy of P&J’s and a prize-winning environmental reporter) in the July 24 edition of the Sunday Urinal, about the Coastal Resources Management Council reverting to its old way of approving an irresponsible, highly dubious development.

One would hope that with egregious appointees (no, not you, heroic Senator Sue Sosnowski) off the council, thanks to separation of powers, the CRMC might make some better decisions. Apparently, we figured wrong.

Important note of explanation: The members of the council, who vote on permitting, are political appointees, and they have sometimes included hacks who know only too well the meaning of the words quid pro quo. The staff, which makes recommendations to the council on applications, consists of engineers, biologists, and other professionals who P&J admire and respect. We have worked with many of them for years through our various endeavors, and they are the cream of the crop.

Well, needless to say, reminiscent of the good old days when the CRMC attempted to railroad some rotten developments, the council has once again overridden the staff’s recommendation. This time, the council refused to halt a house being built at Bonnet Shores on property that is 97 percent wetlands. Without getting into scientific details, this four-to-three vote in favor of the project — with the four votes coming from two lawyers and two developers (surprise, surprise, Gomer) — is a hummer beyond belief. It even led CRMC member Paul Lemont, former East Prov town manager and not the world’s biggest environmental advocate, to call the vote "an egregious abuse of everything I stand for in the CRMC."

And now let the other shoe fall: the lawyer for the property owner, Investco Corp., is none other than one of P&J’s favorite people, former House Speaker Joe "the Prince of Darkness" DeAngelis. Yes, boys and girls, the Prince is back! But wait, it gets even better. The developer, Thomas Santilli, is a brother of the Narragansett building inspector, Ant-knee Santilli. (Words of wisdom from Thomas Santilli: "You always have people who are tree huggers who don’t want you to build on your property." Great, Tommy.) The chair of CRMC, Michael Tikoian, recused himself because DeAngelis’s law practice is a client of his accounting firm. Another member of the council, noted developer Joe Paolino Sr., also recused himself for unspecified reasons.

While Investco’s environmental consultant, Scott Rabideau, a former state legislator (all roads lead through Smith Hill), testified that the proposed house would have no environmental impact — something that should greatly enhance his standing with flat Earth proponents, Save the Bay and the Conservation Law Foundation plan to fight the decision. Besides a tip of the beret and sombrero to both organizations, and to the CRMC staff for exposing this charade, let’s also include the council members who voted against this preposterous proposal: Lemont, Bob Ballou, chief of staff of the state Department of Environmental Management, and David Abedon, an associate professor at URI.

Voting for the proposal were Thomas Ricci, a Providence lawyer; Raymond Coia, a lawyer from Lincoln; Jerry Sahagian, a Narragansett developer, and Gerald P. Zarrella, a developer with homes in East Greenwich and Block Island.

POLKAS IN HEAVEN

The death this week of Myron Floren has set flags at half-mast at Casa D. As we’re sure you all know (right!), Myron was the featured accordionist on the Lawrence Welk Show for ages. P&J were longtime fans of Myron and Larry, in an era when the Welk show was virtually required viewing. Floren was among Lawrence’s pantheon, along with the Lennon Sisters and Larry Hooper, and could kick out a polka with the best of them.

And a-one, and a-two . . . thanks for the memories, Myron.

WHAT IF IT WAS THE BUD-I?

Watching David "Little Chi Chi" Cicilline on Jack White’s Newsmakers program on Channel 12 last weekend, your superior correspondents were reminded once again of the Providence mayor’s biggest contribution to the city and how important it really is. This is the newfound "transparency" of most municipal operations in Our Little Towne. As the mayor frequently points out himself, it is a sea change.

Sure, there are a plethora of problems facing the city, problems that sometimes seem intractable: a lack of affordable housing, seriously challenged schools, a dearth of taxable property, a sizable population of lower income families with special needs, and so on. But the mayor believes that honest government can attract the type of business and economic activity that the city can build on in the long run. We think that he is right about this and applaud his efforts.

That, in most instances, the BeloJo strongly supports the mayor is a plus for the city, but one can’t help suspecting that the Other Paper’s prime attraction to Cicilline is how he is not that "other mayor," the one they feared and loathed.

P&J played a little game at Casa Diablo the other day called "What if it were the Bud-I?" The inspiration was a story on the front of the Rhode Island section of Monday’s paper ("Man faces federal narcotics charge") about a former Providence nightclub manager who was arrested and charged in New York City. According to the story, suspect Richard D. Delgiudice of Johnston boasted to the Providence police during a previous arrest that he had once been Mayor Cicilline’s "driver." He also reportedly said, "Cicilline is my boy," and that the arresting officers would all be fired because Delgiudice was such an influential big shot.

Needless to say, the claims of having such juice were bullshit, but in looking into the story, veteran reporter Bill Malinowski found that Delgiudice had made contributions to the mayor ($250 in 20002, $1000 in 2003) and that his wife had hosted a fundraiser for Cicilline in November 2002. These colorful details were presented near the end of the story. This was appropriate, and we have little doubt that a subsequent statement by Delgiudice in relation to the mayor — "I have no relationship with him whatsoever" — is indeed accurate.

We do wonder how the powers that be at the Urinal would have handled Malinowski’s story if the mayor in question had been the Bud-I rather than Little Chi Chi. We suspect that the financial contributions element would have been featured right up front, and the possibility of a connection between a mayor and an alleged criminal would have been reflected in the headline as well. Our little speculative game has nothing to do with mayors, just one newspaper.

DON’T STEAL FROM OLD FARTS

It was with dismay that P&J awoke Saturday morning to find the door of our gold Bentley limo wide open and items missing from the car. It seems we had been broken into overnight.

Upon inspection, we noted the loss of an entire case of CDs, miniature binoculars we use for stargazing and looking into people’s windows as they undress, Newport Bridge tokens, and a case of Dom Perignon. (OK, we’re lying about being Peeping Toms and having a case of Dom P., but it makes for a better story.) Later that day, our next-door neighbor called to inform us that she had found the case of CDs, with all discs intact, ditched in her yard, along with the binoculars. This was evidently a case of the burglars being shortsighted in all senses of the word. But it did reveal how the perps must have indeed been ignorant ’utes (as our cousin Vinny would say), since the appeal of the Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball, and Howlin’ Wolf were clearly lost on the younger generation. Thank God, we didn’t have any Eminem or Fall Out Boy in the batch.

Send starting pitching and Pulitzer-grade tips to p&j[a]phx.com.

The Phillipe & Jorge archives.
Issue Date: July 29 - August 4, 2005
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