Photo shows committee members in session at the East Greenwich Public Library June 6. Bob Arruda and Harry Staley as seen at the far end of the table. Proceeding counter-clockwise: Jim Beale; Antone Viveiros; Roy Pruett; Joe Shansky; Sandra Thompson; Larry Fitzmorris; Jerry Cook; Sheila Silva; Bev Clay and Rod Driver.

The new “Voter Initiative Alliance” launched under the leadership of Operation Clean Government and the Rhode Island Shoreline Coalition is gathering momentum. Weekly meetings of the organizing committee have produced a logo (shown below) and a growing list of participating organizations. A business plan is being drawn up and members are learning how to persuade busy people to sign petitions while attending public events. (Such as the Gaspee Day Parade in story below).

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At a hearing Monday, June 6, the Senate Committee on Government Oversight, chaired by Senator J. Michael Lenihan, passed 7 Senate Bills and 7 House Bills (amended to be identical to the senate bills) to implement Separation of Powers for 35 Boards and Commissions. There was a tremendous amount of work on each of these lengthy bills as the committee reached a consensus on the language with House Leaders and also included language suggested by Governor Don Carcieri that, rather than his having to appoint from lists submitted to him that he would “give due consideration to suggestions” from various entities. The bills have since passed the full Senate. Congratulations to Senator Lenihan, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Paiva Weed and committee members for their long hours of work on these bills.

There are about 45 more Boards and Commissions that still need legislation passed to implement SOP, but the groundwork has now been laid for the implementing language and approach for doing the job. [return]

At the same hearing described above, the Senate Committee on Government Oversight unanimously passed OCG’s S-0046 on Ethics Commission appointments, introduced by Senator Teresa Paiva Weed. The full Senate then passed this bill on June 9.

This bill requires advice and consent of the Senate for Commission Member appointments and requires that appointees do not have ties with business associates that lobby at the State House. It also has deadlines for appointments to be made, and if not met, the appointment privilege passes to another government official. Today, there are still two appointments that have not been made; one by House Speaker William Murphy for a term that expired in 2002 and the other by House Majority Leader Gordon Fox for a term that expired in 2003. This would not be allowed with passage of S-0046.

This bill passed the Senate last year, but never got a hearing in the House. Hopefully this year the House will conduct hearings. The House Judiciary Committee held one hearing on the companion bill H-5626, introduced by Representative Victor Moffitt. No vote was taken. [return]

Rod (at left) gets signatures on a petition for Voter Initiative from three Shriners at the Gaspee Day Parade June 11.

When Operation Clean Government goes into ‘action’ – that is, does something, -- that’s where you find Rod Driver. He might be testifying at the State House, writing an op/ed or sitting on a panel representing voters’ interests. The above photo shows Rod (at left) getting signatures on a petition for Voter Initiative from three Shriners at the Gaspee Day Parade June 11. (He signed up Nat Beckett, Norm Ouellete and George Morgan with one short speech.)

Rod came to Rhode Island in 1969 from Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque to teach mathematics at the University of Rhode Island (until 1998). He was elected a delegate to the R.I. Constitutional Convention of 1986, and then served in the legislature from 1987 to 1994. His skeptical attitude towards the workings of the legislature is based on real experience: he tried to read the bills before voting on them. Rod was one of the very few who tried to stop legislation that caused the credit-union crisis of 1991. He has been working with OCG for about eight years.

Living with his wife Carole in their solar-heated home in Richmond, Rod says they haven't seen an oil bill since 1979. He has aspired to higher office, running several times for Congress in R.I. district 2. When not bulldogging for OCG, Rod grows a variety of plants and fruits that he shares with his many friends in OCG. [return]

Bev Clay picks up signature at Gaspee Day Parade.

Rod, Bev, Bob, Roy, Charlie Nelson, Richard Furtado and Rich LaVallee all came back from the Gaspee Day parade exhilarated at how easy it was to get petitions signed. With just a short preamble. . .people were willing to sign, and many thanked us for doing this work. It was especially easy to travel the streets before the parade started when people had little more to do than to chat with friends.

Bev Clay had these thoughts: People talked of their frustrations with government and their desire to have more say in how their government runs. At least 90 percent of those approached signed the petitions. Many said "thank you for doing this." One lady offered to take a petition to work for signatures.

Rod Driver found almost everyone eager to sign when they learned that 'voter initiative' simply enables citizens to put a question on the ballot by collecting thousands of signatures. Several were amazed and indignant to learn that we don't have this ability in R.I. now.

So, if y’all want to take a shot at asking people for signatures, either for the Bristol parade or any other signature gathering activities this summer, get in touch with Roy Pruett at [email protected] or call Roy at 397-6273. [return]