RI Municipal Pension Committee OpEd on public comment 4/23/2012

I Tweeted both of these clips.  First, Bob Cushman's public comment time providing handouts for anyone wanting one.  He verbally highlighted the independent fiscal report analysis in order to compare against Warwick's public accounting budget projections.  The Pension Committee all the tools to insure that all checks and balances meet our best interests now, and into the future.  Cushman and others are not raising new questions.  They have been clear about their concerns for nearly a decade.  Mr. Cushman's report suggests that [accounting] recipes used with "cooked books" taste very bad to the citizens who are continually told to EAT IT.

Cushman was followed by a 'soft shoe' act defend/deflect tactic performed by Council 94 President J. Michael Downey.  Mr. Downey knows who Bob Cushman is, but feigned pretense of saying "Cashman?  Cushman?"  Downey admits he didn't even take the handout or read the report Mr. Cushman just used.  The uncut video shows attack mode clearly.   Warwick citizen Roger Durand rebutted Downey's comments in order to remind the committee to focus on the analysis differences.  Mr. Durand underscored the areas of concern that demand fair review.

Favors and Cronyism instead of do-able #TaxRelief has to be stopped.  Our leaders and those they negotiate with must do fiscal diligence for the times we live in today.   Deals are struck behind closed doors to keep the past players mollified.  Their $$DD keeps devaluating your properties while raising taxes annually that drive people from their homes, businesses and our city.  Anyone trying to provide transparency is attacked and neutralized.  The citizens can't afford status quo deals.  Taxation without Representation led Pre-Revolutionary Warwick citizens to sinking the HMS Gaspee long before Boston threw tea off of The Beaver and The Dartmouth.  We need to use that same spirit (with modern laws respected!) to make changes occur today.

Thank you, Bob Cushman for your public comments.  Thank you, Mr. Durand for the rebuttal for fiscal integrity.  Thank Pension Committee for your hard work.  Thanks to Mayor's Fung and Tavares for showing it can be done!  Warwick needs the Cranston #Fung'shWay template to remove the hoarded clutter where all the buried garbage is hiding the ability to revitalize Warwick's design flow.