Public Administration Commons^™

For Providence, Another Era Of Greatness?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Providence has come a long way from just 20 years ago when a visitor coming into the city by rail would find sprayed across the walls of the nearly empty Union Station such epithets as 'Providence is the pits' and 'Welcome to dead city.' And it was. I know because I lived there."

Retaining And Revitalizing Teachers, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Bankers do it; corporate members do it; even non-refundable profits do it, so why in the world can't teachers do it? What I'm talking about is the opportunity to get away from the job for a short period to have some free time, to contemplate, to talk with your colleagues, be pampered and to learn. This so-called retreat provides the opportunity to relax and reflect on your life and your work, to refresh yourself and to be recognized for the important work that you do. This is what they do for teachers in North Carolina, the only state to have …

Census Bureau Seeks Partners In Business, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"By now you should have seen the advertisements for the U.S. Census Bureau to apprise us of the forthcoming census on April 1, 2000. And there will be plenty more since the Bureau has budgeted $167 million on this push for public awareness, something it has never perviously paid to do."

Providence's Unending Quest For Cash, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The mayor of Providence has a big problem. How can he balance a budget that addresses the needs of an increasingly large number of people, yet deal with a declining tax base that is less able to pay for theses extra services?"

Why Not 'Soak' The Visitors?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci has a financial problem, which is not uncommon these days for just about any mayor. Center cities are faced with a host of problems that require sizable expenditures to address. And with the downturn in an economy making a feeble effort to recover, available resources are in scarce supply."

What's In Store For Social Security?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Health-care costs are commanding considerable attention these days. From Washing, D.C., to Providence and state capitals across the nation, the burning questions are, "How much?" and "Who pays?""

The Fortune Cookie Was Right, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It was a typical night in Room 203 at the Rhode Island State House in March. The Land Use Commission meeting was set up for 6 p.m. but the House of Representatives was still in session, so commission members from the House would be delayed. At 6?L:30, the meeting got under way."

Cooperating For Economic Development, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"This small state has an advantage over larger states because its size allows it to share ideas more easily. With only 39 cities and towns, and no county governments, it is possible to have a meeting in Providence, attended by representatives of these communities within less than a one-hour drive."

Keeping The Pols Honest With Regionalization, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The New England Governor's Conference will hold a meeting in Hartford on December 6 to address regional economic issues that are common to the six states located in the northeast corner of the country. During that same week, the towns of Warren and Bristol in Rhode Island will hold public sentiment for the sharing of schools in the two towns. As disparate as these two meetings appear to be, there is a commonality of purpose that marks both: regionalism."

The Benefits Of Regionalization, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Bristol County is unusual among Rhode Island's five counties. Not only is it contiguous with a county of the same name in an adjoining state, but it also consists of only three towns--Barrington, Warren and Bristol--and is one of the smallest of the 3,141 counties in this country."

A Note To Candidates: Look At Housing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The 1980s will be remembered as the time of the federal government's decimation of housing policies and programs that previous administrations had sought so diligently to design and implement. Candidates for federal and state offices need to be aware of current housing problems and possible measures that will improve housing in the state. The following are major concerns and suggested action proposals to help alleviate the housing plight of state residents.

Respected Charlotte Needs No Touting, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"In 1761 when Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz became the wife of George III, during whose reign the American Revolution took place, little could she imagine how important the city that honored her name would become in the United States of today. Mecklenburg County is the center of a metropolitan area that now embraces one million residents."

Cape Cod's Drive To Curb Overdevelopment, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

The mid 1980s in Rhode Island will be long remembered as a time of intensive real estate development, explosive house process and manmade growth sprawling over the countryside. These phenomena also generated a reaction in the form of environmental concerns, the NIMBY syndrome, affordable housing issues and the passage of the 1988 Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Regulation Act.

If Europe Can Team Up, Bristol County Can, Too, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"To regionalize or not? That may be the question facing Rhode Island's Bristol County.

It is the smallest of the five counties in the state, with its 24.9 square miles equalling only 6 percent of Providence County, the state's largest at 437 square miles. The three small towns of Barrington, Warren and Bristol that comprise this East Bay peninsula are usually given just a fleeting glance by visitors as they head south for Newport.

Right now, the three towns are faced with a decision regarding the recycling of waste, which is to take place by September. The state Solid Waste …

Financing Difficulties Stall Linkage In Providence, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"When the India Point Club luxury condominium development, scheduled to be built on the Providence waterfront, was announced in 1987, there were many local skeptics who said it was too expensive for the Providence market. After all, selling penthouse condos overlooking the dirty Providence River for over $1 million was quite ambitious--and some said impossible."

Wanted: Live-In Teachers, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland all have it--a residency requirement--and so does Providence. Having to live in the city for which you work has been deemed to be an important measure in helping to bring people back into the city, and that was the reason it was included in the 1980 Home Rule Charter."

Eight Communities Meet To Find And Foot Housing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"When resources are provided to local cities and towns to address housing problems, the results can be both innovative and productive. This was aptly demonstrated at a recent workshop on affordable housing.

The 150 attendees who went to Newport, one of the eight cities and towns that received grants to study the problem, were there to share recommendations on how to best address the Providence metropolitan area's lack of affordable housing."

The Cities And Towns Look Ahead, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"What do you want your community to be? Over the next two and one-half years all communities in the state will be required to address this question, and to come up with a formal statement of what these goals and objectives are to be. And it's about time."

How To Keep Teachers In R.I., Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Should Providence city employees be forced to live in the city? The Home Rule Charter, adopted five years ago, requires them to do so. The executive secretary of the Providence Teachers' Union states that this requirement should not apply to teachers. But, is dropping the residency requirement the answer to the problem of finding adequate numbers of substitute and full-time teachers?"

Residency And The Charter, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"When Providence voters approved a home rule charter in 1980, they took a major step forward in choosing their own destiny, rather than relying on the General Assembly to approve many of their actions. To implement the resulting changes, the date for full compliance of the charter was set at 1983. And since that time, newly hired city workers are required to live in Providence."

Taking Steps To Solve The Country's Housing Woes, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The problems of housing in today's America force us to look back almost a quarter of a century in time to the Great Society era, for it was during this period that some of the most progressive and far-reaching housing legislation in this nation was enacted."

Cluster Battle Is Over, But The War Rages On, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The Chinese have a saying: 'Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.' For Americans, the same could be said for zoning in the seemingly never-ending war between residents and developers over land development."

Helping Communities Determine Development, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The word uppermost in the minds of many communities these days is 'development,' a process that manifests itself on the land in the form of the built environment. Alarmed at the speed with which land is being used--and often abused--communities are being faced with touch decisions on how to cope with development, either by directing it, managing it or even stopping it."

Some Back-Yard Arguments Are Best Left At Home, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Governing authorities must contend and work with many special-interest groups in order to plan the growth and development of their communities. Whether these groups are concerned with better schools, garbage pickup, no growth, economic development or the environment, the issues may require action, and often the only way to get the attention of the local council is to band together and confront authorities with the issue."

Losing Downtown Mall By Default, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Firmly cemented in the ground at the meeting of Westminster and Union Streets in downtown Providence is a plaque with the following inscription: Westminster Center dedicated by Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. 1980."

Enterprise Zones: Key To Renewal?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"'We must free enterprise to save America' via an 'experimental effort to improve and develop our depressed urban areas' President Ronald Reagan said in his State of the Union address."

The Stimulus Of City Success Stories, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"When George Voinovich, mayor of this city, spoke to the 300 persons gathered from all parts of this country to discuss successes in cities, he had the undivided attention of the audience. After all, this was the man who brought the city back from the brink of bankruptcy and has now given it clear direction and a solid financial base."

Potential Of A Failing Neighborhood, Chester Smolskirevitalize Olneyville Plan By State Colleges.

Smolski Texts

"Developing neighborhood pride is one of the keys to a healthy neighborhood and a healthy city. In a city that is losing population and jobs, that is faced with increasing numbers of abandoned houses and vacant lots, that has the highest equalized tax rate (tax rate and assessment rate combined) in the state, and that has unique needs because of the large numbers of elderly, minority and poor residents, maintaining strong neighborhoods is a difficult task. Yet, though the task may be difficult, there is hope and there is potential for declining neighborhoods to revitalize themselves. This was the message …

Missed Opportunity In S. Kingston, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"They were well dressed, although informally. They came with their spouses. They were articulate, educated, and generally did not raise their voices. They looked like solid middle-class Americans--homemakers, civic-minded, and concerned citizens, so it was difficult to understand their reaction to the proposed housing development."

Providence Needs An Effective 'Land Bank' Policy, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Recent disclosures on the purchase of vacant lots in Providence by certain city officals have raised two serious questions, only one of which has been addressed."