hard deadlines

The Portsmouth Town Council this evening tabled a request from skateboard area opponents to abandon plans for the Island Park playground. By a 4-3 vote, with Dennis Canario, Huck Little, and Karen Gleason in the minority, the Council moved to table any action pending the return of all donations to the Town for safekeeping.

"We took an action," said Jim Seveney, referring to the original approval last February. "Money was collected. The priority at this juncture is for the town to understand the status. The donors, I'm sure, are wondering what happened to it."

The Council seemed unmoved by Brian Whittier's argument that Portsmouth's zoning regulations would be violated by siting a skating area in the playground. "According to zoning laws, playgrounds are special uses," said Whittier, who enumerated the guidelines such use must meet: not detrimental, compatible, not a nuisance or hazard. "These are all issues that are going on," said Whittier.

Perhaps I read Article III section D (4) of Portsmouth's Zoning Regulations wrong (which is always possible; IANAL) but here's what it says:

"Notwithstanding any other provisions of this ordinance to the contrary, any structures, buildings and land owned, leased or used by the Town of Portsmouth may be erected, enlarged, or used by the Town of Portsmouth in the performance of its governmental functions, in any district, and said structures, buildings or lands so erected, enlarged, or used shall be exempt from the provisions of this ordinance."
— Full Zoning Ordinance

After the vote, the Council took a 5-minute recess, and opponents of the skate area approached the dais to continue arguing their case with the Council. When a reporter tried to take a picture, he was told, "We don't need blog stuff here," and "Go sit down with your friends."

I've been scrupulous in not quoting things said outside public meetings. These were people talking to the Council, in chambers, during a recess. I've been covering Portsmouth politics for more than three years, and I've never had anyone speak to me like that during a session. I'll let you judge how this goes to credibility.

Following the recess, there was an interesting discussion sparked by Larry Fitzmorris of the Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC). He asserted that the modification of an agenda item he had requested back in January was a violation of the Charter. His original agenda item, he said, had explicitly asked the Council to end consideration of sewers, but the amended item said only "Address Council Re: wastewater management district."

This change, said Fitzmorris, "Essentially defeats my right to address the Council," since, he said, it is within the Council President's role to limit discussion to the agenda item. And, as someone who's sat through a few of these meetings, I can tell you the way an agenda item is cast is particularly important when it comes to what the Council may *vote* on, since according to RI Open Meetings Law, the subject must be properly advertised.

Town Solicitor Andre D'Andrea argued that it should be within the purview of the Council to determine appropriateness and wordsmith the actual items. The public, even in the Charter and the procedures enacted later, "is limited to the right to ask," said D'Andrea. "In what form [it is placed on the agenda] is within the sound discretion of the President and the Clerk." While he seemed to admit that in this case, he might have phrased the item better when rewriting it, he continued to maintain the right of modification. "The right to petition government is not the same as the right to publicity."

Former Town Councilor Len Katzman, who had drafted the procedure in 2006, spoke in support of Mr. Fitzmorris's position, and noted that his original proposal had been "That the Town Clerk may not refuse the request without consulting with the Town Administrator, Town Solicitor, and President. It shouldn't be one person's solitary discretion." He urged the Council to revisit the rule and spell out what the procedure was for denying a request. "It should be hard," said Katzman, "But it should be written down."

In other business, Tailgunner Gleason moved that the Council should release the Woodard & Curran wastewater report — which had already been released last month.

When another council member questioned the form of her motion, she said, "You're making a mountain out of a molehill." There was general laughter.

RI Secretary of State Ralph Mollis this morning released the 2010 Election Calendar (pdf), which provides the key dates and deadlines for voters and candidates.

“I had the privilege of overseeing Rhode Island’s record-breaking elections in 2008," Mollis said in a statement. "More Rhode Islanders registered to vote and more turned out at the polls than at any other time in state history. I hope this year will be just as historic.”

I think Mollis is right — this is shaping up to be another historic year. We're going to see some competitive state races, with the new Moderate Party as a wildcard, and very likely some interesting slates locally. So don't miss out. Check the calendar.

Resources:
Info for voters
Info for candidates
Rules and Regulations
Voter Information Center

Science fiction author William Tenn (real name Philip Klass) died today at the age of 89, according to a note posted on his Web page. While not widely known outside the field, within sf he was highly respected for his dark, penetrating satire, much of it written in the Golden Age of 1940-60. In 1999, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) named him an Author Emeritus.

I have always liked Tenn's stories — my curiosity was first hooked by "Down Among the Dead Men," a grim little tale about reanimated corpses used as soldiers in a space war. I was very much looking forward to seeing him at the 2004 Worldcon in Boston, but that was the weekend my mother passed away.

Scott Edelman has a remembrance and link to a radio interview on WNYC. Tangent Online has an interview. Blogger Matthew Cheney has a nice piece on Tenn's fiction.

You can read about Tenn on Wikipedia. Tenn's collected fiction and nonfiction has been reprinted by the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) Press. Here's a link to Amazon.

My thoughts are with his family and friends.

The agenda for Monday night's Portsmouth Town Council meeting features an old business item asking the Council for a decision on the skate area in Island Park -- please be there, or if you can't make it, let the Council know how you feel.

Old business item three, requested by "B. Whittier" is "Request for a Decision on the Placement of a Skate Park in Island Park/Formation of a Portsmouth Skate Park Committee." Looks like the the Council is going to be forced to take a position. Here's what I hope they will consider.

At the community meeting requested by the Council last week, there was no agreement to be found. Despite the best efforts of several elected officials, the same stalemate prevailed: opponents of the skate park refused to budge.

I have struggled with reporting on last week's meeting. It was not, in a very real sense, an official public meeting, and so reporting on the intemperate characterizations and angry rhetoric would serve no purpose. They are my neighbors, and although they said things which I consider to be hurtful and misinformed, the expectation of public dissemination implied by an "open meeting" does not attach.

What I think the community *should* know is that there was no compromise. All the concessions have come from the supporters of the skating area. In the course of several negotiating sessions, we abandoned the original design, changed the location within the park, and scaled the footprint way back.

The kids of Island Park have already created a makeshift skate area on the basketball court in the playground with home-built rails and ramps. The proposal on the table is to move them onto a same-sized area with safer equipment. The skate area will be subject to a probationary period for evaluation, and the equipment can be removed if there are issues.

The essence of compromise is that *both* sides are expected to be a little unhappy. I would expect that the Council, in seeking a fair resolution to this issue, ensure that both sides give a little. I hope you'll consider attending the meeting Monday to help the Council make their decision.

Can't be there? You can reach the Town Council at these e-mail addresses (hlittle@portsmouthri.com, dcanario@portsmouthri.com, kgleason@portsmouthri.com, khamilton@portsmouthri.com, jplumb@portsmouthri.com, jseveney@portsmouthri.com) and their phone numbers available on the Portsmouth Web site.

If you're on Facebook, check out the "Support the IP Skate Park" group.

Full disclosure: I am a member of the leadership team of the IPRA and (pretty obviously) a supporter of the skate park.

Click to embiggen. Image from RIDOT.

The whiners in the Hummocks will have a little less to complain about after the bars close on Park Avenue: RIDOT announced today that they have closed the on-ramp to 24 for Sakonnet River Bridge construction for the next six months.

“We apologize to the residents of Island Park and Common Fence Point for this inconvenience and for this late notice," RIDOT Director Michael Lewis said in a press release. "We are committed to providing advance notice of construction for the Sakonnet River Bridge project.”

Huh?

Okay, wev. Read the press release yourself.

Rhode Island House majority leader Gordon Fox has submitted legislation that would restore the state Ethics Commission's ability to investigate members of the general assembly for possible violations in votes and actions.

The bill would carve out an exclusion to the state constitution's protection for legislators, whose speech on the floor is generally protected. A Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling last June interpreted Article VI Sec. 5 to exempt legislators from the purview of the Ethics Commission, a situation Fox hopes to correct.

“There was never any discussion in 1986 about leaving the General Assembly out of the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction," said Fox in a statement. "This legislation will allow voters to reaffirm that they mean for the Ethics Commission to have the same jurisdiction over members of the legislature that they have over all other public officials, and I’m confident that they’ll approve it and set the record straight.”

The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, and as a change to the state constitution, would need to be approved by voters.

The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Chris Fierro (D-51), Joy Hearn (D-66), Michael Marcello (D-4), Donna Walsh (D-36) and Douglas Gablinske (D-68) and others.

Editorial note: Written from GA press release.

Rhode Island student test scores on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) were announced yesterday, and Portsmouth's schools continue to perform above the state average, posting modest year-on-year gains. According to the RI Dept. of Education (RIDE), in Portsmouth, 84% of students were at or above proficient in reading and 75% in math, compared to state averages of 70% and 54% respectively. Yearly gains were incremental, with an average 1.3% increase for reading and 2.7% in math.

Okay, that was the good news first.

Drilling down at the elementary level, both Hathaway and Melville elementary schools posted 5% increases in reading proficiency, while Elmhurst showed a slight decline. In math, Melville showed a 6.2% increase, with Hathaway following at 1% and Elmhurst at 0.4%. In terms of total percent proficient, Elmhurst and Melville were tied, with 86% in reading and 85% in math. Hathaway lagged, with 79% and 73%. While all these numbers are comparable to neighboring districts (Middletown, Newport, and Tiverton), the gap among the Portsmouth schools is noticeable.

At the middle school, reading proficiency increased slightly (1.4%) while math declined by an equal percentage. Both fall below the state cutoff for significance of 3%. The absolute numbers for proficiency, at 83% for reading and 78% for math are above neighboring districts, but ten points below state-leading Barrington.

Portsmouth High saw a minor dip in reading (1.9%) but a big jump in writing (10%) and a whopping 14.7% increase in math proficiency. The absolute reading number, at 88%, is strong relative to our neighbors. But given the relatively lower level of proficiency measured in math — just 58% — it's especially encouraging to see the needle moving here. Yes, we have higher percentage proficient than our neighbors — and even Barrington only posted 66% proficient in math — but this is still low.

High school graduation rates, also included in the report, showed that Portsmouth continues to perform ten points above the state average, at 84%. It should be noted that this measure only includes those students who complete in 4 years. And while this is a higher percentage of graduates than neighboring communities, even discounting those who take an extra summer to finish, that's still a lot of kids.

My takeaways: Portsmouth's emphasis on reading is clearly working. I would say, "keep up the good work" to literacy coordinator Denise Dvorak and the whole staff of literacy coaches, as well all the teachers and staff who have clearly pitched in gained traction with their approach and demonstrated measurable gains. Job well done.

And the increases in math are encouraging, especially at the high school, which was highlighted in RIDE Commissioner Deborah Gist's press release for their double-digit gain.

But clearly, math is an area where continued focus is needed. As the parent of a Hathaway student, I'm very troubled that proficiency at the school lags both Elmhurst and Melville by ten points. And while the increase at the high school is to be celebrated, the absolute proficiency level there is just 58%. Are we making progress? Yes. But there's just no way to describe that as a positive number.

And of course, I know that these are standardized tests, so I'm not making too much of this. With sample sizes this small, variations from class to class can impact these numbers disproportionately, which is why I think it's only useful to note large divergences. Measures like this are just one indicator — and most certainly not a holistic one — of how well the district is performing.

Update: Newport Now has a story on the other districts on Aquidneck Island.

Resources:
NECAP report (pdf)
RIDE Assessment Office page with test scores