Dee DeQuattro: Pulse on Politics - Snow Business

Dee DeQuattro

Mayor Jorge Elorza is soon going to be known as the Snow Mayor as rumblings about the city’s snow removal continue. Some are complaining about the ticketing for not shoveling, others about the towing, and on the other hand some are complaining that the city is not doing a good enough job with the clean up.

Meanwhile the real question is who is the mayor? Brett Smiley or Jorge Elorza? Smiley has been out in front of the snow shoveling as the Chief Operating Officer of the city. Meanwhile Elorza has been pretty mum.

Guy behind the guy

You've got to hand it to Elorza’s staff. His new press person Evan England, formerly from the Seth Magaziner for Treasurer Campaign has been dealing with press inquiries about snow almost daily and he is good about it. He returns calls. He might not put the mayor on TV or on the radio but he makes sure the city is represented.

Snow job

State Representative Doreen Costa has about had it with the snow and the snow removal. The Republican Rep. operates a coffee shop and deli on Charles Street in Providence and says her business keeps getting plowed in. Costa says she is proposing a commission to study snow removal in Rhode Island.

Don't snow on my parade

By the way, while the Patriots may have won the Super Bowl -- Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston lost. What the heck was he thinking trying to have the parade the day after a foot of snow was dumped on the city? He should have just assessed the situation and scheduled it for Wednesday, instead of having to reschedule it after he realized it was impractical.

Rolling the dice

Down in Newport, Joe Paolino says he is still going to purchase Newport Grand. So, what does this mean? Well we aren’t really sure. The developer obviously sees opportunity even without the gambling -- and of course there is. There is the comedy and concert series still up for grabs. Plus, after the renovations, perhaps the people of Newport would be more open to allowing casino gambling in Newport.

Old Ken on the Block

Ken Block is back. Not that he really went anywhere, but now he is back and championing a new cause. The former Republican candidate for Governor has started a new campaign to push the state to allow the governor a line item veto. The idea is to allow the governor to veto single items from the state budget instead of having to veto the entire thing. It’s one of the things Block called for when running for office. We’ll see how he makes out on his efforts it seems like a long shot but this is the same guy that championed the master lever… and succeeded.

That’s it for now… I’ll see you next week. 

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