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I need to learn more about her, thanks for posting.
I was pretty bummed about how few people I saw at the primary around 7pm, which I would think would be a prime voting time.
I think most city voters know next to nothing about her. She's a clean slate. Being a political fundraiser can't help her much given they are usually just paid guns for hire. Elorza would seem to have some weaknesses, but whether she has the chops to exploit them is another matter. Image-wise, I have a hard time seeing PVD's next mayor as a platinum blonde.
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Maybe this Joe Paolino interview of Dee Dee Witman is worth watching; it wouldn't play for me (my computer seems to have trouble with vimeo...), but may for you.
I watched the vimeo and I'm impressed by her knowledge and sincerity. She doesn't like what she calls regressive taxes such as speed cameras and parking meters. She wants a city audit of pensions and similar since the city doesn't seem to have a good handle on it. She credits Raimondo primarily with the new buildings downtown and says Elorza didn't have much to do with it (someone needs to fact check). I like her ideas on the waterfront...
A good video to watch. Oh, and IM, she's a platinum blonde (or white hair) who's about 70. I think a woman mayor could work with Raimondo.
I watched the vimeo and I'm impressed by her knowledge and sincerity. She doesn't like what she calls regressive taxes such as speed cameras and parking meters. She wants a city audit of pensions and similar since the city doesn't seem to have a good handle on it. She credits Raimondo primarily with the new buildings downtown and says Elorza didn't have much to do with it (someone needs to fact check). I like her ideas on the waterfront...
A good video to watch. Oh, and IM, she's a platinum blonde (or white hair) who's about 70. I think a woman mayor could work with Raimondo.
Whitman continues to be an intriguing candidate. But, on the 'improving the finances front', we need to hear more than she will be a master negotiator with the city's non-profits and improve business. I'll be looking for her leadership traits which will be evidenced by her ability to bring disparate elements of the city together behind her. That she has the support of people as different as Dennis & Dulgarian would seem to be a good start. It will be interesting to see if she can get any councilor support. Calling the current mayor rudderless has a ring of truth to it given the tough challenges the city faces and how Elorza addresses them.
I didn't realize this part before (from the link): During her speech, Witman also vowed to take on the the nonprofit institutions that own nearly half of the taxable land in the city of Providence. She blamed Elorza and other mayors for failing to reach payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements with the colleges and hospitals that benefit the city. The city received $6.7 million in payments from 11 institutions in the 2018 fiscal year, down from $9.1 million in 2014.
Non profits own half the land?? wow. I'm not convinced about taxing hospitals more since it sure seems that could make the health care costs go up, but why are contributions from institutions like Brown or PC going down rather than up? My taxes don't go down.
I agree with her as well that selling the water supply is a terrible idea. I realize Elorza is desperate to raise money, but I can't believe there still isn't plenty of waste in the budget- like cops for every bit of roadwork and a more thorough investigation of permanent disability of police and fire. I believe the figure was that half the force goes out on these special payments. Of course going after corruption is hard. Selling our water would be easier.
I didn't realize this part before (from the link): During her speech, Witman also vowed to take on the the nonprofit institutions that own nearly half of the taxable land in the city of Providence. She blamed Elorza and other mayors for failing to reach payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements with the colleges and hospitals that benefit the city. The city received $6.7 million in payments from 11 institutions in the 2018 fiscal year, down from $9.1 million in 2014.
Non profits own half the land?? wow. I'm not convinced about taxing hospitals more since it sure seems that could make the health care costs go up, but why are contributions from institutions like Brown or PC going down rather than up? My taxes don't go down.
I agree with her as well that selling the water supply is a terrible idea. I realize Elorza is desperate to raise money, but I can't believe there still isn't plenty of waste in the budget- like cops for every bit of roadwork and a more thorough investigation of permanent disability of police and fire. I believe the figure was that half the force goes out on these special payments. Of course going after corruption is hard. Selling our water would be easier.
Last I heard, the city pensions promised were around 70% unfunded. Estimates are anywhere between less than 5 years to 10 years before the city will not be able to meet the obligation. When this happens, the options will not be pretty. Nibbling at waste & budgets here and there are laudable, but will not solve the enormous pension problem absolutely sure to come.
The solution will have to produce big money to keep funding retirees as promised. Hence, the unpopular talk of selling the water supply. I credit Elorza for considering it. Otherwise, the can just gets kicked down the road until the current class of city politicians have moved on. They all hope to be gone when it hits the fan.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by independent man
I think most city voters know next to nothing about her. She's a clean slate. Being a political fundraiser can't help her much given they are usually just paid guns for hire. Elorza would seem to have some weaknesses, but whether she has the chops to exploit them is another matter. Image-wise, I have a hard time seeing PVD's next mayor as a platinum blonde.
I don't think you're correctly calculating how much her political fundraising experience will help. Sounds like she's friends with Joe Paolino. This earlier WPRI piece is worth reading.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WPRI
Elorza’s wide margin of the victory would appear to make him the favorite in the heavily Democratic city - an incumbent Providence mayor hasn't lost his re-election race since 1974 - but Witman has turned heads with a pledge to pour $500,000 of her own money into the race.
And while this is the first time she’ll have her name on the ballot, Witman is no stranger to Rhode Island politics.
A veteran political fundraiser, her clients have included former Providence Mayors Joseph Paolino and Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr, former Lt. Gov. Richard Licht and one-time gubernatorial candidate Tony Pires. Most recently, she worked on Republican gubernatorial nominee Allan Fung’s campaign, before resigning to run for mayor. She said she hasn’t decided whether to vote for Fung or Democrat Gina Raimondo in the general election.
“I might be my first winner,” she joked, a reference to her work on mostly losing campaigns. She says Elorza recruited her as a fundraiser in 2014, but she was “underwhelmed.”
Witman said she started toying with the idea of running for mayor about a year after Elorza’s 2014 victory over Cianci. She recalls telling friends Joe Paolino – the former mayor of Providence – and Democratic fundraiser Mark Weiner that she wanted to challenge the mayor, but they weren’t sure she was serious. (Weiner died in 2016.)
Ms. Witman's got a lot of work to do to earn the support of the rest of the city and not just the wealthy on the east side; she can't just get a Kobi Dennis endorsement and call it a day. Once voters learn that she's injecting half a million $$$ of her own money into her campaign...
You're right to be wary but I hope this doesn't come down again to voting the best of the worst or just getting Elorza back by default. I wouldn't condemn her just because she has political experience as a fundraiser for both Dems and Repubs. That might give her an edge in terms of an insider perspective.
She also points out that privatizing the water supply will just allow a private company to raise our rates. There has to be another solution. How about quit offering so many tax incentives to downtown builders? It's now chic to build downtown- do we really need so much subsidization?
Last edited by Hollytree; 09-26-2018 at 10:16 AM..
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