Cogitator May 30, 2012

Posted by George Cooper 
on May 30, 2012
 

President-Elect Ken Colaluca with Judge Robert Flanders

 

VISITING ROTARIANS/GUESTS

None.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Happy birthday wishes this week go out to Chub Clement (June 1st).  And, happy 34th wedding anniversary to Bob (and Jan) MacKenzie, celebrating their big day on June 3rd.

EAST GREENWICH ROTARY SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Scholarship Fund President Dave Iannuccilli and President Mike Gemma attended the East Greenwich High School Awards Night last week, and together were on hand for the announcements of this year's recipients of East Greenwich Rotary Scholarship awards.  President Mike gave a terrific ambassadorial speech to those in attendance about the dedicated work of both our Rotary club and the Scholarship Fund. 

PHONEBOOK UPDATE

Kathy Brown gave a brief report on phonebook sales so far.  Team 2 is leading the charge in sales, while Team 4 is right behind.  We’re 25% of the way there, with $17,000 in advertising commitments.  That means we have a long way to go, so get in touch with your list of advertisers as soon as possible.

HAPPY BUCKS

Bill TenEyck was happy to report on daughter Skyler’s very positive experience with the recent Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) weekend.  Also, Skyler and her junior varsity 4 x 100 team finished fifth in the states. 

John Wolcott passed on kudos to Bill TenEyck for his fine work in getting such an excellent Rotaract Club under way at New England Tech. 

Wil Yoder was in Delaware for a family reunion, and he was also looking forward to another graduation day at Rhode Island School of Design.

Ron Winde’s 6-month-pregnant daughter recently invited the family into the sonogram room to see her little bundle-to-be on the move.  Also, more good news for the Windes …Ron’s son is now engaged!

Vin Meola threw in a ‘finally’ buck for the Red (cough) Sox, who just broke the .500 mark for the first time this year.  Vin also chuckled at Andy Petitte’s return to the Bronx Bombers, wondering who will they’ll call up next…Reggie Jackson?

Bob Sloan visited Charleston, South Carolina and stopped by a clothing store his family frequented when they lived there.  Wouldn’t you know he met up with owner Harry Berlin, who is still running the haberdashery 55 years later! 

Bob Miller, attempting to get back at Vin Meola for his Andy Petitte geriatric joke, noted the following: the Curse of the Bambino (which was put to rest for good in 2004); the Broadway show, No No Nanette; and, Curt Schilling’s bankrupt video game company, 38 Studios.  (Hehe…it’s the battle of 3rd and 4th place teams these days, Yanks and Sox, but we’re still able to keep up the jawboning nicely!)

PROGRAM/SPEAKER

Judge Robert Flanders, State Receiver for the City of Central Falls

Robert Flanders was drafted in 1971 by the Detroit Tigers.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=flande001rob

He went on to play for the Clinton Pilots, a team then managed by Jim Leyland.   He left baseball in 1974 to begin a career in law.  He served for eight years as a Rhode Island Supreme Court Associate Justice.  Today, Robert Flanders is a partner at Hinckley, Allen, Snyder LLP, as well as the State Appointed Receiver for the City of Central Falls. 

Central Falls is a one-square-mile city in which 19,000 residents live.  It is primarily a city of immigrants and has the lowest per-capita income among all of RI’s cities and towns.  The state pumps in $42 million per year for Central Falls Schools.  Now, it is bankrupt. 

Judge Flanders was enjoying his work, after service on the RI Supreme Court, as Chairman of the RI Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education when Governor Linc Chafee appointed him as Central Falls’ Receiver.  It has been quite a journey trying to help Central Falls, ‘bankrupted by poor management,’ get back on its feet. 

The judge noted that while his power to help fix the city is great, the most important power is missing for a state receiver—the power to enforce actual restructuring of contracts.  This, he said, is a real problem, since Central Falls continues to be a city unable to match revenues with promises made in years past to its municipal workers and retirees.  He also cited a statistic that Central Falls has raised taxes by 3% or so over the past 20 years, while all other RI towns and cities have increased taxes during that time by 100% on average. 

‘Unions and politicians broke the system by voting for increases yet not taking care to properly fund them,’ Judge Flanders lamented.  Central Falls’ retirees for the most part, it should be noted, are not paid lavishly, averaging approximately $32,000 per year.  Yet, ‘they were so easily handed out for so long, especially disability pensions.’ 

Only a receiver can take steps to initiate a municipal Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which can ultimately give a city or town a chance at ‘restructuring.’  The city and its receiver must first go through a process of ‘good faith efforts’ to avoid the bankruptcy.  Judge Flanders noted Central Falls did just that, before entering their bankruptcy.  Suddenly, once the bankruptcy was filed, formerly unyielding unions, city workers, and retirees all had new agreements in place.  However, at this critical time, the governor’s office is suddenly and surprisingly hesitant to ‘press the button’ and cement deals now in place.     

Under Flanders’ leadership, Central Falls has balanced budget plans for the next five years, which must be monitored and can be enforced by the state. 

Judge Flanders ended with this: ‘Municipal bankruptcy is not the problem; it’s the remedy in many cases.  When you have cancer, you need treatment so you can continue to live.’