All Pawtucket All The Time

Mayor Donald R. Grebien welcomed the newest members of the Pawtucket Housing Authority Board of Commissioners after a brief swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, May 10 at Pawtucket City Hall. The new additions bring the expanded board to a total of seven members.

 From left, Reinaldo Nieves, who was appointed by the mayor to a five-year term, Mayor Grebien, Stephen Vadnais, executive director of the PHA, and Raymond Gannon, appointed to a four-year term 

PAWTUCKET SALVATION ARMY TO CELEBRATE LANDMARK PROJECT WITH OPEN HOUSE ON THURSDAY MAY 17 DURING NATIONAL SALVATION ARMY WEEK

The Pawtucket Corps of the Salvation Army will celebrate National Salvation Army Week on Thursday, May 17 at noon with a special Open House to showcase major renovations substantially completed to its 102 High St. headquarters building downtown.

The improvements, funded by the Champlin Foundations, which will receive special recognition at the event, to date include a much needed elevator and first floor renovations, and in a second phase will include second floor renovations, a new boiler and heating and air conditioning installations.

Also receiving special recognition will be Allan R. Bellows of Lincoln, who is a Life Member of 47 years on the Advisory Board as well as a generous donor.

The Pawtucket Corps, whose service in the city dates to 1894, will also honor the ongoing generosity and support of three of its major benefactors:

 District 7950 Rotary Clubs (Pawtucket, Smithfield, Cumberland-Lincoln), which have undertaken a friendly Bell Ringing Kettle Competition to raise funds for the Salvation Army.

The Times newspaper, which in 2012 marks its 30^th year of providing extensive media space to promote the Salvation Army’s programs and also runs the annual Times Merry Christmas Fund, whose proceeds benefit deserving families who would otherwise go without a holiday dinner or presents under the tree.

CVS Volunteers, who for the past three years have packed the toys and food distributed during the holiday season that benefit more than 700 needy children and families.

After the Recognition Ceremony a tour and luncheon will be provided by the Pawtucket Rotary Club.

“We feel honored to have such an outstanding group of supporters who believe so strongly in the work we do year-round to help the community,” said Capt. Persida Sanclemente, who with her husband, Capt. Leo Sanclemente, manage the Pawtucket Corps operations and programs.

The nonprofit organization’s programs and services include food, rental and utility assistance. More than 4000 people locally are provided with social services each year. Weekly programs for women and the Good News Kids’ Club offer support, learning, recreation and opportunities. The Good News Kids’ Club has an average attendance of 50 children and over 100 have attended.

This year marks the 58^th annual National Salvation Army Week, first established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954.  Mayor Donald R. Grebien is proclaiming the week of May 14-18 as “National Salvation Army Week in Pawtucket,” including the week-long flying of the Salvation Army flag outside of Pawtucket City Hall. (The flag-raising ceremony will be held Monday, May 14 at 1 p.m.)

Nearly 30 million Americans annually receive assistance from The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, including a broad array of social services such as food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter for the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children including summer camps. Nationally, The Salvation Army also has one of the lowest administrative cost structures of any nonprofit organization, with 82 cents of every dollar spent directly to support its services in 5,000 communities nationwide.  

Adriana Dawson has been appointed state director for the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center (RISBDC)
at Johnson & Wales University. Adriana had been serving as the Interim State Director since September 2011.

Adriana Dawson 

Prior to serving as interim state director, Adriana also held the positions of associate state director and regional director with the RISBDC. She is a board member of the International Charter School and the Rhode Island Latino Policy Institute and is active with the Providence Economic Development Partnership Loan Committee. In addition to her involvement in these organizations she has received the national state star award at the SBDC national conference in 2011 and was named SBDC State Star for Rhode Island in 2003. In 2008, she was recognized as the business person of the year by the Rhode Island Latino Civic Fund and a recipient of the Providence Business News 40 Under Forty award. Adriana earned a Masters of Arts in Management Communication from Emerson College and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies, with concentrations in organizational communication and business administration, from Northeastern University.

“Adriana was our top choice because of the wealth of experience she brings to this position and her deep ties in the small business community. Her leadership and success in bringing our faculty and students together to work with local businesses and organizations has greatly enhanced the educational experience at the university,” said Jefferey Senese, Ph.D., Vice President of Academic Affairs at JWU.

Adriana had this to say about her new appointment, “I look forward to working with our network partners, the RI SBA District Office and our host institution, Johnson & Wales University, to fully align our RISBDC resources and generate the kind of economic impact that will continue to assist RI with its recovery efforts.”

We are pleased to welcome her in this new role and look forward to the future of the RISBDC.

(l-r) John Haidemenos, principal of Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Mayor Donald R. Grebien, and Jim Langlois, National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 55 president, gather Tuesday in the lobby of Pawtucket City Hall for a kickoff donation for the annual NALC Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive being conducted on Saturday, May 12. The colorful posters were created by the arts school’s students to be posted in Pawtucket businesses to promote the food drive.

PAWTUCKET – Last year, the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive — the largest single one-day food collection event in the nation — collected more than 70 million pounds of non-perishable food items for the eighth straight year.

This year, amid a growing need to stem the tide of hunger across the nation, the 20^th annual NALC food drive will be conducted on Saturday, May 12, including by letter carriers throughout Pawtucket.

To raise awareness, Mayor Donald R. Grebien will again kick off local participation in the drive by donating several food items in a news conference at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8 in the lobby of City Hall, 137 Roosevelt Ave.

Grebien will be joined by Jim Langlois, NALC Branch 55 president, and John Haidemenos, principal of the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where students created informational posters that will be posted at businesses and other strategic point throughout the city.

“This is a great cause and I applaud the Letter Carriers for their 20 years of dedication in collecting food donations as they go door to door on their appointed rounds delivering the mail,” Grebien said. “Many Pawtucket residents who need help in these difficult economic times will benefit. By leaving a bag of food by your mailbox, you will be helping local food banks and pantries.”

“I want to thank the mayor for his continued support by promoting awareness of the NALC food collection effort in Pawtucket,” Langlois said. He also noted that more than 10,000 cities and towns will participate in the annual “Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive” across the nation.

According to NALC President Fredric Rolando, the need for the food drive, which has collected more than 1.1 billion pounds of food over its history, is greater than ever.

“Sixteen percent of Americans are at risk of hunger, uncertain where their next meal may be coming from. That includes 1 in 5 children under the age of 18, plus 4 million seniors who are forced to choose every day between paying a utility bill and buying food,” Rolando said.

Around the nation, 75 million postcards donated by Campbell Soup Company are being distributed to postal patrons as a reminder of the food drive.

Further information about the food drive is available at www.NALC.org. 

Slater Mill  May 3, 2012

Don and Laureen

Good evening friends, relatives, neighbors and honored guests and thank you for coming out this evening to show your support as we begin to build a better and brighter future for the City of Pawtucket. And a special thanks to our hosts at Slater Mill who we are working closely with to help them achieve National Park designation for this great historic landmark.

It has been two short years since I last stood before you to make a similar announcement. One thing I said then is even truer today: Along with my devoted family, in whom I am truly blessed, you are the wind beneath my wings.

Your support is what keeps my administration focused on creating a better future for our children, our families and our city.

As long as I hold this office, I will continue to work for you with all my heart and strength.

When my administration took office 16 months ago, we immediately faced a steep uphill battle. The budget we inherited was already $12 million in the hole and seemed to be sinking by the day.

Make no mistake, the bankruptcy status that has fallen on some of our neighboring communities was knocking hard on our door as well.

Carol Metivier, Mayor Grebien, former Mayor Robert Metivier, Gov. Lincoln Chafee

That is why we began working with top state officials even before I took office, to hit the ground running and not allow the threat of bankruptcy to overtake us. So we had to make many tough decisions, and do it quickly. We reorganized and reduced personnel levels realizing we would have to do more with less.

We met that challenge together and by the end of the fiscal year balanced the city budget. The current budget we are in now, achieved with cooperation from the City Council, is also a sound and balanced one, without frills or gimmicks.

And unlike in recent years, the city administration has also worked closely and cooperatively with our school officials, and has been rewarded with positive results. The great responsibility of educating our children demands no less.

We were also rewarded when – after putting strict cost controls in place, including changes in our health care plans, and countless hours of hard work by our dedicated city employees — the credit markets took notice of our efforts and boosted our credit outlook.

The business approach my administration has introduced to city government has brought with it a new level of accountability, transparency, operational efficiency and a change in the culture of how the city needs to serve our constituents.

That cultural change is far-reaching and ongoing but already we have seen many positive results:

• ·         Simplified rules for downtown zoning to be more business-friendly.
• ·         A new economic development coordinators position, because economic progress does not happen on its own.
• ·         A craft brewery soon to open, a new restaurant downtown and several other new businesses opening their doors.
• ·         An open and transparent manner of doing business.

As Mayor of this city I’ve been fortunate to attract and retain experienced, talented professionals as department directors and managers who make sound decisions without fear or favor, and always with your best interests in mind.

Looking ahead, with the reductions in the workforce we will be investing in technology and our employees.

I will not sugarcoat the many challenges we will face, which include:

• ·         Daunting pension and health benefit obligations.
• ·         City union contracts are all up for renegotiation this year.
• ·         Trying to find new revenues through consolidations and shared services.
• ·         All the while the property values have dropped affecting our tax base.

As if these were not challenging enough we continue to work to avoid bankruptcy so that we retain full control of our city’s future.

Make no mistake: My administration will do whatever needs to be done to protect our taxpayers and the solvency of our city.

Our new challenge is to keep taking Pawtucket in The Right Direction. Tonight I ask you for your continued support in this difficult and ambitious task.

Every night when I go home to my wife Laureen and our children Alexa and Connor, I am reminded again that it is the future of our families and of our city that is at stake in these very difficult economic times.

And every morning when I walk through City Hall and see our hard-working taxpayers coming in to pay their bills, I am reminded again why it is so important to get every aspect of our city’s spending under control and keep it there.

It also is a reminder that our dedicated citizens are following in the proud footsteps of their parents and our parents, and of the generations before them, who sacrificed so that one-day their children and grandchildren would inherit a better city. Well I am one of those grandchildren and the Right Direction is to begin building now for our own next generation and for the generations to come.

That is why I humbly ask you tonight to support me as I formally announce I will seek reelection as your Mayor in the City of Pawtucket.

Tough times create tough challenges but also offer the prospect of great rewards. With your continued support and commitment, together we can set out on a new course for a much brighter future for the City of Pawtucket.

Thank you.

GREETINGS.

Mayor Donald R. Grebien (left) greets The Honorable Jorge Figueiredo (center), Mayor of the Island of Sal, Cape Verde, on Thursday, May 3 at City Hall. Also enjoying the conversation are (from left) Sal City Councilor Luceth dos Santos, Romana Ramos of city-based Cape Verdean American Community Development, Administration Director Antonio Pires and City Councilor Jean Philippe Barros.

PAWTUCKET – Mayor Donald R. Grebien along with several other city notables greeted The Honorable Jorge Figueiredo, Mayor of the Island of Sal, Cape Verde, on Thursday, May 3 when the two mayors also exchanged gifts to signify the friendly relations between the two municipalities in an informal ceremony in the City Council Chamber, City Hall.

 Grebien was joined by City Councilor Jean Philippe Barros, who is of Cape Verdean descent, Romana Ramos, who heads the board of directors for downtown-based Cape Verdean American Community Development, Police Chief Paul King and several other city police officers who are of Portuguese or Cape Verdean descent.

EXCHANGE OF GIFTS.

Enjoying an exchange of gifts to mark the visit on Thursday, May 4 of Mayor Jorge Figueiredo (center) of the Island of Sal, Cape Verde, are (from left), City Councilor Jean Philippe Barros, Dayana Dalgado, communications director for Mayor Figueiredo, Tito Fernandes of the USAL Association, Cape Verde, Sal City Councilor Mira Lima, Romana Ramos of Cape Verdean Community Development in Pawtucket, Mayor Figueiredo, Mayor Donald R. Grebien, Sal City Councilor Luceth dos Santos, Police Lt. Roberto DaSilva.

Among those accompanying Mayor Figueiredo, who is known in his country by the honorific of Presidente da Camara, were two members of the Sal City Council, Luceth dos Santos and Mira Lima.

Mayor Figueiredo was also a guest at a dinner in his honor held
Saturday, May 5 at Rosinha’s restaurant in Hope Artiste Village,
Pawtucket.

CELEBRATING HERITAGE.

Pawtucket officials of Portuguese or Cape Verdean descent helped Mayor Donald R. Grebien greet the mayor of the Island of Sal, Cape Verde and other dignitaries in an informal ceremony on Thursday, May 3 at City Hall. (From left) Police Majors Arthur Martins and Bruce Moreau, Romana Ramos of city-based Cape Verdean American Community Development, Sal City Councilor Mira Lima, Police Chief Paul King, Sal Mayor the Honorable Jorge Figueiredo, Mayor Grebien, Sal City Councilor Luceth dos Santos, Police Lts. Roberto DaSilva and Napolean Gonsalves, City Councilor Jean Philippe Barros.

The municipality of Sal, one of the 10 islands which comprise the nation of Cape Verde, is named after the Portuguese word for salt, reflecting the extensive salt deposits discovered there. The economy of Sal, which experiences almost year-round sunshine and is noted for its white-sand beaches, later came to be based on fishing and today relies chiefly on tourism . It is also home to the Amilcar Cabral International Airport, named for the leader of the movement that resulted in the creation of the Republic of Cape Verde as an independent nation in 1975.

 The 2010 U.S. census lists Rhode Island with 20,680 residents of Cape Verdean descent. In recent decades, Pawtucket, the Dorchester section of Boston and Brockton, Mass. have been among the fastest growing new homes for members of the Cape Verdean community coming to the U.S.

RIDOT is scheduled to conduct crack sealing operations on the East Bay Bike Path from 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 6, 2012 until 6 a.m. on Monday, May 7.

The area to be sealed is from Riverside Square in East Providence to Thames Street in Bristol. Cyclists and other path users should avoid the bikeway during this important operation which will improve the riding surface and prevent further cracking.

 The schedule is weather-dependent and subject to change

Top row pictured left to right: Aimee Tortolano, Cristina’s Mom; Michele Stevenin, Director, New England Cinderella Scholarship Pageant; and Paula Montgomery, Rhode Island Regional Director, Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Top row: Cristina Tortolano, Wish child

Smithfield resident and Wish child Cristina Tortolano recently walked in a charity runway fashion show called Models for Wishes which raised $5,000.00 for Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The 2011 New England Cinderella Overall Royalty recently hosted Models for Wishes, a hip New York City child and adult fashion runway show that raised $5,000.00 to benefit Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The show featured seven-year-old Smithfield resident and Wish child Cristina Tortolano who took to the runway wearing the newest trends in children’s fashion.

 Diagnosed with Wilm’s tumor, Cristina had her wish of meeting Grammy award winning artist Taylor Swift granted by Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island last June. She walked the runway as a special guest in support of Make-A-Wish. The event was held at Jordan’s Furniture at the Warwick Mall and also featured a silent auction and door raffle, custom boutique and artisan vendors, a cash bar, and hors d’oeuvres.

Nesselbush among six female political leaders to receive Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill Award

From left, Sen. Donna Nesselbush, state General Treasurer Gina Raimondo and Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts

STATE HOUSE – Sen. Donna M. Nesselbush (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket) was honored among the top female political leaders during the YWCA of Northern Rhode Island’s fourth annual Women Holding Office Celebration at Bryant University on April 30.

“As a female and a legislator, I am proud to accept the 2012 Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill Award from the YWCA of Northern Rhode Island,” Senator Nesselbush said. “We need more women in government because we need a better world, a better country, a better state and better communities. Women are uniquely qualified to make a difference on all of these fronts. We make up more than half of all voters, yet men hold 75 percent of public office. The disparity is shocking.”

Senator Nesselbush added, “Women need to help each other, speak truth to power and hold the bar high for changes Rhode Island desperately needs. We must work together to bridge the divide between those who vote for elected officials and those who become elected officials. The next generation craves women leaders, now more than ever.”

Isabelle Ahearn O’Neill was the first female legislator elected in Rhode Island in 1922. Other recipients of the award included former U.S. Rep. Claudine Schneider, Bristol Town Administrator Diane Mederos, state General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, former state Sen. Myrth York, who was also a Democratic candidate for governor; and Nancy Stevens, a former member of the East Providence School Committee. Providence City Councilor Sabina Matos and state Rep. Teresa Tanzi were also recognized as “rising political stars” during the ceremony.

No Sea Wall or “Man-Made” Title for Matunuck

The Coastal Resources Management Council denied the Town of South Kingstown’s request to re-classify the Matunuck Beach shoreline as “man-made” rather than natural.

Save The Bay, along with the Surfrider Foundation and other advocates, support the Council in this decision. The town of South Kingstown sought this classification change to allow private property owners to build permanent bulkheads or rip-rap walls to fend off erosion.

Save The Bay has long been urging a more comprehensive approach to determining future management of the South Coast, including Matunuck, in the face of rising sea levels and accelerating rates of coastal erosion.

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