Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza PHOTO: GoLocal
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s plan for a $704 million bond issue to use to bring the city’s pension system to 65 percent funded from its current scary level of about 25 percent makes a lot of sense in today’s low-interest-rate environment. The plan would include the option to refinance the loan if circumstances warrant.
But the Rhode Island General Assembly needs to act fast in the waning days of this session to approve it. Interest rates will rise.
This might be a way to avoid municipal bankruptcy, though some would argue that such a nuclear explosion is needed – to wipe the slate clean of irresponsible labor contracts and other deals going back decades that have long held back the city’s ability to address important physical-infrastructure and social needs. In any event, the Elorza plan seems reasonable and careful in current circumstances.
New speed humps in Providence were rebuilt after NBC 10 News viewers complained they were damaging cars. Last week, the speed humps were covered in marks from cars that had bottomed out going over them. Tuesday, they looked quite different. The contractor who rebuilt the humps told NBC 10 News that the three new speed humps are about an inch lower – and quite a bit longer to be less aggressive on cars passing over them. "It's definitely a.
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Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s speed hump strategy took another bump with criticism from his former top staffer Brett Smiley. Smiley served as Chief Operating Officer for Elorza and was a key political ally of the mayor.