Legislation that would remove Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Tom Schumpert as a voting member of the Quonset Point/Davisville Management Corporation Board of Directors and replace him with a representative from Jamestown is about half right.
Adding a vote from Jamestown makes sense. Sen. J. Michael Lenihan, an East Greenwich Democrat and a co-sponsor of the proposal, correctly points out that such boards must represent the communities most impacted by development.
Certainly Jamestown warrants representation on any board that is going to make recommendations involving the possible construction of a container port on Narragansett Bay.
But the addition of a Jamestown representative should not have to result in the subtraction of Schumpert’s vote.
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Yes, Schumpert is a member of the governor’s administration. But it is unfair to assume that as such he is destined to serve as a "rubber stamp" for the governor on the issue of a container port. Surely, there are other members of the 14-member Board of Directors that are seen as either supporters or opponents of the port proposal. With Schumpert’s previous work at the state Department of Business Regulation and his efforts to date at the RIEDC, he has earned respect for his professionalism.
More important is the fact that an enormous amount of economic development has gone on at Quonset Point/Davisville in recent years. Schumpert’s argument for retaining his vote is that Quonset Point/Davisville is about much more than a port.
So add a Jamestown representative to the QDMC board – But don’t lose sight of the bigger picture – or Tom Schumpert’s valuable expertise.
