Surviving Plunder Dome
As Plunder Dome comes precariously close to the mayor’s office we hear concerns that if Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr. is indicted, the renaissance and visions of future development will suddenly evaporate into a sea of disillusionment and corruption. Providence will lose the glitter that spawned a television program bearing its name to the cynics, who let a city hall scandal wash away all the good that has been accomplished.
But there’s no certainty that Cianci will be indicted, even though the recent indictment of his top city hall aide has cast a dark shadow over the city’s executive suite.
And there’s no excusing the corruption that clearly pervades this city government, as evidenced by the indictments of tax officials and now Frank Corrente, until recently the mayor’s top administrative aide, and convictions and admissions among tax officials.
Yet, with it all, the city’s renaissance can continue. The new-cities vision, even if Cianci is gone, can continue. The expansion of the downtown renaissance to Westminster Street, and the development of the arts district, can continue.
The visions are not Cianci’s alone. He has been a wonderful cheerleader for the city, a strong advocate, but without the considerable help of the private sector and efforts of numerous individuals, none of what has been done in downtown would have been anything more than a dream.
Too much has been invested – said to be some $2 billion already – to let this resurgence of Providence fade.
If the mayor is indicted, or becomes so mired in his administration’s controversy, others will emerge, from both the political and private sectors, to take up the city’s charge, to continue the downtown redevelopment and to pursue the new-cities dream.
And others will look toward the neighborhoods to make sure that development continues in places like South Providence and Smith Hill, to assure that there is educational reform in a complex system, to improve public safety and assure that police and firemen and women are sensitive to issues of ethnic diversity.
Providence need not fall victim to the shenanigans of city hall, but can rise above it and continue to grow in spite of it.
Getting beyond labor strife
Labor strife at area hospitals is another symptom of a health care system gone awry.
While nurses’ unions threaten to strike, we’re sure that there have been occasions when doctors – and patients — would like to do the same.
We are in a health care dilemma, where there are growing demands on caregivers, skyrocketing insurance rates, and questions of whether the patient receives the best care possible.
Listen to one businessman, who suggests that business owners are under no obligation to provide health-care coverage for their employees. Instead, he said, he’d gladly put the money in their paycheck and let them negotiate with caregivers one on one. He wondered if the system might be more responsive dealing with an army of individuals, rather than a squadron of business owners.
The upshot is that there has been considerable dialogue about the system, what’s wrong with it, and numerous suggestions of how to fix it. Unfortunately, for all the rhetoric, it seems that neither government nor the private sector has done a great deal to fix what is an ailing system.
We’re tired of health care summits and seminars, of literary discussions of what’s right and wrong, of political rhetoric, and strike threats. We’re ready for somebody to propose some real solutions that will stabilize health care costs, assure that health care professionals are treated well, and that patients can both understand what their health insurance covers and expect and receive quality care.
