Education Commissioner Deborah Gist has plenty of fans in Rhode Island, but few rank-and-file teachers are among them if a new poll commissioned by the state’s teachers unions is accurate.

Just 16% of public school teachers in Rhode Island had a favorable view of Gist’s job performance in January while 82% had a negative view, according to a survey of 401 teachers conducted by Fleming & Associates for the National Education Association Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals.

The commissioner was particularly unpopular with long-tenured teachers. Those with 20 years or more experience in the classroom gave Gist a favorable rating of only 9%, significantly below the 23% favorable rating she received from teachers with less than 10 years of experience. (Fleming also conducts polling for WPRI 12.)

The two unions did not provide the full survey results but said its margin of error was plus or minus 4 points. It emerged less than a week after NEARI’s Delegate Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling on Gist to delay the full implementation of the state’s new teacher evaluation system.

(more…)

Governments in Rhode Islands aren’t the only ones struggling to keep their pension plans in good health during an era of low yields and near-zero interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month:

A provision attached to the Senate highway bill would change the formula many large companies, including General Electric Co., Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., must use to calculate how much to add to their pension funds, potentially shrinking their combined contributions by billions of dollars a year. …

Companies with defined-benefit plans are required to use a “discount rate,” based on a specific mix of corporate bond yields over the past two years, to help determine how much to contribute to their plans each year to meet their obligations. The rate varies by company.

Since the company uses the rate to help estimate the returns it can expect on its pension assets over time, the lower the rate, the more the company must contribute to its plans. GE said in its annual report that its 2011 pension expenses rose by about $7.4 billion because its discount rate dropped to 4.2% at the end of 2011 from 5.3% at the end of 2010. …

Business groups argue that the two-year window used in the current discount-rate formula is too narrow, leaving companies vulnerable to short-term swings in interest rates.

A similar issue arose in Rhode Island during last year’s pension debate, as well.

Some observers urged Treasurer Raimondo and the Retirement Board not to increase the state’s paper liabilities by dropping their rate of return forecast from 8.25% to 7.5%, saying a time of double-digit unemployment and strained public finances was not an appropriate one to make such a big change. The argument obviously didn’t carry the day.

Kennedy in Norton on Saturday

Joe Kennedy III will be in Attleboro on Saturday to raise money for his congressional campaign.

Former State Rep. Max Volterra and his wife, Marion, will host the “grassroots fundraiser” at their home in the city on Saturday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The suggested contribution is $25. The event will be held on the last day of the fundraising quarter, which will offer the first indication of Kennedy’s ability to raise money.

Attleboro is one of the largest cities in Massachusetts’ overhauled 4th Congressional District, the pre-redistricting version of which is now represented by Congressman Barney Frank. Kennedy held one of his campaign kickoff events in Attleboro on Feb. 16 and has returned to the area for other events since then.

Republicans Sean Bielat, who made an unsuccessful bid to unseat Frank in 2010, and Elizabeth Childs are both seeking their party’s nominations in the 4th District, as are Democrats Herb Robinson and Jules Levine. So far, though, this latest Kennedy campaign is looking like a juggernaut.

• Related: Kennedy III kickoff shows power of dynasty, Elizabeth Warren (Feb. 16)

(photo: Kennedy campaign)

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Providence’s bond rating by one notch on Monday but kept the city’s rating three notches above junk status, a less dramatic reduction than its competitor Fitch Ratings made earlier this month.

Moody’s cut Providence’s general-obligation bond rating from A3 to Baa1 but kept a negative outlook on its finances. The firm also downgraded its rating on $505 million in debt issued by the Providence Public Buildings Authority and the Providence Redevelopment Authority from Baa1 to Baa2, two notches above junk.

The changes “reflect the city’s deteriorated financial position, a $30 million projected budget gap for fiscal 2013, the uncertain outcome of litigation challenging the city’s ability to transfer eligible retirees to Medicare, and low funding of its local pension plan,” Moody’s said in a statement announcing its decision.

Providence may run short of cash and need to borrow money to pay its bills during the summer or fall, Moody’s suggested. The city is carrying a higher-than-average debt load and its economy is relatively weak, Moody’s said, though “significant structural improvements” have been made by the Taveras administration.

Separately, a city spokesman said Monday negotiations have begun with retired police officers and firefighters about a potential deal to stabilize Providence’s pension system, though it’s unclear what will happen next with its largest union, Local 1033. Talks are also ongoing with the city’s largest tax-exempt institutions.

Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) covers politics and the economy for WPRI.com and writes the Nesi’s Notes blog. Follow him on Twitter: @tednesi

You’ve gotta love Spring in New England—one week we’re in shorts and flip flops, the next week we’re breaking out the winter coats and awaking to wind chills in the ‘teens!  It’s that huge contrast in temperatures across the United States that makes the weather so often tumultuous (tornadoes, flooding, freak snows, record highs and record lows) this time of year.  While summer warmth is gathering across the  deep south and gulf coast… cold, arctic air is still entrenched over much of Canada.

Last week,  on a southwest wind, we were able to tap into that very warm maritime tropical air… the result was a stretch of days in the 70s and 80s.

Last Week's Summer Warmth

This week, air source region for our colder airmass is central canada… on a stiff north-northwesterly wind we’re tapping into a continental arctic airmass…. the result is temperatures some 30 degrees colder.

This Week's Colder Temps

Happy birthday to – us! WPRI 12 turns 57 years old today.

As I related a year ago, WPRI came on the air as WPRO-TV on March 27, 1955, with the backing of the old Cherry & Webb clothing store. The station has had eight parent companies in the intervening years; our current parent, Providence-based LIN Media, has owned WPRI since 2001.

Paul Darling, who worked for Channel 12 and WPRO radio in the 1950s and ’60s, has self-published a book called “We Were Pioneers” filled with great photos from the era; you can click through the whole thing here. You can also read about our fancy triangular headquarters in this 1975 issue of RCA Broadcast News [pdf].

Last year at this time the oldest YouTube clip of WPRI was this groovy 1982 sign-on, but now the Wayback Machine has served up a short station ID from 1978 (plus the tail end of a spray creme commercial):

And here’s a terrific compilation of three station promos that aired on June 23, 1990, during a Saturday night telecast of “The Man With One Red Shoe” on ABC, our network at the time. The promos feature Walter Cryan, Karen Adams, the Bristol 4th of July Parade and Almacs – how Rhode Island can you get?

• Vincent Council announced today that he plans to return for his senior year as opposed to entering the NBA draft. In other news the surface of the sun plans to be hot tomorrow. Did I miss something? Is Isiah Thomas still a General Manager in the NBA? Don’t get me wrong, Vincent is a better than average player but how in the world did he think of himself as a legit prospect in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory? In fact I just scoured the internet and failed to find one mock draft that has him getting selected in this or NEXT seasons draft!  His return will indeed strengthen a PC back court stockpiled with talent, but with super recruit Kris Dunn set to the join the fray the question is this. Will Council even be the best point guard on the team next season?
• Major props to CCRI. We may have missed out on March Madness with the Big Four schools in Rhode Island but the community college guys nearly brought home a national title. More important to the players is the amount of exposure they got during their run through the bracket. Hundreds of NCAA coaches from all divisions were on hand to watch the festivities. One kid that is sure to get a fair share of Division One looks is Desmond Williams. The freshman from Connecticut was a solid scorer throughout and poured in 41 points in the national semifinal. Maybe his path will end up being a lot like the one taken by his older brother Jordan Williams. Jordan tore it up in high school but flew under the recruiting radar until eventually landing at Maryland. After two short seasons with the Terps he was taken 36^th overall by the New Jersey Nets.
• For nearly a week co-workers have been stopping by the sports office to weigh in on Tebow. “Why would they trade for a crappy quarterback?” “Did you see the Statue of Liberty Tebowing?” “I don’t like it but green really brings out his eyes” I honestly don’t have an answer or a really strong opinion on the second biggest storyline of one of the craziest off seasons in NFL history. As a Tebow lover I am happy that he’ll rattle Mark Sanchez’s cage and get a shot under crazy Rex Ryan. As a journalist it’s like Christmas and the Fourth of July wrapped into one left handed Ah Shucks little box of joy. For at least two weeks a year I can spend seven straight days talking about something other than the new-look 4-3 defense.

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Taveras administration has begun discussing possible solutions to the city’s pension problems with retired police officers and firefighters, but it’s unclear what will happen next with retirees from Local 1033, Providence’s largest municipal union.

At a high-profile town meeting with retirees on March 3, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras asked them to form committees that could negotiate cuts in pension benefits with the city. He asked them to appoint the committees by March 25, which was Sunday, in order to have a deal in place by May 1.

Asked on Monday for a status update, Taveras spokesman David Ortiz told WPRI.com the administration “has already begun conversations” with the Providence Retired Police and Firefighters Association, which represents some but not all former public-safety personnel.

(more…)

House Speaker Gordon Fox says he’s still firmly opposed to a bill proposed by state Rep. Maria Cimini that would raise the income tax rate on Rhode Islanders who earn more than $250,000 from 5.99% to 9.99%.

During a Jan. 20 appearance on WPRI 12′s “Newsmakers,” Fox all but ruled out any income tax hike unless it was paired with another change, such as a lower car tax. There has been some talk recently that the speaker’s position might be softening, but his office says he still opposes Cimini’s proposal.

“His position hasn’t changed at all since he’s been on ‘Newsmakers,’” Fox spokesman Larry Berman told WPRI.com on Monday. ”The main reason is he feels that we just implemented major income-tax reform. This is the first year, and we need several years to measure the results. It’s too soon. It’s too premature.”

Cimini’s bill is co-sponsored by 37 of the 75 House lawmakers, including House Minority Whip J. Patrick O’Neill. Two other representatives close to the speaker, House Majority Leader Nicholas Mattiello and House Finance Committee Chairman Helio Melo, are not co-sponsors.

State Sen. Joshua Miller’s companion bill is co-sponsored by 19 of the 38 senators, though Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed expressed her own opposition to the proposal March 2 on “Newsmakers.”

• Related: Gary Sasse backs increase in taxes on Rhode Island’s top 1% (Feb. 19)

Good Afternoon..

The following is from the National Weather Service…

..FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING FOR MUCH OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH…
WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA…SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE…MASSACHUSETTS… NORTHERN CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND…EXCEPT FOR THE ISLANDS.

* WINDS…NORTHWEST 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH. * TIMING…LATE TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY EVENING. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY…10 TO 15 PERCENT. * TEMPERATURES…IN THE UPPER 30S TO MID 40S

. * IMPACTS…ANY FIRES THAT DEVELOP WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SPREAD RAPIDLY. OUTDOOR BURNING IS NOT RECOMMENDED. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FIRE WEATHER WATCH MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR. LISTEN FOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE RED FLAG WARNINGS.
DISCARDING OF CIGARETTES OUT THE WINDOW ON HIGHWAYS ALONG GRASSY WOODED AREAS CAN BE DANGEROUS

Tony Petrarca
–

Patrick Kennedy is out of office, but not out of politics.

The former congressman signed an email fundraising blast for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week that celebrated the anniversary of President Obama’s health-care law and sought donations to help the party have a good financial showing in its first-quarter fundraising report.

“My father, Ted Kennedy, spent his entire career fighting tooth and nail for universal health care and my father and I fought side by side for mental health care,” Kennedy wrote Friday. “He would be proud of this moment.” The message also name-checked Super PACs, Citizens United and Karl Rove.

Kennedy sent the message the same week he co-hosted a pricey DCCC fundraiser in Portsmouth where House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was the guest of honor. Kennedy was the DCCC’s chairman during the 1999-2000 cycle, a plum post for him considering his relative lack of seniority at the time.

Apart from politics, Kennedy is keeping busy teaching a class at Brown and promoting brain research. He and his wife, Amy Petitgout, are expecting their first child this spring after getting married last summer.

By Tim White

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The unnamed made member of the Mafia who wore an FBI wire in a sweeping organized crime case was himself indicted and threatened with arrest before he agreed to cooperate with investigators, the Target 12 Investigators have learned.

In court documents filed this week, prosecutors William Ferland and Samuel Nazzaro say the made member of the mob was confronted on Feb. 12, 2011, with the pending charges and about to be placed in handcuffs. The individual was implicated in an extortion scheme to shake down a Johnston used car salesman for $25,000, according to the court documents.

“The FBI indicated to the [New England La Cosa Nostra] Made Member that he could cooperate with them and that such cooperation would be brought to the Court’s attention for its consideration in determining an appropriate sentence to impose,” prosecutors wrote in the filing. “Made Member thereafter agreed to cooperate.”

The Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s office has not disclosed the identity of the made mobster, but in a court filing earlier this month defense attorneys revealed the person has the initials “RD.” That revelation has further fueled speculation that reputed capo regime Robert “Bobby” DeLuca is the cooperating witness.

Read the rest of this story »

Here’s a rather astonishing statistic dug up by EcoRI News’ David Fisher:

According to information from the state’s open government portal, Rhode Island state agencies spent more than $110,000 in taxpayer dollars on bottled water in fiscal 2011. At the aforementioned average rate of $1.47 per gallon that amounts to slightly less than 75,000 gallons of bottled water. …

The actual rate for public drinking water in Providence — where the largest percentage of government agencies are based — is about 0.0046 cents a gallon. At that rate, 75,000 gallons of water would cost $345. At literally any rate, using tap water would have eliminated about 98 percent of that $110,000 bottled water expenditure.

Fisher argues this is a bad deal for both taxpayers and the environment.

The Follies isn’t the only musical review where Projo reporters shine.

John Mulligan, a 38-year Journal veteran who’s been its D.C. bureau chief since 1981, apparently turned in one of the best performances Saturday night at the Gridiron Club dinner, the annual white-tie affair for media insiders.

Mulligan, one of 65 Gridiron members, mocked Mitt Romney for the now infamous time he strapped his dog Seamus to the roof of a car for a family trip, The Washington Post reports. He did so by singing a parody of The Drifters’ “Up on the Roof” dressed “in a dog suit, a cardboard station wagon slung around his hips.”

It’s not the first time Mulligan has demonstrated his comedic talents at the Girdiron.

In 2005, he parodied Karl Rove to the tune of The Exciters’ “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy,” and in 2000 he sang a rewrite of Bob Dylan’s immortal “John Wesley Harding” in tribute to Al Gore, “performed with an impressive Dylan drone and a mean harmonica,” The Post’s Dana Milbank reported.

Describing Mulligan as “a youngster of about 50,” Milbank added that his Dylan sendup was “the hippest performance of the night” and apparently a bit out of character for the Gridiron: “His elders seemed baffled. ‘Some of them were a little puzzled,’ says Kathy Kiely of USA Today, who, at 44, is the baby of the bunch.”

(photo: Projo.com)

A cold front is moving through our area late this morning, bringing with it some strong winds for the remainder of the day.  As winds turn to the north-northwest behind the front, they’ll strengthen 15-25mph and some gusts may reach 30-40mph.  Temperatures are also expected to drop in the afternoon…. from the 50s into the 40s.  This is the kind of weather we’ll have to get used to in the coming days…. I don’t see any signs of 70s and 80s returning any time soon.  In fact, temperatures will be at or slightly below average much of this week.  And as TJ mentioned over the weekend, we’ll be at risk of a hard freeze tonight and possibly again Tuesday night.  While the growing season hasn’t officially begun, there are many early blooms from the last few weeks of well-above average temperatures.

Supporters offer a lot of reasons for backing the proposed runway expansion at Warwick’s T.F. Green Airport. Surging passenger traffic isn’t one of them.

The total number of passengers at T.F. Green plunged 32% over the last six years, dropping from 5.7 million in 2005 to 3.9 million in 2011, figures from the R.I. Airport Corporation show:

Patti Goldstein, T.F. Green’s vice president of public affairs, blames the extended slump on the recession. But she thinks the new runway, which got the green light last month from the Warwick City Council and the quasi-public Airport Corporation’s board, could be just as crucial as an economic recovery for the airport.

(more…)

What was worrying me about those very unseasonable temperatures during the past few weeks was the vegetation.  Everything seems to have sprouted way too early.   Now, we are about to see a hard freeze Monday night.  This could hurt things like fruit trees. 

I remember another year, when the apple trees had blossomed in April and in May we got a freeze, which hurt the trees ability to produce large fruit. 

Could this happen again this year? Let’s hope not.

T.J. Del Santo

Adding to what TJ was saying in his post, here is a graph of high temperatures for the next several days.  Normal high temps are around 50°, and that is represented by the white line.  Notice how most of the high temps are just above normal.  Yeah, yeah I know….a lot of you want the 70s and 80s back.  Ha ha.  Sorry, not this week.

Today’s high of 60° will likely be the warmest temperature reading we see for a little while….for several different reasons:

For Sunday, clouds, showers and an easterly wind will keep us cool as an area of low pressure passes to our south and east.

That low will be quickly followed by a strong cold front which will usher much cooler air into the region.  Daytime highs will actually be fairly seasonable..upper 40′s to lower 50′s.  The morning lows below freezing could bring problems….especially to trees/plants which have already bloomed.  Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, especially will be cold.

Another bout of clouds and showers arrives late Wednesday and Thursday…temps will be cooler then, as well…..

Should we complain? No…not really.  All the temps are normal for the time of year…I think we just got spoiled with 60′s, 70′s and 80′s in March!!!

-T.J. Del Santo

It seems safe to say the financial press has a bit of a crush on Treasurer Gina Raimondo.

Fresh off her CNBC appearance Friday morning, Raimondo is the subject of The Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Interview feature on Saturday. The headline (stop me if you’ve heard this one): “The Democrat Who Took on the Unions.”

WSJ assistant opinion editor Allysia Finley, who wrote about Central Falls last year, wrote the 1,600-word profile, which pours on the Raimondomania pretty thick. “So this is Gina Raimondo?” Finley asks at the start. “The state treasurer who single-handedly overhauled Rhode Island’s pension system and has unions screaming bloody murder? I had imagined her a bit, well, bigger.”

The only discordant note is sounded by Paul Valletta of the Cranston firefighters union, who gets two sentences to dismiss last year’s pension overhaul as “just a steppingstone for her to run for higher office.”

“Ms. Raimondo poses a greater threat to the labor movement than any Republican, because she undercuts its narrative that pension reform is merely a cause célèbre for conservatives who want to stick it to unions” – which, of course, is part of why she’s now the subject of a 1,600-word profile on the WSJ’s editorial page.

One glaring omission in the story is the municipal pension crisis, which is as bad as ever. Raimondo maintains that the situation with the 36 locally run plans is too messy to have been addressed in last November’s law, but it’s fair to say Governor Chafee, Mayor Taveras and others think that was a huge missed opportunity.

• Related: Raimondo opposes Chafee move to cut pension-fund deposits (March 21)

Today won’t be that windy, but the wind direction will be a major player in our weather this weekend.  When we have winds that come out of the east and northeast (like we will today and Sunday), it usually means cooler weather for us.  When looking at the wind direction map below, notice how all of the arrows point to the west.  That means that winds are moving from east to west, pulling in the cooler air from the Atlantic Ocean.

Welcome to another edition of my new weekly column. Keep sending your takes, tips and trial balloons to tnesi (at) wpri (dot) com and I may include them. Tally ho.

1. Is it time for the New England states to work out some sort of nonaggression pact on casinos? Connecticut’s Foxwoods is fighting for its life, Massachusetts wants to build three casinos, plus a slot parlor, and Rhode Island is scrambling to allow table games at Twin River and Newport Grand. Yet there must be some ceiling on how much money Southern New Englanders are going to spend at casinos. What if the three states agreed on a coordinated plan for casino development, to build a better venue and split the revenue, rather than take this beggar-thy-neighbor approach? I’m thinking something like the European Coal and Steel Community. They could sign an agreement and call it the Treaty of Burrillville, since the town touches all three states.

2. Longtime Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom had a classic Kinsley gaffe this week with his “Etch a Sketch” remark, and one surprising side effect was a sudden surge in the stock price of the Ohio Art Company, which makes the toy. “Etch A Sketch stock is up?” Fehrnstrom tweeted in response. “Psst, I’ll mention Mr. Potato Head next. Buy Hasbro.” A savvy play to the Rhode Island electorate before April 24, no doubt.

(more…)

Good Evening…

After topping out in the 70s Today, we see a shift in our weather pattern.  Extra clouds this weekend and a wind off the ocean will keep temps in mid to upper 50s. which is still slightly above normal, but certainly cooler than the summer warmth we’ve had of late. Our attention then focuses on a true arctic cold front that sweeps thru Monday evening of next week producing a significant temp drop thru mid week. For the first time in awhile, nights will fall below freezing early next week……Tony Petrarca

Treasurer Gina Raimondo was in New York City this morning and stopped by CNBC’s studios for a 10-minute chat about the new pension law on “Squawk Box,” the financial network’s morning show. “The Rhode Not Traveled” was the chyron. Raimondo also appeared on the program back in December.

It’s no prime-time “Newsmakers” special, but it’s still interesting. Here’s the video:

(“Ray-mon-DOE”?)

Patrick Lynch's sweet new ride

Correction: Wrong Patrick Lynch! My mistake. Our AG was, of course “Patrick C. Lynch.” The original post is still below, however, so that I will be suitably shamed and learn my lesson. I blame the Sudafed.

When it comes to the environment, Patrick Lynch is putting his money where his mouth is.

A New York Times DealBook post about Tesla Motors’ new electric sedan offers testimonials from a number of customers who’ve made down payments for its new Model S – including one Patrick A. Lynch, whom The Times describes simply as “a lawyer from Providence, R.I.”

DealBook reports Lynch shelled out $5,000 last month as a down payment for his Model S, which can go from 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds. The basic sedan sells for a cool $57,000 before tax credits, and the first cars are expected to be delivered to customers in July.

The former attorney general doesn’t mind the wait. “It’ll give me more time to save the money,” he told DealBook.

And why is Lynch opting for a Model S over, say, a Ford Focus? ”At the end of the day, I really believe in what they’re trying to do,” he said.

(photo: Wikipedia)

If you’re planning to read Rhode Island’s monthly employment report for February, I’d suggest a stiff drink first.

The number of Rhode Island residents with a job fell to a new low of 497,300, down by nearly 52,000 since employment peaked more than five years ago in January 2007, the Department of Labor and Training said Friday.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 11%, a decrease of less than a percentage point from the peak rate of 11.9% in January 2010. The unemployment rate was 4.8% in January 2007.

The size of Rhode Island’s labor force shrank for the 22nd month in a row. There are now 559,000 Rhode Islanders officially classified as employed or actively looking for a job, down by nearly 18,000 since the peak in January 2007 and down by nearly 14,000 since a short-lived uptick topped out in April 2010.

A separate survey of Rhode Island employers offered a sliver of good news, showing 458,400 jobs on their payrolls, an increase of 500 from January – the worst month of the downturn. Payroll employment in the state is down by 38,000 since it peaked in December 2006.

Another possible reason for optimism in the employer survey was the addition of 700 temp jobs, which can sometimes be a precursor to an increase in permanent full-time positions. Nor have all industries been in decline over the last year: education added 2,000 jobs and professional services added 1,100.

• Related: RI facing ‘a lost decade’ after jobless rate hits 11% in new data (Feb. 29)

After months of speculation, President Obama on Friday announced his choice to be the next president of the World Bank: Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim, a public health expert who went to college in Providence.

Kim immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea at the age of five and grew up in Iowa, where he was his high school’s valedictorian and quarterback. He graduated from Brown University in 1982, where he was involved with the Third World Center and the Asian American Students Association.

Kim’s honors include a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2003 and being named one of the world’s most influential people by Time magazine in 2006. He has remained involved with Brown, receiving the alumni association’s William Rogers Award in 2008 and lecturing there in 2009.

Brown President Ruth Simmons – who Obama also reportedly considered for the World Bank job – spoke at Kim’s inauguration as Dartmouth’s president in 2009, lauding him as “an international leader.”

(photo: Brown University)

It’s been a shorts and sunscreen week with temperatures running 25-30° above average.  Just incredible!  It is only March, however, and the reality of early Spring in New England is often wild swings in temperature and still some chilly, raw days… we’ve even had some memorable snowstorms this time of year.  While we’re not forecasting any snow… temperatures will be transitioning from summer warmth to more typical early Spring cool days and chilly nights.  It will happen gradually, with one more summer-like… near record setting day today.  And overall the weekend temperatures will still be about 5-10° above average.

Weekend Weather

A cold front swept off the coast early this morning bringing with it a deck of clouds for this morning, low humidity and a north-northwest wind for this afternoon.  Skies will turn mostly sunny this afternoon with temperatures climbing well into the 70s.   The cooler air associated with the front will be delayed until late tonight for our area, with lows falling to near 40-45 by dawn Saturday.  A slow-moving low pressure center (storm system) will inch our way through Saturday, giving southern New England a blend of clouds and some hazy sun.  Temperatures will only reach to near 60.  By Saturday night and Sunday, some showers will move through.  The storm center will drift away through the day on Monday bringing slow clearing.  Rainfall totals will generally be light with under 1/4″ of rain for most of us.

Last November, Rhode Island slashed its unfunded liability for public-sector pensions by reducing the size of benefits and creating a new hybrid retirement plan. Should Treasurer Raimondo also have used the opportunity to open up the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island to all the state’s citizens?

That’s the opinion of Teresa Ghiladucci, an economics professor at the New School and a prominent voice in the nation’s debate over how Americans should finance their retirements.

In a New York Times op-ed bemoaning private-sector workers’ insufficient 401(k) savings, Ghiladucci argues “states could save millions of workers from impending poverty by creating public pensions for everyone”:

[The] plans would use the same professional staff and institutional money managers that invest the state and city pension funds to manage contributions made by participating employers and employees in the private sector.

This is a vital step: public pension plans usually outperform 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts, because instead of a single worker managing a single account, large institutional plans pool workers of all ages, diversify the portfolio over longer time periods, use the best professional managers that aren’t available for retail accounts and have the bargaining power to lower fees and prioritize long-term investment.

By some estimates, costs for public pensions are over 45 percent lower than for individual 401(k) plans. Of course, since these plans would be financed by workers and their employers, there would be no cost to taxpayers.

Ghiladucci highlights two proposals elsewhere along the lines of what she’s thinking, one in California and another in New York City. The Golden State proposal calls for the state treasurer to oversee a voluntary, portable retirement savings plan with a contribution rate of about 3%. CalPERS would manage the money, and retirees would receive a small defined-benefit pension based on how much money they saved.

Darrell Steinberg, the Senate president pro tempore, said his proposal reflects a dynamic in the pension debate that will be familiar to Rhode Islanders. “The debate in society is ‘Why should some folks get a [traditional pension] when the majority no longer do?’” he told the Los Angeles Times. “This asks a different question: ‘Why shouldn’t we strive to bring everyone up to a reasonable and decent level of retirement security?’”

A state survey last year found 51% of Rhode Island employers offer a retirement plan to full-time employees and 22% offer one to part-timers. The vast majority of large employers (85%) offer full-time workers a retirement plan, compared with 42% of companies with fewer than 20 workers. Self-employed individuals are on their own.

Update: Turns out Tom Sgouros made just such a suggestion [pdf] back in 2005.

(photo: IAFF Local 732)