'We've Got To Get Something Done,' Mayor Says Of Pension Commission

Following his appointment to a new state commission on municipal pensions, announced at the State House on Jan. 12, Mayor Joseph Polisena said he wants to see the commission propose a bill on the pension issue — and address the state mandates that could hamper those efforts.

"I was very flattered that Senate Majority Leader [Teresa] Paiva-Weed and House Speaker [Gordon] Fox would think of me," Polisena said during a recent interview at . "I think they know that I'm not shy to tell the truth. I think what helps me, too, was my knowledge of the General Assembly — that was an education that I couldn't pay for."

Noting his service as Deputy Majority Leader, member of the Housing, Education and Welfare and Labor Committees, and vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during his tenure in the state Senate, Polisena added: "I think that schooled me well."

Polisena explained he was encouraged by some of the other choices for the new panel, including former House Finance Committee Chairman Antonio Pires of Pawtucket and former Senate Finance Committee Chairman J. Michael Lenihan of East Greenwich.

Given that kind of knowledge and experience among commission members, Polisena said he feels it's imperative that the new board create a plan to deal with the muncipal pension problem.

"We've got to get something done," Polisena explained. "You can't just have a study commission — if you don't do something there's not going to be anything for anybody. I plan on being very vocal — don't just meet to meet. Don't waste my time."

One of the key reforms that Polisena said he'd like to see is a change to current law that governs arbitration.

"Make binding arbitration just for wages and working conditions," Polisena suggested, adding that he'd also like to see the elimination of the practice of bringing on out-of-state arbitrators to settle contract disputes. "We've got competent people in this state who can act as a neutral arbitrator."

Polisena also explained that a change in how state mandates work — turning them them into enabling legislation and giving cities and towns the right to decide how, or whether, to implement them — could provide the additional funding that all of the local pension systems need.

"That's what killing the cities and towns — the mandates that have been placed on them over the years by the General Assembly, and the administrative rules and regulations," said Polisena. "So unless they stop that, we're spinning our wheels."

Johnston currently spends $1.8 million — about half of its total busing costs — to transport students to private and parochial schools, Polisena noted as one example of state mandates.

"We could take that money and put it into the pension system," the mayor said. "I think they need to let the [local officials] run their towns. There's too much Big Brother-ism and Big Sister-ism, if you will, at the State House."

Polisena explained he thinks it's too early to predict the new commission's success.

"I won't get a feel of what we're going to do until after the first two or three meetings, then I'll have a rough idea whether I'm wasting the calories of my tongue flapping back and forth with these people, or whether they mean business," Polisena said. "I'm on the committee to get something done; the money's going to run out — what happens to the people who never got to collect their pensions, and to the taxpayers who have to pay these pensions?"