Providence Teachers Union Responds to Mayor Cicilline's Call for Shared Sacrifice

Teachers agree to same framework as Local 1033 contract with 15% co-share for health insurance and wage freeze for FY 2010

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Mayor David N. Cicilline today thanked the Providence Teachers Union for coming forward with important contract concessions in light of the statewide financial crisis and the Mayor’s call for shared sacrifice. Mayor Cicilline has called on all City unions to make similar concessions to help prevent the kind of local fiscal crisis playing out in other towns and school districts.

The change in health care co-share will save the city $1.5 million every year. Under the tentative agreement, which covers fiscal years 2008-2010, teachers accepted a wage freeze for 2010. For the two years that have already elapsed, teachers will be compensated a 1.5% wage increase per year – significantly below the rate of inflation.  Providence teachers are in the State of Rhode Island pension system.  The tentative pact, which was approved by the PTU 947 to 73 (with 4 abstentions), now goes before the School Board for consideration.

“When the consequences of the national recession and the State budget crisis became clear, I called on all Providence stakeholders to step forward for our overburdened property taxpayers, and that’s exactly what the Providence Teachers Union has done,” said Mayor David N. Cicilline. “I thank our teachers and PTU President Steve Smith for heeding the call of shared sacrifice in these tough times.”

“This was a tough vote in tough economic times," said Steve Smith, President of the Providence Teachers Union.  “Our dedicated teachers, who work hard on behalf of our children every day in our schools, have done their part again.”

“This agreement is a show of good faith on the part of both the district and the teachers; it is an encouraging step forward toward our mutual goal of arriving at a long-term contract that will champion student achievement, support system reform, and reward professionalism in education,” said Tom Brady, Superintendent of Providence Schools.

The Mayor has implemented similar modifications to the benefits received by non-union employees including an increase in their health insurance co-pay to 20% effective July 1, 2009. They have also been directed to take furlough days in FY 2010 as they did in FY 2009.  The Mayor stressed the importance of implementing similar structural reforms in contracts with the City’s other unions as the only way of avoiding a financial meltdown.

Mayor Cicilline has vowed to do everything in his power to prevent a tax increase for local property taxpayers, whom he believes already pay an excessive share for City services. His efforts have included the elimination of 445 positions, the enactment of consolidation and efficiency measures, standing firm in his push for health care, pension, and personnel deployment reform, and seeking revenue outside of the property tax base, including additional contributions from the City’s large tax-exempt institutions.

Impact of State budget cuts on taxpayers
Despite the Mayor’s efforts to protect taxpayers from carrying an unfair burden, action taken by the Rhode Island House on the following budget items could have a devastating impact on taxpayers:

- Eliminated all General Revenue Sharing, funds that are intended to go back to cities and towns to offset property tax
- Preserved tax cuts for the wealthiest Rhode Islanders by refusing to freeze the flat tax
- Failed to free cities and towns from costly mandates or provide the tools necessary to reduce costs in local government 
- Cut education funding
- Allowed supplanting of federal education dollars by preventing the those resources from reaching their intended destination: our children and their classrooms

“Every budget is a collection of decisions that test priorities,” said Mayor Cicilline.  “The legislature’s actions do not reflect the priorities of average Rhode Islanders, the taxpayers who will pay the bill because of those decisions.”

 

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Mayor Cicilline Joins Local Artists to Kick Off Summer Festivities in Providence
Drummers, dancers and singers provide musical preview of what’s in store for Celebrate Providence: 2009 Summer Arts & Cultural Festivities

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Providence neighborhoods will be filled with music, live theater and performing arts this summer as Celebrate Providence gets underway.  Mayor David N. Cicilline joined Providence Black Repertory Company Artistic Director Donald W. King and local artists to kick off the 2009 summer season with a mini parade through Brown Street Park and a live gospel concert.

“Thanks to our talented artists and strong arts and culture organizations, Providence, the Creative Capital, is becoming well known throughout the northeast as a vibrant and dynamic tourist destination,” said Mayor Cicilline.  “This summer promises to have something for everyone, from live opera and big band music to live theater and dancing in the streets during Sound Session.” 

The 2009 City-sponsored programming includes Sound Session, a weeklong multi-stage festival that draws performers from all over the world and attracts thousands of people to downtown Providence; the award-winning Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative and the Friday Night Concert Series at Waterplace Park.

“SoundSession is a community-wide celebration that just keeps getting better thanks to our strong collaboration with the City’s Department of Art, Culture and Tourism, generous corporate support and the vibrancy of our city that embraces individual expression and cultural diversity,” said King.  “Sound Session brings together people from all walks of life and fosters a strong sense of connectedness long after the festival ends.”

“Celebrate Providence Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative and Sound Session have a tremendous impact on our neighborhood and it’s a privilege to take part in these events,” said Wendy Nilsson, Co-chair, Friends of Brown Street Park.  “This park will be filled with families, groups of seniors, college students and children all dancing, grooving and enjoying the synergy of our thriving arts and cultural community.”
 
Major sponsors for this years summer festivities include Bank RI, CW28, WBRU, Providence Tourism Council, Providence Economic Development Partnership (PEDP) and the Providence Phoenix.

“Bank RI is thrilled to continue its support of Sound Session, an event that brings people together from all over our state and celebrates diversity,” said Steven M. Parente, Senior Vice President & Director of Retail Banking, Bank RI.

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The lineup for Celebrate Providence: 2009 Summer Arts & Cultural Festivities is as follows: Celebrate Providence! Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative/July 1 – August 18 brings music, dance and theater into neighborhood parks throughout Providence. All events are free to the public.

Live music that reflects the cultural & ethnic diversity of the neighborhood in St. Johns Park on Atwells Avenue – July 1,8,15,22,29 and August 5 from 6:30 – 8pm.  Performers include Dominic DiPasquale, Italian tenor who will be accompanied by Bill Moretti, Ron Murray and others; Stephanie Piraino, soprano; Timothy Steele performing Cole Porter; the Greg Wardson Quartet and much more.

Opera Providence in Hopkins Square Park (intersection of Charles Street and Branch Avenue) – July 5,12,19 & 26 beginning at 5pm.  Features exceptional talent from around the region under the direction of Timothy Steele and is accompanied by Jean Anderson Collier, Michelle Beaton and Timothy Steele on piano.

RPM Voices, Rooted Soul & Flambeau Works in Burnside Park (adjacent to the Bank of America City Center).  RPM Voices will perform gospel music on July 8 at 12pm and the Providence Black Repertory Company will present Rooted Soul from 5pm – 7pm.  Flambeau Works featuring a steel pan will perform on July 9 from 5pm – 7pm.

Night Life Orchestra, RPM Voices, Symmetry, Below the Roots and films at Dexter Training Grounds every Thursday sponsored by the West Broadway Neighborhood Association.  Night Life Orchestra will perform big band music on July 2 at 6pm.; RPM Voices will perform on July 9 at 6pm; Symmetry will perform on July 16 at 6pm; Below the Roots, the Bob Marley Tribute Band, will perform on July 23 at 6pm and Film At Dusk will be shown in association with the Rhode Island International Film Festival July 30 through August 13.

Live performances at Fargnoli Park in Elmhurst every Tuesday at 6pm sponsored by Friends of Elmhurst.  Performers will include Stephen Plaumbo on July 14, Cobra Mantics on July 21, Infusion Experience on July 28, the Complaints on August 4, the Gnomes on August 11 and the End of the Summer Fete with the Big Nazo Puppets on August 18.

Live performances at Brown Street Park every other Monday at 5pm.  Performances include Infusion Experience on July 6; Magnolia, a Cajun band, on July 20; Zili on August 3 and Superchief Trio on August 17.

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Sound Session – New England’s premier genre-defying summer music festival featuring musicians from around the world/July 5 - 11

The weeklong, multi-stage festival will feature performances at venues across the city, including The Providence Black Repertory’s Xxodus Café, and outdoor Main Stages at Kennedy Plaza’s Skating Center, the Back Lot Stage behind Black Rep, the Westminster Street stage, and Bank RI’s Main Stage at Waterplace Park.

Sound Session ‘09 will feature brass bands, Reggae artists, Jazz, R & B, and Hip-Hop with
headlining acts such as Chilean jazz vocalist Claudia Acuna, Dance Music pioneer Wumni, and Trinidadian-based percussion ensemble Village Drums of Freedom.   Fat Joe, a popular hip hop artist from the South Bronx, is also on the lineup along with a roster of local and national up-and-coming talents, who competed in Sound Session Sound Search, a weekly competition held every Thursday night at Black Rep.

Sound Session culminates with a carnival-style parade on July 11 that will weave through the streets of downtown Providence.  This year’s parade will be dedicated to the Native American Tribal Nations of New England. 

Sound Session expands this year with over 50 participating venues including restaurants, hotels and businesses that will be presenting music all week long.
For more information, visit www.providencesoundsession.com.

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Friday Night Waterplace Park Concert Series – free outdoor concerts at WaterPlace Park/July 17 – August 14

July 17, Santa Mamba, a complex fusing of musical styles, kicks off the Friday Night Concert Series at Waterplace Park. Elements of rock, salsa, funk, rumba, jazz, merengue, bachata, bolero and hip-hop can be heard in their music.

July 24, Celtic act Pendragon takes the stage. Having embraced New England’s rich tradition of Celtic-inspired music, Pendragon has created a timeless sound of its own, performing roots music with an unmistakable contemporary edge. Pendragon's music celebrates the lives and lore of generations of New Englanders who brought traditions from Ireland, Scotland, French Canada and other distant shores to the banks of the Blackstone River.

July 31, alternative rockers Route .44 come to Waterplace Park. These eight unique personalities define their own genre of music by blues, jazz, folk, rock and country into a cohesive sound.

August 7, Cajun sensation Magnolia takes the stage. For twenty years, Magnolia has been New England's hometown Cajun band. Playing high-energy two-steps and sultry waltzes, the band's twin fiddles, accordion, guitar, bass and rich vocals keep the audience on its feet.

August 14, local Cape Verdean legend Zérui De Pina closes out the series. Playing since age ten, Zérui has enchanted audiences from Providence to the Hollywood Bowl with captivating melodies of the Cape Verde Islands.

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Providence Artists to Unveil Cultural Plan to Strengthen City's $112 Million Arts & Cultural Economy
Mayor Cicilline to join artists, business and civic leaders to share details of important economic tool on Friday, June 26 at noon

Mayor David N. Cicilline will join local artists, business and civic leaders to unveil Creative Providence: A Cultural Plan for the Creative Sector on Friday, June 26 at noon in the ballroom of Hotel Providence, 311 Westminster Street.

The cultural plan is designed to strengthen Providence’s position as a leading arts and cultural destination, an industry that generates nearly $112 million in annual economic activity.  The Cultural Plan, which sets strategic priorities for the community, takes on added significance during these challenging economic times when resources are scarce.
 
Creative Providence: A Cultural Plan for the Capital City is the result of a collaborative nine-month planning effort designed to align resources and build upon the strengths of the creative economy. The planning process explored how the city’s creative community is uniquely positioned to address community-wide challenges in the area of education, economic development and neighborhood revitalization. 

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Fireworks & Live Music to Take Center Stage in Providence on July 4th

 

Mayor David N. Cicilline announced today that the City of Providence and the Providence Tourism Council will sponsor an Independence Day Celebration on July 4th at India Point Park which will include performances by Providence’s own RPM Voices, The Carlos de León Band and a spectacular fireworks display at (approximately 9:15 pm). 

The Independence Day Celebration will kick off at 7:30pm with a performance by RPM Voices, a community choral group with members ranging in age from 13 to 94.  The group will present a program of inspirational and patriotic songs. 

The Carlos de León Band takes center stage at 8:15pm.  Trumpet player Carlos de León fuses the music of his native Dominican Republic with the sounds of Cuba, Brazil, and Puerto Rico to create jazz, salsa, and samba.  With his clear sense of history, the Latin jazz master nurtures the Afro-Latino connection with a variety of cultures in his music.  

The celebration will end in traditional Independence Day style, with a fireworks display lighting up the sky above India Point Park at dark (approximately 9:15 pm). 

The Independence Day concerts and fireworks in India Point Park on July 4th are free and open to the public.  The event is presented and sponsored by Mayor David N. Cicilline, the Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, the Providence Parks Department, and the Providence Tourism Council. 

 

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Feature: My City
RPM Voices Belt Out a World Tune
  

In spite of a string of rainy days, summer is officially here! Soon, neighbors and visitors will flock to the city’s neighborhood parks and downtown venues to enjoy a whole series of exciting summer cultural and musical events in the Creative Capital.  The lineup this year is bigger than ever – from the

neighborhood performing arts programs, to the summer concerts at Waterplace Park, to next weekend’s 4th of July fireworks at India Point Park, and of course,

Sound Session – Providence is getting set to bring out the best local talent there is once more.

Warming up their pipes for multiple appearances this summer is local choir, RPM Voices, led by director Dr. Clarice LaVerne Thompson.  Thanks to a grant through the city’s  Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative, Thompson and choir is making a series of first public performances throughout Providence’s neighborhoods and listeners can finally hum along to the group’s eclectic stylings.  From traditional gospel music borne out of the African-American tradition to the hymnals from various world cultures, by design, the voices of RPM span the globe.  Everyone is invited to bring along the music of their culture and no one is ever turned away. 

 

Thompson, an adjunct lecturer at Brown, met up with City News this week at her academic headquarters at Rites & Reasons Theater for a sound check on this genre-defying musical choir. 

 

Why did you form this choir?
I formed the choir because I had several students who came up to me, had heard me perform and sing, and they wanted to know how they could study voice with me.  Well, I wasn’t here to teach voice.  I was teaching African-American folk tradition and cultural expressions.  I was doing a songwriting type course that is wrapped around the RPM method.  Eventually, out of all those requests, I did develop a vocal performance piece.  I just remember from my own personal traditions, having done voice lessons and the like, that the best training that I got was from singing in a choir.  There’s a group type of training that happens in a choir because you have your choir director, musicians, and your co-singers working right along with you.  You learn so much from each other. 

 

So since then has the choir expanded beyond the Brown community?
It always has.  When the first choir assembled, there were several Brown students.  There were some Brown staff and faculty that also participated.  But we always, from the very beginning, had members from outside the Brown community.  That was one of the missions of Rites & Reason and George Bass that it was important to him that the community be entrenched in his work and in the work that he guided the students to do here. 

 

What makes the musical stylings of RPM different from other choirs?

It’s not just gospel.  I really do try to do a broad representation of music.  But I also know that the members of my choir and the people who come to sing with us look forward to the type of music that has an inspirational or spiritual connection. This year we’re going to do some new things though.  We’re going to do some patriotic and nationalistic type of music.  Most of the music we’ve done in the past, albeit inspirational or gospel or spiritual, has been

out of the African-American tradition.  So we’re going to look into some other traditions.  We’re going to look into some Jewish music.  We have several Jewish singers who come because they love to sing gospel.  But I’ve said to them, ‘we’re going to sing your music, too’. 

 

We’re going to add some things to our repertoire this year and expand out and branch out.  I’m always looking for other communities to come and join us.  I can easily say, ‘we’re going to do this song because it’s a Russian song, or we’re doing this song because it’s an Italian song,’ but I prefer it when members of those communities come and join us and bring those songs to us and help us learn them from the traditions that they have always known.  It brings a different type of genuine feel to the music. 

 

This summer the choir is making a number of appearances throughout the city.  In addition to garnering a neighborhood performing arts grant from the city to perform at various locations around Providence, you are also performing at the 4th of July celebration, and at Sound Session’s Gospel Brunch.  What’s the most enjoyable part of these citywide events for you and your choir?

For me, for the fourth of July, it’s being able to have VIP seating! I can see the fireworks.  As a choir, we started as a workshop because people wanted to take voice lessons.  It wasn’t really a performing group to begin with.  It was really a teaching and learning group.  But I believe that if we spend the time learning a whole bunch of stuff, we should at least take an opportunity to perform it, if it’s nothing but a recital.  So that’s how the performance portion of the RPM came about.  After we go through this intensive workshop then we perform it. 

 

We used to do the performances right here at Rites & Reason.  We did that for several years and then we got the call from Black Rep to be a part of the Sound Session Gospel Brunch back in 2007.  So this is our 3rd year at gospel brunch.  The members of the choir have come back to me and said, ‘can’t we do more? We do the gospel brunch and then I don’t see you again ‘til the next year!” That is what prompted me to write for the grant and look at other opportunities and other ways to do some more performances. 

 

From a musician and artist’s perspective, why do you think events like Sound Session attract such broad crowds?

I really have to tip my hat off to Don King because I know just from knowing him personally that he loves music and he loves all types of music.  He does his very best to embrace all of it.  When you run an establishment like Black Rep, you can easily get bubbled into what’s contemporary, or what’s hip and happenin’ at the time, because that’s what’s going to keep the people coming through your doors.  So for him to be able to step out and say, ‘I know what people are coming through the doors for every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night,’ but also acknowledge that there’s still a population out there who want to hear a certain type of music is a good thing.

 

Doing a gospel brunch and offering that space to present spiritual and gospel music is broadening the whole arts experience for people.  And like I said, with RPM music, we don’t just want to do your traditional gospel.  We want to do some contemporary gospel.  We want to do some old school gospel.  We want to sing some spirituals and we want to sing some anthem-type stuff.  It really does make a difference – not just for the people who come and see us, but also for the people who are in the group.  Over the last six years, I’ve had over 100 people sing for the choir.  Probably the largest group I’ve had at any one time was 55.  I have students who have graduated and who will still find a w ay to take this upcoming week for our workshops as a vacation week from work or school to come here and be with us.  That’s really a beautiful thing.

 

Do you select all the music for the group?
It’s a collective – myself, another guy I went to school with Delbert Collins, and Chester Eugene Williams, one of my assistant choral directors.  What I’ve done this year is reach out to a couple of other people – like I said I wanted to do some Jewish music this year – so there’s a young woman by the name of Shelly Cash who plays for a Kletzma band locally.  Primarily, most of it does come from songs that I want to tap into.  I might even write an arrangement for something.

 

From where do you get your musical inspiration?
I started singing when I was 3 years old in the children’s choir at my church, Messiah Baptist Church in Yonkers, New York.  I started playing clarinet when I was nine.  I studied music in high school and played all-city and all-state band.  I got all my degrees in music.  Music is in me.  But I guess if there were one person I could say that inspires me, one person who I would just sit at his feet if I could, it would be Quincy Jones.  I’ve always had a great admiration from his work.  I get inspiration from dozens of people but I’ve always admired the work that he did in the 70s and 80s.

 

How does one become a member of the RPM choir?

Just show up.  Send me an email and let me know you’re coming.  We’re going to do our workshop starting this Sunday from 3:00 to 7:00.  We’ll be at Rites & Reasons for six days.  Weeknights will be from 6:00 to 9:00 and towards the end of the week we’ll extend it to 10:00. I like to do that weeklong intensive workshop because it keeps people focused.  I don’t like people to have too much time to watch tv or something like that.  I want them to get up every morning humming and singing their songs and knowing that they’ll be driving in the car by 5 pm on their way here. 

 

So people without any musical training whatsoever can just show up?

They can come.  Anyone who wants to come is invited.  If it’s really that unbearable, we’ll find something else for them to do because I won’t turn anyone away! You know what, we’re a really loving group.  Everybody will do everything they can to make everyone comfortable and make everyone feel like their contribution is important. 

 

What do you want listeners to come away with after they’ve seen an RPM performance?

I want them to come and join the choir! I want them to come to the next workshop and be with us! If they don’t want to come and sing, I hope they’ll be our ambassadors and go out there and cheer.  We’re like a family.  We really are.  So sometimes we have to remember to focus because we have so much fun in the fellowship of it all.  Anybody who sees the group I hope will be able to come back and say, ‘how can my community and I become a part of this phenomenon?’  I want them to ask themselves, ‘how can I create something like this in my neighborhood?’

 

What I’d like to see happen is a workshop in every community throughout the city and build it in a way that is representative of what that community is and who resides in it.  Then in the end maybe we can combine those communities together. 

 

For more, go to www.rpmvoices.com or http://www.claricelavernethompson.com/.  For the complete SoundSession lineup go to www.providencesoundsession.com.  RPM Voices is performing at:

 

July 4 - City of Providence 4th of July Celebration @ India Point Park (evening)
July 5 - Sound Session Gospel Brunch @ Black Rep (2 shows-10:30 & 2 PM)
July 8 - Burnside Park (12 noon)
July 9 - Dexter Training Grounds (6 PM)

  
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