Politics by Steve Triedman

Majority Leader Fox faces Republican challenger
House 4 Gordon Fox (Democrat) / Incumbent) vs. David Anderson (Republican)

House District 4 covers the northern half of the East Side – Mt. Hope, Summit and parts of Hope and Blackstone. In one of the few contested elections this season, the race will pit longtime incumbent Gordon Fox, the powerful House Majority Leader, against a newcomer to Rhode Island politics, Republican David Anderson.

With only 140 registered Republicans that ‘consistently vote’ out of 17,000 people, winning the district will clearly be an uphill battle for any Republican candidate. The actual composition of registered voters in the district is over 50% Independent, over 40% Democratic and less than 10% Republicans.

Gordon Fox, Democrat
If all politics is local, Fox has a significant advantage in that he is a lifelong resident of Mt. Hope. First elected in 1992, he has risen through the ranks, serving as head of the powerful Finance Committee, and is now completing his third term as Majority Leader, the number two position in the House. Fox is a well-respected Legislator who is a passionate speaker on many issues and while he is considered a moderate liberal, he is often given credit for bringing together both Conservative and Liberal elements of his party (and, occasionally even a Republican or two).
Locally, Fox is very pleased with his work with the Summit Avenue Neighborhood Association and recently helped them secure a grant to study development on North Main Street. He also is aware of the longtime friction between Summit and Miriam Hospital but feels it’s moving in the right direction. “I think that the hospital is a large institution that provides excellent care and is an asset to the neighborhood; I think that their relationship with the neighbors has improved and will continue to improve,” he explains.

The other issue that he is watching very closely is Nathan Bishop, “where everyone from the State to the City is committed to making it a school where East Siders will want to send their children. Politicians can deliver a building, but the parents are the ones who have to judge and accept the product that is inside. I’ve met the new Superintendent and I am hopeful that he can deliver,” Fox adds.

Fox’s legislative accomplishments constitute a long and extensive record that includes the Affordable Energy Fund, raising minimum wage, new job creation, affordable housing and the legislation that helped fund the expansion of the Rochambeau Branch of the Providence Public Library. He also authored the legislation that banned smoking in nearly all workplaces in RI, including restaurants and bars.

If there is a knock against Fox, it’s his seat on the Providence Licensing Board. “I’ve served on the Licensing Board because I believe that it plays an important role in making sure that businesses are handled fairly and neighbors have their say,” he explains. Asked about the Thayer Street licenses granted by his Board that have been regularly fought by Brown and the College Hill Neighborhood Association, he explains that there are laws that the Board follows. In the most recent case, he points out that 60% of the abutters didn’t object (although it must be added that the CHNA, Brown, the police and almost 40% of the abutters did). Fox’s appointment expires in January and he is unsure whether he will seek reappointment.

David Anderson, Republican
To paraphrase the old joke, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to be a good, hard-working legislator. Well as it turns out Republican challenger, David Anderson, Ph.D. really is a rocket scientist! Employed at Livermore National Laboratory, a premier nuclear weapons design laboratory for the United States, he worked on the Magnetic Fusion Energy Project before taking early retirement. His Ph.D. is in plasma physics and he has been a teacher, a two-time candidate for State Assembly in San Francisco, a Republican party operative and a financial planner. He currently is a consultant providing achievement test analysis services in which state reported “inflated” student proficiencies are mapped to the NAEP scale of the Nation’s Report Card.

Anderson has lived in the District since 2005, (his daughter and grandchildren live here) and while he hasn’t met Fox, nor has he seen the Legislature in session, he accepted the challenge given his commitment to improving the efficiency of local government. His thinking, policies and issues are more global than local. His priorities are education reform, energy and transparency in government.

Anderson’s philosophy is that “the government is adept at spending money, but is generally inept at running things.” He feels Rhode Island provides an almost textbook example of this unfortunate reality.

“The Legislation process should be completely transparent. Bills should be read three times, which will avoid having the majority of the legislation passed during the last 48 hours of the session. In addition, ‘Executive Sessions’ should be greatly reduced,” Anderson explains.

If elected, he would propose that any replacement of the Pawtucket I-95 bridge include a realignment of the highway to eliminate the current “dangerous S curve.” A smaller, less expensive bridge about a mile upstream could be built and “the ‘graft-produced’ ugly zig-zag could be eliminated,” Anderson added. He feels the bridge is symbolic of what is wrong with the way things are done here.

Anderson says he has come to understand the issues and now offers six ways to “fix things.” Specifically, his campaign literature promises to fix education with choice, to fix energy problems with technology, to fix the environment with care, to fix challenged ethics with transparency, and to fix our wallets with lower taxes. And as to his opponent? Anderson hopes to fix him by forcing him into retirement.