08/14/2002

BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writer

As the result of a 1994 constitutional amendment, the General Assembly is undergoing a historic downsizing that coincides with this year's redistricting process. The House is shrinking from 100 to 75 members, while the Senate is shrinking from 50 to 38 members. The new maps have spurred lawsuits, pitted incumbents against each other and convinced some lawmakers to move or seek other seats. In the weeks ahead, The Journal will profile some of the races that will shape the new Assembly.

PROVIDENCE -- All of the political energy and intrigue, all of the venom and sadness of General Assembly redistricting and downsizing are most concentrated and most evident on the South Side of Providence this year.

There, amid a melting pot of blacks and whites, Asians and Hispanics, a new state Senate map has spawned two federal lawsuits and an unprecedented primary that pits Rhode Island's first and only black senator against a man who, two years ago, came within 100 votes of becoming Rhode Island's first and only Hispanic senator.

Sen. Charles D. Walton will take on Juan M. Pichardo in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary. The winner will square off against independent candidates Pedro J. Espinal and Rochelle Bates Lee, as well as Republican Yvon Chancy, in the Nov. 5 general election. The victor will go on to represent new Senate District 2, which spans all of Washington Park and most of South Providence and Elmwood.

Only one other Assembly race has attracted five candidates, and no other Assembly district has spurred litigation.

Critics decry the new district, accusing Senate leaders of pitting blacks against Hispanics to protect favored white incumbents in other parts of Providence. Senate leaders vehemently deny that accusation, saying downsizing forced them to make a lot of difficult decisions, but that they took pains to protect the interests of Providence's minority voters.

The debate is most pointed and passionate between Walton and Senate Majority Leader William V. Irons, D-East Providence.

"Irons should know better," Walton said, noting he and Irons were first elected in a 1983 special election, which was required because a Senate redistricting plan was deemed a gerrymander and tossed out by the courts.

"It's racial gerrymandering," Walton said of the latest Senate map. "What the leadership did was go in there with a meat cleaver and chop up minority interests in the South Side, Elmwood and the West End sections of the city."

Walton accused Senate leaders of drawing the map to protect two white Providence incumbents -- Sen. Frank T. Caprio and Sen. David V. Igliozzi -- and to avoid changes in Irons's East Providence constituent base. Walton said the leadership's alleged strategy is particularly galling because Igliozzi has since decided to run for mayor, and Irons has since clashed with Caprio and removed him as Finance Committee chairman.

"The Senate leadership has pitted neighborhood versus neighborhood and -- potentially -- racial group against racial group," Walton said. "That's the sad part of this whole thing. It didn't have to happen this way."

Irons bristled at Walton's remarks, accusing him of using "inflammatory rhetoric" and saying, "It's disgusting for him to say it's racial gerrymandering."

Irons said he can understand being upset about new district borders, because he was given an unfavorable district in the last redistricting plan. "But I didn't go to the press and accuse people of trying to cut my legs off," he said. "I went out and got reelected."

Irons noted the plaintiffs in one redistricting lawsuit have said they are not alleging "discriminatory intent" in the Senate map. The fact is, he said, that Providence's Hispanic population has grown rapidly over the past decade while many black residents have moved out of urban neighborhoods. "And that had nothing to do with Bill Irons," he said.

With downsizing, Senate districts had to grow by 25 percent, Irons said, and that resulted in some agonizing decisions, such as putting two members of the Senate leadership team in the same district -- Sen. Maryellen Goodwin and Sen. Catherine E. Graziano.

To avoid diluting minority concentrations, the Senate kept most Providence districts wholly within city borders, helping to create four majority-minority districts, Irons said. Igliozzi wanted to extend his district into Cranston, he said, "but we wouldn't let him do it because you'd dilute minority populations."

Irons said that when he became majority leader two years ago, he asked Walton to be the deputy majority leader in charge of minority issues. "But he wouldn't take it," Irons said. "He said, 'What happens if I lose an issue? They'll blame me.' " The redistricting situation might be different, Irons suggested, if Walton "took the responsibility that I tried to give him."

Walton said he had a "philosophical opposition" to the title offered by Irons. "That shows white leaders would prefer to have one minority person deal with all the minority issues they don't want to deal with," he said, noting he'd been Senate president pro tempore under the prior leadership.

Darrell M. West, Brown University political science professor, described the District 2 Senate race as "zero-sum politics" for minorities, saying, "It's pitting Latinos versus African-Americans, so it's a very sad situation." But he said he doubts the lawsuits will overturn the Senate map because "with redistricting and downsizing, there really were no optimal solutions satisfying all the objectives."

H. Philip West Jr., executive director of Common Cause of Rhode Island and no relation to the professor, argued that much better solutions were available, but ignored.

West gave Senate leaders credit for keeping Providence districts within city borders -- something his watchdog group espoused. But he criticized them for lumping minority groups together to create the four majority-minority districts. "Counting all minorities as one is an illusion," he said. "It not only misrepresents the facts on the street, it also creates a hurt in a community that is already deeply hurt."

West, who lives in Elmwood, said Senate leaders "beheaded" Walton's former district, putting part of South Providence in a district that includes Federal Hill and Caprio's residence. At the same time, Senate leaders stuck Walton in a district that includes much of Elmwood and heavy concentrations of Hispanic residents. As a result, black voters could be "stripped of the only representation they have ever had in the state Senate," he said.

"African-Americans deserve a chance to elect someone that looks like them and to maintain some sense of empowerment, and Latinos deserve to be empowered," West said. "But it's an either/or scenario."

That scenario is just becoming clear to some voters.

As he campaigned door-to-door the other day, Pichardo approached a home in Washington Park. A Walton campaign sign was planted in the front yard, but Jose Hernandez emerged from the front door and greeted Pichardo warmly. Hernandez said he had not realized Walton and Pichardo were running against each other. "We thought we would be able to vote for both of them," he said.

"We know Senator Walton, and he's done a very good job," Hernandez said. But he said he supports Pichardo, a fellow Dominican Republic native whom he has known since the eighth grade. "We are really proud of Juan," he said. "He's very sincere. He speaks the language. And he's a young person -- a new generation of political leaders."

Walton went door-to-door in the Elmwood neighborhood yesterday along with state Rep. Leon F. Tejada, D-Providence, who is Hispanic, and City Councilwoman Patricia K. Nolan, who is white. The three have formed a coalition. "We are not going to kowtow to the Senate leadership and others who would pit our neighborhoods against each other," Walton said. "We are going to work together and show people you can have unity."

Tejada, also a Dominican Republic native, said he is supporting Walton because of his community involvement and because Walton is a "champion of education." He credited Walton with being one of the leading advocates for bringing the Community College of Rhode Island campus back to Providence. Walton is now CCRI's special programs director.

Pichardo, who is going door-to-door with Nigerian native Julius Kolawole, a campaign volunteer, said he doubts the Walton-Tejada-Nolan coalition will last long.

Pichardo said many people in the district desire a change in leadership. "Going door-to-door, I hear people saying, 'I don't know who my state senator is' because they haven't seen him," he said, referring to Walton. "I will be more accessible and present in the neighborhoods."

Walton called Pichardo's criticism "frivolous." He noted he has never represented part of the new district, and said, "People have no clue the hours you put in as a part-time legislator."

Pichardo says his community involvement shows he can provide the needed leadership. He is, for example, former president of the Elmwood Foundation, former president of Quisqueya in Action and a board member of the former Oasis Community Development Federal Credit Union.

Walton says his legislative records shows that he is already providing the required leadership. For example, he sponsored the 1986 Abandoned Property Act, which allows nonprofit agencies to take over abandoned properties. He helped create an arson prevention program and has repeatedly fought for increases in the state's minimum wage.

"[Pichardo] wants change, but change for what?" Walton said. "You are going to have someone up there struggling for the next five to six years to figure out the legislative process."

Walton is the endorsed Democrat, but he accused Senate leaders of trying to steer the endorsement to Pichardo. He said Irons recommended a five-member Democratic district committee that included three of Pichardo's nominees and two of his. Walton said he only ended up with the endorsement because one of the women Pichardo nominated was a friend "who understood my track record" and ended up voting for Walton.

"Pichardo tried to grab the endorsement and get in bed with the person who tried to do this to us," Walton said. "The same damn people who have racially split our community and diluted our ability to elect more than one minority candidate to the Senate."

Pichardo said the fact that Senate leaders chose three of his nominees "shows the credibility of my campaign." He said, "[Walton] should have worked very hard and had more standing in the Senate so this redistricting didn't affect us as much. It shows how effective he was in that whole process."

Walton said he fought hard against the Senate map -- submitting proposed amendments and helping to coordinate one of the redistricting lawsuits.

Walton said he encouraged Pichardo to get involved in the community and backed his last bid for Senate. But he said Pichardo "has failed to understand you never run against your mentor."

Pichardo said Walton has never been his mentor. "He's a person I respected who encouraged people to get involved and make a difference," he said. "And that's what I'm doing."

THE NEW SENATE DISTRICT 2

Five candidates are running in the new state Senate district in Providence that includes all of Washington Park and most of Elmwood and South Providence:

Sen. Charles D. Walton, 54, of 82 Homer St., has been Rhode Island's only black state senator for 18 years and is running in the Democratic primary Sept. 10. He has worked at Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island for 24 years and is now CCRI's director of special programs. He graduated from Shaw University in North Carolina and received a master's degree in international education from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He is married and has a son. He said he has not decided whom to support for mayor and is "leaning toward" Democrat Myrth York for governor.

Juan M. Pichardo, 35, of 229 Atlantic Ave., narrowly lost a state Senate race two years ago and is running in the Democratic primary Sept. 10. He has worked at Rhode Island Hospital for 15 years, including 10 years as a patient advocate and now as a patient registrar. He graduated from the Community College of Rhode Island and is pursuing a political-science degree at Rhode Island College. He is a member of the Rhode Island Air National Guard. He is married and has two children. He supports Democrat David N. Cicilline for mayor and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse for governor.

Yvon Chancy, 59, of 100 Carr St., is a Republican running in the Nov. 5 general election. He works as a behavior therapist at St. Mary's Home for Children in North Providence and is a part-time insurance agent. He graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in business data processing. He is married and together he and his wife have nine children. He supports Republican David B. Talan for mayor and Republican Donald L. Carcieri for governor.

Pedro J. Espinal, 37, of 162 Verndale Ave., is running as an independent candidate in the Nov. 5 general election. He is chairman of Direct Action for Rights & Equality and the South Side Broad Street Committee. He is a real-estate investor with 11 apartment buildings in Providence. He completed a one-year program at the Modern School of Business and has a semester to go for a social-science degree from the University of Rhode Island. He is married and has three children. He supports Democrat David N. Cicilline for mayor and Democrat Myrth York for governor.

Rochelle Bates Lee, 51, of 172 Ontario St., is running as an independent candidate in the Nov. 5 general election. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Boston and has a master's degree in African-American studies from Boston University, as well as a master's degree in regional and city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has worked on affordable-housing development since 1984. She worked seven years for the Local Initiative Support Corporation and two years for the affiliated National Equity Fund before being laid off this year. She is single. She supports Democrat David N. Cicilline for mayor and Democrat Myrth York for governor.