Barroso

WOONSOCKET — Finding ways to combat a faltering economy and fighting to keep Landmark Medical Center open are among the issues on the minds of six candidates vying in the Democratic primary race for House District 51.

Christopher Fierro, 28, a research specialist for New England Carpenters Labor Management Program, says his family enjoys a rare tradition in Woonsocket. His family is the fourth generation to live in the same neighborhood. His three children can cross over from their parents’ yard to their great uncle’s yard to their great grandparents’ house. But a family’s ability to stay in the same neighborhood has been fading as jobs have steadily left the state, he says.

As a representative for House 51, Fierro, of 137 Ridge Rd., said he wants to work on a plan to bring manufacturing jobs to Rhode Island. “It is a tall order. I’m not telling anyone I can flip a switch and make the Rhode Island economy better,” he said. But it would be one way to begin to bring economic structure to the state.

Fierro is part of a group, The Green Jobs Alliance, that has been meeting to explore the possibility of making Rhode Island a distribution hub for solar panels and wind turbines. “Somewhere in each of the regions these things will be made in the next 10 to 15 years. If Rhode Island is able to do it we would be able to provide this throughout New England. We need to make Rhode Island strategically placed. We are centrally located. We just need to make it happen,” said Fierro, who received his master’s degree in labor relations from UMass Amherst in 2004.

The Green Jobs Alliance is a group made up of representatives from the labor movement, environmental movements, industry and labor — groups that traditionally do not see eye to eye historically, he said, but “we all stand to benefit.”

Robert D. Phillips, 52, of 325 Dunlap St., said he has helped people all his life so serving as representative was a natural progression.

A graduate of the University of Rhode Island in businesses administration, he said that he would work on bettering the economy and expanding existing industries through incentives. One such industry would be creating alternative energy by harnessing the natural power of the ocean to produce energy or harnessing the wind.

With the many empty mills in the city, “We have the buildings where companies can be housed. You can use the Blackstone River where the falls are as testing grounds for wave power. Maybe we can come up with smaller wind-generating plants,” Phillips said. Phillips works as an assistant manager at a bank. His background in finances will come in handy for working on the state’s budget during the economic crisis, said Phillips.

Another issue that he would give immediate attention to is the fair funding formula for state education. There are communities that have a large burden with social services and special-needs students, he said. A fair funding formula would allow those schools to get their fair share.

Joseph Barroso, 57, of 244 Marshall Rd., said he is running because he is tired of corruption in the General Assembly. He wants to make tougher ethics laws to hold people more accountable. “I decided to run because of all the injustice. Politicians are not being accountable for their actions. A bunch of them have gone to prison for shady deals,” Barroso said.

A Rhode Island state constable who worked as a firefighter and fire marshal for 24 years, Barroso said that he would work to keep the Landmark Medical Center open in Woonsocket. Landmark has been losing money for years. At the end of the last fiscal year it was $7.2 million in debt. The hospital petitioned Superior Court to clear the way for a potential merger with another hospital.

“We have to secure the funding to keep it open.” As a certified EMT who has worked with the Woonsocket rescue, Barroso said having Landmark stay in the city is critical for the elderly and other people who become critical ill and must go to the hospital. “We can get people to the hospital in less than three minutes. For stroke or heart attack victims that is critical,” said Barroso.

A graduate of Woonsocket High School, Barroso is a Vietnam veteran. He is married and has no children.

He said that he would like to get on the committee that will be revising fire codes for the state. “We have enough laws in the existing fire codes. They just needed to be enforced equally,” he said.

Bamby L. Mohamed, 47, of 394 Congress St., a tax associate for CVS, said her work with Family Resources Community Action and other work with the community led her to run for office.

“Working with Family Resources there are a lot of things that get cut. People are having a hard time,” she said.

Mohamed said she was especially taken by the elderly people who she met who told her of their concerns about how they would pay their bills. She would like to increase the homestead exemption for the elderly.

“A lot of those people said ‘the economy is so bad how are we going to pay the heat?’ I am trying to alleviate tax burden on senior citizen who own and occupy their homes,” she said. “I am young I can still go out and work if my tax burden is higher. The elderly no longer have an earning capacity.”

“The elderly here were part of workers in the mills and textile factories. I look at seniors as forefathers. They have paved the way. A lot of them took a back seat to education so they could work,” said Mohamed, a single mother with a teenaged daughter. She is a graduate of URI.

Mohamed, who has not held political office, said she doesn’t have a lot of money to make brochures or for lawn signs. “I don’t have money but I have pride.” Her dining room table is her headquarters.

David E. LaHousse, 47, of 106 Ridge St., owner of Kays Restaurant and The Lodge Pub and Eatery, said he is running because he believes he can make a difference. “I truly believe I can. It doesn’t happen overnight. Some people say you’re too nice a guy maybe it’ll rub off. I want to help some people out. I want to help our elderly people. I want to give them faith that not all politicians think of themselves.”

LaHousse, said he spent a lot of time with former state Sen. Roger Badeau, who was often at Kays. They often talked about the latest events with the legislature.

The Landmark Medical Center is one of his top priorities. The Landmark facility is vital to city residents, residents from northern Rhode Island and neighboring Massachusetts communities, said LaHousse, a father of four. He graduated from Davies Career and Technical High School.

“Its impact on the local and regional community is enormous,” LaHousse said. Landmark is Woonsocket’s second-largest employer. Landmark’s influence is predominant in both community and statewide businesses, providing medical services and creating tax revenues. “As elected officials we do all we can to help Landmark establish solvency and remain a valued resource for northern Rhode Island…”

LaHousse, a father of four, said that he would attempt to lead a coalition of legislators, members of the governor’s staff and administration, medical professionals, health-care experts, specialists in medical finance to bring a resolution to Landmark’s crisis.

Richard A. Picard, 62, of 734 Bound Rd., a teacher at Chariho Regional High School, said he would work with the Department of Labor and Training, private industry, trade unions and local schools to offer adults training classes in multiple trades as are offered to high school students.

With unemployment at an all-time high of 7 percent, many unemployed adults are now looking for employment in a new trade but they don’t have the education and training. The state offers nine career and technical centers and various charter schools that offer education in multiple prominent trades to high school students, Picard said. These same courses could be offered as evening adult classes to the unemployed.

Picard said that all programs would be taught by qualified instructors and funded through the state Department of Labor and Training at no extra cost to local school communities. Picard is a graduate of Bryan College and Rhode Island College. He is a father of three. He is the brother of Sen. Roger Picard, who left the House 51 seat to run for Senate after the death of Sen. Roger Badeau.

Picard favors the Fair Share Education Funding Formula bill, which redistributes the education funding to towns and cities based on wealth of the community, student enrollment and the number of special-education students.

Unlike every other state in the country, Rhode Island has a limited or no funding formula to distribute resources to the school districts which makes distribution inequitable and places heavy burden on tax payer, Picard said.

tpina@projo.com