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February 8, 2008

Five-and-half towns into one? Welcome to 'Westconnaug'

It would give birth to the biggest town in the littlest state.

A Coventry lawmaker wants Exeter, West Greenwich, Foster, Scituate, Glocester and western Coventry to become one -- a land called "Westconnaug."

That would be pronounced West-ka-nog, according to state Rep. Nicholas Gorham, R-Coventry, who says he is prepared to introduce an act "to dramatically bring the towns of western Rhode Island into the 21st Century."

Gorham said in an interview that he is serious about introducing the legislation and said the bill in draft form -- the form in which bills appear on the General Assembly's Web site -- could be drafted by Tuesday and available mid-week.

If the voters of the proposed new town voted in favor of the act at the 2008 general election, "Westconnaug would come into existence on July 1, 2009."

The towns of western Rhode Island were created, Gorham says, "in a time when travel was by horse and limited areas could be served by town government. Those days are past. There are tremendous advantages to consolidation of services -- not just in money saved by the elimination of duplicate departments, but in professional and efficient government."

Gorham would give Westconnaug a seven-member town council with an appointed town administrator and a five-member school committee appointed by the council. There would be a single superintendent instead of six now, and there'd be one administrative staff.

"There would be one Police Department with one Chief of Police. There would be one Public Works Department with one Director of Public Works," he says in his press release. "Westconnaug’s office and town hall functions would be combined into a single town hall with a single Town Clerk."

Gorham says the proposal does not affect current fire and rescue services -- separate volunteer companies and fire districts would remain.

"This is an act whose time has come," he says.

A little more than a week ago, Gorham -- known to speak out colorfully on the House floor during legislative debates -- was escorted from Coventry Town Hall by two police officers at a meeting of the Town Council, School Committee and legislative delegation that turned into a shouting match.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with Journal archival reports

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:54 PM | Permalink

Comments

A brillant idea, now if we could only get the other cities and town to do the same.

Bill | February 8, 2008 5:26 PM link

is it going to have a killer rabbit on its flag?

steve | February 8, 2008 8:21 PM link

This is an idea whose time has come. At a time when Rhode Island is struggling financially we all need to make sacrifices, and this includes the government. We should start with streamlining the education system by merging all school boards in the state into one. I dont see why cities and towns dont do a better job at sharing resources. crime, poverty and traffic in one area will affect another, so why not pool our resources?

Nelson | February 9, 2008 4:06 AM link

This will be a project to watch as the turf protection issue floats to the top and the "them and us" attitudes begin to develop. The powers to be will show their true colors as this legislative attempt begins. I'll enjoy the entertainment.

Bill Potter | February 10, 2008 10:16 AM link

This might be a good idea, and it might not. There are no figures to support the proposal.
I would want to see, for example, how one Town Clerk can do the work of five and a half. Are you saying that each town clerk only has about 7 hours of work to do each week? If so, then they are indeed being overpaid today! If not, more people will have to be hired to do the work, anyway, except the others will likely be lower-paid peons, while the Big Kahuna will be some politically-connected hack.
Oh sorry. I get it now.

West Sider | February 11, 2008 11:04 AM link

This shouldn't pass unless every one of the five towns populations votes to approve it. No mandating it from the state level.

janet | February 11, 2008 12:23 PM link

Instead of trying to combine towns, why not have county governments.

m | February 11, 2008 2:14 PM link

February 8, 2008

Five-and-half towns into one? Welcome to 'Westconnaug'

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