To the editor:

This March we are asked to vote on the same old referendum items, with emphasis on the University of Rhode Island (URI) and cultural arts and nothing for the senior citizens of Rhode Island.

• Question 1 — $107.3 million. This includes $57.3 million to fund repairs and construct a new facility at URI in support of educational needs for the musical, theatrical, visual and graphic arts disciplines.

• Question 3 — $65 million for affordable housing and community revitalization through the redevelopment of existing structures, new construction, and property acquisition. None of that money has ever made it to Portsmouth  for the revitalization of the senior center and it is scheduled for shutdown in June 2021.

• Question 6 — $7 million for the Cultural Arts and the Economy Grant Program and the State Preservation Grants Program. This is redundant to the $57.3 million under Question 1. It allocates a measly $1 million to cities and towns across Rhode Island to preserve, renovate and improve public and nonprofit sites. Portsmouth won’t see a dime of this money.

• Question 7 — $60 million for industrial facilities infrastructure, with $40 million for the Quonset Development Corporation industrial site development. Why would any company want to bring their business to Rhode Island with taxes and utilities rising every year … with taxes on their equipment and upgrades? It appears we pay businesses to stay in Rhode Island.

Because of the pandemic that is expected to continue through 2022, people will not be attending the Trinity Repertory Theatre (allocated $2.5 million), the R.I. Philharmonic (allocated $1.5 million), museums and other cultural venues (for the balance of $3 million). These funds should be diverted to feeding the hungry and shoring up small businesses. Many of the senior citizens of Portsmouth depend on the lunch program and will not be able to travel to the Middletown Senior Center once the Portsmouth site is shut down.

Senior citizens of Portsmouth: If you don’t use your voice and voting power to demand justice for the poor and elderly, then don’t complain when you lose your rights as a taxpayer. It becomes “taxes without representation.”

Elaine Medeiros

25 East Terrace

Portsmouth

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