• Home
  • About Jim
  • Legislative Actions
  • Photos
  • District 11 Map
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About Jim
  • Legislative Actions
  • Photos
  • District 11 Map
  • Contact
Jim Seveney.com
  • Home
  • About Jim
  • Legislative Actions
  • Photos
  • District 11 Map
  • Contact
Picture




RE-ELECT


James A. Seveney


​Democrat for District 11​

PORTSMOUTH   *   BRISTOL    *  TIVERTON


Dedicated to helping the working families of the East Bay
  • Serving Senator, 2016 - Present
​
  • Married to Valerie 42 years; 2 kids; Sarah, 34 and Matt, 31
​
  • Retired Naval Officer - 21 yrs
​
  • Retired Business Director, Defense Industry – 20 yrs
​
  • School Committee, 2000-2004
​
  • Town Councilor 6-Terms, 2004-2016
​​
  • Education:
    • PHS ‘72;
    • BA - RI College;
    • MS - Naval Postgraduate School;        
    • MBA - Salve Regina University
Integrity * Experience * Service
  • Transparent, ethical Government
​​
  • High Quality Public Education
​
  • Substance Abuse Prevention
​
  • Improved Roads & Bridges
​
  • Preserve our environment
​
  • Small Business & Job Creation
​
  • Stand up for rights of women, workers, all Rhode Islanders

  • Responsiveness to all District 11 constituents


Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required
Note: Please include your employer and address (or "retired") in PayPal.
Connect with Jim
Tweets by JimSeveney
Back to Blog

July 08th, 2018

7/8/2018

 
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

October 26th, 2016

10/26/2016

 
Read More
Back to Blog

Letter to the editor in the Newport Daily News

10/20/2016

 
View on the Newport Daily News site

Sen. Pagliarini represented trucking firm while opposing toll
I am writing to express my concern over my opponent's voting record as our senator this past session. Sen. John Pagliarini boasts in his political ads that he “voted 'no' 109 times,” but doesn't say what it was he was voting against. Let me provide some detail on several of the more significant measures he voted “no” on:

◆ Prohibiting sale of powdered caffeine to minors. It's very toxic, easy to overdose, will kill you, and is available on the internet (S2056).
◆ On-line voter registration (S2513).
◆ Expansion/extension of renewable/alternative energy use (S2152, S2450, S2181, S2185).
◆ Requiring insurance carriers to cover online doctor's appointments (S2756), and to expand prescription drug coverage for life-threatening disease (S2499).
◆ School policy to establish internet filtering processes to protect school children (S2172).
◆ Improve speeding enforcement in school zones using automated systems (S2254).
◆ Prohibit advertising of unhealthy food and beverage products in our schools (S2015).
◆ Establish a domestic violence prevention fund (S2900).

There are numerous other examples of good, commonsense legislation that help people. He voted against them as well, as he boasts. Fortunately, all of these measures passed overwhelmingly.

There is one Pagliarini “no” vote I agree with - the toll on trucks - but for different reasons. I believe there's a better answer in how we allocate and scale fuel fees for large vehicles. Sen. Pagliarinisimply asserts “never tolls” and “cars will be next.” He has never suggested an alternativeplan. One other important point on this issue: Sen. Pagliarini would likely not be able to take any other position because he represents a major trucking-industry client in western Rhode Island, and has for several years - throughout the entire toll debate over the past year, including the Senate session where he voted against S2246A. How do I know? It's public record posted online in West Greenwich Planning Board meeting minutes.

I participated in the candidate forums, attended the Senate hearings and never once heard him disclose this fact.

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe he should have told someone he represents a client with potentially much at stake over this issue. Was this a conflict of interest? I don't know, but I urge everyone to vote “yes” on Question 2 and restore Ethics Commission oversight on the General Assembly.

The Senate District 11 voters have a clear choice on Nov. 8. I believe in representing the interests of our hardworking families, to try to give them a voice in the process.

And I will always act with full transparency in everything.

I don't know who Sen. Pagliarini thinks he's representing, but it isn't us back here in the East Bay.

Jim Seveney, Portsmouth Town Council vice president
The writer is a Democratic candidate for Senate District 11.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

August 20th, 2016

8/20/2016

 
Picture
With Town Planner Gary Crosby at the ribbon cutting for our new wind turbine, Fri 8/19.
1 Comment
Read More
Back to Blog

Letter in this week's Portsmouth Times

6/30/2016

 
To the editor:

Sen. Pagliarini’s letter about Portsmouth’s tax stabilization bill is more than revisionist history — it’s pure fiction. Here’s what really happened. 

In November 2015, the Town Council voted to seek enabling legislation to ensure we could continue our enterprise zone program. When the legislature convened in January, our new senator, Mr. Pagliarini, refused to introduce this bill for the town. In fact he submitted his own bill (S2289) to rescind all local tax incentive programs. Fortunately, Sen. DiPalma from Middletown stepped up and introduced S2268, which was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and scheduled for hearing on Tuesday May 17. 

At that hearing Sen. Pagliarini vehemently opposed any enabling authority for Portsmouth. He latched onto PCC leader Larry Fitzmorris’ bogus legal argument that it would violate the R.I. Constitution for the legislature to authorize any tax exemption program without a local referendum. I had to inform Sen. Pagliarini (a lawyer) that the R.I. Supreme Court rejected that very same legal argument 20 years ago (apparently this was news to him). 

The committee chairman suggested we model our bill on recent legislation passed for other communities. That was fine with us, since the exact form or language wasn’t the point. The committee held the bill so we could make the changes. 
The next day (Wednesday, May 18) our solicitor drafted and emailed Sen. DiPalma a proposed S2268 “SubA” modeled after a 2012 bill passed for West Greenwich. I put this matter on the Monday, May 23 council agenda to approve the SubA. On Friday, May 19, the Senate Finance Committee scheduled S2268 for further hearing on Tuesday, May 24, to consider the SubA. All this happened without involvement from Sen. Pagliarini. He never communicated with the council, as far as we knew he still opposed any enabling legislation. 

At the May 23 council meeting, Sen. Pagliarini, not on the agenda, showed up and tried to hijack the legislation. He presented a draft of a “new” bill with his name on it. His new bill essentially mimicked the proposed S2268 SubA —except he added language to exclude farmers and other businesses from participating in the program. The council voted to approve Sen. DiPalma’s SubA, which was on the agenda, with minor language changes. 

The next day, the Senate Finance Committee approved S2268 SubA (with minor corrections). On June 1, the Senate passed S2268 SubA, as amended. No bill was ever introduced by Sen. Pagliarini. 

It seems Sen. Pagliarini had a last-minute epiphany and reversed his months-long opposition to the enabling legislation. His letter is a “damage control” attempt to rewrite history to look like he’s supporting the town. He doesn’t, and should be honest with us about what really happened.

​Jim Seveney

Vice president, Portsmouth Town Council
72 Macomber Lane
1 Comment
Read More
Back to Blog

Jim Seveney endorsed in District 11 race

6/28/2016

 
Picture
Jim Seveney filing declaration of candidacy paperwork at the Portsmouth Canvasser, June 27, 2016.
Jim Seveney was endorsed by the District 11 Democratic Senatorial Committee at a meeting on JUne 27. He will enter the September 13 primary as the endorsed Democratic candidate.

“I want to thank the District committee for their support,” Seveney said. "I’m honored to be the endorsed Democrat in the upcoming primary.  My campaign is all about Democratic values — I want to fight for the priorities of middle-class families of the East Bay.”

Seveney, a life-long Rhode Islander, retired Naval officer and leader in the local defense business community, has served on the Portsmouth Town Council since 2004, including a term as President, where he was a leading voice in the fight against tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge.

The Portsmouth Democrats will hold a “Meet the Candidate” coffee hour on Sunday, July 10, from 1:30-3:30pm at Foodworks, 2461 East Main Rd. This will be an opportunity to chat with all local candidates in an informal setting, and to sign nomination papers to get them on the ballot.
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

May 12th, 2016

5/12/2016

 
Picture

Position Paper:  RI Transportation Infrastructure
Background:  One of our most compelling issues facing RI is fixing our deteriorating roads and bridges.  It’s common knowledge now that RI has the worse infrastructure in the country.  Last year’s FHWA report on the condition of our roads found that 200+ state bridges are deemed “deficient.”  This comes on the heels of our long issue with the poorly maintained Sakonnet Bridge, which had to be replaced in 2012-13; and the Cove “Escape” Bridge in Island Park, which was abruptly closed for a year for emergency repairs in 2011-12.  It was only 50 years old, built in 1961.
        Overshadowing the deplorable state of our roads, which everyone agrees needs to be addressed, is the debate over how we pay for all this.  Implementation of tolls, which caused a huge furor in the East Bay over the Sakonnet Bridge, was beaten back through forceful and effective public outcry and local political support.  The uproar over tolls erupted again last year with the Governor’s RhodeWorks proposal, which was recently passed into law after some modifications (not the least of which was including language that car tolling was prohibited unless approved in a statewide popular referendum).  So the method for paying to fix our infrastructure is now established, but still the subject of intense public debate and criticism.
        This leads us to perhaps the most critical question.  Can our DOT effectively use this new, significant resource stream to get the job done properly?  Given their poor performance record, and recent reports of non-existent management processes, Rhode Island has been placed in a high risk/high consequence circumstance.  Much rides on RIDOT’s reorganization and implementation of a “project management” approach to successfully execute this critical public safety task, requiring huge amounts of money in the process… coming from a controversial plan to use tolling and debt to fund the effort, a plan which has divided our state.  
My position:   Regardless of the divided opinion on tolling, we must begin the serious work of fixing our infrastructure.  And we must ensure effective oversight on project planning and execution is put into place. It’s a great step to institute formal project management discipline into RIDOT’s organization, but that is inadequate without equally formal reporting requirements to a third-party authority, namely the General Assembly.  Frequent and transparent progress reports, with established cost, schedule, and technical status metrics, must be instituted as mandatory oversight of RIDOT’s  project execution. 
Given the intense controversy over the source of these precious resources we’re about to expend on a must-succeed task, the last thing our state needs is any mis-steps in execution of these projects.
  
James A. Seveney
Candidate for State Senate District 11

1 Comment
Read More
Back to Blog

March 01st, 2016

3/1/2016

 
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

January 07th, 2016

1/7/2016

 
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog

January 05th, 2016

1/5/2016

 
1 Comment
Read More
<<Previous
© 2018 Friends of James A Seveney. All Rights Reserved.                                                                                 Paid for by "Friends of James A. Seveney," Val Seveney, Treasurer.