Newport Casino Forum

The following is a news release:

The Alliance for a Livable Newport (ALN) will be holding the fourth in its series of election year forums on Wednesday, October 22 at 7pm in the auditorium of the Community College of Rhode Island’s Newport campus (CCRI) when representatives from “Jobs for Newport” and “Citizens Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling” (CCACG) present their respective cases for and against the proposed table games casino in Newport.

“This is the first and perhaps only time the two parties will be on stage together to offer voters in Newport an opportunity to hear arguments for voting YES or NO on Questions 1 & 2 on the State Ballot November 4th” said Ron Becker, Co-President of the Alliance, a non-partisan community-wide group.

Ross E. Cheit, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Brown University, will moderate the Forum.

The following speakers will represent their respective group’s point of view:

For Jobs for Newport

Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. -- Joseph is one of three partners in the Jobs For Newport proposal. A Newport homeowner, he is the former mayor of Providence and U.S. Ambassador to Malta. He previously served as the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Economic Development and currently is a managing partner of Paolino Properties.

Cathy Rayner -- Cathy is a lifelong Newporter who has worked at Newport Grand since it opened thirty-eight years ago. She represents Newport Grand’s workers as the President of UAW Local 7770.

Mike Wood -- Mike has worked at Newport Grand for thirty-eight years and has been a proud resident and homeowner in Newport’s Fifth Ward for more than three decades.

For Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling

J. Timothy (Tim) O’Reilly -- A fourth generation Newporter, Tim is the retired CEO and current Board Chairman of Newport Harbor Corporation. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth University. He is a member of the Boards of BankNewport, Salve Regina University and the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, and a former Board member of Newport County Chamber of Commerce, Discover Newport, Newport County Fund of the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority.

Liz Taber -- Liz is the Campaign Coordinator for Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling. After earning a degree in Math and Computer Science from Boston College she returned to Newport to work in the defense industry. Her career then took her to Boston and later to New York. After twenty years, she returned to Newport and today is a real estate broker with Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty, currently on leave to work with Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling.

Duchess Colon -- Duchess is a native Newporter serving as an unpaid volunteer with Concerned Citizens Against Casino Gambling. She is a mother and grandmother with three grown children and a fourteen-year-old son. She currently is completing her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and is employed at Wal-Mart and the James L. Maher Center.

• Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2014
• Time: 7:00-8:30pm
• Location: CCRI Auditorium, Newport Campus
• One John H. Chafee Blvd.
• Newport, RI 02840

All ALN Forums are videotaped and appear on the ALN website at http://newportalliance.org/videos and on COX TV, Channel 17.