By RUSS OLIVO

Shoring up the state’s sagging economy, securing the future of financially troubled Landmark Medical Center, and exploring alternative energy appear to be the foremost concerns of the six candidates squaring off in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the District 51 House seat.

Chris Fierro, 28, of 137 Ridge St., says more than two thirds of the district residents he’s spoken to are looking for politicians to do something to create jobs and stop “exporting jobs” to other countries. As a farther of three, Fierro said, he shares their concerns.
“That’s been one of the concerns of mine as I look at my own kids,” says Fierro. “What kinds of jobs are going to be available to them?”
A resident of the city for four years, Fierro says there isn’t a candidate on the campaign trail who doesn’t think the possible demise of a Landmark Medical Center would be a devastating blow to the community. But all have overlooked an essential ingredient in saving the hospital - input from rank and file workers who know how to run the hospital.
“There is an untapped, vast source of institutional knowledge about the hospital that we need to listen to as part of any plan to save Landmark,” he says.
The United Nurses & Allied Professionals, the union that represents more than a thousand workers at Landmark, have responded to Fierro’s high regard for them by granting him their coveted political endorsement. And, even though there’s an ex-firefighter in the race, the International Association of Firefighters, the union representing more than 130 member of the Woonsocket Fire Department, has also endorsed Fierro, who has never run for office before.
See HOUSE 51, Page A-2
A city resident for four years, Fierro works as a research specialist for the New England Carpenters Labor Management Program, an organization whose mission, he says, is to promote “living wage” jobs for carpenters.
Fierro says he is not a member of a union, although his work supports the goals of the carpenter’s union.
The nurses and firefighters endorsed him, said Fierro, because “they understand my commitment to working families. It’s as simple as that.”
Similarly, candidate Richard Picard, 62, of 634 Bound Road, says the economy, jobs and taxes are among his top concerns. A longtime automotive technologies teacher at Chariho Regional High School in Wood River Junction, Picard also advocates for the Fair Funding Act, a legislative proposal to beef up state aid to urban school districts and the expansion of access to trade school for students across the state.
Increased opportunities for trade education ought to be considered as part of any plan for rejuvenating the economy, he says. Trade skills are in high demand, in part, because there is a shortage of trained help, and they offer an alternative path to high-paying jobs for students who do not intend to go to college, says Picard.
The candidate, who has never run for office before, is the older brother of the last person to hold the District 51 seat, State Sen. Roger A. Picard (D-Dist. 20). The elder Picard says he is also his brother’s former campaign manager and often helped him with House business.
“We talked about different issues,” he says. “I know the players, how they think and how the system works. I think I have an advantage over some of the other candidates.”
For Robert D. Phillips, 52, of 325 Dunlap St., the lackluster economy and the energy crisis are two problems that can solve each other. The state can energize the job market, attract new investment and stabilize the tax base if it explores the development of alternatives to the petroleum-based energy that prop up our economy.
“That way we not only break away from fossil fuels, we create jobs, which is a win-win” for the state and the region, says Phillips, a bank manager who is married with grown twin boys.
For the Ocean State, Phillips says he is most intrigued about the possibility of exploiting the tidal forces of Narragansett Bay. Also, he say experts should take a closer look at the energy producing potential of the Blackstone River. A handful of turbines already dot the much dammed-up river, including the Thundermist plant in Woonsocket, but Phillips said there may be room for more - and a more efficient class - of hydroelectric generators.
Like Picard, Phillips promotes the Fair Funding Act as a way of funneling more aid to urban school districts. Phillips also advocates the elimination of certain educational programs the state requires, but doesn’t pay for.
“Unfunded mandates,” says Phillips. “If we’re spending money just to spend money and we’re not getting any benefit out of it, there’s no sense in having it.”
High on candidate David Lahousse’s agenda is saving Landmark Medical Center. The specter of losing the community hospital to financial collapse - a possibility raised by hospital administrators - would have an impact on the city almost too devastating to imagine, says Lahousse, 47, of 106 Ridge St.
“The state has to monitor this like it’s one of the most important issues facing northern Rhode Island,” said Lahousse. “We need a full service hospital in northern Rhode Island, not a giant emergency room.”
Lahousse, married with four children, is the owner of two popular restaurants, Kay’s on Cass Avenue and The Lodge, in Lincoln, and he, too, has never run for office before. But he says newcomers like him are essential for restoring vitality and confidence in a system too many see as ethically bankrupt.
Lahousse says he has no vested interests, save for the average working people of the district, and his leading priority is to make himself an emissary worthy of their faith.
“People are so turned off by politicians it’s ridiculous,” he says. “I will be there to listen to them. I’m not part of any special interest group. I’m just a regular guy looking out for regular people.”
Bamby L. Mohamed, 47, of 394 Congress St., also cites the shaky economy as a leading concern. She says district residents are so anxious about conditions they’re looking for “any form of relief.”
“We need to create a stimulating economy that will create better paying jobs, lowering property taxes with emphasis on our senior citizens who own or reside in their single-family homes,” says Mohamed.
Mohamed, a single mother who works as a tax associate at CVS/Caremark, also says the city has not done enough to address an issue that has long vexed residents of East Woonsocket - odors emanating from the Woonsocket Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility. The city owns the plant, but Veolia, a private company, is the operator.
Odors from the plant have been worsening of late, but “nothing is being done to correct it,” says Mohamed. “I would like to address those concerns with city officials as well as Veolia.”
Joseph D. Barroso, 57, of 224 Marshall Road, also says the issue of paramount importance is saving Landmark. He says the state should step in with emergency funding to prop up the hospital while strategies for ensuring the facility’s longevity are explored.
“If we don’t fight for it, we’re going to lose it,” says Barroso.
The retired city firefighter sees the possible liquidation of Landmark not simply as an economic problem, but a blow to local public health and safety. Plain and simple, says Barroso, if there’s no Landmark, it’s going to take local rescue squads longer to reach emergency rooms in Pawtucket or Providence, and that added time would undoubtedly translate into increased negative health outcomes for patients.
Saying the public’s trust in their elected officials is too low, Barroso also pledges to support ethics reforms and new measures to make elected officials more accountable for their actions if he is elected.
A 24-year veteran of the Woonsocket Fire Department, Barroso is now employed a state constable for the District and Family courts. He is married and has lived in the city his whole life.