Building a future for Rhode Island that consists of an excellent sustainable economy in a healthy environment requires more than just an educated populace to make it happen. It requires an extraordinary effort to build consensus by working with many initially competing interest groups. We must all recognize that we are all interdependent upon one another and that good ideas can come from many unexpected sources. I am of the firm belief that working together to understand others’ points of view can lead to new ways of integrative thinking to find solutions to our state’s most vexing problems.
My most successful legislative programs have been those that have spanned several years in time and have involved hundreds of participants from multiple stakeholder groups. Good policy formation demands time and patience. I know that I cannot make positive change for the state by myself, but I am proud of my initiation of the Bay Trust Commission, which developed integrated management plans for Narragansett Bay and its watersheds. I am also proud of my forming the Legislative Commission on Aquaculture, which has led to much greater commercialization of aquaculture as a ‘green’ industry in our state and possible supplementary income source for fishers and allied support industries and suppliers. Aquaculture, although still small, is now the fastest growing segment of our important seafood industry, growing at a rate of 12-13% per year since I began my efforts in 1994.
In both the Bay Trust and the Aquaculture Commissions, I brought together stakeholders and officials from around the state and from out of state to work on solutions to complex problems. Our democratic political processes work best when problem-solving engages a broad array of relevant stakeholders. Working at the grass roots is not only the philosophical core of our government, it is also the only practical way to assure broad and enduring support for the workings of government. Building trust and forming consensus among all involved is essential to forming long-lasting and fair solutions benefitting all stakeholders.