- [Narrator] Someone gave.

Someone donated.

Someone left a legacy.

Generations of generous someones have helped shape Rhode Island into this amazing place we call home.

How do you thank them?

By leaving your own legacy.

We can help.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to another edition of In Another Opinion, a public information program where our discussions are focused on the diversity of the state of Rhode Island.

I'm your host, Peter Wells.

Today's session will be my last show as the host of In Another Opinion.

And thus, I'd like to explain how it got started and why.

My initial vision of In Another Opinion was to have competing ideas and issues and subject matter, and try to bring in not necessarily, but the political side of issues, but the human side of issues, and what goes on in this city.

The state of Rhode Island is extremely diverse, and Providence itself is the microcosm of that diversity.

But there are so many things that are going on in Providence that are positive, that we don't hear enough about on daily newscasts and things of that nature.

This show has been a vehicle for me to highlight some of these folks and what they're doing, and highlight Providence, Rhode Island as a diverse city who cares about its citizens and its residents, to the point that it shows throughout the nonprofit organizations.

It shows throughout the profit organizations and the partnerships therein.

In Another Opinion has been very fortunate to have the support of the Rhode Island Foundation and the Rhode Island PBS, to get this word out, to let people know that there are lots of nonprofit organizations and profit organizations whose focus is strictly on the wellbeing of Rhode Island citizens.

In Another Opinion has had the pleasure of interviewing politicians from the governor's office to the attorney general, to senators and congressmen, and then lay people as well.

To talk about what their impact has been on the city and how they've benefited by being a member and a resident of Rhode Island.

Providence, as this name suggests, is a forward moving city.

It may be somewhat old in its thought and old in its presentation, but its future has been something that's been on the cutting edge and forefront from things such as art shows, like water fire, to things like the 9 or 10 universities that are here that draw in people from all over the world.

And I've had the pleasure of working with many of these operations and to learn more about the city.

Not being a native of Providence, it's been a learning experience for me, but a very good learning experience.

My roots are Manhattan, New York, where there is also a great deal of diversity on a much larger scale.

But at the end of the day, Providence like New York, like Chicago or any major city in this country, its growth is dependent upon the city and its residence, and its interest.

Rhode Island and Providence has been known as a Renaissance city because of its focus on humanities and the arts.

I arrived in Rhode Island in 1995 to watch the river change and the unveiling of the three rivers that come together in downtown Providence.

I've seen the development all throughout the state, from the mall downtown, to the art center, to the universities.

And the growth has been consistent and it's been worthwhile.

The City of Providence, like its name, has an opportunity to continue to be a leader in various ways to other parts of the country and indeed the globe, as what goes on here has manifest itself in other places.

We have residents who have grown up here in Rhode Island and moved on and have taken the concepts that we enjoy here with them.

And that's been shown in many of the interviews that I've had with people here in Rhode Island.

and here at the studio.

PBS itself has been a remarkable, remarkable resource for the people of Rhode Island, and many other places that have public TV, because it's education, it's learning.

It's the experience of understanding and knowing that makes one's life complete.

Fortunately, we've been able to do this to some small part on the show.

And calling it In Another Opinion, provides the backdrop for what the real motivation is: to get to into the minds and heads of people and find out why things happened and why they started.

I'll miss doing the show.

And my successor, whoever that may be, will follow on with the same concepts of bringing information to the masses through this program.

Education and information is the bedrock of understanding.

It's the bedrock of growth.

It eliminates ignorance and shines the light on what is, might be, the best truth.

Although there are many truths for people, each one has its place.

And we have an opportunity to share that on this show.

But Rhode Island PBS has made this show possible and made it possible for me to bring these concepts to the general public.

Hopefully, that in the future, it only grows, becomes bigger and more popular and reaches more people, because education and information is key to humanity.

Ignorance is the dark, information is the light.

And we need to make sure that programs such as this and other programs that are offered on Rhode Island PBS are there for people to learn and to understand and to witness.

Hopefully, as time goes on, more of Rhode Islanders are focused and showcased on this show, so that we can expand it beyond the concept of Providence and Rhode Island, maybe to New England and maybe further.

But the point is to make sure that we are understanding what's going on around us and who's doing it and why they're doing it, and the benefits by which we all receive from the work that people are doing.

Nonprofit organizations have had a very difficult time in the last 20 years or so due to various economic inflation, and in political unrest, but they're there.

They're still there providing the support and network and information for people who need it.

In Another Opinion has played a very small part in that, and hopefully one that will be remembered by generations to come.

And Rhode Island PBS will be the conduit for that to happen.

So as a host of In Another Opinion, I really would like to say to people to please continue supporting not only this show, but Rhode Island PBS, to make sure that programs like it will continue.

I've asked the staff to provide some focus on some of the more favorite interviews that I've done on the show.

And we'll run some of those as we're having this conversation.

But I do know that the benefit that I hear from other people is without a doubt, the result of what we wanted to do.

In Another Opinion has had a major impact and I hope that it will continue to have a major impact on the City of Providence and the state of Rhode Island and its residents.

And more importantly, to continue to showcase the diversity of the state of Rhode Island and its residents and show the growth that's taken place over the years.

I've had the pleasure of hosting this show for a little over five years now, and I've met so many wonderful people who are out giving back to a community and making sure that people are aware of what's going on in the state of Rhode Island.

That people are aware that the state is still growing.

That people are aware that its residents do care.

Beyond the news cycles that we hear, which often only highlight some of the negative activities that take place, shows like In Another Opinion and other public TV programs provide the balance to that type of programming.

And we need it.

We need both.

We need to know the good and the bad.

But we also need to know that the future is always the way to look for the good.

Hopefully that when I'm gone and the new host takes over, that the next level will be reached and there'll be more and more people that'll be participating in this program.

For that, I wish that Rhode Island PBS and its staff, which have done a tremendous job in this arena to continue.

You know, often people think that the media and TV is a well paid, well oiled machine.

I will admit that PBS is a well oiled machine, but unfortunately we need people to support Rhode Island PBS and to support the kinds of programming that Rhode Island PBS provides from the education, to general information, to game shows, to student programs, to cartoons that provide even education to the youngest of viewers.

The medium of TV and Rhode Island PBS has been well used and will continue to be so under the direction of its body of leadership.

Hopefully that the continuation of these kinds of programs are going to be the bedrock of where growth continues and youngsters can truly learn about what's going on in their state.

I hope that in the future, that In Another Opinion, truly, truly, truly, just grows and grows and grows and provides that informational base to stamp out the ignorance that may exist in some quadrants of our society, and enlighten them with what could be the new truths of the day.

Again, I would like to thank PBS for making this show possible and for allowing me the pleasure of hosting it for the last five years since it's inception.

So with that thought in mind, I'd like to say to the viewers, thank you so much for your support.

Thank you so much for enjoying this show, for your feedback.

And hopefully you will continue the support of this program and the station.

So let's take a look at some of those old shots that I talked about, some of those old interviews and get a sense for where the show was, where it is today, and hopefully where it will be tomorrow.

Thank you.

This is one of the issues and one of the questions that I have, given the fact that Trump has aligned himself to be a champion for the underclass and the low income groups of this country, black or white.

He's never had the ability to live in those, or walk in those shoes.

So it was confounding to me as to how he would represent this group of people.

Yet 15 towns in the state of Rhode Island, as you suggested, voted for Donald Trump.

- They wanted change and he was offering them change.

His rhetoric, they fell for the rhetoric.

I mean, I never thought he was gonna do any of it.

He's not gonna build a wall.

Hillary Clinton's not gonna be in jail.

I mean, all this stuff that he talked about, I thought was fantasy and nothing but a fairy tale, but yet they fell for it because there was this sense of white nationalism that's deep.

- [Peter] Among some.

- Among some, not among all, but among some.

And there was a sense that we gotta take our country back.

Back from who, okay?

Back from back from Barack Obama and, and people of color?

Is that what you're talking about?

If that's what you're talking about then that's what you did, okay?

And don't make it an economic argument because it was, that was secondary to the fact that you had people of color and women that were gaining... - I don't wanna look like the moderate here, but there is an economic problem in this country.

- You could be the moderate, right?

- No, no, no.

I hate being moderate.

There is an economic problem in this country.

- Absolutely.

- When 75% of people haven't seen a real pay raise in 12 years, you've got a problem and they are one paycheck away from disaster.

So, you know, this chance for me to tell the governor of Rhode Island, you know, quit giving multimillion dollar grants to every rich person who ask for tax credits, giving CVS $21 million a year as a subsidy for job training while laying off 400 Rhode Islanders.

- Well.

- No, no.

This is what the problem is, Peter.

We have a society in which the rich get richer.

The middle class are in trouble and the poor are in desperation, and this man gave hollow promises and they fell for it.

But these Democrats, and again, I wanna start with the governor.

When is the last time the Slater Fund gave a dime to anybody Black, Brown, Asian, Native American, or a white person with a little bitty company with six employees?

Never.

- Look, we know, we know.

- Rich, these are good points issues.

- We know that the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer and the middle class is getting squeezed out of existence.

Of course there's an economic problem.

You just look at the last 40 years, so since 1973, what's happened to the working class?

So we understand that.

But that working class, you know, they are looking for jobs, jobs that may not return.

This whole appeal though to bigotry was unnecessary as far as I'm concerned, but maybe not.

He felt that he just looking at the economy and the fact that we gotta expand the middle class and we gotta bring jobs back.

For some reason, he didn't think that was enough, but it was kinda like the Bernie Sanders message.

You know, we have to, you know, this whole inter commit equality thing is real.

And people know that it's real, all across the U.S.

So I understand that, but this whole layering of the bigotry and the misogyny and the Islamophobia and the homophobia.

That was what was different, because that to me was not necessary to create a message of hope in a change year election.

- It may not have been necessary, but apparently it was very effective.

- It was effective.

- Because 50% of the country voted for Donald Trump and voted for that message.

Well, tell me, is there specific skill types, or companies that you're working with?

Is it certain types of, you know, specific skill sets?

- We work across all industries, actually, we have right now 74 employer partners.

- Wow.

- So from the largest corporations in Rhode Island, like CVS down to small businesses that are only 20 employees large.

And so it really boils down to what the hiring needs are.

And then what we do, Peter, when we go out to meet with employers, we have a good understanding because we know who the job seekers are.

We have about 18,000 job seekers in our database.

And so we... - 18,000?

- 18,000 job seekers in our database.

So we already are building a profile of who these job seekers are.

We know the skills that they come with.

We know their educational levels, we know their previous employment history.

So when we go in to talk with an employer about job openings, we already have a good indication as to whether or not the job seekers exist in Rhode Island.

And then based on that, we'll decide to work with an employer.

And then within an employer, look at their specific jobs and we'll maybe narrow down to three or four job titles that we think we can be successful in finding talent for them.

- Well, how did you build this 18,000 database?

I mean, did you specifically have people apply to you and give you their skill sets?

Or were you able to tap into Department of Labor skill sets or something?

- Certainly it's a combination of both.

So we run our own job boards, where folks apply to jobs through us for an end employer.

And so, in that application process, we're collecting data on those job seekers.

We also work directly with Department of Labor and Training, and we look at candidates that are job seekers through their unemployment database.

So we're able to transfer information there as well.

And how we reached that 18,000 number really was through a lot of social media and targeted marketing to let people know about our services.

And quite frankly, it's the employers that attract the job seekers.

So when they see big names like CVS and Bank of America and, you know, AAA they then come to our doors to know that we can help become that broker for their job.

- Now, you, mentioned that there's this connection to Department of Labor.

So the various offices, of unemployment offices, basically, that have the computers set up and so forth.

Is your operation attached to that?

- It is not directly attached to that.

We actually have our own independent office space, but we do work closely with the networks and the one stops to try to let them know about opportunities that exist.

They definitely refer folks over to us who are, again, looking for those jobs.

And then we'll go out there and do hiring events, whether it's at a local one stop or different community based organizations, different municipalities who are interested in trying to make services available.

So we actually get out into the community to let folks know.

- I think continuing on building a relationship with the community, we can't do the job of public safety, whether it's police or fire, without the trust of the community.

It may sound, you know, cliche and obvious, but it really is true.

And we need to continue to build every single day into our community.

So we have a relationship and we have a comfort with our community to have difficult discussions, whether it's a use of force, deadly use of force, or just a treatment of people in the community, by our police and fire.

And without that comfort and trust, we wouldn't be able to do the job that's expected of us.

So every single day we try to, and we should dedicate building that bond with our community across the region because people come here not only to live, but to work and traverse and go to school and all of those things.

So it's a big population.

That's a challenge.

- Well, you know, it is.

And I have to admit local media, very seldom do I read or hear anything about a problem with police, such as we have in other cities and towns across the country.

And definitely very seldom to hear anything about fire.

Usually firemen are too busy to have any other issues with the community if they're called.

But Providence has shown to be itself, I guess under your leadership, to have that relationship, so we don't have that clashing of community and police and police activity.

- Yeah, you know, I've been with the city now eight years and I came from another department, from the state police, a statewide agency, and the urban policing is different.

And it's critical that we have those relationships and have difficult discussions about race relations, about the perception that, you know, the community doesn't have an opportunity to serve in the police or the fire department and knock those perceptions down and show that if you wanna be a police officer here in Providence, or a firefighter, you have an equal opportunity, like everyone else, regardless of who they are.

- Well, that was one of the things, questions, I wanted to ask you, is about recruitment.

Are we doing a little better with recruitment these days?

- I think we are in the last couple of academies.

We gotta do a better job on the fire side.

You know, the percentage is probably not where I would like it at 30-35% people of color.

And we need to do a better job on the fire side.

On the police side, we had great diverse recruitment drive in our last academy, near 70% people of color and women.

So it was probably one of the best that we've had.

And, you know, we're starting an academy soon in 2019 on the police side as well.

And the numbers are not as good as the last academy.

We're just finishing the selection of those recruits, but focusing in on knocking the barriers down and giving people an opportunity across the city and across the region is our goal.

- And I'm so fortunate to have this opportunity to serve the state of Rhode Island in this role, and to be able to bring the message that I have learned from all these years that I have lived here in the state, the experiences that I have had working with different communities in the state of Rhode Island.

To be able to bring that and bring their voices to the state and to advocate for the state of Rhode Island, I feel is a great honor.

So I'm so glad to have this opportunity.

- Well, you know, I know that you worked a lot within the community even prior to going to the city council.

And then city council.

Now you're in the state.

So of course next of course we'll see you in Washington, I'm sure at some point in time, but for now.

[Laughs] - Yeah.

I can tell you I have never had a plan to run for office.

- I know, I know.

- So the things that happened I think it's a combination of the involvement that I had had in the community, the work that I have been doing and opportunity that has opened up and people that have come.

Because I always said that in my case, I have been very in line with what is the research about females running for office that you gotta ask the females on an average seven times before we say "yes, I'm gonna do it".

Because we always think about the reasons why we can not do it.

So I think I was having very in line.

So, but as of right now, I'm very happy doing the job that I'm doing right now, representing the state of Rhode Island, advocating for the state of Rhode Island, advocating for the different municipalities, the citizen town, bringing the background that I have of working in a municipality and bringing that message to the state as a whole, I think is crucial.

- Talking about that: is the job what you thought it would be?

- Yes, it is.

It is and more.

Because I had had the opportunity to work with different communities.

Communities that I had not had the opportunity to visit before and to advocate for them and to advocate for things that I believe the state of Rhode Island, we had been neglecting for a long time.

Things like housing.

We right now are in a housing crisis here in the state of Rhode Island.

- Yes we are.

- Yeah.

We have not been building housing at the level that we should have.

And it's not just affordable housing.

We have a huge lack of affordable housing, but we need to build housing at all income levels.

I have some communities that I've been talking with the leadership and Providence also is one of those communities in which we always say, "well, how come we don't have teachers living in our community?".

But if you look at what is available for housing stock, they don't have housing available that the teachers could rent.

In many cases, the houses are just way out of their budget, but they can't afford to pay.

We want our firefighters to live here, but we don't have workforce housing available.

So we have to continue pressing in building more housing.

So in order to grow the population of the state of Rhode Island, which is gonna translate on growing the economy of the state of Rhode Island.

(upbeat music playing) - [Narrator] Someone gave.

Someone donated.

Someone left a legacy.

Generations of generous someones have helped shape Rhode Island into this amazing place we call home.

How do you thank them?

By leaving your own legacy.

We can help.