Mike: Attending from the city were Jim Smith, Mary
Canole, Jo Eva Gaines and David Gordon. The format was
a presentation by mayors of Providence, Cranston and
East Providence. All wanted more aid from the state,
especially for education. This was followed by
breakout sessions to discuss: Governance, school
municipal cooperation etc. There were no conclusions
but a future meeting is planned to follow up on the
initial summit.

For good ideas I suggest you consider my thoughts which I presented to the
Island-wide meeting sponsored by the Rhode Island Foundation and
the Newport Daily News almost a year ago.

> David Gordon

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Moderator comment: Thanks David for the contribution. It's only natural for
agencies to clamor for more aid (revenue). It's harder for agencies to spend
energy creating cost efficiencies. Am pleased to see some attendees discuss
capturing economies of scale via centralized health contracts / union contracts.
Given the heavy Blue Cross/Blue Shield RI image polishing advertising ("keeping
you well ... and well informed"), I am waiting for BCBS-RI and union leaders to
tell Rhode Islanders why a central contract is an unhealthy idea.