Sarah Taft-Carter

Providence pension deal gets final approval; challenges remain

Ian Donnis — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:02:36 +0000

In what Providence Mayor Angel Taveras calls a historic day, Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter gave final approval Friday for a deal that will reduce the capital city's $900 million+ unfunded pension liability by $178 million. The agreement followed negotiations between the city and police and fire unions and municipal retirees.

"Today is the end of a long, long road that we've traveled," Taveras said in an interview. "I feel a lot of relief and gratitude to all the employees and retirees especially who have agreed to help the city."

Providence and Unions Reach Pension Agreement

Ian Donnis — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:41:53 +0000

A Superior Court judge has approved pension settlement in Providence with retirees and current workers. Judge Sarah Taft-Carter is expected to finalize the agreement next month.

The Providence pension settlement includes freezing cost of living adjustments, scaling back future benefits and moving retirees over to Medicare.

In her decision, Taft-Carter calls the settlement fair, reasonable, and adequate. Providence Mayor Angel Taveras calls the approval a significant step to finalizing the city’s pension agreement.

State Pension Challenge on Hold as Negotiations Continue

Ian Donnis — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:43:27 +0000

A legal challenge to the overhaul of the state pension system will remain on hold as the two sides continue to mediate the dispute.

Mediation to continue in unions' challenge to state pension overhaul

Ian Donnis — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:02:01 +0000

The mediation aimed at settling a legal challenge by a series of unions to the state pension overhaul of 2011 is set to continue through the month of February.

Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter met Friday morning with the two sides in the case, according to court spokesman Craig Berke. "They are going to continue to mediate," Berke said, adding that Taft-Carter is scheduled to get another update on February 28.

Taveras highlights cooperation in state of the city address

Ian Donnis — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras' latest State of the City speech celebrates the value of overcoming complex problems through collaboration -- a not-so-subtle contrast with the state pension overhaul championed in 2011 by the mayor's prospective Democratic gubernatorial rival in 2014, state Treasurer Gina Raimondo.

In comments Tuesday evening to the City Council, Taveras notes the contrast to February 2012 when "Providence was running out of cash, and running out of time. In the months that followed, there were some who said Providence could not avoid filing for bankruptcy."

Former federal official calls RI pension case "the mother of all mediations"

Ian Donnis — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:46:55 +0000

A former head of the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service -- the government arm mediating Rhode Island's pension dispute among eight parties -- calls the case "the mother of all mediations."

Peter J. Hurtgen, who led the FMCS from 2002 through 2004, says a subset of the eight parties in mediation could potentially reach some areas of agreement among themselves. But he says the complexity of the case makes it unusually fraught for mediation:

Raimondo pledges "good faith" effort on pension mediation; Chafee "pleased"

Ian Donnis — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:14:30 +0000

State Treasurer Gina Raimondo, a leading advocate for litigating the pension case in court, is out with a statement responding to

Taft-Carter orders mediation in the pension lawsuit

Ian Donnis — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:19:01 +0000

Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter this morning told the two sides in the legal challenge to last year's landmark overhaul of the pension system to try to settle their differences through mediation.

Court spokesman Craig Berke says the talks will be facilitated by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a branch of the federal government. Taft-Carter is due to be updated on the status of the discussions in early February.

RI Judiciary working to update its 31-year-old media policy

Ian Donnis — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:15:31 +0000

The Rhode Island Judiciary