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Angler's Profiles
by Hugh Markey
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| A series of articles introducing RISAA members to the rest of the club. |
| (From the March, 2003 Newsletter) RICHARD "DICK" PASTORE |
If you’re going to go up against the state of Rhode Island, the Governor,
the Economic Development Corporation, the Providence Journal, and a host
of other moneyed interests, you have your work cut out for you. It
would be handy to have a leader who has a background in civil engineering.
Someone with professional experience working with the environment, in positions
like environmental engineer with the EPA. Mostly, though, if you’re
going to weigh in against a proposal as vast and politically charged as this
one, you need someone with boundless energy. Such a person is Dick
Pastore, a self-described “type-A” person who is as passionate about his
fishing as he was about leading the fight against the Quonset Container Port.
LIFE’S LESSONS LEARNED
Few Rhode Island residents could have missed the long, drawn-out struggle
that surrounded the Quonset Container port. Then-governor Lincoln Almond
was pushing hard for the state to allow the building of the giant project,
which would be a stop-off point for huge ships from around the world.
The ships would deposit their cargo at Quonset, and fleets of 18-wheelers
would thunder through the densely populated streets as they began their journey
to markets and warehouses around the country. The proposal alarmed
many around the state, especially those in North Kingston, who feared the
enormous impact construction and eventual operation would have on the air,
water, and traffic patterns. The fight dragged on for six years, and no one could blame those who despaired at the outcome of grass roots Davids doing battle with the Goliath of Rhode Island’s politicos. One of the most active among the many groups fighting the proposal was the Concerned Communities Coalition, led by Dick Pastore. Did he ever think the groups would be defeated? “You know, I never doubted our winning for a minute,” Pastore says. We sat in the family room of his North Kingston home, warmed by a wood stove and the company of a lovable mutt named Bronx. The fifty-two-year-old sat barefoot in an overstuffed chair as he told his story. He wore a head of curly salt-and-pepper hair, and his brawny arms hinted that at least some of his type-A energy was expended at the gym. “I learned two big lessons in life about grass roots campaigns.” The first came just after Pastore graduated from college and signed on to work as an engineer with the recently created Environmental Protection Agency. “We were all young guys out to save the world at that time,” Pastore says. “The country was just waking up to the importance of taking care of the environment. Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring (which would become required reading for students and environmentalists for years ahead) had come out, and people were paying a lot more attention to the impact of development.” Perhaps a bit over-full of youthful enthusiasm, one of Pastore’s early assignments was to meet with local townspeople about a pending development proposal. “I was shocked at what happened. The people got together and said ‘No way are you building this stuff around here.’ And you know what? We listened to their objections and changed our thinking in a lot of cases. That was my first life lesson in the power of citizens and grass roots organizing.” The early years of the container port struggle was made up of small groups, often with somewhat differing perspectives on the best way to fight the port. “Senator Jim Sheehan joined the fight around 1999 with his Ocean State Defense League. After a while it became all these ‘tribes of resistance’, like Afghanistan, where each tribe had its own agenda.” A turning point came when Donald Carcieri came to one of the symposiums Pastore and his Coalition had organized. Carcieri was the retired head of Cookson America, and was firmly against the idea of a container port. “At that time, we met with him, and we thought, gee, wouldn’t it be great if he ran for governor?” Carcieri would indeed run for governor, and the Quonset Container Port Proposal became a plank in many candidates’ political platform. “That plank became the start of a new direction for Rhode Island,” Pastore said. Today, with the proposal dead and gone, “We’ve begun to refocus our energies toward more environmentally friendly development for the state.” Pastore’s relationship with Carcieri has grown since that first meeting, and he volunteered as a member of the environmental transition team for the incoming governor. “The whole thing was such a positive experience! That issue became life lesson number two in the power of the citizens to effect change in their government. Lots of people are very cynical and say, well, the government is going to do whatever it wants anyway. I think this whole ordeal is proof that the average person really can make an impact.” OTHER DAYS, OTHER PASSIONS
With the environmental skies clear again, Pastore now pours his energies
into a much more enjoyable pastime: spending time with “the love of my life.
My 22’ Grady walkaround.” To say he’s enthusiastic about being out
on the water would be a gross understatement, and for the first time in the
interview Pastore struggles with words to describe his love for the ocean
and for fishing. “I don’t know – I just love it! I just go out there, I get this smile on my face! I get such a thrill out of being there.” At different moments, Dick has been accompanied by sons Anthony, 23, Joseph, 21, and eighteen-year-old Matt. A less frequent crew member is his wife Catherine. “She goes out maybe twice a year. That’s okay, though. She’s also the greatest cook you’ll ever meet,” he says, smiling. Dick Pastore is a man with a passion for life. He enjoys being waist high in many issues at the same time, yet never loses his main focus: “When I get back from being out on the water all day, my knees ache, I’m burned to a crisp, and even if I haven’t caught a thing, I’m still smiling. There’s just nothing better than when my wife comes down to the dock and meets me with a rum gimlet as I’m washing down the boat. It’s spectacular, and you know what? You’re only on this earth once!” |
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