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Bill Walaska should be ashamed of himself and the people that vote for him should get themselves educated on this particular subject. Here are the facts:

I, Rob Cote, authored the verbiage on the original Car Tax Reform Bill which was entered on my behalf by Rep. Joe Macnamara and subsequently by Rep. Joe Shekarchi. The language in the bill was actually finalized through numerous phone conversations between myself and Joe Mac's legal team. Joe Mac, held an informal meeting at the statehouse in early Jan. 2012 after Warwick residents flooded city hall several times with auto valuation concerns. Walaska failed to attend any of the Warwick City Hall meetings although he was asked to attend by dozens of residents who contact him by phone. Walaska did attend Macnamara's Jan. 2012 meeting at the state house but offered nothing and did not speak one word and was clearly only there for the possible photo op, along with other Warwick Reps that have never attended a City Council meeting on the issue.

At that meeting we all agreed that the portion of the bill that contained the language of a "certified appraisal" would be removed due to the possible implications of manipulations of values by "certified dealers". After all, remember, this IS Rhode Island. Everyone agreed that the cleanest form of the bill simply amended the existing bill from the words "clean retail value" to "average trade in value".

So the question is "What actually has Walaska done on this issue"? The answer is NOT A THING. Walaska copied the original draft of the bill which was amended and put forth for hearings for the past 3 years. The writer of this article fails to mention several critical facts.

1. Walaska simply copied a bill draft and put zero effort into the issue.

2. Walaska has never attended any of the Vehicle Value Commission meetings on the methodology discussions for the following tax year.

3. Walaska has never scheduled a hearing for his "proposed bill", so the bill is useless as it has never been heard in committee.

4. Once a year Walaska puts out his mailer titled "THE WALASKA REPORT" where he touts that he is championing the car tax reform.

The fact of the matter is that Bill Walaska has done nothing to further any conversation about how cars are taxed and in fact, doesn't even understand how the statute has been written. He uses this issue, and the people affected by it for political face time. If Walaska had any clue he would be jumping all over the fact that the statute calls for 7 members, there have only been 4 appointed, and only 2 show up at the meetings. If Walaska had any clue he would question why Peter Schaffer and Dan Beardsley of the League of Cities and Towns, have asked for further study for 3 years, yet no further study has been performed, no one is held obligated to perform the further study, and no date final for the further study has been established.

As far as the car tax reform bill, Walaska is in the back seat and has never been in the drivers seat. This is why Rhode Island is the way it is. Frauds and liars for officials that are unable to solve problems. Walaska and his voting base should get educated on the subject matter at hand.