Posted gripes about 38 Studios and efforts to move the Pawtucket Red Sox out of Pawtucket united a small group of Rhode Islanders, reinvigorating the state Libertarian Party this year, says its chairman, Pat Ford.

Who would have thought that complaining on Facebook could be constructive?

Posted gripes about 38 Studios and efforts to move the Pawtucket Red Sox out of Pawtucket united a small group of Rhode Islanders, reinvigorating the state Libertarian Party this year, its chairman, Pat Ford, said.

Ford, a commercial truck salesman, was eager to further share his opinions.

"It was a crap shoot from the get-go," he said of 38 Studios. "It seemed completely inappropriate for government to be investing in private enterprise. The problem was, there was no place, or people, for us to turn to. Republicans and Democrats were behind it."

The Cumberland resident said he really wanted to highlight his party and the self-described Libertarians seeking local office — three for General Assembly seats and two for town councils.

Three Assembly candidates are competing for House seats in neighboring East Bay districts.

Daryl Gould of Warren is challenging Barrington Democrat Jason Knight and write-in incumbent Jan Malik of Warren in the race for House District 67.

William James Hunt Jr. of Warren is trying to unseat incumbent Bristol Democrat Kenneth Marshall.

And Analee Berretto of Bristol is facing Bristol Democrat Susan Donovan and Bristol Republican Antonio Avila in House District 69, the seat held by former Rep. Raymond Gallison Jr. before his sudden resignation.

The town council races feature Tony Jones in North Kingstown and Matthew Gillette in Little Compton.

"We have a government that's wildly out of control, in terms of what they attempt to do on a daily basis, taxation, continual interference," Ford continued. "You need a third voice. We would like to have that opportunity to be that third voice."

The national party's motto: minimum government, maximum freedom. Or as its vice president nominee, Bill Weld, told CNN, "We want the government out of your pocketbook and out of your bedroom."

Their presidential choice, Gary Johnson, characterized them as, "fiscally responsible, socially cool." The two are on the ballot in all 50 states. With presidential tickets since 1972, its candidates have never been much of a factor.

"Government really doesn't need to be involved in the day-to-day facets of your life, and if it does, it's usually a miserable failure," Ford said elaborating on the party platform. "We believe that individuals have the right to make their own choice. We don't legislate morality."

It's hard to say how many Libertarians there are in Rhode Island, mainly because you can only register to vote as Republican, Democrat, Moderate or unaffiliated. State law allows independent candidates to name, however, what party they belong to.

Ford estimates there are "anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people open to vote Libertarian," and he said their candidates are "really good people" who have invested in their communities.

"You would be proud to have them as your legislators."

To read the bios of the party's local Nov. 8 candidates, visit lpri.us.

Traffic and weather together

In a region where political leaders are judged by how they handle snowstorms, you can understand why state governments would want to load up on weathermen.

As it continues to recruit and reorganize, the state Department of Transportation this month hired former WPRI and WLNE television meteorologist Steve Cascione as a programming services officer in the agency's Bridge and Maintenance Division.

Cascione started Oct. 2 and will make $66,167 per year, according to DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin.

What does a trained meteorologist with decades of on-air experience do in bridge maintenance?

"He will serve as RIDOT's liaison with federal, state and local emergency management officials — a task our Maintenance Administrator does in addition to his other duties in management of this division," St. Martin wrote in an email. "Steve will also assist in the development of performance metrics for Maintenance, tracking material usage, labor and vendor costs for winter storm operations. Given his background in meteorology, he will be able to assist in forecasting and planning for winter storm operations."

Cascione is at least the second meteorologist in the Raimondo administration.

Leonard Giuliano, who works in the Department of Environmental Management, carries the official title of state meteorologist. He makes $83,988 annually, according to the state transparency portal.

Giuliano briefed Raimondo and state department chiefs before a large storm last January that turned out to be more benign than initially feared. That storm, of course, prompted Raimondo to cancel her trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (not because of Giuliano's forecast specifically).

Responding to the brutal winter of 2014-2015, Raimondo last year also invested $1.16 million in the state's 20,000-ton Strategic Salt Reserve, which was not tapped.

St. Martin did not say whether Cascione's hiring was a result of any deficiencies in earlier weather forecasting or material usage.

Cascione is the latest DOT hire with a media background after former Journal editor Pamela Reinsel Cotter was hired as policy director this summer.

Getting their message out

With no statewide campaigns on the ballot this year, sleepy congressional races and Rhode Island not a presidential battleground, the local media has mostly missed out on campaign spending this season.

This year's round of ballot questions has been one exception.

Another has been the General Assembly's two top dogs, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, who both have opponents this year and the money to spend on advertising.

Between July 1 and Tuesday, when the most recent campaign finance reports were due with the Board of Elections, Mattiello reported $14,189 in advertising expenses.

Not surprisingly, the biggest beneficiary was Beacon Communications, which owns Mattiello's hometown Cranston Herald and received $8,189 for buys in July and August.

Mattiello's campaign also spent $6,000 on advertising with GoLocal Prov, reporting two $3,000 buys in August.

Paiva Weed spent $11,682 in total.

The vast majority of that, $10,982, was on ads with her hometown Newport Daily News at the end of September. She also spent $540 with Newport This Week and dipped into social-media advertising with $160 to Facebook.

— apina@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7465

On Twitter: @AlishaPina

— panderson@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_