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Wow, that 2010 video sure is a damning critique of the mayor's approach to contracts -- if you ignore or forget that he negotiated fire and police contracts in 2012 with no salary hikes, increases in healthcare co-payments, and an overall reduction in the pension liability of $30 million: http://warwickonline.com/stories/city-pay-pacts-ease-burden-on-taxpayers,72646?

This is a terrible outcome -- if you believe that unions only exist to suck the life out of cities and are incapable of recognizing when "the economy doesn’t allow for [raises]," as the president of the FOP said at the time.

You'd also have to ignore the successful renegotiation of those contracts in 2015 if you were intent on proving that unions are only there to bankrupt a city.

Here's the breakdown of the salary increases:

Fire: July 1, 2015 1.5%; July 1, 2016 1.5%; January 1, 2017 1.5%; July 1, 2017 1.5%

and January 1, 2018 1.5%

Police: 3% each in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

AFSCME: 3% each in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Here's the webpage with links to these contracts: https://www.warwickri.gov/personnel-department/pages/current-municipal-contracts

Since 2012, fire salaries have gone up a combined 7.5% while the police and municipal employee salaries have gone up 9% -- that would be a real disaster, if you didn't believe that contracts can be negotiated responsibly between a city and its union.

If you were intent on proving that the city is due for a fiscal crisis, you'd need to believe that bond ratings are "insignificant" when they show the city in a good light, whereas a 2016 financial report that shows the city in a bad light is the real truth.

And if you had that mindset, you could certainly provide a valid explanation for another unqualified audit of the city's books for FY17, other than the city being in good financial shape: https://warwickpost.com/audit-warwick-shows-fy17-9-5m-surplus-long-term-debt-shrunk-8-9m/

Or, you could just bash the mayor and say you're the only one who knows the truth -- there's no way voters would see through that, is there?

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