No stone unturned in mayoral debate

By ETHAN HARTLEY
Posted 10/23/18

By ETHAN HARTLEY Only two weeks remain in the campaign for mayor of Warwick, with Republican Sue Stenhouse challenging Mayor Joseph Solomon, who assumed the office in May following the departure of 18-year mayor Scott Avedisian. At a debate organized by

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No stone unturned in mayoral debate

Posted

Only two weeks remain in the campaign for mayor of Warwick, with Republican Sue Stenhouse challenging Mayor Joseph Solomon, who assumed the office in May following the departure of 18-year mayor Scott Avedisian.

At a debate organized by the Beacon and shot/produced by PEG RI-TV in Providence, Stenhouse and Solomon weaved through a wide variety of topics related to city government, including ongoing issues like the school budget situation, the fire department sick time allegations and the preservation of Conimicut Point Lighthouse. The debate was moderated by former Providence Journal reporter and current Director of Communications and Public Relations for Roger Williams University, Ed Fitzpatrick.

Solomon won rights to go first in his opening statement, but deferred to Stenhouse, who spoke on the importance of being a “people mover” and a connector of innovative ideas to solve modern problems as the reason she should be elected.

“Collaboration is the key to building Warwick’s reputation as a vibrant, creative and desirable place to live and work,” she said. “As a people mover, I will bring in the best and the brightest and those who have the same passion and love for Warwick as you and I. I am a builder. I will work tirelessly to build confidence in all the branches of city government.”

Solomon spoke of his extensive experience as a city employee, which includes time in all three branches of government – 18 years on the city council; a stint as a municipal judge; and now as the mayor – as being the main reason to give him a chance to accomplish a list of actions through a full term as mayor.

“Warwick is the community I am devoted to and I come with the tools ready and able to do the job as mayor of the city,” he said. “There are many more issues for me to address as time allots me, and I’m hoping that you will re-elect me to the office of mayor of the city of Warwick because I do have a long to-do list to accomplish even more things to make Warwick an even better community to live in.”

Accomplishments cited, questioned

The major theme of the debate was Solomon’s insistence that he had achieved major accomplishments and milestones in his tenure of civil service and Stenhouse’s counter-argument that Solomon has instead not done nearly enough in that same span of time.

That back and forth occurred multiple times throughout the hour-long discussion, beginning with a question regarding what work was accomplished during the 18 years that Solomon served on the city council during Avedisian’s administration (four times as council president, including this most recent term) – and a time during which Stenhouse served on the council for six years from 2000 to 2006 in what was Avedisian’s seat in Ward 1.

“The mayor and I agreed on many things and accomplished many things together,” Solomon said. “There are things we disagreed on, but there’s nothing wrong with disagreement on certain issues.”

Solomon specifically mentioned working with the mayor on getting Rocky Point to be declared a state park, but that Solomon felt the city could get better deals by competitively bidding on all contracts that were submitted – a move he said has saved millions of dollars in his tenure, including $20 million on “one contract alone.”

“I feel that I think he had the potential of doing a lot more if there had been more cohesion and collaboration between the legislative branch and the executive office in the mayor’s office,” Stenhouse said in rebuttal, after praising the “stability” of Avedisian’s leadership for 18 years.

Schools and budgetary disagreements

Solomon maintained that talks between the school administration, city council and his office were “productive” and ongoing, in the hopes of solving a budgetary crisis that currently has the schools in a financial limbo that has left the schools short staffed on cleaning personnel and without programs such as Mentor RI, both of which received chops to balance a nearly $6.6 million hole in the FY19 budget.

“I, for one, now have a better understanding of the financial picture that we are in locally in the city. The school department, we have a better idea of their financial needs. The legislative department, which will have to vote to approve the appropriation, also has an understanding,” Solomon said of the talks. “So, when we talk about collaboration and meeting of the minds, that’s precisely what we’ve been doing the last several months in dealing with the issues in front of us.”

Stenhouse countered by saying that Solomon should have been more aware of the budget situation looming in regards to the schools, as he had been given a copy of the budget by then-Mayor Avedisian a couple weeks prior to budget hearings beginning.

“I feel like this is such an important issue and it keeps getting kicked down the road,” Stenhouse said. “How many meetings can you have…this should have been resolved before the budget hearing… Acting Mayor Solomon had, at that time, the entire budget and he knew what was coming, and yet nothing was done.”

Solomon shook off the criticism and instead touted the meetings as in line with his strategy of performing due diligence into issues without merely taking budgetary figures at face value.

“The numbers that we had in the budget were not credible,” he said, later reiterating a report from prior months that the free cash reserves for the city were actually “significantly less” than presented by Avedisian’s administration, by as much as $8 to 12 million. According to Solomon, he was told the reserves sat between $22 to 25 million when they were actually between $13 to $14 million.

“How could I take whatever numbers were thrown before me without looking into them as being credible?” Solomon continued. “It’s very irresponsible to act on things unless you know the true facts at hand and the resources you have to deal with those issues. I will not do that and I will not guess. I want to know the dollars we have available to address the issues that present to us.”

When asked if either candidate would entertain the notion of possibly changing the city charter to make the school committee an appointed position rather than an elected one, both candidates felt the individual was more important for the position than how they attain the role.

“When it comes to the school committee, whether they be appointed or elected, if they don’t possess the necessary tools to act responsibly and do the right thing, it doesn’t matter if they’re appointed or elected,” Solomon said. “It’s the individual that serves in that capacity that matters.”

Stenhouse agreed, but not without a jab at Solomon.

“It’s up to the individual who has the leadership skills, and that’s what I’m seeing a total lack of here,” she said. “A leader brings parties together and creates consensus, they do not divide – especially our beautiful city. You would think we’re in the worst city with the way the rhetoric is going right now. That is not fair to our educators, that is not fair to our students and it is not fair to the families in the city of Warwick.”

Agreement on sewers

The high cost of sewer assessments drew concerned comments from both candidates. Stenhouse suggested the city needed to look into investing in new technologies that could potentially reduce the costs of implementing sewer extension projects, and warned of the less talked about expense of maintenance for existing sewers.

“What a lot of folks don’t understand is that our sewer system is 50 years old at this time. So, whatever we decide for hookups, we are also going to have to go back and start maintaining this system – and that’s going to be costly too,” she said. “We need to look at new ways of doing things, new ways of bringing in different technologies and, most importantly, financial packages so that those that are on fixed incomes…and those that do not have the resources, can hook up for environmental reasons.”

Solomon agreed with Stenhouse on needing to be aware of the high costs of assessments, especially for aging residents, and that in the future the city will need to be able to utilize different methods to extend sewer projects. However, as with Stenhouse’s comments earlier, that agreement came bundled with a slight jab as well.

“I feel badly the sewer project didn’t take place sooner in Ward 1 in Governor Francis,” he said. “Had they stuck with it years ago maybe they wouldn’t be dealing with the issue they’re dealing with today…I know Sue has been off the council for 12 years, but she was on the council for those six years and she did the best she could with the tools she had back then. But I think Scott Avedisian was also the mayor at that time, who she worked hand in hand with. I think that when they were there doing sewer projects, I would have pushed to have those sewer projects completed in that area before I went to another area which would be more costly.”

When asked if they would support the idea of Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur to not force residents to pay for the repaving of roads following a sewer project, but rather spread those costs out to the entire citizenry, neither side was prepared to commit to a yes/no answer.

“I would do what is fair to the entire community, the entire city in bearing the costs for any type of expansion or sewer disposal,” Solomon said. “But it has to be good for the entire city. You have to weigh and balance the overall system, which includes keeping up with the infrastructure, as Sue indicated.”

“I feel very similar in the fact that we have to do what’s fair for the entire city,” Stenhouse said. “Other people have already paid for assessments and they paid for the road improvements, so you have to make sure that it’s fair.”

On qualifications for mayor

Another big theme of the debate was the respective candidates’ qualifications for being mayor of Warwick. Solomon asked of Stenhouse – each candidate was allotted one question to ask of their opponent – what private sector jobs she held that gave her the qualifications for mayor that could match his.

“I don’t know if I would match yours. I think I have even better experience than yours,” Stenhouse answered, saying that she had worked in management roles for hotels, worked in the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and co-owned a small business with her ex-husband. Most recently, Stenhouse has been working as director of partnership development at Mulligan’s Island.

“I was brought in because the managing partner passed away rather suddenly, unfortunately, and they were at a loss for how their business was going to move forward for that particular season,” Stenhouse said. “I was able to stabilize, rejuvenate, remarket and re-purpose and I have tripled the sales at that establishment.”

Along with questions of her past experience came up the question about the incident that led to Stenhouse’s resignation from her position as the director of the Cranston Senior Enrichment Center – when it was revealed that a person appearing in the background of a press conference was a man masquerading in costume as an elderly woman with a name tag that read “Cranston Senior Home Resident.”

Stenhouse maintained that she had learned from the event but that there were some “incredible misunderstandings” by the media leading the story to blow up into national headlines, but that she “takes full responsibility for them.” She said she regretted how the ensuing media circus completely overshadowed the program that was being highlighted that day – a program that brought student volunteers to shovel snow for seniors.

“I think every single thing you do, positive or negative, whatever happens, is a growth experience. I have definitely grown from that issue,” she said, later adding that, “at the same time I spent two years at that senior center and I’ve got lists of accomplishments and I still have seniors who call me up and staff who miss me because we accomplished so many things during my tenure there. It was a very successful experience for me.”

Solomon declined a chance to rebut her answer about the senior center incident.

On Conimicut Lighthouse

Asked about the criticisms levied by Stenhouse against Solomon regarding what she claimed is a lack of action in preserving the Conimicut Point Light – despite Solomon being the head of a commission tasked specifically with such activity – Solomon doubled down on a defense that the commission was not put in a place to succeed when it was created under Avedisian’s administration.

“Members of the lighthouse foundation resigned or passed away or moved out of city. Their replacements were never made to that board or commission by the prior administration,” Solomon said, adding that “the best I could do with my limited resources is to have the city preserve it until we do gain the resources to restore it.” He later said the issue was very much “on my radar” and that we would be addressing the issue during a full term as mayor.

“There is no better example of a lack of leadership than this issue,” Stenhouse said in response. “This isn’t about people not getting appointed. Where is the leadership in going to the mayor and asking to get people to be re-appointed to the commission? Where is the leadership in looking for outside funding? Not everything is going to come from government.”

On fire department allegations

With allegations swirling and reheating around a purported scheme involving the manipulation of sick time policy by the Warwick Fire Department, the two candidates once again took two sides of the issue – with Solomon insisting on waiting to receive conclusions from two audits that are ongoing, and Stenhouse claiming that Solomon refused to act in due time to address the issue.

“I do await the results of an audit from the firefighters’ union and the city council,” Solomon said. “When I get those results before me, I will act accordingly based on the facts that exist within those results, and the information obtained with the arbitration process currently occurring.”

“He [resident Rob Cote] stated he brought this to acting mayor Solomon’s attention two years ago, that he had brought this to peoples’ attention and to the city council to bring this forward,” Stenhouse said, adding that she would seek restitution of funds if the audits returned verdicts of any wrongdoing – intentional or otherwise. She also said that, “in my administration there is going to be no such thing as a ‘secret deal.’ People are going to have to work with the mayor’s office.”

In conclusion

Both candidates closed out the debate with an offering of their motivations for running for mayor.

“The community has been good to me and, at this stage in my life, I want to give back to the community,” Solomon said.

“We need a long-term vision for Warwick and leader who is willing to listen and work with everyone,” Stenhouse said. “We must develop solutions not just for today, but for tomorrow.”

Comments

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  • richardcorrente

    John Howell and Ethan Hartley of The Warwick Beacon are to be commended...again.

    They put together another informative debate at much expense of both time and money. They proved, once again, that if you want The Real News, it's in The Warwick Beacon.

    Happy Autumn everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    The two-time election reject knows as much about organizing debates as he does about anything else he discusses: Zero.

    This debate was held in a public access studio, meaning it was used for free.

    He is correct about one thing, though: Honest, taxpaying voters looking for "real" news should look for it anywhere else but his comments.

    Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Report this

  • Cat2222

    At a loss. How can Stenhouse disparage Solomon's record while at the same time praising the former mayor?

    "“I feel that I think he had the potential of doing a lot more if there had been more cohesion and collaboration between the legislative branch and the executive office in the mayor’s office,” Stenhouse said in rebuttal, after praising the “stability” of Avedisian’s leadership for 18 years." All blame placed on the council and none of Avedesian? That isn't even logical. You mean to tell me that the mayor couldn't get anything done for 18 years, including the years Stenhouse served as well?

    "Stenhouse maintained that she had learned from the event but that there were some “incredible misunderstandings” by the media leading the story to blow up into national headlines, but that she “takes full responsibility for them.” You never addressed them - EVER - and expecting everyone to move on from it and not make it a consideration during voting season is naive. You can't even be honest about this and you expect people to get behind you because you are a "people mover"? What does that even mean?

    I feel as if Stenhouse is laying back on her years on the council and I don't really think her record in the business world is a highlight of how well she will do in office. Warwick isn't Mulligan's Island. It is a city that has complex issues and requires a certain level of competence to navigate. She left public life years ago and the landscape has changed. Just saying she could do a better job isn't exactly comforting. While I may not agree with everything Solomon has done over the past few months, I can clearly see he is trying to learn the ropes and work hard at bringing all sides to the table.

    "“in my administration there is going to be no such thing as a ‘secret deal.’ People are going to have to work with the mayor’s office.” Did you forget this all happened under your buddy's administration? Stenhouse seem bent on trying to level this accusation on Solomon when it clearly wasn't a 1 man inside job.

    Sorry, I just can't deal with Sue Stenhouse. I don't want someone thinking that they can just waltz back in to the city and take over because they used to work here. She keeps talking about all the negative rhetoric in Warwick but she is doing the same thing with her campaign. She doesn't want to be held accountable for her missteps but at the same time holding Solomon accountable to everything that has gone wrong in the city since he has been there. Its as if she thinks once she is elected, everything will be sunshine and rainbows. She knows how to get things done and by golly she will! Living in a fantasy world doesn't help a single citizen of this city.

    No secret who will be getting my vote. He may not be perfect and he certainly has had a role to play in some of the issues of our city but I would rather place my bet on someone that is in the game than someone that has been retired for years and wants back in to shine in the limelight again.

    Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Report this

  • Bob_Cushman

    Let me just remind voters to compare what Sue Stenhouse says, to what Sue Stenhouse actually did.

    For example, she says in the debate: "“A leader brings parties together and creates consensus, they do not divide".

    But in the fall of 2008 she produced and distributed a letter personally attacking a Warwick city councilor, labeling him "dishonest", "careless", “disrespectful” and "destructive" because she disagreed with his positions.

    What Sue says regarding schools in the debate, "“I feel like this is such an important issue and it keeps getting kicked down the road".

    What Sue did while on the city council. As a member of the RIPEC Municipal Consolidation Committee, had an opportunity to investigate inefficiencies in city government and schools but refused requests from member of the committee to let RIPEC study inefficiencies on the city side of the budget and the wide discrepancy in employee retirement benefits on the city side that would be a issues with consolidating services.

    On Sewers Sue is critical of the lack of infrastructure investments in the system. What Sue did while on the council: She voted to appoint a chairman of the sewer board that spent half the year in Florida and other sewer board member with no experience resulting in project after project incurred millions of dollars in cost overages and no real plan to replace aging infrastructure.

    I could go on with examples of Sue Stenhouse double talk and why she does not have the honesty and experience Warwick needs in its Mayor.

    Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear CrickeeRaven,

    You idiot!

    You think that just because the studio time is free there is no cost of time and money? Do you think John Howell and Ethan Hartley's time has no value? And what about the many hours of preparation on everyone's part? And the set-up. And all the phone calls. And the scheduling? And re-scheduling? And the last minute cancelling by acting Mayor Solomon after The Beacon confirmed (several times) his attendance with the Mayors office AND his campaign headquarters!.

    This event was sponsored by the good folks at The Warwick Beacon. They had ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATION to do it and you should appreciate it, not condemn it, like you condemn everything, you anonymous coward of a critic!.

    Hey, if you really want someone to condemn, take a look at Mark Carruolo, the Town Planner and Head of Economic Development for West Warwick. In the last two years, by their OWN website, he got a whopping EIGHT new businesses for West Warwick. Eight! What a loser!

    And he used to be Chief-of-Staff for Former Mayor Scott Avedisian. I'm sure that he also has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that his tax assessments today are less than they were in 2004, because that would actually be stealing money from the taxpayers. I'm sure that it is just some gigantic coincidence. I'm sure there was no tampering of the figures after they arrived from Vision Technologies, the company that assessed the City and will be doing it again starting in December of this year. I'm sure that his house at 18 Hendricken Court "somehow" went DOWN in value over the last 14 YEARS while everyone else's skyrocketed. I'm sure he did nothing wrong. Yeah, right. Still, I don't understand why he is so opposed to having a system of checks-and-balances by having the appraisal findings sent first to The Warwick Beacon; then forwarded to City Hall. That way, if they are "changed" the Beacon will know and publish the theft. (Wouldn't they Mark?) If he isn't afraid of a fair assessment, why should he oppose this "Corrente-Plan" idea? After all, doesn't Mark Carruolo also have a sick attraction to crickets? And ravens? Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe.

    Hey, Happy Autumn Mark.

    Happy Autumn everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    As expected, the two-time election reject only disgraces himself more with his delusional statements and conspiracy theories.

    Nothing in my earlier comment "condemned" the Beacon for organizing the debate; but such a lack of evidence has never stopped the two-time election reject from making objectively false statements, including his false guess about who uses this screen name.

    I am having a very hapoy autumn (independent if his hollow wishrs) knowing I was among the thousands of honest, taxpaying voters who were 100% correct in rejecting his pathetic candidacy again on Sept. 12.

    Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    Corrente is crazy. Voters saw through his constant lies and delusions, unethical behavior and handed him a blowout loss twice in a row.

    He is ruining these comments for everyone else.

    What a sorry old fool.

    Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    WwkVoter, I'd be willing to bet that the two-time election reject considers it an accomplishment that he's misused the comment section of this website to promote his candidacy, even though, as you correctly point out, both campaigns ended in blowout losses.

    Given his own repeated and willing behavior, it's clear that he's actually proud about repeating false statements, calling people names, showing no understanding of city operations, and inventing conspiracy theories -- all while running two failed campaigns for office.

    Sad, indeed.

    Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    what we need in a mayoral candidate is someone who is willing to pound a substantial sum of their own money into a two term never ending campaign at over a 1000 days.

    dems da kinda brains dat warwick deserves

    Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Report this

  • Cat2222

    Mark Carruolo, who is minding his own business and doing his job in West Warwick, has no idea that you are ranting about him over here at the Warwick Beacon. I find endless amusement in imaging the raised eyebrows and concerned face when he find out some crazy man is losing his *crap* over a screen name and assuming it is him. I am beginning to think that Richard Corrente is a screen name for Alex Jones!

    Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Cat, it's just further proof of the time and energy that the two-time election reject wastes just to see his name in the comment section of this website. That's the only purpose for what he does -- because it's clearly not to inform people, earn their respect, or get their votes.

    Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Report this

  • Scal1024

    Corrente is delusional. When I brought up his awkward, pathetic, embarrassment of a debate performance from 2016, he blamed his unfitness for office on "not being able to hear half the questions". One week later he is praising the same hosts of the debate, claiming they always do a great job. Which is it Rick? Does the Beacon run a debate where only ONE CANDIDATE (apparently) cannot hear the questions? Or did they put together "another informative debate". The only informative thing I took from the 2016 debate is that Rick Corrente is all talk. His "cut taxes cut spending" platform has no merit, he has no clue what he's talking about on any issue effecting this city, he is a pandering fool who for all of his sucking up has received ZERO backing after years of campaigning. Corrente will say anything to try and get elected. Whats truly pathetic? After 2 blowout losses, where voters overwhelmingly said "GO AWAY!!!" it is already abundantly clear that this 2 time loser will no doubt seek a 3rd FAILED run. Take a hint Rick, no one is buying the lies you are selling. Keep on pandering, maybe someday it will actually pay off.

    Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Scal, you perfectly sum up the fundamental defects in the two-time election reject's behavior that he has willingly and repeatedly shown on this website. Despite the two overwhelming losses, he insists that he "represents" people in Warwick. That is the very definition of delusional.

    And as you point out, his refusal to listen to the honest, taxpaying voters who rejected his candidacy twice is pathetic.

    It's also pathetic how someone could be so tone-deaf as to insist that he knows better than everyone else because he uses someone else's website to spout his lies and conspiracy theories.

    He really would be stupid enough to run again, only to lose in humiliating fashion a third time.

    Thursday, October 25, 2018 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    https://www.wpri.com/fox-providence/dan-yorke-state-of-mind/1025-ken-block-and-rob-cote-talk-warwick-firefighters-sick-time-practice-on-state-of-mind/1551894941

    Friday, October 26, 2018 Report this