Mayor Frank Picozzi brought his own gavel to inauguration ceremonies Tuesday night at the Crowne Plaza – a workmen’s hammer. He got laughs as he banged it on the lectern to start the council meeting after having administered the oath of office to all nine returning members.

The hammer, probably straight from the tool belt hanging in his office to remind him of his days as a contractor, was the perfect euphemism for his first term as mayor. There has been a lot of building in Warwick. Scores of roads, Picozzi estimated more than in any other two-year period, have been paved. A new home the City Hall Annex has opened in the renovated Sawtooth Building in Apponaug Sewer construction in Bayside that will bring service to more than 900 property owners is underway after three decades. And millions has been spent on new sanitation and public safety vehicles to ensure critical municipal services are delivered.

Hammers have also been used to make room for change. The City Hall Annex, deemed as not meeting code after being shuttered for more than three years, came down to make room for an outdoor rink to be the center piece for a City Hall plaza. Wickes Elementary School was razed for the development of 39 single family homes and the former Buttonwood Community Center, which was also sold for private development is set to meet a similar fate.

The two years have also been a time of building relationships.

“There is never been a better relationship between the mayor and city council,” told the audience of more than 400 in the Crowne grand ballroom. Both he and City Council President Steve McAllister spoke of it.

In his address, Picozzi echoed much of what he said that morning after former Mayor and Retired Supreme Court Justice Francis Flaherty administered the oath of office in City Council Chambers where he spoke of what he found when taking office and praised municipal employees with the support of the council in meeting the challenges.

What Picozzi faced

“From day one we learned taxes had not been collected, water and sewer bills had not been mailed out, the city was the defendant in multiple lawsuits, 50 employees had been laid off and we didn’t have enough workers to plow the roads, pick up yard waste, or be clerks in our offices. We could not sufficiently provide the level of city services to which the residents of Warwick are entitled. Our vehicles and equipment were old and decrepit, and we had some infrastructure issues that were at a critical level,” he said.

“And if all of that wasn’t enough of a challenge – we were in the middle of a global pandemic. Immediately – Covid dominated a great deal of our time and resources. There were daily Zoom meetings with either the Rhode Island Department of Health, RI.”

At the inauguration of the council and three School Committee district members, Picozzi focused more on the building of relationships with the council and how weeks before taking office, he asked to meet with them. They stopped by his house and chatted as he worked on putting up his Christmas light display. Once in office, Picozzi said several nominees came up for appointments that he found to be politically motivated. He explained he ran on sweeping out politics from government and would not go along with the appointments.

“I didn’t want any part of it [politics]. I asked them to work with me and to trust me,” he said.

 Picozzi is an independent and, with the exception House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, did not endorse any candidates in the 2022 election. He chose to publicly back Shekarchi, because he was the first to come forward and offer to help in any way he could.

For a moment during the inaugural celebration at the Crowne that included the Warwick Neck School chorus and scouts from Buttonwoods Boy Scout Troops 7 and 71, it looked like Picozzi’s hammer would make a second appearance. As McAllister stepped to the podium after being elected council president, Picozzi reached down and held up a gavel. It had a story. Picozzi had planned the gift but in his haste misspelled McAllister’s name on the brass plate surrounding the barrel. Fortunately, Picozzi showed the gravel to McAllister prior to the installation and there was time for a new plate to be made.

Council achievements

McAllister focused on the work of the council over the past two years going ward by ward starting with William Foley in Ward 1 who he commended for his diligence in lowering sewer assessments; Jeremy Rix in Ward 2 for staying in touch with constituents with his walks and meetings; Timothy Howe for working with the administration in crafting a lease-purchase program enabling the purchase of city vehicles and ensuring their replacement going forward and James McElroy, Ward 4, for helping secure funds to preserve Conimicut Light. McAllister recognized Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur for his decade-long quest to bring sewers to Bayside. Construction on the project bringing sewers to more than 900 land owners has started and assessments have been set at $16,900.

Moving on to Ward 6, McAllister spoke of Donna Travis’ 26 years of service to the city, calling her “the dean,” and the roles she has held including City Council President. On Tuesday night, her peers elected president pro tempore meaning she will lead in McAllister’s absence. As an accomplishment in the past two years McAllister spoke of the splash pad planned for Oakland Beach.

McAllister cited Ward 8 Councilman Anthony Sinapi for his diligence in securing additional school funding for teacher assistants. And McAllister pointed to last month’s council approval of legislation researched by Ward 9 Councilman Vincent Gebhart to ensure the preservation of 63 acres of open space in Cowesett, once part of the Dawley Farm, that former mayor Lincoln Chafee bought during his administration.

McAllister cast a spotlight on the fact that the mayor and council didn’t raise taxes and that now the city has gone four years without an increase in taxes.

McAllister also spoke of his efforts to shine a light on the achievements of Warwick residents and institutions listing groups and individuals who have been introduced at council meetings from military veterans, a world champion boxer, a Ukrainian who fled his war torn country to live with a Warwick family to PTOs, Boy and Girl Scout troops, the Warwick Public Library and the Pilgrim Senior Center. McAllister said he is making every effort to display the good of Warwick, adding that the “best is yet to come.”

Challenges ahead

It doesn’t promise to be easy. McAllister and the administration have yet to make public or for that matter schedule a meeting to act on the tentative agreement reached between the administration and Warwick Firefighters or to schedule a meeting to consider the release of $350 million in bonding for new Pilgrim and Toll Gate High Schools. A review of school cost estimates has not been finalized. The council will also be faced with how to proceed with renovations to the Cedar Swamp forced main sewer line that crosses airport property which was estimated to cost about $4 million, but came in at nearly $14 million.

The council will be faced with balancing a budget as it depletes its ARPA funds and the economy appears to be headed toward a recession. It will need to decide whether it should implement a revaluation that was postponed last year at the mayor and council’s request, seek another extension or implement a revaluation with a new set of property classifications.

In closing, Mayor Picozzi turned again to a construction analogy. He said good buildings are built on solid foundations and that the “rock solid” foundation of Warwick is its people.