Don Roach: David Cicilline Ruined Providence

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Don Roach, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

I can’t allow the week to go by without noting that my fellow GoLocalProv colleague took pains to defend former Mayor David Cicilline’s actions in Providence. I laughed out loud as he discussed how Providence’s state aid had been reduced by $171 million over a three year period. I laughed because other cities and towns faced similar cuts and other cities and towns – namely Cranston – took steps to address the new economic reality.

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How do you think Allan Fung can walk the streets of Cranston as one of the most popular mayors in the state after having raised property taxes every year since he took office?

Here’s how:

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He told citizens that state aid to the city was cut creating significant budget gaps.

He took responsibility for the budget seeking to save wherever he could. All the while…

He campaigned vigorously at the State House for more aid as did many other mayors because the cuts were deeper than his ability to reduce costs.

He balanced the budget through fiscal responsibility, cuts, tax increases, and many other difficult decisions that could and should have cost him politically.

Mayor Fung told the truth

The people of Cranston applauded his efforts not because he’s a neighborhood kid who did good by becoming mayor but because he respected the people who put him in office enough to tell them the truth. A novel concept I know and I’m not trying to suggest that Fung has been perfect a perfect mayor without mistakes. Instead, I am saying he took the anti-Cicilline approach in addressing the financial crisis by taking responsibility for his city’s budget and making every attempt to right the ship. He told citizens that unfortunately we would have to bear some of the financial burden because there wasn’t enough money to cover the costs. He reviewed exactly what was being paid and what was being cut informing citizens exactly how the city was spending their dollars. That’s how you manage a city. That’s how you manage a budget. That is not what Cicilline did and it’s indefensible.

Forget about citizens deserving more from their politicians. Forget about us deserving what we get if we reelect Congressman Cicilline. Think about our capitol city facing the prospect of bankruptcy while the mayor who presided over a $110 million dollar deficit is talking to the rest of the state about national problems he believes he can fix. Are you freaking kidding me? The gall and arrogance to not lend Providence a hand nor take responsibility for his part in the debacle is hubris defined.

‘I suppose you could argue that.’

But here we have Sgouros blaming Providence’s ‘category 5’ fiscal disaster on the fact that the state cut aide to Providence. I’ll say again for effect, are you freaking kidding me? Here’s the line from Sgouros’ piece that says it all:

So was Cicilline irresponsible to spend [rainy day fund] money in 2009 and 2010? I suppose you could argue that.

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Really? “I suppose you could argue that.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to argue that pilfering the rainy day fund while not addressing systemic financial holes in the city budget is irresponsible. Yet, you have to ask yourself why? Was Cicilline blind to the realities his city faced? If he was, that makes him incompetent and is that the type of person we want representing us in Congress? For the record, the latter was a rhetorical question.

If he was aware of what was going on and understood simple mathematics what incentive did he have to take from the rainy day fund and not take action to address the city’s fiscal problems? Two words: higher office. Here’s my hypothesis. Cicilline didn’t feel he could hold things together in Providence if he addressed Providence’s financial situation. He would have had to raise taxes, cut programs, call on Uncle Brown, and the like to meet the budget demands. While Republicans would have applauded these moves, his progressive base may have shifted their support to someone else.

Cicilline’s desire was to win, not be responsible

In my opinion, he calculated that he could pull the wool over our eyes long enough to get through the 2010 election & hoped that by 2012 all would be forgiven, or rather, forgotten by the electorate. The thirst for power outweighed his responsibility to the city. That’s the only plausible explanation why a former Brown grad told us Providence was in good financial health less than six months before his successor would call the situation a category 5 storm. A city doesn’t go from healthy to life support in six months. The only question we should ask ourselves is what Cicilline gained by spouting such…how shall I say…fuzzy math? The answer is obvious to everyone but Sgouros.

Again, this is my opinion and I have no idea what actually went through Cicilline’s mind but it’s clear Mayor Taveras is attacking Providence’s financial woes like a man possessed, something Cicilline should have done in 2008 when the wheels started coming off. Sgouros and other progressives like those over at Rhode Island’s Future are putting blinders on – ignoring the former mayor’s record in Providence in favor of keeping a progressive Democrat in office. It’s as if Cicilline’s actions matter less than his political stance on so-called progressive bread and butter issues.

Well, count me among those that say rhetoric should match actions. Cicilline didn’t make a personal mistake that had nothing to do with how he ran the city a la Bill Clinton with Monica Lewinsky. Cicilline didn’t imply he invented the internet as many claim former Vice President Al Gore did. No, Cicilline’s actions are far worse. He took no action to address the financial crisis of his city and to this day, as far as I have read, takes no responsibility for what’s happening now.

Tom, if Mayor Cicilline was good for Providence, I’d hate to see your definition of ‘bad’.

Don Roach is a member of the RI Young Republicans. Have an article suggestion or comment? E-mail him [email protected].

 

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