EDITORIAL: Warwick Mayor Solomon — “I See Nothing. I Know Nothing.”
Sunday, March 03, 2019
This past week, Warwick Mayor Joseph Solomon announced at his State of the City address -- Warwick's first ever --- that he was shocked at the condition of the city’s finances.
In his speech, he outlined fiscal disaster after financial mess — millions of dollars in unknown malfeasance and mismanagement.
Disturbing? Yes, terribly disturbing -- because Solomon was on the City Council for the preceding 18 years before he was elected Mayor.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Unfortunately, those of us inside City Hall know that the full state of our City had not been accurately presented to the public for many years. Tonight, we’ll take a look at some of our challenges. Our aging infrastructure [is] crumbling. The so called 'maintenance budget' the prior administration presented for this fiscal year contains a structural deficit of nearly $7.4 million, setting the City up for a potential structural deficit of roughly $12 million in fiscal year 2020,” said Solomon in his speech.
These utterances by Solomon are shocking, because as Solomon’s official bio states, “Prior to being sworn in as Mayor in May 2018, Mayor Solomon served for 18 years as City Councilman for Ward 4. During his tenure he was elected Council President four times by his counterparts.”
Solomon is "shocked" about the condition of Warwick’s finances, stating, “Our surplus fund was also grossly overstated. Unauthorized contracts in two municipal departments have come to light. Our facilities have been neglected and school funding remains unresolved."
"In short, in the many years leading up to my being sworn into office as Mayor, our community had been led to believe that we were sailing along on calm, tranquil waters. Instead, the reality is that we have headed straight into a perfect storm, without proper warning, preparedness or safeguards," said Solomon. "And since I took office, I’m finding that the issues that presented themselves within the first few weeks of my administration are only the beginning of the storm we must weather.”
This is confusing. Solomon had been on the Council for nearly two decades and led the City Council for years, but he is shocked about the condition of the City’s finances?
Solomon’s bio further states, "He has an abundance of firsthand experience dealing with the inner workings of legislative responsibilities, as well as a vast working knowledge of municipal government.”
Solomon claimed in his speech that there are millions at issue and the biggest that Solomon “discovered” was that there are hundreds of millions of new retirement obligations that no one knew about. Solomon’s tale has been heard before — think Sgt. Schultz at Stalag 13 from the 1960s TV show “Hogan’s Heroes,” whose famous claim was “I see nothing,”
Solomon said in his speech, “Then there’s the matter of our responsibilities related to OPEB, or retiree benefits. Within our FY17 audited financial statements, our liability was at approximately $141 million. These calculations, however, were governed by a different set of guidelines. 5 Federal changes to these regulations mean we now need to show under current regulations our full financial obligations going forward. This means that we will show an obligation of roughly $352 million on our balance sheet. This also affects what we should be paying on an annual basis to cover both current and unfunded liability. The City is currently only funding OPEB on a pay as you go basis and is not presently addressing the large unfunded OPEB liability of $352 million that will now be present on the City’s balance sheet. This, too, needs to be addressed if we are to assure the City’s future fiscal health.”
This is confusing, Solomon has been a city leader for years — a leader — the top council dog, but yet knows nothing about anything.
Captain Renault in Casablanca had a similar experience to Solomon, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” Seconds later Renault is handed his winnings.
All of this would be comical if Warwick's finances were not such a mess.
Related Articles
- EDITORIAL: Deepwater’s Success Has Many Parents
- EDITORIAL: Mr. Speaker, Do Not Succumb to a Last Minute, Backdoor PawSox Deal
- EDITORIAL: Just “13% Strongly Support” Public Financing for PawSox Stadium
- EDITORIAL: RI Politics at its Worst — Last Minute Legislation Moving For PawSox Owners
- EDITORIAL: Raimondo’s Perverse Fundraising - Tobacco, Guns and Opioids
- EDITORIAL: Pawtucket Can’t Afford Pawtucket, Let Alone the PawSox Deal
- EDITORIAL: PawSox — Cooking the Numbers. Stadium Funding Cannot Work with False Numbers.
- EDITORIAL: Mayor Elorza’s War on Small Businesses
- EDITORIAL: Thank You Chairman Cheit for Your Service, Ethics Needs New Leadership
- EDITORIAL: It is Time to Fire Deloitte
- EDITORIAL: Why Providence Should Embrace Fane’s Tower
- EDITORIAL: Belisle at Mount — One of the Greatest Eras in American Sports
- EDITORIAL: Raimondo’s Advisors Don’t Believe in Raimondo
- EDITORIAL: Elorza Just Posted a Sign — Closed to Business
- EDITORIAL: Fane Tower Battle and Delays Unveil Deep Flaws in 195 Development
- EDITORIAL: RI’s Population Problem
- EDITORIAL: Sad Irony of Providence’s Economy - Foxy Reopens, Nordstrom Closes on Same Day
- EDITORIAL: Raimondo’s Budget - A Tax on Middle-Class Life
- EDITORIAL: Providence is a Special Place, It Needs to Grow Upward with the Fane Tower
- EDITORIAL: Too Many Providence School Buses Will Return to Driving to Nowhere
- EDITORIAL: Will Fane’s $300M Investment Go the Way of the PawSox, Due to Lack of RI Leadership
- EDITORIAL: Kudos to Providence Police
- EDITORIAL: Projo Praises Mattiello. Any Ties to Trying to Preserve $700K in Legal Notices?
- EDITORIAL: What Happened to the RI GOP Being the Party of Small Business?
- EDITORIAL: Warwick Mayor Solomon — “I See Nothing. I Know Nothing.”
