De Los Santos, Ciccone Spar Over Graffiti, Bars in RI Senate Race in Silver Lake
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Progressive Democrat Doris De Los Santoshas taken to Facebook to call out her primary opponent Senator Frank Ciccone on issues of graffiti and neighborhood bars’ closing times - and Ciccone has fired back.
De Los Santos, who was endorsed recently by the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America, recently took issue with a graffiti-covered storefront with signs for Ciccone, the seven-term incumbent, in the Silver Lake district in Providence.
“Sadly, the incumbent is more concerned with finding locations for his campaign signs than with the quality of life in Senate District 7. Graffiti is the scourge of our neighborhood and when elected I will do everything I can to stamp it out. I want to thank CouncilwomanMatos for directing city services to resolve this issue,” wrote De Los Santos.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCiccone countered that he had in fact helped ultimately fixed the graffiti issue, which he said had been “resolved” since the picture was taken.
“The gentleman there had asked someone to take care of it, and said he called the Councilwoman to remove it but there was been no action. I had someone called [the city] a number of times at the time [De Los Santos] posted this,” said Ciccone. “The building's since been painted.”
Raising Issues on Bars
De Los Santos also took issue with two bars — Bukana and La Frontera — that have Ciccone signs on them, that want to extend their closing hours from 1 A.M. to 2 A.M.
“This is a residential neighborhood,” De Los Santos told GoLocalProv.com, of the signs for Ciccone on the buildings.
“I understand the economic development needs of the community, and I know we don't need barriers. But it’s not the nightclubs to staying open until 2 o'clock, I don't think that's the right strategy. You don't have to look far to know that establishments like this are prone to unstable conditions. i care about my neighborhood, and the families and children.
Cicconne responded to De Los Santos’ post.
“Just because there are signs, that doesn't mean I'm backing their efforts. Plus, you've got to go through the City of Providence - and that's Sabina Matos' district. It’s a city issue. And Bukana is not even in my district,” said Ciccone. “Until she put this out, I had no idea."
The owner of both bars, I do not know. I know the owner of the buildings, I do. Do I believe they should be open later? No.”
Battle Heats Up with Primary Weeks Away
Ciccone said following the posts that it was all “political.”
“This is a political race, and she’s distorting the facts,” said Ciccone. “A lot of the things she’s focusing on are [city] council level issues. She ran for city council before and lost. She’s still focused on council politics.”
De Los Santos said that Ciccone is “out of touch” with the district.
“I think Senator Ciccone is largely absent from the district and the needs of the community,” said De Los Santos. “I think he has a sense of political privilege and indifference.”
