Having dominated Providence's political life for almost three decades, Vincent
A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr. has dropped from the radar screen of public attention
with remarkable speed since his June conviction on a single count of
racketeering conspiracy. But the inimitable mayor, scheduled for sentencing
September 6 in US District Court, will cast an imposing shadow four days later
when his successor is almost certain to be chosen.
The two frontrunners in the four-way Democratic primary, David N. Cicilline
and Joseph R. Paolino Jr., offer a distinct choice for the electorate.
Cicilline, a progressive with a strong reform record, presents himself as the
most dramatic break from the discredited style of politics as usual in the
capital city. Property owner Paolino, who became mayor after Cianci was forced
to leave office in 1984 and served until 1991, touts himself as the experienced
hand who can decisively lead Providence forward during a difficult time. It
remains to be seen, of course, which of these competing messages will most
resonate with voters.
Making the situation more complex is the candidacy of state Senator David V.
Igliozzi, a proven vote-getter with a strong base in Silver Lake who, although
he's trailing behind the leaders, remains a force to be reckoned with in the
September 10 primary election. By contrast, gadfly Keven A. McKenna has
provided some of the more entertaining moments of the race, but his campaign
didn't seem to gain traction with voters even before revelations about his 1999
filing for Chapter Seven bankruptcy. With less than four weeks until primary
day, a recent survey of 500-plus registered Democratic voters by ABC6
(WLNE-TV), showed Cicilline as the frontrunner, with support from 41 percent of
respondents, followed by Paolino (33 percent); Igliozzi (15 percent); undecided
(seven percent); and McKenna (four percent.) The poll had a four percent margin
of error.
Cicilline, whose interest in running for mayor was well known long before his
official campaign announcement in February (see "Battlefield Providence, News,
May 18, 2000), certainly gets points for taking on Cianci when the reigning
alpha dog of Providence politics looked almost unbeatable. By contrast,
Igliozzi, who worked as a part-time lawyer in the Cianci administration until
about seven weeks ago, and Paolino wouldn't be in the running for City Hall's
top job had Cianci been exonerated.
Still, despite Cicilline's support among a cross-section of residents, the
primary election is likely to be close. Although Paolino hasn't won a race
since 1986, he boasts strong name recognition, the ability to pour large
amounts of cash into his campaign, and the support of much of the local
political establishment. Igliozzi, who has a very effective campaign
organization and the likelihood to cut into Paolino's backing among more
socially conservative voters, could pick up ground before September 10. The
primary winner is almost assured of victory in the November general election,
when the other choices will include Greg Gerritt of the Green Party, Republican
David Talan, and independent Christopher Young.
With the likely primary turnout topping out at 35,000 tallies -- less than a
quarter of Providence's population -- a candidate could emerge victorious with
less than 40 percent of the vote.
GUY DUFAULT, an unaligned Democratic consultant who has contributed to the
Cicilline, Paolino, and Igliozzi campaigns, expects Paolino to challenge
Cicilline's lead by significantly expanding his television advertising in the
closing stretch of the race. The challenge for Cicilline is to match such
increases, while Igliozzi needs to outmaneuver his rivals with organization and
get-out-the-vote efforts. Dufault believes it will be difficult for the others
to overcome Cicilline's early lead, but the question remains whether Igliozzi
can run a better ground war and Paolino a better air war. "When you only need
11,000 or 12,000 votes to win, it really becomes a ground war as much as an air
war," Dufault says.
Despite complaints from the different campaigns about the theft and
replacement of campaign signs, the four Democrats, with the occasional
exception of McKenna, have remained largely decorous in their public
statements, emphasizing their respective messages and generating some
thoughtful dialogue during a series of debates. Dufault doesn't expect the race
to go negative even if Paolino continues to trail Cicilline, because of the way
in which negative tactics backfired for the former mayor during his losing
campaign for governor in 1990 and in the 1996 Democratic congressional
primary.
Leading Providence's national reinvention as shorthand for urban rejuvenation,
Cianci seemingly wielded the Midas touch for much of his second tenure at City
Hall. But after his trial amplified the flaws of Cianci's leadership style,
such as selecting lackluster and corrupt people for some key positions within
city government, the mercurial mayor's would-be successors are focusing their
attention on the city's neglected needs -- such as improving the schools,
public safety, municipal finances, and the provision of basic city services.
Not surprisingly, there's a lot of support for smaller class sizes; An
independent audit of city finances; Hiring and promoting people based on merit;
Coming to terms with $500 million in unfunded pension liability; Modernizing
the police department; Paying more attention to the neighborhoods; And trying
to get a greater return for the city from such nonprofit institutions as
universities and hospitals.
One significant subtext in the campaign is the sexual orientation of
Cicilline, a 41-year-old criminal-defense lawyer, who is openly gay. Although
Cicilline downplays the political significance of this, Paolino, 47, and
Igliozzi, 42, haven't hesitated to surround themselves with family members in
campaign advertising at every turn.
But an August 12 endorsement for Paolino by Voices 4 Equality, an ad hoc
group, may have backfired. The notion of a gay advocacy group endorsing a
straight candidate caught the fancy of some media decision-makers, such as
those at WJAR-TV (Channel 10), where the "surprise" endorsement led the 6
o'clock news. Cicilline, though, says Voices 4 Equality never interviewed him,
and Jim Taricani, who reported WJAR's initial story, called the group "bogus"
during a subsequent appearance on WSBE-TV's Lively Experiment and said
the endorsement shouldn't have even been reported.
As Brown University political science professor Darrell West recently wrote on
his Web site, www.insidepolitics.com, "Paolino's role in raising this issue as
well as his persistence in actively presenting his wife and four children in
television ads is ironic given the way gay rumors about him torpedoed his 1990
gubernatorial run." The matter of orientation can be volatile in an election,
but "with a four-way primary, all bets are off in terms of how this will affect
the primary outcome," West wrote, since Paolino and Igliozzi are competing for
a similar base and could split the vote of those uncomfortable with the
prospect of an openly gay mayor.
Linked with a national mood that favors outsiders, the upcoming mayoral
primary -- coming after Cianci's conviction and the squalid revelations of
Plunder Dome -- is mostly about change. Whether this offers a greater advantage
to Cicilline or Paolino "depends on what issues really resonate with voters and
which candidate people see representing a stronger break with the past," says
West. "I don't think this is going to be a status quo election. People are
going to be looking, more and more, for a change. The candidate who positions
himself as the change agent should win. Don't ask me who that will be."
IF ANY CANDIDATE describes himself as the man of change, it's Cicilline, who
has pledged not to take campaign contributions from city employees -- an
obvious reference to the perception within the police department that buying
tickets for Cianci fundraisers was a key to promotion -- and making an early
call among the four Democratic candidates for an audit of city finances. It's
little surprise that one piece of Cicilline's campaign literature is headlined,
"No more `business as usual.' "
McKenna has also run an outsider campaign, taking up the relevant theme of
"real city vs. Renaissance City," and after working in a combination of local,
state, and federal roles, he can make a good case about understanding the
mechanics of government. But some elements of his platform -- such as providing
a free education through an associate's degree for city residents by taxing the
hospitals and universities -- seem far-fetched, and McKenna's occasional
flashes of volatility haven't helped him.
Meanwhile, Igliozzi cites himself as the only lifelong Providence resident in
the race and points to his own distinctive experience as a prosecutor, city
councilor, tax lawyer, and state senator. Bolstered by the political influence
of his father, A. Vincent, a longtime Democratic ward chairman, Igliozzi has
emphasized law-and-order issues and a plan for establishing a coordinator for
each of Providence's 25 neighborhoods. If elected, Igliozzi says, he wouldn't
accept campaign donations from vendors doing business with the city. And by
pouring $200,000 into his campaign and running a prolific direct-mail effort,
the state senator has raised his city-wide profile in a relatively short period
of time.
Paolino, who clashed in the past with Cianci, was circumspect in his remarks
about the mayor during the Plunder Dome trial. Asked why he didn't get into the
race prior to Cianci's conviction, Paolino says, "I was hoping he was going to
be found innocent. I didn't want my mayor to be convicted of corruption." Asked
the same question, Igliozzi says, "I gave him the benefit of the doubt."
The overriding message of Paolino's campaign, as in its motto, is "Ready from
day one," and the candidate rarely misses an opportunity to tout his previous
experience from such roles as mayor, director of the state Department of
Economic Development, and US ambassador to Malta. Having a done a credible job
after coming to office at age 29 and helping to plant the seeds of the city's
rejuvenation, the mantra goes, Paolino could do a better job now. It's also
true that Paolino's staffers at City Hall, like John Simmons, his former
director of administration, will never be mistaken for the likes of Frank
Corrente.
Still, Paolino's administration wasn't completely free from the crony style of
politics. In January 1991, the Providence Journal reported that Paolino
spent the final weeks of his administration giving out 120 jobs or raises, many
to relatives, friends, and the politically connected. The changes, with a tab
of $1.1 million, came when the city was facing a burgeoning $5 million deficit.
(At the time, Paolino characterized the hikes as "job changes" and said the
increases and new positions were included in a previously prepared budget.
Those who got raises or jobs "gave my administration good service," he told the
Journal, and some jobs were meant to keep Cianci from firing certain
employees.).
Paolino's particular ties to the establishment can be seen in his backing from
the Laborers, Local 1033, the largest of the municipal employee unions, the
Fraternal Order of Police, a parcel of Democratic ward committees, and such
figures as former attorneys general Jeffrey Pine, a Republican, and Julius
Michaelson. And as recently reported by Scott MacKay in the Journal, a
number of city employees have signed on with either the Paolino or Igliozzi
campaigns.
In 1996, Paolino alienated many in the Latino community during the Democratic
congressional primary by advocating a crackdown on illegal immigration, phasing
out bilingual education and making English the official language. But Paolino
has mended fences to the degree that Ward 10 Councilman Luis A. Aponte, a
leading progressive on the city council, agreed to become his campaign
chairman, and the former mayor still has a fair measure of support among black
leaders on the city's South Side.
Cicilline made early inroads into Providence's growing Latino community,
establishing his main campaign office on Elmwood Avenue and later winning
endorsements from Angel Taveras, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2000,
and the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee. His other endorsements
come from progressive groups and legislative colleagues like Senator Rhoda
Perry and Representative Edith Ajello. Judging by a series of debates staged by
the League of Women Voters, which came about after Cicilline proposed the idea,
he also has strong support among voters from South Providence to the East
Side.
Asked about how his experience compares to Paolino, Cicilline cites his work
on state budgets and other aspects of government and asserts that he'll be just
as prepared to hit the ground running. But he suggests that other qualities are
perhaps even more important because of the challenges facing the city. "What
the city really needs is someone who is prepared to come in and do things
differently," Cicilline says. "The old way of doing business -- the old style
of politics -- is not working. It's not solving our problems . . . My
candidacy, my campaign, represents a change. The question, really, is, who is
the best candidate to move the city forward?" Ultimately, he says, the election
is "a choice between a continuation of the same or change."
Chatting on the phone recently from his campaign headquarters with Terrence
Murray, the chairman of FleetBoston Financial Corporation, Paolino allowed
himself a bit of humility, saying, "Terry, I haven't won an election since
1986. I have no illusions in front of me." Regardless of the outcome of the
September 10 primary, the former mayor noted that his work address will remain
on Dorrance Street -- the site of City Hall -- since the family business,
Paolino Properties, one of the three largest owners of downtown property, is
down the block at No. 76. Still, despite the insouciant appearance, Paolino has
been running hard since jumping into the mayoral race in the narrow window on
the heels of Cianci's conviction, trying to create a tidal wave of support.
"I'd be a lot more boring than Buddy, but I think the city needs a mechanic
right now," Paolino tells Murray, perhaps seeking to inoculate himself from
comparisons to the charismatic Cianci. "The question is, how fast can you do
the job, and can you do it as aggressively as it needs to be done? There's only
one person who knows how to do it and who has done it before. They're all
talking about what they want to do and I've done it."
By contrast, the refrain of Cicilline supporters is that he hasn't made deals
or promises, will better represent the changing face of the city, and has the
vision and intelligence to usher in a new style of leadership. Rated the top
Democratic representative at the State House by the good government group
Common Cause, Cicilline gets plaudits from for his strong backing on many
issues, including ethics reform in state government, civilian review of the
police department, and working to reduce gun-related violence. H. Philip West
Jr., executive director of Common Cause, emphasizing that he didn't want his
comments to be taken negatively toward other candidates, said of Cicilline,
"I've seen him as a craftsman of detail. He does his legal homework well and
pays attention to the mechanics of government."
Paolino and Cicilline say they each plan to spend roughly $500,000 in the
course of their campaigns. According to campaign finance reports, Cicilline has
raised almost $350,000 since March 2001, while Paolino has come up with
$235,000 since July 1. Although the two candidates are only six years apart in
age, they seem to represent different generations in Providence politics.
Assuming their campaign war chests remain close to equal, the Democratic
mayoral primary can be seen as the choice between the end of one chapter in
local politics and the start of a new one.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.
Issue Date: August 23 - 29, 2002
