Rhode Island’s statewide primary election ended Tuesday night. On the Democratic side, Governor Dan McKee won a narrow victory over former CVS Health executive Helena Buonanno Foulkes. In Providence, the primary determined that Brett Smiley will be the next mayor of Rhode Island’s capital city. In Political Roundtable: 2022 this week, Ian Donnis goes one on one with Smiley to discuss the primary, top issues in Providence and how he’ll get ready for the job. Then, Donnis breaks down the primary election with fellow political reporters Steph Machado and Ed Fitzpatrick. And we’ll hear about voters’ views in Westerly, the location of our next One Square Mile series.
Part I. Brett Smiley looks ahead to his new job
Ian Donnis: Brett Smiley, welcome back to The Public’s Radio.
Brett Smiley: Thanks for having me, Ian.
Ian Donnis: Congratulations on your victory in the primary this week.
Brett Smiley: Thank you very much.
Ian Donnis: There’s no general election competition for you. So you will be the next mayor of Providence taking office in January. Part of your message was that as great a city as Providence is, the city has not reached its potential. We’ve heard talk from similar candidates. I can recall going back to the height of the Providence renaissance in the mid to late 1990s. Three of the most crucial problems facing Providence were present then: a lack of revenue, an underfunded pension system now with less than a quarter of the money to meet the long term obligations, and the underperforming schools. Those problems are still with us. They’ve languished through continuing administrations, why will it be any different on your watch?
Brett Smiley: So to take those issues, maybe a little bit one at a time, we do continue to struggle with revenue problems. And it’s largely because of the growth of large nonprofit institutions that take up more and more of our land in our city. The next mayor has the opportunity, and I have the opportunity to renegotiate with the large nonprofits. They had a 20 year agreement that expires at the end of this year. And I think that that is a real kind of watershed moment for the city to redefine our relationships with the large institutions, the private colleges and the hospitals, so that we can get to a place where we both can benefit from their growth and their success, so that it doesn’t continue to hurt other city taxpayers. With respect to the school system, as you well know, the state took a big step in taking over the schools, that we’ve not yet seen progress from that takeover. That’s something that hasn’t been tried before. In the years since it started, we faced a global pandemic, we lost the governor who started it. And so I’ve already talked to Governor McKee, about meeting shortly to get the takeover back on track, I hope to have a seat at that table so that we can actually finish that plan. You know, one of our fundamental challenges in our education system is our inability to actually finish any of these reform plans of which there have been many over the last several decades. And so my plan, and my message is to stay the course and actually finish the plan. And finally, the pension system is going to remain to be a real challenge. The city put forth this pension obligation bond. Because of rising interest rates, that appears to no longer be an option, at least in the near term. It was a five year authorization. And so if rates come back down in the next couple of years, that will remain an option. Throughout the campaign, I was consistent about wanting to explore moving the city system into the state system. I would do that in cooperation and in consultation with our union leaders, and with state leaders, of course, but I think that that’s a viable path that has not been, you know, really thoroughly explored before.
Ian Donnis: During your primary campaign with fellow Democrats Gonzalo Corvo and Nirva Lafortune, you had far and away the most money in your campaign account. If the three of you had been competing on an equal footing in terms of fundraising, would the outcome have been different?
Brett Smiley: I don’t know. I mean, you need resources to run a citywide campaign you really do. It’s like a chicken and the egg thing because people were supporting my campaign because they respected my experience. And they thought I had the right priorities. And that’s why, you know, they felt inspired or compelled to make a donation that enabled me to run a campaign that I’m extraordinarily proud of. We built it the right way from the ground up. We had really talented staff who did excellent work that I’m so grateful for. And we were able to communicate clearly–with every resident in the city–my priorities, my experience, my plans for the city. And I’m extraordinarily proud that we stayed entirely positive through the entire campaign, because I think this should be about what we’re going to do for the future as opposed to pointing fingers or throwing stones.
Ian Donnis: Let’s talk briefly about the Democratic primary for governor. Your former boss Gina Raimondo came in to headline a fundraiser for you She also lent some support to former Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. We did not see Gina Raimondo publicly support Helena Buonanno Foulkes. What is your explanation for why we didn’t see that?
Brett Smiley: I don’t know. I wasn’t involved in the governor’s race one way or the other. I know I was proud to have my former boss come in to support me. And it was a really thrilling moment to have several hundred people at the Farm Fresh building, rallying in support of my campaign and talking about the good things that we got done together when I was her chief of staff and the state’s director of administration.
Ian Donnis: You’re a political animal, though, surely you must have a personal view on why Gina Raimondo did not publicly support Helena Foulkes?
Brett Smiley: I really don’t for the last 18 months, I’ve been so relentlessly focused on my campaign, and trying to have the opportunity to be the next mayor of Providence. I think. I think that’s part of the reason we were successful is because we stay disciplined and focused on our campaign. And like I said, I’m very grateful that the former governor came in to support me, but any of her other political decisions, you have to ask her.
Ian Donnis: You’re a former director of the State Department of Administration, kind of the brain center of state government. During your campaign, you touted how you had negotiated contracts for the state. We saw during this campaign, organized labor offered very strong support for Governor Dan McKee, potentially making the difference in his close win over Helena Foulkes. Based on your experience in state government, what do you think organized labor will be looking for from Dan McKee, should he win the general election?
Brett Smiley: Oh, I, I don’t know what their expectations are, what their commitments were. I know that I received the support of several labor unions. And the reason that I had is because I have a track record. You know, my experience working with labor leaders is that what they want is a fair deal, good communication, and somebody who keeps their word and trust and is integral to the process. It’s — I never begrudge a union for asking for as much as they can for their members. It’s the public official’s responsibility to say no, here’s what the public can afford, what the taxpayers can afford. And of all the labor contracts that I ever negotiated, nobody ever got exactly what they wanted. But with me, they knew that they always got a fair deal, they always got a straight answer. And I kept my word, and that’s my plan as Mayor.
Ian Donnis: Providence police recently released some figures, they say shows crime is headed in the right direction in Providence after peaking somewhat during the height of the pandemic. There are other people like former mayor Joe Paolino, who characterize things as being out of control in Providence. Is Paolino right or wrong?
Brett Smiley: You know, it’s so challenging because public safety is as much a feeling as anything, and there’s no amount of statistics that you can show someone to convince them to feel safe or not. And the reality is, over the last 18 months, as I was campaigning, I heard from a lot of residents that they don’t feel safe. And I respect the work of the Providence police. And I believe their data, don’t get me wrong. But there are too many people in Providence, who feel unsafe. And there is a perception that Providence is unsafe, and perception can become reality. We want people throughout Rhode Island, throughout the region, to want to come to Providence, to want to enjoy our fabulous restaurants, to go to the theater, to come shop, to enjoy what we know makes Providence so great. And so we have to change that perception. And we need to change that perception through you know, I think better leadership in the mayor’s office to really sell Providence, but also through the visible presence of people in positions of authority, not just the police officers, but including here. You know, we’re in downtown Providence right now, people like the DID, the people in the yellow jackets, just so that people who are visiting Providence can feel like this is a safe city that it’s safe to come and enjoy everything that we have to offer.
Ian Donnis: Speaking of the Providence police, would you like to see chief Hugh Clements stay on in that role?
Brett Smiley: So I’ve spoken in very positive terms about the chief, I think he has been an extraordinary leader for the department for a long time. As we’re taping this, we’re 48 hours after the election, I have not made any personnel decisions for any position. And we’ll do that in the weeks and months to come. But I think the chief has done an exceptional job and I’m grateful for his service to date.
Ian Donnis: Could you see there being a place in your administration for your mayoral rivals, Gonzalo Cuervo or Nirva Lafortune?
Brett Smiley: I absolutely would keep that door wide open. They brought a lot to the discussion. And I’ve had the chance to speak with both of them in the last 48 hours. You know, there were so many options. During the campaign, we had I think over 20 forums, and in many instances, it was clear we have the same positions on many issues. It’s a Democratic primary and we have a similar view of the world and of the city. And so I would love to include them and their supporters in my transition in my administration, and just in working to make our city better. You know, we were so lucky to have three candidates this year, who all ran for the right reasons who all cared about Providence. And I don’t take that lightly. I think the voters were very lucky to have good choices. And I hope that we can all find a way to stay invested in the future of our city.
Ian Donnis: There’s going to be a lot of turnover on the city council due to term limits. One of the people who’s leaving is council president John Igliozzi. Will he wind up in your administration?
Brett Smiley: I was happy to have the support of Councilman Igliozzi, President Igliozzi. And like I said, I haven’t made any personnel decisions to date, and, but appreciated his support throughout the campaign.
Ian Donnis: There’s typically somewhat of an adversarial relationship between the mayor and the city council. Maybe that’s a healthy tension, but it could also be frustrating for the mayor. You’re a longtime veteran of city and state government. There will be a lot of new city councilors in January. Is that going to give you an upper hand in the relationship with the council?
Brett Smiley: I actually don’t think there has typically been that — we have seen both times where the council president and the council and the mayor worked together well. Mayor Taveras and Council President Solomon worked together extraordinarily well. Mayor Cicilline, and Council President Mancini worked together very well. We’ve seen it when they don’t work well together. The city wins when the council and the mayor are working together. And so it is going to be my plan. I’m going to endeavor to have a partnership with the City Council that is constructive. That is productive. And I think that that’s actually how we move the ball forward on so many things. And so you’re right, there’s a lot of new people. I look forward to working with them. And I will hope and take that model of these past examples when a mayor and a council were working together as opposed to fighting.
Ian Donnis: Your tenure as the next mayor of Providence will coincide with forward motion on the Superman revitalization project that could help toward your goal of fostering more street activity and a better sense of safety in downtown Providence. At the same time, critics say using public money for that project is wrong when it’s not really truly affordable housing. How do you respond?
Brett Smiley: I disagree. I think that I want to see that project go forward with adequate taxpayer protections, which we know how to do making sure that the developer doesn’t stick us with the bill if there’s cost overruns or things like that. But I think that downtown, which needs help right now post pandemic, will be significantly revitalized with an occupied Superman building. I also think that we’ve got such an acute housing shortage in Providence that we need housing at every price point. And so market rate apartments and the 20% affordable apartments in that building are going to help. That doesn’t mean it’s coming at the expense of some other more deeply subsidized housing somewhere else. We need housing at every level. And so I have no doubt that that building will fill up immediately and that it will help reinvigorate downtown.
Ian Donnis: The next mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, thank you for joining us.
Brett Smiley: Thank you so much.
Part II: Tuesday’s RI primary winners, losers
Ian: Rhode Island’s primary election wrapped up Tuesday. Voters settled a series of statewide races and decided which legislative Democrats will move ahead to the November election. Joining me now to discuss this are two fellow political reporters, Steph Machado from WPRI-TV, Channel 12 and Ed Fitzpatrick from Globe Rhode Island.
Ian Donnis: Governor McKee scored a very narrow victory over Helena Buonanno Foulkes. Ed, should McKee send Foulkes a thank you card for not running a more effective campaign?
Ed Fitzpatrick: Well, a thank-you card would be a nice gesture. There’s not a lot of love in the room right now between those two. But yeah, I mean, she did not receive as many mail ballots as the other two leading candidates. She finished very strong. I think that had a lot to do also, with Nellie Gorbea’s campaign really stumbling down the homestretch as much as it did anything else. But she also did very well, in the debates, the last few debates and really finished strong.
Ian Donnis: Steph, as Ed said, Governor McKee reacted in kind of a curious way, when folks tried to call him on election night, let’s listen to that clip. What was your reaction to this?
Steph Machado: It was a little bit of a cringe moment, it wasn’t exactly the polite way for him to react to that phone call. Of course, the staffer probably shouldn’t have interrupted him on the podium with the phone call. But he also could have just said, we’ll call her back. But clearly no love lost between the two of them. We’ll see if they sort of make up and if Foullkes endorses McKee in the general election, because he won with, you know, 32, 33% of the vote, it’s not exactly a mandate from the majority of voters who voted in the primary. So he will really need Democrats to come together and unify around him in order to ensure he can beat Ashley Kalus in November.
Ian Donnis: Let’s shift to the second congressional district, Seth Magaziner had a very convincing victory on the Democratic side. 55% of the vote in a six way field is nothing to sniff at. Republican Alan Fung is well liked in Cranston and he has a good geographic base there. What are your thoughts on that race, Ed?
Ed Fitzpatrick: Well, you already see a lot of money pouring into that race. It’s going to have national implications. You’re going to see the mayor trying to emphasize his record in Cranston, but Magaziner is going to try to nationalize that. As you’ve already seen ads coming out that picture Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy, you’re going to hear a lot more about them. And the ads went up the next morning. So it’s on.
Ian Donnis: Steph, the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe vs. Wade has helped Democrats across the country, how much of a factor you do you think that will be in this race?
Steph Machado: I think it’s definitely a factor. And it’s something that’s going to come up a lot on the campaign trail, especially if Alan Fung is difficult to nail down on exactly what sort of legislation he would support in Congress. We’ve asked him a few times it sounds like he is in favor of allowing abortion up to a certain point. But I think he’s really going to have to be clear on that to voters because they care about this issue. And it is a live issue in Congress potentially, whether or not they’re going to do an abortion ban. If Republicans take control of Congress, or whether they manage to codify abortion rights into law, it’s definitely going to be an issue.
Ian Donnis: Let’s stay with Steph here. You pay close attention to City Hall and the Providence City Council. There were some very close city council races and there’s a lot of turnover on the council due to term limits. How do you expect that to affect the Council and its relationship with the next mayor Brett Smiley?
Steph Machado: Yeah, I mean, we always knew that we were having some longtime more conservative democratic city council people leave due to term limits. And actually I think all of them endorsed Brett Smiley, but they won’t be on the council anymore during his mayorship, come January. We have six different council races where someone has requested a recount. We’ll see if those recounts, you know, we’re taping this on Thursday. We’re gonna get some more mail ballots in this afternoon. So we’ll see if those recounts are actually — Those races end up being close enough for a recount, but we are looking overall at a council that is going to be more progressive and more to the left of the current Council. And Brett Smiley really ran as the– he called it pragmatic — but almost the most moderate Democrat in the race, he didn’t support rent control and some progressive policies. So we’ll see how he works with that council and whether they clash on some issues or whether they get along great.
Ian Donnis: Meanwhile, progressives have made some big inroads in the General Assembly in recent election cycles. They had a lot of wins in the last one in 2020. But with the primary this week, they were really blunted by the slightly more conservative Democratic leadership in both the House and the Senate. House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio had convincing victories. Ed why do you think progressives were less successful in the primaries, where they like to make a play for it, in this election cycle?
Ed Fitzpatrick: You’re right, the political cooperative said they were going to take over the whole state house, that did not happen. They did not fare so well, in taking on the leaders, the top leaders in the House and the Senate and the House Majority Leader. Other progressives did make some inroads, you saw Anastasia Williams get knocked off by Enrique Sanchez in house district nine and that was an upset of sorts. So in the Senate, I think it was more or less a wash as far as progressives making advances, maybe a little bit in the house, but not much. It wasn’t the wave we’ve seen in some of the more recent election cycles. You know, I think — on some issues. There wasn’t differences between — substantial differences between some of the incumbents and those challenging them.
Ian Donnis: Sure, we could see that with Speaker Shekarchi who faced a Rhode Island Political Cooperative-based candidate but Shekarchi was already very pro choice. Your view Steph?
Steph Machado: Yeah, something I thought was really interesting was there were a number of Democratic incumbents who voted against abortion rights back in 2019. That became issues for them in their races, but they managed to hang on like Mary Ellen Goodwin, very strong victory for her Frank Ciccone, Dominick. Ruggerio. As you mentioned, their opponents were campaigning on the fact that hey, this Democrat voted against abortion rights, you should get them out of office and the voters disagreed and they sent them back to the statehouse. So perhaps that issue is very important, but perhaps not enough for someone to oust an incumbent like that.
Ian Donnis: All right. We’ve got to leave it there. Thank you for joining us, Target 12 investigator from WPRI TV, Steph Machado.
Steph Machado: Thanks for having me.
Ian Donnis: and from the Boston Globe’s Rhode Island office, Ed Fitzpatrick.
Ed Fitzpatrick: Thanks, Ian.
Part III. One Square Mile: Westerly
Ian: What’s on the mind of voters this election season? My colleagues Alex Nunes and Joe Tasca spoke with people in Westerly to get a better sense of what people consider the top issues. Here’s their report.
Dade Nunez: Well, the issues–the big one that I’m concerned about is making sure that our country gets back on track. I’d like to see us not so divided.
Westin Place: We keep sending the same type of people up to the State House and to D.C. It’s the same lifelong politicians, the same people who have been in power locally that just want to move up the ladder politically.
Leslie Dunn: Everybody’s response is always, “We want to be diverse. We want to be inclusive.” But nobody’s showing up. If we have a community of people here who feel that their wellbeing is not a priority of a community, that’s very telling of their experience and what’s going on here.
Westin Place: I’m from the north end of Westerly, which is kind of the poorer section of town. If you want someone who’s the most ignored politically, it’s someone who’s a truck driver from the poorer side of Westerly.
Alex Nunes: I’m South County Bureau Reporter Alex Nunes, and I’m also a Westerly resident.
Joe Tasca: And I’m reporter Joe Tasca. I also live in Westerly. So, Alex. One of the reasons we’re highlighting Westerly in this series of conversations is it’s more diverse than people often think, and politically speaking Westerly is a fairly purple town. There are more Democrats than Republicans, but the majority of registered voters are unaffiliated.
Alex Nunes: And when you talk to people you hear them bring up a wide range of priorities, both nationally and locally.
Meredith Ingram: It’s very irritating to me that there are people who work in this town who cannot find affordable housing in this town.
Danielle Beliveau: I think it’s a scary time to be a person with a uterus right now. There’s already abortion bans in a ton of states.
Madeline Labriola: Well, I think, for me, there are two existential threats faced right now. One is climate, and the second existential threat is nuclear weapons. When I look at a candidate, whether it’s on the national level or the local level, I look and see–what are they saying about these two issues?
Alex Nunes: Joe, one trend we’ve seen in Westerly in recent years that mirrors national politics, is the advocacy around racial justice becoming more visible in town. Westerly is predominantly white, but the population of people of color is growing, and following the murder of George Floyd more people of color have gotten involved in local politics, holding protests, meeting with different officeholders, and in a couple cases deciding to run for office themselves.
Joe Tasca: One of them we’ll hear from in this series is Kevin Lowther. He’s the only Black candidate for town council this year. He decided to run after watching a candidate forum last election cycle and being disappointed by what he was hearing.
Kevin Lowther: I just was not being represented. When they asked questions about “Is there systemic racism in Westerly?” or “Should Juneteenth be a state holiday?” I just saw that there were a lot of candidates who had really not had to consider that perspective.
Alex Nunes: Like many communities across the country, Westerly has also seen this tension between viewpoints on race and gender and other cultural issues play out in discussions about the future of our schools.
Joe Tasca: That’s right. You have a small but vocal group of right-leaning residents making an issue of how race and gender and U.S. history are taught in our schools. But you also have people like school committee candidate Leslie Dunn pushing for a greater focus on equity in our schools.
Leslie Dunn: An equity audit would just really peel everything back, especially if it’s done by a third party company. It really takes a scientific look at where this community can do better to make sure our students, across the board, are getting what they need.
Alex Nunes: And Joe, it wouldn’t be a complete conversation about Westerly without some discussion of the continuing battles over shoreline access.
Security Guard: That’s private parking.
Beach access advocate: I’m just going down to the end real quick.
Security Guard: You don’t have a pass. I’m sorry.
Alex Nunes: That’s a security guard in the exclusive Weekapaug section of town recorded turning away a shoreline access advocate at a blocked off beach. This debate over who controls access to the beach and who gets to go where has gained a lot of momentum in several coastal states in recent years, and it’s an especially important issue here in Westerly.
Joe Tasca: The controversy has spilled over into local politics and the messaging in this year’s election season. And it’s probably an issue that had some influence in the Democratic primary race for the open state Senate seat in Westerly. Town Council President Sharon Ahern was not seen as a friend of shoreline access by some people, and she lost by a wide margin to an opponent, Victoria Gu, who made shoreline access a part of her campaign platform.
Alex Nunes: Alright, Joe. We’ll leave it there for now. Looking forward to more conversations in our special election series of One Square Mile: Westerly.
Joe Tasca: Yes, much more to come.
Ian Donnis: Thank you, Alex Nunes and Joe Tasca. Voters we heard from in that piece include Westerly residents Dade Nunez; Westin Place, also a candidate for Senate Senate; Leslie Dunn; Meredith Ingram; Danielle Beliveau and Madeline Labriola.
Thanks for listening to our show this week. If you have a question or comment, drop us an email at news@ripr.org, or connect with me on Twitter @IanDon. Additional audio was provided by WPRI-TV Channel 12. This has been a production of The Public’s Radio. Our producer is James Baumgartner. Our editor is Mareva Lindo. Our executive producer is Sally Eisele and our CEO and General Manager is Torey Malatia. I’m Ian Donnis and I’ll see you on the radio.
