Fung cruises to 4th term

Republican Mayor Allan W. Fung won his fourth term in resounding fashion on Tuesday, besting Democratic challenger Michael J. Sepe – and picking up a GOP majority on the City Council for the first time in his tenure.

“I am so humbled to have the overwhelming support of Cranston residents,” Fung said amid a jubilant crowd at his Chapel View campaign headquarters. “I’m very proud of all that we’ve accomplished … It’s very special.”

Based on unofficial results, and with 96 of the city’s precincts reporting, Fung had received 22,513 votes – or just more than 68 percent – to Sepe’s 10,347, or more than 31 percent.

With victories from citywide candidates Michael Farina and Ken Hopkins and a Ward 4 win for Trent Colford – and despite Don Botts’ defeat in Ward 3 – Fung will now enjoy a 5-4 Republican majority on the council. The mayor said he believes it is the first time the party has enjoyed control of the body in roughly two decades, and framed the results as a clear endorsement of his and the local GOP’s approach.

“I think that sends a message that the taxpayers are tired of all that political sniping,” he said.

Sepe, surrounded by fellow Democrats at 39 West restaurant on Phenix Avenue, acknowledged the scope of the defeat.

“We got shellacked,” he said. “My thoughts are that Allan Fung ran a great race, and we got whipped. I want to wish him congratulations over the next four years. He did a good job. It was fun, it was a great campaign and I had a lot of fun. We worked hard and I thought we got our message out, but I guess it didn’t resonate with the constituents, and the people spoke loud and clear.”

The race between the two men became a study in contrasts, and drew attention from all corners of the Ocean State.

Fung, 46, the son of Chinese immigrants, graduated from Classical High School, attended Rhode Island College, and earned a law degree from Suffolk University. He began his career as a litigation associate in 1999, and later served as a special assistant attorney general and as government relations counsel for MetLife in 2001.

Fung has been a fixture in Cranston politics for more than a decade. He won a citywide seat on the City Council in 2003, and lost the 2006 mayor’s race to Michael Napolitano by a razor-thin margin.

First elected mayor in 2008, Fung served a pair of two-year terms before winning his current, four-year term following changes to the city’s charter. The term to which he was elected Tuesday is the last for which he is eligible under those changes.

Sepe, 68, was seeking a return to elected office after several years off the main stage. He was elected as the Ward 5 representative to the City Council in 1984, and served until 1996 as both a ward and citywide councilman. He served as vice president and president of the body during his tenure. He also mounted an unsuccessful bid for mayor against incumbent Michael Traficante in 1994.

He was elected chairman of the Cranston Democratic City Committee in 1997, and held the post until earlier this year when he handed over the reins to Mario Carlino. He was president of the Rhode Island Association of Democratic City and Town Chairmen from 2003 to 2005.

Tuesday’s victory caps a period of significant tumult for Fung, and represents a significant turnaround in his fortunes from as recently as last summer.

The focal point of the mayor’s woes has been his handling of the Cranston Police Department before and after the so-called “Ticketgate” episode of late 2013. In the wake of that incident, Rhode Island State Police assumed temporary command of the department and conducted a comprehensive assessment of its operations and various personnel issues. Fung, meanwhile, was mounting an ultimately unsuccessful bid for governor.

In August 2015, state police released the results of the assessment – a 182-page document that painted Fung, his administration, and former members of the Cranston police command staff in a deeply critical light. It accused the mayor of “secretive” and “political” interference in the department’s operations. The report also delves deeply into numerous incidents and personnel matters, many of which have played out further in subsequent legal action.

Later that same month, the council on a 5-4 margin – largely along party lines – approved a resolution expressing a “complete lack of confidence” in Fung’s leadership. Some officials and members of the community called on the mayor to resign.

Fung acknowledged “mistakes,” but pointed to his selection of Col. Michael Winquist to lead the department, and his own role in asking state police to become involved in Cranston, as having been necessary steps toward addressing deep-seated issues in the city’s police force.

“I’m not running, I’m not hiding … I take ownership, ownership of fixing the problems that are in the report,” the mayor told the council August 2015.

Fung launched his re-election bid during his 46th birthday celebration and fundraiser at the Cranston Country Club in February. In June, he married Barbara Ann Fenton in Newport.

Speculation has continued to surround Fung’s political future, with many observers believing he is eying another gubernatorial bid in 2018. Sepe during the campaign asked the mayor to sign a pledge that he would serve all four years if elected, which Fung refused.

The Democratic challenger frequently criticized Fung for both the past and potential future statewide bids, asserting that the mayor has treated City Hall as a stepping stone to the detriment of municipal operations – and, if special elections are needed, at the expense of taxpayers.

Fung, for his part, has said he remained focused on continuing to serve in his current post.

“There’s only one job that I want in 2016, and that’s to continue to be the mayor of this great city of Cranston,” he told those on hand for his campaign kick-off.

Meanwhile, the maneuvering to succeed Fung – whether after the governor’s race, or in the 2020 mayoral election – has already begun.