Late in campaign, Avedisian makes appearance with Stenhouse

Former mayor Scott Avedisian, who has been politically silent since assuming the role of president and CEO of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) this spring, made an appearance at Shalom apartments Friday as Republican candidate for mayor, Sue Stenhouse, treated residents to clamcakes and chowder.

There was no press advisory he would make an appearance, and it was by happenstance that a reporter chose Stenhouse’s visit to Shalom as an opportunity to see her on the campaign trail. Mayor Joseph Solomon is slated to visit the complex tomorrow at lunch.

Avedisian circulated among the tables, stopping to chat with a number of people. Then standing at the front of the room, with Stenhouse beside him, he recalled earlier visits to Shalom.

“I wanted to come back just to say thank you for the wonderful relationship we had for more than 19 years. You made me feel like I was a part of your family in many respects,” said Avedisian.

In what might be the closest thing to an endorsement, Avedisian said, “What I like about her [Stenhouse] is when she doesn't have an answer, she tells you that she doesn't know. And she goes and finds the answer and gets back to you.”

Since resigning as mayor after serving 18 years, Avedisian has made few appearances with Stenhouse. He dropped in at her announcement, but didn’t address those gathered at Chelo’s Restaurant on Post Road. He didn’t make an appearance at the opening of Stenhouse’s headquarters, his former headquarters at Airport Plaza.

Asked whether he would endorse Stenhouse last week, Avedisian emailed the following statement: “Without a doubt, I will vote for Sue Stenhouse. She and I have been friends since I was a member of the City Council and she was the PTA president at E.T. Wyman Elementary School. We first met over school safety issues, parking issues, and the need to upgrade the playground. And we have been friends ever since. Make no mistake about it, we do not always agree. But when Sue disagrees with someone, she is able to disagree without being petty or personal. She has great leadership skills, listens well, and takes her time in making decisions. I think she will learn the job, work hard, and well represent the people of Warwick as Mayor. She has tremendous energy and enthusiasm and I think she brings all of these good qualities to the office.”

On Friday, Avedisian stayed at Shalom for less than 20 minutes, leaving soon after Stenhouse addressed the gathering.

In an interview, Stenhouse said she has refrained from asking Avedisian to be involved in her campaign, as she does not want voters seeing her as attempting to ride his coattails and because she wants voters to judge her on her achievements and aspirations for the city.

“I’m Sue Stenhouse. I’m not going to be anybody else but myself,” she said.

In remarks, Stenhouse thanked Avedisian. She said she has the vision, energy and experience to make a difference going forward.

“I think one of the greatest things I appreciated in serving with Mayor Avedisian [Stenhouse was the Ward 1 Councilwoman] was that things were calm, things were steady, things were stable. That started even before Scott with Mayor Linc Chafee. And I want to be the third in that line to keep that stability, but also have the energy to make things new, to improve upon things that maybe we need a little more improvement on like constituent services and to really make a dive into solving problems not just for today, but for tomorrow,” she said.

Stenhouse said if elected she would look to implement cost saving measures being used by other cities and towns across the country.

“Senior issues are near and dear to my heart, as well as education, as well as business development. Because all of these things are a part of our community and all come together and all of them have something to do with economic development in one way or another,” she said. Stenhouse talked briefly how she instituted changes and programs as director of the Cranston Enrichment Center and reinvested bingo pot money into the center.

She said she was troubled by a report that the Warwick Fire Department was dependent on loaner apparatus from other municipalities because of breakdowns. She noted the city has an aging population and that demand on rescue services are increasing. The department has four rescue companies.

“We need to have reliable vehicles,” she said.

Stenhouse followed up talking to seniors. Asked by a reporter why she made no reference to Mayor Solomon, Stenhouse said she deliberately wanted to avoid going on the attack and the chowder event was designed to introduce herself.

But Stenhouse was not hesitant to go on the attack.

“He’s not doing anything,” she told a reporter. “He’s totally ineffective.”

Later that afternoon she forwarded a press release where she elaborated.

“It is very concerning to me, as it is with many other residents, that our wonderful city is frequently being negatively featured in the news over the past several weeks as the result of a number of crises involving our city departments since May,” she said. “Due to the Acting Mayor’s lack of leadership, his inability to effectively build consensus and successfully communicate a plan of action, the city has been stalled on several important matters that affect constituent services from education to building permits to emergency rescue apparatus. There appears to be absolutely no sense of urgency by Acting Mayor Solomon in getting results, or making an effort to take the smallest of steps toward thoughtfully addressing these issues in a timely manner.”

Stenhouse listed no resolution, articulated plan or substantive status reports on the school department funding issue (which has compounded other issues including after school programming, school cleanliness and, of course, the well-publicized cut to the mentoring program); the Annex redevelopment, which she said is negatively impacting city employees and their ability to deliver convenient constituent services; repurposing the vacant, surplus city properties in the city’s neighborhoods; the costly delay to purchase and install new street lighting; the lack of sound and maintained rescue vehicles; the sick time pay issue with the fire department and the “neglect of Warwick’s iconic Conimicut Lighthouse, which goes back 14 years.”

“Acting Mayor Solomon seems paralyzed during an election year, which is especially concerning given Warwick’s terms of elected service of every two years. Losing substantive ground on these issues over the past six months is putting the city in a very tenuous situation. We need someone with vision and leadership that is willing to address and solve these issues in a timely manner. I believe I am that candidate,” she said in a statement.

She went on to say she would have held “robust negotiations” to address the school budget; that if elected she would name a panel of real estate experts to assess all surplus city properties; pursue grants and funding sources to repair the city’s fleet of rescue vehicles; pursue insurance claims so as to move on with a new City Hall Annex; and look to get reimbursements from municipalities when specially trained Warwick firefighters respond to calls in other municipalities requiring their expertise. She noted this would require amending mutual aid agreements.

If elected, she said, “I will appoint a dedicated visionary to lead the effort to restore and maintain Warwick’s treasured Conimicut Lighthouse.”