Providence mayor candidates spar on TV

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The five candidates vying to become Providence’s next mayor clashed over pensions, potholes and politics during their first televised debate Tuesday night.

• In-Depth: Providence Mayoral Race

The quintet of hopefuls agreed the capital city’s finances are in poor shape, and pledged to find a variety of ways to cut spending and increase revenue. They also sparred over whether a long tenure in elected politics would be an asset or a hindrance in a future mayor.

The four Democrats – state Rep. Steve Costantino, City Councilman John Lombardi, former Housing Court judge Angel Taveras, and perennial candidate Christopher Young – are just three weeks away from the Sept. 14 primary that will determine which one of them is the Democratic candidate on the November ballot.

They were joined by an independent candidate, Jonathan Scott, who ran for Congress as a Republican in 2006 and 2008.

There is no one running as a Republican, meaning the winner of the Democratic primary is likely to be the next mayor, succeeding David Cicilline, who is running for Congress.

Eyewitness News sponsored the live debate, which was held at the Providence Performing Arts Center and moderated by Target 12 Investigator Tim White, the host of “Newsmakers.”

Gloomy budget outlook

All the candidates acknowledged Providence faces a major financial squeeze in the coming years, with a $52 million deficit in its 2011-12 budget and a shortfall in its retiree pension fund approaching $1 billion.

• Target 12: Probing Pensions

Costantino, who as chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee has helped craft Rhode Island’s shrinking state budgets in recent years, argued his experience would help him stabilize the city’s finances and attract business investment. He also cited his private sector experience running his family’s restaurant, Venda Ravioli.

Lombardi took a similar tack, saying the knowledge of city government he has acquired as a councilman would help him make the difficult choices required in the coming years. He pledged to create “an economic climate that will burden no one and enrich everyone.”

Taveras, a former Providence Housing Court judge, argued Costantino’s 16 years in the House and Lombardi’s 26 years on the City Council should be held against them.

“We cannot afford career politicians who got us where we are today,” Taveras said. “We need new leadership to move Providence forward.”

Scott declared that “Providence is broken,” a phrase he repeated multiple times in his opening statement as he argued for new leadership, while Young attacked his opponents and laid into the current administration.

Pensions in crosshairs

How to deal with Providence’s shaky pension plan – and, more broadly, with city employees and their unions – emerged as a focal point of the debate. The city has set aside less than a third of the roughly $1.2 billion it has promised retirees for their pensions and nothing to cover at least $600 million more in additional benefits.

“At this rate, the pension [system] will collapse on itself,” Costantino said. He called for starting negotiations with the city’s unions to scale back benefits, something that the other candidates also said would need to happen.

Lombardi said he would form a commission made up of an actuary, a Brown University economist, officials from the executive and legislative branches, and union representatives to determine exactly how big the city’s pension shortfall is.

Taveras pointed out that the pension shortfall “has exploded while my opponents have been in office,” referring to Costantino and Lombardi. He said he was opposed to compounded cost-of-living adjustments, a topic of dispute between the city and the firefighters union.

Young described the city as “virtually bankrupt” and suggested capping pensions at $120,000 per year. Scott said all new employees and recent hires should be switched to defined-contribution plans like 401(k)s.

'Severe, severe cuts'

All the candidates promised cuts in Providence’s municipal government, although they differed over where the reductions should come from and what impact they would have on city services.

Lombardi promised 5 percent budget cuts, wage freezes, the elimination of overtime and a reduction in temporary and non-essential employees. “I’m the only one who knows how to do it,” he said.

Costantino pitched consolidation, saying the city government had too many departments, and said he would deal with the structural deficit by keeping spending below revenue. He also said unions would need to renegotiate their contracts. The fiscal problems are “going to mean severe, severe cuts in many areas,” he said.

Taveras shied away from specifics, saying there was “not one way to resolve the problem.” He pointed out that the city’s three biggest departments are education, public safety and public works, and said voters should realize that is where cuts would come from.

Scott said he would reduce the administration’s budget by 20 percent. “There are plenty of folks that mayors surround themselves with that you can cut,” he said.

Bs, Cs for Cicilline

Some of the questions put the candidates on the defensive.

Lombardi defended his vote more than a decade ago against the proposal to build the Providence Place mall, saying the council was not provided with enough time and information to analyze the decision. He also said he was “not really” happy the mall got built because it caused safety and parking problems.

Costantino pushed back at the suggestion he had not balanced the state’s budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 because it included $100 million in federal Medicaid funding that was not approved at the time.

In the end, Congress came through with only $70 million, but Costantino said the budget was still balanced because it included a provision allowing the governor to make across-the-board cuts to make up the difference. He also said the whole debate may be a moot point if tax revenue comes in above expectations this fall.

Asked to grade the job done by Cicilline, the outgoing two-term mayor, Costantino gave him the highest mark, a “B,” while Taveras gave Cicilline a “B-.” Lombardi gave Cicilline a “C” and Scott gave him a “C-.”

Young gave Cicilline an “F,” though he said if it were possible he would give Cicilline an “F-.”

The televised portion of the debate ended on a lighthearted note when Young used his closing statement to ask his campaign manager, Kara Russo, to marry him. She said yes. Later, he clarified that they would only get married if he won the election.