Report Inappropriate Comments

Remember when acting Mayor Joe Solomon refused to join then-Mayor Scott Avedisian in preparing this years budget?

I do. And I came out publically against that poor decision.

Remember how I said that, if I was an incoming acting-Mayor I would NEVER have done that?

The 80,000 taxpayers that are paying the tab... do.

Remember how I campaigned for 700+ days in a row and spent over $40,000 of my own money to rally those 80,000 taxpayers to demand that the City Council "Cut Taxes - Cut Spending"?

Thanks for remembering that as well.

Remember how it WORKED... and 29 tax-increasing amendments from Avedisian's 2017 budget were UNANIMOUSLY denied by the City Council?

Yeah,... I do too! That was a great day!

And so here we are today and we have 3 facts.

1. The acting mayor "didn't get involved" in writing the current budget.

2. The Council just passed a "maximum tax increase" (as described by The Warwick Beacon).

3. Contracts for Municipal employees, Police, and Firefighters are STILL not settled.

If it were me, I would have started the communication process last October. That's when we all knew that Avedisian was leaving. He had a birthday and was able to retire anytime after that, and collect 80% of his pay. Then, if he took another political-kickback job he could get the taxpayers to pay him millions of dollars over the next few years, and to no surprise, that is EXACTLY what he did!.

We NEEDED better communication in October, November, December etc. We just didn't get it and the 80,000 taxpayers that are paying the tab are now paying a much bigger "tab".

For the record, I would have been involved from day one. That might not have made things much better but you have to admit, it couldn't have made things any worse.

The mess Warwick is in today is unfair to the Unions. It's unfair to the City Council and, most importantly, it's unfair to those 80,000 taxpayers that are paying the much-larger...tab.

Make no doubt about it. This is Joe Solomons' responsibility. The buck stops at the desk of the Mayor.

Happy Summer everyone.

Rick Corrente

The Taxpayers Mayor