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If the make-believe mayor has proven anything about himself, it's that his delusional ideas are surpassed only by his stubbornness.

He has tried to portray the school committee as villains, as you rightly note, by ignoring the two years of work-to-rule, pickets, and sick-outs by the union [which a judge termed an illegal strike and ordered the WTU to stop]. He has pretended that none of that happened, and repeated several false statements, over and over again, because somehow he thinks that this helps his standing with the WTU.

But here's the truth of the matter: It doesn't. None of the WTU leadership has ever -- ever -- made a public statement in favor of the make-believe mayor's fake story about the recent contract situation.

As Thecaptain will tell you, a majority of Warwick teachers don't even live in the city, so they couldn't vote for him.

Yet the make-believe mayor continues to push his lies -- like the "new" assistant principal positions that were not actually new hires -- as if they will magically come true if he repeats them enough.

One detail that seems to be left unsaid in all of this is that, while the school committee issued 71 layoff notices in February, they can not actually take effect until the three elementary schools are consolidated -- so, in effect, the school budget is carrying $7.1 million in salaries and benefits [using a conservative estimate of $100,000 per teacher] that can not be taken off the books while the schools remain open.

The make-believe mayor, as is typical for him, simply ignores the fact that the school committee has to draft and pass a budget based on current conditions [including the contract it negotiated with the WTU that allows the school board to exceed the prior limit of 20 layoffs], and can not count on the $7.1 million in potential savings that the consolidation will provide.

Thank you for showing the make-believe mayor that he will not get away with trying to fool honest, taxpaying voters in Warwick. I look forward to joining you and thousands of our neighbors in rejecting his candidacy again on Sept. 12.