Corrente joins the race for mayor again

Avedisian says he 'would expect to run again'

By John Howell
Posted 12/5/17

By JOHN HOWELL -- Saying his message to cut taxes resonated with the voters - although when the polls closed in 2016 he wasn't the winner - Richard Corrente announced Saturday he is running as a Democrat for mayor again.

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Corrente joins the race for mayor again

Avedisian says he 'would expect to run again'

Posted

Saying his message to cut taxes resonated with the voters – although when the polls closed in 2016 he wasn’t the winner – Richard Corrente announced Saturday he is running as a Democrat for mayor again.

Corrente’s bid could make for another Scott Avedisian/Corrente contest.

In response to a question whether he will seek another term, Avedisian emailed, “I have made no final decision but would expect to run again.”

Speaking to a gathering of 15 including Ward 1 Councilman Richard Corley, the only elected Democrat present, Corrente said he has a reputation for delivering more than he promises and that he was making not one but two announcements. He spoke about his passion of making homeownership possible through mortgages and maintaining ownership through refinancing, noting that as of last week he had been in the business for 40 years. He said he has written $1 billion in home and commercial mortgages during his career.

There was a smattering of applause, and then Corrente said he was prepared to make his second announcement. There was little doubt as to what he was going to say as his Bankers Mortgage office in Gateway Plaza was festooned with Corrente for Mayor signs from his year-long campaign to win the city’s highest elective office that he launched in 2015.

Speaking without notes, Corrente said he won more votes than any other Democrat who has challenged incumbent Scott Avedisian and that even though he lost the election – Avedisian captured 65 percent of the vote – his message that Avedisian had raised taxes all 16 years he held the office hit home, as the all-Democrat City Council chopped the mayor’s spending plan and unanimously approved a no tax increase budget.

Corrente said he learned a lot from his run for mayor, but it hasn’t changed his belief that the city needs to cut taxes to bring in businesses and people. He doesn’t plan to make any basic changes in his campaigning. Reiterating numbers on lost businesses that Avedisian challenged in the 2016 campaign and observing that Cranston is on the verge of becoming the state’s second largest city, Corrente said he wants to reverse the exodus from Warwick. He believes lower taxes will do that.

Corrente is the first of any Warwick candidates to formally declare they are running next year. Corrente said he has heard talk of other Democrats possibly running for mayor, but to his knowledge no one has told him they’re running. Asked if he would run in a primary, Corrente said he follows the advice given him by Ward 8 Councilman Joseph Gallucci not to run against someone, but rather to base one’s campaign on what you would do if elected.

Does that mean he would run in a primary? Corrente nodded.

Corrente hasn’t exactly been the darling of the Democrats, even though he was the only one to challenge popular Republican Avedisian. City Democrats eventually endorsed him, but only a few went so far as to campaign with him. Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur was a regular at Corrente events. He was not present for Saturday’s announcement. Democratic City Committee Chairman Robert Farrell was not there either.

Jack Kirby, who ran as a Democrat and later as an independent against Avedisian, attended the announcement. Kirby ran in a four-way Democratic primary for Ward 7 in 2016.

Corley, a member of Operation Falcon that is seeking to keep John Brown Francis School from being re-purposed as an early childhood education center as part of school consolidation, was anxious to talk to Corrente about that cause.

In remarks following his announcement, Corrente said he would have become involved in seeking a resolution to the teacher contract dispute from the start, if welcomed by the parties, and not waited for more than a year as Avedisian did before participating in mediation. As for JBF School, Corrente suggested a luncheon meeting between him, Corley and School Committee member Eugene Nadeau. Also in conversation with those attending, Corrente said if elected he would repeal the memorandum of agreement with the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, as he believes the city has given away too much to the airport.

If the 2016 campaign is an indication, Corrente signs should start popping up across the city. Corrente said he has hundreds of them from the last run. Corrente hasn’t remained silent since his defeat. He frequently attends council meetings, writes letters to the editor and is a regular commentator to Beacon stories posted on its online site, which he often signs as “the taxpayers’ mayor.”

Opening his comments, Corrente talked about his love for Warwick. He is a longtime Warwick resident, a graduate of Bryant College, where he earned a degree in business management. He has owned several businesses and, under the title of “business training and promotions,” has trained business owners in numerous states. In the 1970s he owned and managed Realty Center Inc. He is the president of Bankers Mortgage Corporation.

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    yay, we can reerect the taxplayers mayer.

    hip hip whoray

    Tuesday, December 5, 2017 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Some facts to place this article in more context:

    - The fake "mayor" announced his sure-to-fail candidacy from an office paid with campaign funds to the same individual who purchased his residence at tax sale. He has not answered for this ethically questionable behavior.

    Here is the link to the campaign expenditure to Mr. Clay Shackleton: http://ricampaignfinance.com/RIPublic/Reporting/ExpenditureDetailReport.aspx?Level=S&Site=Public&Type=Expend&Transactionid=246696

    And here is the link to the city's property database -- enter 177 Grand View Avenue to see the same Mr. Shackleton's payments in 2014 and 2015, totalling some $12,000: https://www.citizenselfservice.com/MSSProd/citizens/RealEstate/Default.aspx?mode=new

    - [He said] his message that Avedisian had raised taxes all 16 years he held the office hit home, as the all-Democrat City Council chopped the mayor’s spending plan and unanimously approved a no tax increase budget."

    The 2018 budget actually increased spending and revenues from taxes. Here is the link to the adopted FY18 budget for Warwick: https://www.warwickri.gov/sites/warwickri/files/pages/adopted_fy18_general_fund_budget.pdf

    On page 11 of the PDF, the total expenditures [that is, spending] for the current fiscal year is $305,271,737, a $6,543,618 increase from the adopted FY17 budget. Revenues from property taxes for FY18 are $230,264,242, an increase over the FY17 adopted budget of $3,657,290. The same page shows that FY17 revenues are projected to be about $228 million, which still results in about a $1.7 million increase in FY18 revenues.

    This also does not include the expected $3.3 million that will have to be added back to the city budget to pay for the new teacher's contract, money that the nine Democratic city council members unwisely removed from the budget earlier this year.

    - "Reiterating numbers on lost businesses that Avedisian challenged in the 2016 campaign..."

    Perhaps Mr. Howell is too polite to call this claim by the fake "mayor" to be what it is: A lie. As has been stated dozens of times the fake "mayor" used an incorrect and dishonest comparison to draw an objectively fallacious conclusion about the Warwick business sector. This is not a matter of opinion; all of the facts are provided here: http://warwickpost.com/numbers-game-corrente-claims-of-lost-businesses-dont-add-up/

    I look forward to joining the tens of thousands of honest, taxpaying Warwick voters who will overwhelmingly reject his candidacy again next November.

    Tuesday, December 5, 2017 Report this

  • Kammy

    Oh how exciting!!!! I can't wait to compile some of Richard's more preposterous statements from the Beacon along with the factual rebuttals and pepper Warwick with them. Let the games begin.

    Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Kammy,

    Scott Avedisian raised taxes for 17 years in a row. Then, I came along and campaigned to "Cut Taxes - Cut Spending" . As you know I campaigned for over 700 days in a row and my message got through! I received 13,278 votes, more than ANY previous Avedisian opponent and when the budget hearings came around the City Council heard my message loud and clear from the 80,000 taxpayers that are paying the tab. When Avedisian introduced 29 tax-increasing amendments, he was shot down UNANIMOUSLY by the City Council.

    Kammy, we "Cut Taxes - Cut Spending", and those 13,278 voters? They are now my base! You can say that I had little to do with it. You can say that I had a lot to do with it, but even you have to admit I had something to do with the taxes and spending that were CUT OUT OF THE 2017 BUDGET!! For that 700 day effort and the resulting effect it had on our Council, Kammy, I am exceptionally proud. I know you are proud of me as well. Hope to meet you at the upcoming School Committee meeting.

    Merry Christmas Kammy.

    Merry Christmas everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    I was hoping to stay out of this but with such preposterous assertions, I must add my two cents.

    Mr. Corrente had ZERO to do with the council holding the line on taxes. Let me repeat. ZERO. He failed to address the council on any matter at any time and to this date has not articulated 1 sentence at the podium. He has not presented any credible evidence of cost savings measures, and to this date, and at the debate, was unable to make a comment on any single line item in the budget.

    His knowledge of the city financial workings is zero at best, and frankly, I still look forward to him making a cognitive public statement. In his 700 hundred days of campaigning, why was it that WPRO never gave him 1 second of air time?

    Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    wpro is part of the fake news that is out to get our mayer

    Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Hello again Kammy and Thecaptain:

    All the fake "mayor" is proving is that, despite the evidence against his words, he will persist with his lies, most prominently this one: "[W]e 'Cut Taxes - Cut Spending'"

    Only in the delusional, fevered mind of a person who calls himself by a fake title would a $6,543,618 increase in spending and a $1.7 million increase in tax revenue be called "cuts."

    "I know you are proud of me as well."

    Literally no one except the delusional, lying, fraudulent, failed candidate would say such a thing. It is only the latest proof of his complete unfitness for any office and inability to avoid humiliating himself.

    He will no doubt maintain his unbroken record of making a spectacle of himself throughout his sure-to-fail campaign, and will suffer yet another decisive defeat next November.

    Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    Well we did elect Trump, with no experience, no government knowledge, constantly spewing easily checked incorrect "facts", and in and out of a delusional state....

    Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    ... and tax problems... and I thought the Kennedy Lincoln thing was eerie!

    Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Report this

  • Kammy

    " Kammy, I am exceptionally proud. I know you are proud of me as well."

    No Richard, I am not proud of you. There is not one single statement to be found where I say, "Richard, I am proud of you". You have just made a fraudulent statement with no evidence of supporting documentation. You do that....Often.

    Thursday, December 7, 2017 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Hello again Kammy:

    If it were not for the long list of false statements already made by the fake "mayor," I would express my disbelief at the disgraceful statement that you so rightly dismiss in your prior comment.

    The one virtue of that statement is that it so perfectly sums up his delusional, presumptuous, and arrogant attitude toward others: He has convinced himself, despite all evidence, that he is respected and supported by anyone in the city; he has deluded himself into believing that voters in one election are already "his" for the next one; and he refuses to correct even the most fundamental errors in his statements -- the current budget is the 2018 budget, not the 2017 budget; there are not 80,000 taxpayers in Warwick; and, as shown in the second comment of this thread, both spending and tax revenue are going up in the FY18 budget.

    Even worse, in yet another example of his hypocrisy, the fake "mayor" disregarded the tax rate reduction in the FY17 budget to criticize actual Mayor Avedisian for a tax increase, while this year he is wrongly describing the FY18 zero tax rate increase as a "cut" while disregarding the fact that tax revenue is actually increasing.

    In other words, he ignored the tax rate and complained about tax revenue going up last year, and now emphasizes the tax rate while ignoring the increase in tax revenue this year.

    I am sure you and other intelligent and honest readers see the problem with this, just as I am sure the fake "mayor" does not.

    Thank you for joining me and the tens of thousands of honest, taxpaying voters in Warwick who will absolutely reject his candidacy next November.

    Thursday, December 7, 2017 Report this

  • bendover

    What a joke...This is a cross between "Goundhog Day" and a Hitchcock movie. Here is the larger issue; How is it possible in a State and city that is overwhelmingly Democrat, this is the best the party can come up with? Where are you, Democrat chairman McNamara, "Majority leader" McCaffrey, Council President Solomon and all the rest of the movers and shakers? How is this possible? I don't blame Pinocchio Corrente, He is what he is... I blame the above mentioned so called "brain-trust".

    It is pathetic that the status quo is acceptable. You should all be fired. The $1B unfunded liabilities will be the Waterloo for this city and State...and you give us, THIS, as a standard bearer? Beam me up.....

    Friday, December 8, 2017 Report this

  • ThatGuyInRI

    Well we can all look forward to many many more comments in the Beacon from "the tax payers mayor," sadly.

    Friday, December 8, 2017 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    You know, ThatGuyInRI, it really tells a lot about this soon-to-be two-time-failed candidate that he apparently believes his frequent comments on this site actually help his campaign.

    Although it must be said, he hasn't replied to the prior comments, except to regurgitate his already-disproven talking points. See how, for example, he refuses to answer for the campaign funds payment to the same Clay Shackleton who paid off the tax delinquency on his property.

    He also had no problem blaming actual Mayor Avedisian for a "tax increase" when the tax rate actually fell last year, but when his party's city council increases tax revenue with a level tax rate, suddenly it's a "tax cut."

    As a frequent reader, I am sure you recall the many occasions where his only retort has been to attack others for using screen names, while calling himself by a made-up title. This is perhaps the clearest indication that he has no concept of how to run a campaign or conduct himself as a serious candidate.

    I agree with you: It is very sad that someone using this site to promote his candidacy can not -- and will not -- be more responsible for his statements.

    Saturday, December 9, 2017 Report this