Governor Dan McKee visited Warwick on Monday to hand out certificates of special recognition to seven small businesses along West Shore Road.

McKee was flanked by State Senator Mark McKenney, Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi, Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner and City Council President Stephen McAllister.

The event, however, proved to be as much about the elected officials not in attendance, as Mayor Frank Picozzi claims that he was excluded from the event.

Picozzi, an independent, said that the Democratic contingent did not notify his office of the governor’s visit until Friday at 1 p.m., at which point he could not free up time in his schedule to attend.

“I guess they considered that an invitation, but it was planned many days before that,” Picozzi said Tuesday. “I don’t know about the governor, the Commerce Secretary or the Speaker of the House, but I’m booked two or three weeks out at a time, and I can’t just rearrange my schedule at a whim on a Friday afternoon for Monday.”

The mayor said that this was not the first time that he’s felt snubbed by statewide officials, saying that it was “the nature of the beast.” He also said he received conflicting accounts from McKee and McKenney as to who organized the event, with the governor’s office saying that McKenney set up the event, and McKenney saying that the governor’s office initially contacted him about doing the event.

Picozzi said, though, that he felt the matter was over, and only spoke about the event on Monday in order to inform residents why he was not in attendance.

“I’m not going to look bad for something I can’t control,” Picozzi said. “I visit small businesses all the time.”

In a statement, McKenney said that Shekarchi and McAllister were informed about the tour at the same time as Picozzi, and that while he wasn’t in charge of invitations, he was specifically told that Picozzi was invited.

“The walk was hardly political (until the mayor went on social media),” McKenney stated. “It was simply an opportunity to go out and speak with small business folks we all represent here in Warwick.”

McAllister is currently considering his own run for mayor. The mayor said that McAllister has told him in the past that he has been asked by Democratic Party higher-ups to run for his office.

Picozzi said that despite the rumors, he still considered McAllister to be like a son or younger brother to him, and still liked him as a person, saying “if he’s going to run, he’s going to run.”

“I have a record to run on, and I’m not afraid of a campaign,” Picozzi said. “But I don’t like the things that happened yesterday, because I don’t think it was coincidental.”

McAllister did not announce a mayoral run at Tuesday’s fundraiser, though, saying that he was still mulling over whether or not to run.

“I’m going to see my options, talk with residents and my family, and we’ll see,” McAllister said. “I go back and forth- I’ve been very happy with the response I’ve gotten since the rumor’s been out there, at least.”

The City Council president has until June to make that decision.

Visiting businesses

The date was a milestone for the final stop on the governor’s tour, Tropical Smoothie, which was celebrating its first day in business.

“This is the soft launch- it’s so funny that you guys just happened to come by on this day,” James DuMont Jr., the location’s manager, said. “It’s perfect how it worked out.”

According to DuMont, the business’s grand opening will happen on April 6.

Along the way, McKee made some purchases as well- among others, a Curious George and Disney-themed Easter book for his granddaughter at Mary’s Paperbacks and some red velvet and Elvis cupcakes- which are banana-flavored and covered with peanut butter frosting and drizzle, according to owner Cat Torres- at Cat’s Bakery.

Other businesses visited included Jon’s Locks, The Berry Joint, Just In Time Flowers and Antonio’s Bakery. The governor also made two impromptu stops along the road- one to Simplicity Print Studio and one to Salk’s Ace Hardware.

From West Shore to the East Bay

While the governor was on West Shore Road, plenty of business owners and local residents wanted to talk about the westbound Washington Bridge, which will now officially have to be rebuilt over the next few years.

The topic came up in conversation with Jeff Salk, owner of Salk’s Ace Hardware, who also has a branch in Seekonk.

McKee said that the fallout of the Washington Bridge closure had a severe impact on East Bay businesses, and that key in combatting that impact was businesses telling customers that they wouldn’t need to worry about being stuck in bridge traffic for over an hour.

“I’m telling you, it’s not an hour [to get over the bridge,]” McKee said. “We’re hurting our businesses by not telling an accurate story. And I think that businesses are going to finally mount up and say ‘enough’s enough,’ because I’m starting to hear that. We’re going to put in a marketing plan that’s going to try to drive customers back into the shops- it’s going to be specifically about that, but we’re going to need the small businesses to tell that story,” McKee said.

The governor stated that bridge traffic had seen a noticeable improvement, saying that he was able to make it to Skeff’s Pub in East Providence quickly enough from Smithfield to catch much of the second half of Rhode Island FC’s inaugural game, which he attended the first half of.

He said that he met an East Providence resident at the game, and asked him to text him how long it took for him to cross the bridge and get home after the game- something that he claimed he asks everyone driving over the bridge with his phone number to do in order to keep him informed- and received a text later that it only took the resident ten minutes to get to his home from Rt. 195.

McKee promised the Salks, as well as the other business owners that he visited, that he would be honest with them about the challenges they would face, while also working to uplift and celebrate them.

“If it’s raining, I’m not going to tell you the sun’s shining, but when the sun’s shining a little bit, I’m going to say put away the umbrella,” McKee said.