Solomon unanimously elected Council President

By John Howell
Posted 11/15/16

By JOHN HOWELL In a show of unanimous support from his future colleagues on the City Council, Ward 4 Councilman Joseph Solomon was elected City Council president at a council caucus Sunday. Solomon, who did not actively seek the position, praised the

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Solomon unanimously elected Council President

Posted

In a show of unanimous support from his future colleagues on the City Council, Ward 4 Councilman Joseph Solomon was elected City Council president at a council caucus Sunday.

Solomon, who did not actively seek the position, praised the diversity, ambitions and talent of the all-Democratic council that will be sworn into office in January.

Solomon will succeed Ward 6 Councilwoman Donna Travis, who as recently as this past Friday said she was interested in seeking reelection to the post. Also interested in the job were Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur and Ward 8 Councilman Joseph Gallucci.

“I’m excited about this,” Solomon said of the council that will have four new members. “I’m honored that all voted in my support.”

Re-elected to his ninth term, an attorney and former Municipal Court Judge, Solomon is no stranger to the role of council president. He held the position for two terms after winning office for his first time in 2000. He stepped up to the job a second time in his fourth term in office.

During his tenure on the council, Solomon has had less than a harmonious relationship with Mayor Scott Avedisian. Over the years, the mayor has characterized Solomon’s persistent questioning as an effort to obstruct programs. That, however, hasn’t been an issue in recent years and in particular during Travis’ presidency. She endorsed Avedisian, a Republican, over her own party’s candidate, Richard Corrente, an action that rankled some Democrats.

Solomon said, “I look forward to working with the mayor.” He said he believes he and the mayor share a love of Warwick. “The election is over, the politics is over, let’s get on with city business,” he said.

“When the mayor has a good idea, we’re on board,” Solomon said. “It’s not going to be an adversarial council.”

“It’s not a Democratic or Republican thing, it’s a legislative and administrative thing,” he said of the roles of the council and the mayor.

In an email Avedisian said, “I thank Council President Donna Travis for her leadership and I look forward to working with Council President designate Solomon over the next two years.”

Prior to the inauguration, Solomon said he plans to meet with each council member-elect to learn of their interests and what committees they would like to serve on. Because interests may be similar, he stressed that he may not be able to fulfill all their wishes. On the other hand, he noted as not a single Republican was elected to the council, the Democrats are going to be kept busy.

Solomon said he is looking to streamline council meetings that frequently don’t start on time because of extended committee meetings.

“We don’t want to be burning the midnight candle,” he said.

Solomon along with Travis, Ladouceur, Gallucci and Ward 9 Councilman Steve Merolla are re-elected incumbents. New to the council in January are Richard Corley, Ward 1; Jeremy Rix, Ward 2; Timothy Howe, Ward 3 and Steve McAllister, Ward 7.

Speaking of the newcomers to the council, Solomon said they have a “diversity” of experience that he believes will benefit the council in its deliberations and the city.

“Everyone brings something positive to the table,” he said.

Issues Solomon identified as being close to his heart are ensuring that Warwick is affordable to its homeowners and highlighting the positive to ensure its growth. Of concern is the number of vacant homes.

“I want to continue to do positive things for the city to see it grow and improve,” he said.

Solomon preferred not to answer who asked him to serve as council president as he feels that is a confidential matter between him and the person who sought him out.

The caucus was held at Solomon’s law offices in Conimicut.

Comments

7 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

  • richardcorrente

    Congratulations Joe!

    You earned the distinction.

    Rick Corrente

    Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Hey mayer corrente,. How about you remove your illegal campaign signs off the utility poles in the city? If you did that people might consider you in the next erection.

    Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Justanidiot,

    You are right.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

    Rick Corrente

    Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Report this

  • Scal1024

    Rick, you responded to my comments on another story from a week ago. I think it's funny that you took everything i said point by point, except acknowledge your tax problems I inquired about. Will you be honest with the taxpayers?

    I'm not going to redebate every point that came up during the election. We agree to disagree...I do not believe that you can grow the economy/tax base the way you do. I offered other ideas from the pension buyout...funny you didn't mention that.

    Now onto your obsession with who I am. The irony was I was going to leave my name at the end of my last comment, but decided against it. I put in the required information to comment on this site, plain and simple. If you don't like my comments you should take your own advice...don't read it. Perhaps you should have followed Stacia's lead and made up false accounts, to create a false impression of support for your ideas.

    The election wasn't rigged, it wasn't about $$$ (as you pissed through $40,000 pretty quickly.) It was about voters rejecting "cut taxes, cut SPENDING" from a candidate who couldn't name ONE area of spending he'd cut. Good luck with the signs!!!

    Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Scal,

    Not being allowed to review the Warwick City records (other than what shows up in the budget), it is impossible to determine exactly where to "cut spending", but there are several areas that I would target and I have mentioned them before. However, in the interest of full disclosure and because I do respect you, (I appreciate your comment about "agree to disagree"), the most probable line items are the health benefits with Blue Cross that I believe have never been renegotiated and are extremely overcharged. Without annual strong resistence, BC will continue to increase their premiums to a level higher than you would pay if you walked in off the street with no "group discount". I experienced it with my own company and many others that I have analyzed. You might want to try an experiment yourself. Call them as a John Doe.

    I called United Health and they indicated that they never had a chance to compete. they never said it outright but that is the impression I got. Scal, we have a Mayor that has a "that's OK, we'll just raise taxes" kind of attitude, in my opinion. Therefore in my administration, I would take a hard look at Blue Cross. It's a lot more work but I'm up for it. Is Scott? (in your opiniion)

    Also,I was at the city council meeting a month ago where the topic of our maintenance agreement for our copiers and fax machines was brought up. Warwick pays approx. $4,800 a month for our maintenance agreement. When the repair guy comes to service one of our machines he also charges approx. $375.00. The reason you have a maintenance agreement is to avoid the per-visit charge. That is another one I would look at.

    Scal, there are dozens of others but I don't want to get into these areas because it attracts criticism from certain people looking to find the flaw in every idea, rather than applauding the basic plan. Keep in mind how much criticism you and others gave me about my plans for Warwick. Note that, at least, that I had a plan. You (and others) never criticized Avedisian. I believe I know why. It is because he doesn't have a plan, or at least he isn't sharing it if he does. In either event, the fact remains he raised taxes for 16 years in a row! The schools are in critical shape. 5,800 taxpayers moved out (according to the U.S.Census). Warwick is in horrible shape financially (according to Warwick's own financials. Our debt doubled in the last ten years!) We could file for bankrupsy today and I doubt there is a judge in America that would disallow it. How has Avedisians tenure worked for the taxpayers of Warwick Scal? Cranston lowered taxes and their population grew. More taxpayers in Cranston caused total tax revenue to increase and the need for taxes-per-taxpayer to decrease, the same idea I was promoting for Warwick, through my rebate check program and my moratorium of building permit fees. Again, note that Avedisian had/has no plan except the 1% reduction of building permit fees that he said "would stimulate construction". (read about it in the Beacon when the R.I. Builders Assoc. sued for overcharging). How is that working out?

    Scal, how come you never gave me credit nor did you criticize Avedisian for that? My cell is 338-9900. I repeat my invitation to you. The coffee is on me.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

    Rick Corrente

    Thursday, November 17, 2016 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Hello Scal1024:

    Congratulations on getting the longest reply to date from the losing candidate, featuring his greatest hits: whining about being "criticized" (actually, the right term is "proven to be a liar"), suggesting, based on the barest of examples, that he's a better business man, refusing to answer for his tax delinquency, and continuing to push campaign claims more than a week after the vote.

    Thank you for joining me and the 24,000 voters who rejected his campaign.

    Thursday, November 17, 2016 Report this

  • bendover

    WOW, how refreshing...A new council President, one who actually has a brain...Good luck Mr. Solomon, you are going to need it.

    Friday, November 18, 2016 Report this