Neither Mayor Frank Picozzi,  Rep. Joseph McNamara or Sen. Mark McKenney  got what they hoped for from legislators this session – a voice for Warwick on the 7-member Rhode Island Airport Corporation board of directors.

It looked like it could happen until the closing hours of the session late Thursday night. The bill introduced by Rep. McNamara and supported by Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi was approved 70-0 by the House. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Mark McKenney and co-signed by Sen. Matthey LaMountain.

The measure looked like it would sail through the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Picozzi was optimistic of having a Warwick representative on the RIAC board that oversees operation of state airports and in particular Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport that takes up more than 1,100 acres in the center of Warwick. He looked forward to a board member who would report to him and the City Council so that the city would learn first hand of airport developments and represent its interests. He was buoyed by Gov. Dan McKee’s support of McNamara’s legislation.

But then when it reached the Senate Committee the tables turned. Counsel for the governor questioned if the mayor’s selection to a state board was in conflict with the separation of powers although the governor would select the Warwick appointment from a list of three candidates submitted by the mayor and that appointment would require the advice and consent of the Senate. Picozzi felt the governor had given lip service to the plan to mollify concerns the administration raised over the impact the south air cargo facility under construction would have on Post Road and Main Avenue traffic.

The mayor questioned the validity of the separation of powers argument, observing that other municipalities that are host to state corporations, such as the Quonset Development Corporation, are represented on boards of directors.

Then with the session edging to a close, the committee approved the bill with an amendment introduced by McKenney. Picozzi wasn’t happy. He argued the amendment gave the governor the discretion, but did not require  him, to select a Warwick representative to the board from the mayor’s list of candidates. Nonetheless, the mayor as well as Shekarchi reasoned the bill was better than nothing. Last Wednesday Shekarchi caucused with the Warwick House delegation, and they were in agreement the Senate version was preferable to nothing.

It looked like that would happen. The amended bill was on the Senate calendar for a vote Thursday, McKenney expected it to come up for a vote and to gain approval.

When the afternoon calendar was posted the bill was missing from the list. He wanted to know why.

“(I) went to the Senate leadership and it was made clear to me it wasn’t going to go back (on the calendar) and it was dead,” he said in an interview Monday. McKenney said concerns were raised whether the bill could set a prescient and that other municipalities with state airports – Westerly was named – might likewise argue for board representation. McKenney doesn’t buy it. No other state airport has the impact that Green has on Warwick. “We have a unique situation,” he said observing that residential properties surround the airport .

McKenney believes Warwick should have representation on the board and  would sponsor the bill next year if requested.

In the final hours of the session, Picozzi held out hope the bill would gain Senate approval and then return for House approval. That didn’t happen. The bill died in the Senate.

“They killed it,” Picozzi said Friday morning of the Senate leadership. “They don’t want Warwick representation…I know it came from the governor.”

McNamara was disappointed by the outcome, but not defeated. He maintains Warwick should be represented on the RIAC board. He looks to reintroducing the legislation early next year and getting it passed before the end of the session.

“It’s hard not to be cynical,” Picozzi said. “Legislators and the governor wouldn’t give (Warwick) an appointment. They wait to the end of the session, sneak them (bills) through and then get out of there... that’s just classic.” He reasoned the effort to give Warwick a voice in Green Airport operations “was dead before it started.”

Regardless, he suggested if the governor is sincerely interested in giving the city a voice there’s a way.

“He doesn’t need a law just to say the next appointment (opening on the RIAC board) is yours.”