The headlines proclaimed Buddy Cianci had pulled together a coalition of current and past elected officials, including Democrats. But just who are the people who have chosen to publicly align themselves with Providence’s most infamous ex-mayor?
This picture, from the campaign announcement referenced in the link, shows 12 men and one woman. Below is some additional information on some of the more public people supporting Cianci.
Elected officials
- John Carnevale – The sitting State Representative is a Providence police officer with a history of domestic assault complaints. Just two years ago he was on trial for sexual assault- the charges were only dropped because the woman involved died. Carnevale faces no opponent in the general election, and was uncontested in his primary.
- Frank Ciccone – Ciccone is famous for taunting a Barrington police officer following a DUI pullover: “You think you got pension problems now, wait until this (expletive) is all done. This guy voted against you last time. It ain’t going to get any better now.” This resulted in his losing his position in State Senate leadership. He defeated DorisDe LosSantos in the most recent State Senate primaries.
- Kevin Jackson and Davian Sanchez – For some reason these two Providence City Councilors don’t file campaign finance reports. They each owe more than $10,000 in fines to the Board of Elections. Councilor Louis Aponte, who is undecided in the Mayor’s race, owes a similar amount.
- Balbina Young – The longtime former South Side city councilor was often a critic of Cianci during her tenure. In 2002, she famously arranged for her son to receive a $100,000 city rehabbed Victorian, and told reporter Jack White, “Well, what I think is there are a lot of good deals in America for a lot of people. Why shouldn’t my son be the beneficiary of one of them?”
The Connected
- Nick Hemond – Cianci received a $500 donation from Hemond, one of the power lobbyists at the RI state house, representing big clients like High Rock Development (who plan are lobbying for state money to renovate the Superman building), the Fraternal Order of Police, the Neighborhood Community Centers, and Cornish Associates, the downtown developers.
- Philip Almagno – Unique is his ability to be involved in shady business under both Mayors Cianci and Cicilline. Under Cianci, Almagno was involved in a plot (which Buddy wrote about in his book!) related to Almagno dropping his city council campaign in exchange for a Bureau of Weights and Measures job. And then under Cicilline, Almagno was President of the Rosario Club, which received one of the mismanaged Cicilline PEDP loans.
- Robert Kells – Kells has been a long time political player. A retired 30 year Providence officer, five time state senator, and former deputy State Senate Majority leader under disgraced former Senate President Williams Irons. After serving in Providence, Kells became the police chief of Lincoln. While in Lincoln, Kells had repeated struggles with the town council, and suffered a unanimous no confidence from the police union vote before retiring from that position in 2007.
The real estate interests
- Edward Zucker – Zucker is a player in the downtown housing market as owner of CEO of Chestnut Hill Realty. Zucker’s company manages the Regency Plaza apartment towers.
- Gretchen and Kenneth R. Dulgarian of Dulgarian Properties – This East Side development team donated $2000 to Cianci’s re-election campaign. One of their recent properties is the Premier.
And then these three…??
- Dennis Langley – The former Executive Director of the Urban League retired this past February. In recent years, Langley faced criticism from a range of activists for poor and neglectful management of homeless shelters, poor financial practices, delayed checks, and lay-offs of nearly two dozen employees.
- Stephen Iannazzi – The “special assistant” to Senate Majority Leader Dominick J. Ruggerio donated to Cianci’s campaign. Iannazzi is the son of former Local 1033 Business Manager Donald Iannazzi, and has been making over $88,000 as a special assistant since 2011, when he was 25.
- Barry Hinckley – Why is the wealthy former US Senate candidate from the GOP, who campaigned against corruption, discussed running for office as a good way to get your name out, spoke against NSA surveillance, and supported essentially a libertarian platform, donating to Cianci?
More on Cianci:
- Buddy Cianci’s Providence: Better for whom? – Dan Lawlor
- Should Buddy Cianci pick the next police chief – Dan Lawlor
- More murders when Buddy Cianci was mayor – Dan Lawlor
- Why one rape victim won’t support Cianci – Emma Sloan