![[CREDIT: Maloney for Mayor] Patrick E. Maloney Jr., former Warwick School Committee member and owner of Game On!, is running in the 2024 Mayoral race.](https://e8dgfhu6pow.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Maloney-Mayoral-QA-2.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1)
WARWICK, RI — Independent mayoral challenger and city business owner Patrick Maloney is in the 2024 Mayor’s race Nov. 5 to help businesses, promote finance transparency and make city government more accountable.
The owner of owner of Game On! on Namquid Drive, Maloney is a former Network Security Specialist for the VA, former teacher, past Warwick School Committee member and Vice Chair, serving from 2008 till 2012.
Warwick Post posed the following questions to each of the three Warwick mayoral candidates on the ballot, giving each the same amount of time, five days, to respond with their answers. Candidates were urged to answer the questions directly, and invited to elaborate on each topic after answering the initial question. The answers have been edited for style and spelling, to ensure responses remain on-topic, and do not introduce misinformation into the debate.
All the questionnaires have been posted within the same five-minute window, with a digital dice roll assigning the order each set of answers run on the site, and thus, their order in the daily newsletter.
Here are Warwick Post’s questions, and Maloney’s answers:
2024 Mayor’s Race: Maloney Answers
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 1A: The recent sexual harassment lawsuit against the city alleges disregard for the city’s sexual harassment policy among staff and managers. Warwick Post reporting on the city’s sexual harassment policy shows it does not provide for verification of receipt of the policy or routine reminders for cIity personnel. However, the people involved in the suit had been sent the policy and/or attended training to combat sexual harassment six months prior to the start of events alleged in the lawsuit: https://warwickpost.com/supervisors-in-suit-trained-on-sexual-harassment-months-before/
MALONEY: Every functioning organization has a procedure for employees undergoing training. It is standard operating procedure. When I worked for the Veteran Administration we were REQUIRED to do multiple annual trainings and were held accountable to do the training or risk employment.
It was online training and our answers were recorded. We then had to do a digital signature stating we understood the training including checking boxes that if we broke a policy there would be consequences. This takes some risk off of the organization and makes all employees responsible for their actions. I will add that I was also trained when I served honorably in the US Army that when a person is cited for breaking a policy, you must always have another person in attendance to witness and sign the documentation. This prevents a “he said, she said, they said” situation and prevents retaliation. The city legal team and Human Resources Department will be reviewing all procedures immediately.
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 1B: Warwick Post received information on the policy and its distribution to managers – public information – after a public records request following unanswered requests to the mayor’s office, weeks later. Mayor Picozzi has declined comment on the issue, citing legal concerns. Does Warwick’s mayor have a responsibility to comment to the public generally about the sexual harassment policy, and the communication of it to staff? How would you handle such situations?
MALONEY: The Mayor is responsible for providing accurate information about any lawsuits, while being sure to consult the city legal department. However, the Mayor often avoids transparency in these situations. While the details of the case should remain confidential, it is important that the public knows the Mayor has been informed and is taking appropriate action. A month following no comment, an article by Rob Borkowski in the Warwick Post reveals that the city acknowledges this instance of harassment: https://warwickpost.com/
Additionally, this lawsuit could have been avoided completely had the appropriate actions been taken in 11/2022 when the Mayor and Chief of Staff were notified by email. The Bree Boulais Lawsuit (attached in previous articles) Pg. 24, states Mayor was notified nearly a year before the employee left work.
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 1C: Please share any other thoughts you have on this.
MALONEY: We Must keep our loyal employees safe from this type of situation and we must NEVER allow retaliation. This situation started Nov 2022 and lasted until the employee left in October 2023. This all could have been avoided if the Mayor had acted. How would you feel if this was your wife, child, mother, or any family member? The first thing the Mayor did was nothing, he intentionally ignored an email sent to himself and other staff including his Chief of Staff at the time, Susan Nahabedian.
According to the lawsuit, on Page 24, “In response to this threat when she had done nothing wrong, Plaintiff emailed the Chief of Staff to the Mayor, Susan Nahabedian and included the HR Director, Mr. Rotondo, in the email. Plaintiff reported concerns with retaliation due to reporting Mr. Terry DiPetrillo’s and Mr. Michael DiPetrillo’s behavior towards her.”
Mayor Picozzi blatantly ignored this situation. He would have been made aware by his Chief of Staff Susan Nahabedian. His Chief of Staff left Warwick shortly after this situation became known. Leadership starts at the top. I believe the mayor taking no action gave a clear signal to all employees that this was being ignored and other negative actions would be ignored.
If the Mayor had stepped up and taken decisive action at that time, we would not have an employee on “sick leave”receiving full pay who was accused of harassment and we would not have a major lawsuit against the city and the Mayor. I will be updating all policies to include a section where training is mandatory and an employee must acknowledge they have received training. I would have put the employee accused of harassment on leave while we investigated the allegations. This should be standard procedure.
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 2A: What is the most important thing you intend to do to aid small businesses in the city?
MALONEY: As Mayor, I would meet with all new business owners once a month to listen to concerns and not just show up for a ribbon cutting and photo op. I will listen to all constituents. Many business owners I have talked to say they don’t live in Warwick but their business is in Warwick and they have been ignored. I would address this and give small businesses a voice.
WARWICK POST QUESTION 3A: The FY25 budget projected $1.3M in revenue from the city’s new traffic camera program. Mayor Frank Picozzi noted during budget discussions, “This was never meant to be a revenue generator. It’s a side benefit of them.” What is the most appropriate use of this revenue?
MALONEY: What is the most appropriate use of this revenue? I am against this revenue stream. This money should stay in the pockets of people so they can feed their families.
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 3B: Please share any other thoughts you have on this topic.
MALONEY: Maloney did not elaborate further on the topic as posed in the question.
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 4A: In 2022, the RIAG’s office ruled the original digital records detailing WFD sick time taken by firefighters between 2013 and 2018 that cost the city up to $368,000, produced for the city by Marcum, belonged to Marcum and not the public, and therefore were not subject to the RI Access to Public Records Act, leaving the public to enter the information manually from the printed report for digital analysis: https://warwickpost.com/city-doesnt-have-to-produce-fire-sick-time-file-says-ag/
Should future reports of this sort commissioned to third parties include the digital records produced?
MALONEY: Any work performed by the city or entities hired by the city should be made public if the proper FOIA paperwork is submitted. There is a clear lack of transparency and I believe a violation of the Constitution. When legitimate independent journalists ask for information under the freedom of information act, it must be provided within a reasonable amount of time.
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 4B: What is your opinion of how this information was released to the public?
MALONEY: This process must be changed for transparency purposes. The city was clearly hiding information. I support the Constitution and as a Veteran, I served to protect it. The media and the public the media serves must be given information. The taxpayers pay for every function of government. Government should always work for the people and not against them. It also comes down to a matter of trust.
When information is not provided in a timely manner the public starts to question what else is being hidden. The public should not have to jump through hoops to get information. The government at all levels operates in a way to delay information being released in hopes that the public moves on to something else. There is a media cycle. For example, we know the government releases information ahead of major holidays and/or three day weekends so things are overlooked. This type of behavior must stop.
2024 MAYOR’S RACE QUESTION 4C Please share any other thoughts you have on this topic.
MALONEY: I am hopeful to be elected and have the character and morals to stand in front of people when something good is happening and also when the public is upset about a situation. I will not hide, I will be out front as a true leader. If someone in my administration tells me to hide the truth or not release information because it would “look bad”, that person will NOT be in my administration anymore. The culture of the city must change and we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Thank you.
The city of Warwick has listed polling places by precinct on Board of Canvassers website.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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