Armand Lusi Ward 9 Race Q&A

WARWICK, RI  —  Armand Lusi, sole Republican running for for Ward 9 in the Nov. 3 election, hopes to apply his experience running a multi-million dollar construction business toward managing the City of Warwick’s executive office.

Warwick Post.com emailed the same questions to each Ward 9 candidate last week and gave them until Monday, Oct. 26, to respond. Each was asked to acknowledge receipt of the emailed questions, and their intent to answer them.

Lusi acknowledged receipt of the questionnaire Oct. 23 when reached by phone and pledged to answer the questions by Oct. 26. Following are his answers, printed verbatim:

1) During the May 27 budget hearing, Mayor Solomon failed to answer or to pledge to answer several questions posed by citizens and Council members, as reported in the Warwick Post article: Warwick Budget Hearing Questions Unanswered.

What would be your approach to handling this behavior if it were your questions ignored? What if a citizen or fellow council member’s budget question went unanswered?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

 2) Warwick City Council subcommittee meetings often run over time, delaying the start of the full Council meeting. What is your assessment of this process? Should it be changed, and if so, how?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

3) What other processes of the City Council would you argue to change?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

4) During a recent City Council meeting, Councilman Ed Ladouceur complained of his inability to get the City to properly repair Lipitt Park following a recent car crash that damaged it. The meeting ended with his successful resolution forcing the City to make the repairs.

Should citizens expect that their council representative must pursue such measures to secure City services? How would you address this problem?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

5) Looking back at the 2019 Warwick Schools budget crisis, how would you handle city and school communication differently?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

6) Millions of dollars have been budgeted the last few years for repairing Warwick’s roads, yet only a fraction of that amount is ever used. For instance, in the article, Schools’ Budget Ask Would Have Added $104 to Median Tax Bill, DPW Director Mat Solitro reported there was $3.1M unspent from the $5M in the previous year’s paving budget. This year, the paving budget was reduced to $500K, but a $10M bond has been secured for paving.

Will you continue to vote to approve budgeting paving funds in amounts the city typically fails to use?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

7) How would you make the city’s road projects more accountable and transparent to citizens?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

8) Was the surprise Dec. 20 special meeting to ratify the Firefighter’s Contract called by the Warwick City Council, catching one Council member on a flight, and ultimately ruled illegal, a wise decision?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26

9) Considering the Warwick Firefighters’ union’s past history with contractual agreements, was it wise to pass the document with uncorrected errors?

LUSI: Armand Lusi failed to provide an answer by the requested deadline of Monday, Oct. 26