Colantuono Drops From Ward 1 City Council Race, Endorses Cascella

WARWICK, RI — Ward 1 City Councilman Steven A. Colantuono announced on Friday that he won’t run for a ninth term, endorsing Richard H. Cascella, Jr. in his place, with the support of the Ward 1 Republican Committee and Mayor Scott Avedisian.

Avedisian and Mark Russell, Chairman of the Ward One Republican Committee, announced their support for the candidacy of Cascella, former President of the E.T. Wyman Elementary PTA and current resident of 110 Yale Ave., as the next Republican Councilman from Ward 1, according to a release from the Mayor’s office.

Both Colantuono and Cascella filed candidacy papers for the 2016 election in November, briefly raising the notion of a Republican primary in Ward 1 in September. Colantuono’s decision and endorsement leaves Cascella the sole Republican candidate for the seat, to square off with one of the four current Democratic Primary condenters: Barry D. Cook, Richard K. Corley, and Patrick Maloney, and Tanios Ellie Bouramia.

“I am saddened to see Councilman Colantuono leave public service, but I am grateful for his eight years of dedicated service to the city and to my ward,” Avedisian said.  “Steven and I have worked on many issues together – from OPEB funding, to open space preservation, to pension reform and preservation of the quality of life in our neighborhoods.  I am going to miss his wise counsel and good guidance.”“It has been a great pleasure to spend the last eight years serving the people of Ward One as their Councilman and to be the point person on the Council for Mayor Avedisian and his administration,” said Colantuono, an eight-year veteran of the Warwick City Council.

“More importantly, I am grateful for the tremendous gift of his friendship and that of his beautiful wife, Maya,” Avedisian continued.

“We all are well aware of Rick’s dedication to our neighborhood and his dedicated service to E.T. Wyman Elementary School and his work at Pilgrim High School. We are happy to have Rick as a part of the team.  We look forward to supporting him and assisting in his election,” Avedisian said.