These are difficult times for Rhode Island.
The mayor of our capital city has been indicted on racketeering charges, his city hall has been wracked by indictments and convictions, and the city’s police department is under scrutiny.
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Immediately after the indictment, some politicians, including Gov. Lincoln Almond and U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, both Republicans, called upon the mayor to resign, concerned he would be consumed by his own defense, instead of concentrating on the people’s business.
We find it inappropriate just yet to ask Cianci to resign, and we think the state would have been better served had the governor simply stayed out of the fray, putting aside long-standing differences with the mayor and allowing the process to dictate the terms. And we suspect that the legal work will be primarily done by Cianci’s legal team.
Cianci has been – and remains – a very popular mayor of Providence. His indictment is not a conviction, which may or may not come after due process.
We are concerned, however, that Cianci’s indictment, and the convictions that preceded it, eventually will have a detrimental impact on the city and the state, and the overall business community.
If that happens, and residents of Providence believe Cianci can no longer govern properly, they have a recall mechanism that would give them the option of voting him out of office.
From a business standpoint, the entire Plunder Dome incident, Cianci’s involvement and the outcome have had an enormous impact. “The perception of possible corruption is never positive for business,” said a prominent businessman, who preferred anonymity.
And as another suggested: “As I’ve watched this unfold, I’ve begun to view the mayor as the central character in a Shakespeare tragedy. He has done many wonderful things for the city and its people, but clearly there is a tragic flaw, for the corruption cannot be this pervasive without tacit approval or a willingness to look the other way. It becomes one more problem to explain.”
