Bill Bartholomew moderates contentious Cranston Mayoral Republican Primary debate

There was no love lost between the candidates.

State Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung (Republican, District 15, Cranston) is no stranger to unseating powerful, entrenched incumbents, as she showed when she took on Speaker Nicholas Mattiello four years ago and won. Now she is challenging Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins, a fellow Republican who occupies the seat formerly held by her husband, Alan Fung. The winner of the September 10th primary will presumably face off in the general election against Democrat Robert Ferri, a Cranston City Council person.

The interview was conducted by Bill Bartholomew in his studio. You can listen to the full interview here. Bill invited reporters from across the state to attend. I was the only one to do so. The transcript has been edited for clarity:

Bill Bartholomew: Welcome to the Bartholomewtown Debate Series. Today, a debate in the GOP Primary for Mayor of Cranston, featuring incumbent Mayor Ken Hopkins and State Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung. If you will introduce yourselves?

Mayor Hopkins: Mayor is a title that I have, it's not the person that I am. I moved to Garden City to raise my family over 40 years ago. It's been a pleasure to serve both on the [Cranston City] Council and as a mayor for the last four years. I've learned an awful lot about my city and I'm here to be a public servant. I'm not a politician. I've raised my kids through the Cranston public schools. I attend my church, St. Mary's, so faith, family, and] friends - that's the type of person I am. I'm a lifetime educator and a college athletic baseball/basketball coach.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Thank you, Mayor Hopkins, for agreeing to come here today. It's great to finally have a good conversation. I'm sure it will be about some of the issues we're facing in Cranston. My name is Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung. I've been in Cranston now for over a decade. Many of you know me as Alan Fung's wife, but four years ago I defeated a sitting Speaker and I've been very pleased and honored to be one of the state representatives up on Smith Hill. We've done a lot of wonderful things at Smith Hill in terms of being able to send more money down to the city and I want to see those funds be better utilized and that's why [I'm] making the change to run for mayor. It's an honor and I look forward to this today.

Bill Bartholomew: Let's begin with a conversation central to any municipal government and that's the fiscal wellbeing of the City. As of August 5th of this year, Fitch gave Cranston an AA+ rating. Also, on a purely anecdotal level, the city has been named in several best places to live in the United States lists, including the website livability.com, which noted Cranston's economy as a strong driver for their designation as one of the top hundred cities in the country. Mayor Hopkins, during your tenure as mayor, what have you done to spur this sort of fiscal environment?

Mayor Hopkins: First of all, I've worked across party lines to get funding from the federal government to address some of the issues in the city. Senator Jack Reed has been a promoter of the City of Cranston, being a native, and I've worked very hard with him and Representative Seth Magaziner. I've also worked with the State House, the governor, and members of the legislature. Ironically, I'm the only sitting Republican mayor in the State of Rhode Island, so if I don't work across party lines, I'm not going to have anybody to talk to. What I've done is what I feel is in the best interest of the city. The city was in good shape when I took over in terms of livability. What we had a problem with, when I took over, was the finances, and as a team player, I never threw anybody under the bus. I just accepted [the situation] as the mayor and I've spent the last three and a half years fixing it and I think I've done a good job of that.

Bill Bartholomew: If you could elaborate, when you say finances, what were the problems?

Mayor Hopkins: I inherited some fiscal mismanagement, some budgets that were either kicked down the road or overlooked in the neighborhood of $8 to 10 million and I had to fix that. Alan Fung, the former mayor, happened to be a good friend of mine at the time and I was a team player. I knew he ran two unsuccessful trips for the governor's race and one for Congress, but I stood by his side the entire time. Yet when I took over [as Mayor] we realized that there was a big budget deficit that needed to be fixed and that's what I've done.

Bill Bartholomew: Rep Fenton-Fung, how would you spur economic development and what is your reaction to what you just heard in terms of [the previous mayor]?

It's not directly tied to you, let's be clear about that. I think it's important to note that you were not the mayor.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Let's just clear up some amazing inaccuracies. That was a delusional rundown of the city's finances. Ken Hopkins was on the city council approving every one of those budgets, and when we made the transition for mayor, heading into 2021 - the end of that fiscal year - there was a surplus, and Ken was bragging about it, saying, "Hey, look, there's a surplus, a total of $3 million for the city." Then the auditor confirmed there was a $3 million surplus for the city. So was Ken Hopkins lying then? Was the auditor lying then or is Ken Hopkins lying right now? We know the answer to that. I don't think the outside independent auditor was lying.

Let's take a look at economic development. Where is it? When my husband was mayor, we were constantly at small business openings. New businesses were coming into the city. They knew they had a functional government and that the city council and the mayor, despite being from different parties most of the time, were working well together. Take a look at Costco. they backed out of coming to Cranston - again - but Costco's not an economic development strategy. What are we doing to grow that center base so that we can take some pressure off of our homeowners? The residential tax burden is the fourth highest in the state according to a recent RIPEC [Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council] study.

What are we going to do in the future? I want to work with the state and the private sector to capitalize on these biomed initiatives that we approved at the state government over the past few years. What can we do to revitalize that eastern side, the Elmwood and Wellington corridor that's ripe for revitalization? Could we work with our state partners and bring in a great healthcare sector? We know healthcare is going to be one of our biggest state needs - and certainly in Cranston - over the next 10 years. We need more primary care, we need more dentists, we need more mental health professionals - let's do that. Let's also work together with the industries that are innovating healthcare over the next 10 years. What can we do to partner with them? Let's partner with RIC [Rhode Island College] and some of their new innovative programs. Let's see what we can do to create an economic healthcare sector to lift the city with wonderful paying jobs.

That's how I would take a more holistic view of economic development, but [I'd also] look at our village hubs. We've got to support our small businesses. We've got Pawtuxet Village, Rolfe Square, and Knightsville. What do we have to do? Look at Rolfe Square. Ken often brings up that he redid the crosswalks in Rolfe Square, but that's not economic development. If you're standing at City Hall looking straight across at Rolfe Square, one of the first buildings is boarded up, the next one is an empty storefront. Two other small businesses can't get off the ground because of red tape. That's not Main Street development. We need well-connected professionals to get us there.

Mayor Hopkins: Main Street revitalization was the first thing I did the first day I walked into the office. When you looked at Rolfe Street, it was a barren wasteland. Now there is [only] one building left with a vacancy. Other ones are under construction. We've worked [on that area] and it wasn't just sidewalks - it was the streets, it was the lights. It was an attraction to make[the area] more livable and more walkable. Keep in mind that when I took over the job, COVID hit and people were stuck indoors. My theory of economic development was to take the small main street concept of Rolfe Street, Pawtuxet Village, and Knightsville - and we're also doing Oaklawn Avenue as we speak. Those are four major areas of economic development. Our public sector jobs have increased by six and a half percent in the City of Cranston. I think we've done a pretty good job of revitalizing. Throw in Topgolf as a major one. Small business is important to me. We've done over 200 ribbon cuttings in my three and a half years as Mayor to bring new small businesses to the city. I have a program right now, that the Democratic City Council is holding back, where I've promoted $200,000 in ARPA funds to give to small businesses that were affected by some of the vast construction that's going on in the city.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Let me just respond to that. I think that's a great conversation to have. You were completely against Topgolf when you were a councilman at first because you didn't want the big lights and big noise in Garden City...

Mayor Hopkins: Once again, Barbara, you continue to lie.

Representative Fenton-Fung: I'm sorry. You know what? You can show me respect and let me finish. Back to Topgolf. He was initially against it and that's fine. That was a program everybody worked together on. I'm glad the business finally started to get under construction. When Topgolf was finally allowed to start [construction] it was delayed for a few years because of Covid. That Citizens Bank area had been held up because it was a federal Covid center.

When we're talking about small businesses, it makes me laugh. When you said there were 200 small business openings - we'll try to verify that for sure - but I remember there was one day you blew off a business opening. It was one of our friend's businesses. They called and said, "The mayor just kind of didn't show up that day." Small businesses...

Mayor Hopkins: Once again, misleading. That's not the truth.

Representative Fenton-Fung: It is, because they're our friends, and they asked Alan to come and run down and do the ribbon cutting because the Mayor blew them off. But it doesn't stop there. I was having dinner at one of the pubs down on Park Ave and they'd been wrecked for the past year because of [ongoing] construction and the endless ripping up and putting back together the roads. Their business is down and when they went to you, Mayor Hopkins, and they asked your economic development director for help, they said your economic development director went and said to them, you need to do a better job at marketing. They were floored by that comment. Many small businesses on Park Ave had had it up to here. We saw the article last week...

Mayor Hopkins: Barbara, you tend to mislead and misrepresent the truth. The particular restaurant you are talking about has received over $15,000 in grant money to revitalize. They just built a brand new outdoor facility as part of their business. That grant money came from my economic development director who worked with them. Of any restaurant or business in the city, that particular restaurant that you are misleading the public about has gotten more money than anybody else.

Representative Fenton-Fung: That's a complete and utter lie. And if you talk to the restaurant owner, they'll point out how some restaurants got over $800,000 and they've got small grants. But that's getting into the weeds. Bigger picture, when the small businesses are reaching out to the mayor's office and his economic development director, they feel like they're not being heard.

Bill Bartholomew: What restaurant are we talking about

Mayor Hopkins: Ted's Stadium Kitchen and Pub.

Representative Fenton-Fung: That's correct.

Bill Bartholomew: We will follow up on that and certainly invite anyone who has questions to follow up on that particular issue themselves. Let's move on. This is still in the economic development conversation. We're experiencing, according to every statewide metric, a housing crisis... That includes rentals, new purchases, and our unhoused population. In terms of new state legislation signed, those that are proposed, and yet to come, are you open to additional building in Cranston even if it requires significant rezoning?

Mayor Hopkins: It's already underway. Cranston Print Works is now being revitalized. It was empty during the entire Fung administration. There was no attempt to revitalize it. We've brought in a company, Brady Sullivan out of Boston, building hundreds of townhouses over there, directly across the street. There's a development going on with a company from New Hampshire that's about to build four 50-unit towers. That's 200 apartments. We have taken old school buildings that were dilapidated under the Fung administration. Sanders School in particular was rat-infested. Kids were going in there, spray painting. It was dilapidated. I went in and had it sold and knocked down - and four new houses are going in that area. To say that we are not doing anything for housing is way off. We are continuing to build, there's a new development going in at the end of the Cranston/West Warwick line where 14 new houses are presently under construction.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Interestingly, you bring up the Print Works thing and we're talking about insider deals. You took a donation and then two days later your planning department issued them a very favorable zoning change. Interestingly, you bring that up, but let's take a look at housing. When I'm on the doors every day I'm listening to a lot of our seniors who are very frustrated because their taxes keep going up. Taxes have gone up for three straight years and their property insurance has gone up...

Mayor Hopkins: That's an absolute lie and you know it.

Representative Fenton-Fung: I didn't know that we were singing a duet today. Could you please let me finish? Thank you.

Mayor Hopkins: Just tell the truth and I'll keep quiet.

Representative Fenton-Fung: I am. Please let me continue. Their utility rates keep going up. Our seniors, especially those who are single- and fixed-income type of residences, are telling me, "If I sold my house here today, there's nowhere I could go [to live] in the city." We need a lot more single-level condos. We need more assisted and independent living [units] so our seniors can age in place, here in the city. They've been here for 60 years. They want to be able to walk around the Garden City shops. They want to be able to go to the same pharmacists and bankers they have been for all those years. When we're looking at targeted housing, that's a big need in the city. Also, take a look at what kind of workforce housing we can spur so our grandkids can afford to live here as well.

Bill Bartholomew: Mayor, if you want to respond?

Mayor Hopkins: I'd love to respond. I'm a perfect example of exactly what she just talked about. I'm a senior, I live in Garden City. I live downstairs in an in-law apartment that is legally approved. I created that apartment for my mother-in-law over 30 years ago. That's where I live. Fortunately, my grandchildren, daughter, and son-in-law live upstairs in a separate part of the house. I'm a perfect example of what Cranston needs because I'm living it myself.

Representative Fenton-Fung: I agree. We're trying to figure out what our seniors need because they're the ones who have been paying property taxes for decades and we've got to make sure that we're meeting their needs in the decades to come so that they can age comfortably. A senior was telling me, "I have to pay somebody to mow my low lawn all the time. I have to pay somebody to shovel my driveway." All those expenses, especially on a fixed income, are really difficult. So I agree and I think the housing initiatives that we've passed at the State House should start to help over the next few years and I'd like to see that executed better here in Cranston.

Bill Bartholomew: Let's talk unhoused. There are untold numbers of people who don't have anywhere to live. The numbers we're seeing, based on anecdotal conversations, appear to be an undercount. Specifically in Cranston, you seem to have a unique situation with folks who were institutionalized and have recently been released or are drawn to Cranston because of services at the Pastore Center. It's almost a two-lane conversation. But in general, how do you solve, or at least begin to solve, the crisis of the unhoused in Cranston? Are you willing to fly in the face of those in neighborhoods that do not want unhoused people there, to take care of Cranston residents who don't have anywhere to live?

Representative Fenton-Fung: I'm not sure everybody is aware of what you're talking about. I think you're talking about Harrington Hall, which is in my state rep district. What you're alluding to there is that Harrington Hall is the shelter of last resort. We have a lot of people who have served time for sex offenses and have to register as sex offenders and [upon release] start at Harrington Hall. As a state rep, we've been able to reduce the number of people living at Harrington Hall because programs through Crossroads have gotten them appropriate housing elsewhere so it's not just District 15, which used to be called the home of the sex offenders. That's no longer the case. We've done a really good job working with Crossroads on that. When we're talking about people who are near homelessness or experiencing homelessness right now, we have to make sure that they're not setting up these unsafe structures on public land. That's not doing them any good...

Bill Bartholomew: Camps and things of this sort?

Representative Fenton-Fung: I was walking with some community leaders in Ward 3 and there's a human touch to this. You can clear out the encampments, yes, but you're also looking these families in the eye. At the state level, we're working on more housing initiatives to try to get them safe housing, that has a shower and some dignity for them, but we have to continue to make sure that our housing is more affordable and that we're not transitioning from being housed to unhoused. And there's a lot more we could do at the city level.

Bill Bartholomew: Yes or no. Would you be open to a pallet shelter, which is these shed-like small houses that are being deployed in cities around the country? Would you be open to the deployment of a pallet shelter community in the city of Cranston?

Representative Fenton-Fung: No.

Bill Bartholomew: Mayor Hopkins, you've been vocal on radio that you don't want to see more unhoused people brought to Cranston. That's a simplified way of putting what I've heard you say over the last year or so on the radio. But you have people in Cranston who don't have anywhere to live. How do you solve this and what have you done so far, as mayor, to address this crisis?

Mayor Hopkins: There's a process we have in place. We don't kick out people that are homeless. What we do is we go into an area where people are living in tents and we try to encourage them by bringing in police. We bring in social workers, we bring in advocates for the homeless and we talk to these people and try to get them moved into housing. Unfortunately, many of them don't want housing. The ones that do, we've accommodated them. We've looked at different parts of the city that have affordable housing. I put a family into an apartment directly across the street from Bane Middle School. They were homeless. It was the holiday season, the week before Christmas. I personally, with my family, found an apartment for that particular family, moved them in, and put Christmas toys in the closets for all the kids.

That's what we do. That's family, faith, and friends. That's getting your bootstraps pulled up and doing the work. Unfortunately, last week a picture appeared - from my opponent - about an area where homeless people lived. Unfortunately, they weren't just homeless. There was drug addiction, there were needles everywhere. There's prostitution. We have constant police perusing the area to try to help, and we've had our public works department go in, offer them housing that they didn't want, and we went in and cleaned it up. And you have to remember that in the surrounding area, there are neighborhoods with little kids that see this. I don't want an unsafe area for the rest of our people to live in. There are distinctions here between homelessness and helping them, and those that are violating the law - that's what I'm against.

Bill Bartholomew: Are you open to a pallet shelter failure in Cranston?

Mayor Hopkins: Honestly Bill, Cranston does its share. We don't get enough in PILOT [Payment On Lieu Of Taxes] money from the State House which I could use for the Harrington Hall homeless people that we have. To put a pallet shelter over there, all I'm going to tell you is this - Look at what happened in Providence when they built pallet shelters. There's still nobody in it. That was a state-mandated shelter funded by the State House, which Representative Fung was a part of. She helped pay for that and over a year later, it's still not being used.

Bill Bartholomew: Of course, there was remediation required on the soil, and so forth. I think

Representative Fenton-Fung: I think they're still stuck in zoning. [To be clear] the picture that appeared in one of our online ads is from after what the mayor said he cleaned up. Unfortunately, there are still needles everywhere. There's trash everywhere, there are still tents. The community leaders in that area wouldn't have brought me down if they didn't feel as though the mayor hadn't been responding to their needs for years. All of a sudden, right around election time, we have action coming out of the third floor. He's a day late, a dollar short, and two steps behind and the community leaders in each of these wards know it.

Mayor Hopkins: I didn't lie about it. It was the Spanish contingent that lives in that area that reached out to me. I then reached out to the governor because the picture that [Rep Fenton-Fung] showed [in her ad] is state land located in the City of Cranston. We addressed it immediately.

Representative Fenton-Fung: You didn't [address it]. That's why they were frustrated and took other people there.

Bill Bartholomew: Alright, let's move on...

Mayor Hopkins: We are correct in the assertion that it is state property. It's not the City of Cranston

Representative Fenton-Fung: That it's a triangle of city, state, and Amtrak property? Yes.

Bill Bartholomew: I can't fact-check that specifically in terms of the triangulation.

Mayor Hopkins: It's right next to our police department.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Literally.

Bill Bartholomew: Moving along to politics. Ethics complaints have been filed [by Rep Fenton-Fung] against the mayor and dismissed [by the Ethics Commission] in terms of hiring practices. Do you regret the filing of those reports?

Mayor Hopkins: I'd like to answer that first since she had the first opportunity in the last question. She should [be regretful] because it was one of her political operatives who tried to disparage my name, family, and children, and also attacked behind the scenes. She attacked the school administration and she attacked both the police and the fire departments about the way they do business. Those jobs were warranted to be filled by a union contract and each one of the people who were interviewed by the Ethics Commission voted in my favor. What she did was as low as you can go in political life by attacking somebody's family, not having any evidence behind it, and telling lies.

Bill Bartholomew: Representative Fenton-Fung, do you regret those ethics complaints? And do you regret the campaign heading in that direction in light of the Ethics Commission findings?

Representative Fenton-Fung: No, and let's go back. The only person and people who are owed an apology is the State of Rhode Island because now we're forever going to have the Hopkins' rule, which means that your children and family members can be hired while you're mayor and the Ethics Commission will do absolutely nothing about it. People were floored by this decision. Since Ken Hopkins became mayor, his son was hired by the school department, his son-in-law was hired by the fire department, and while under investigation, the police department hired his nephew's longtime significant other. And Ken acts as though it's a political game we're playing. What he doesn't understand is the people who were blowing the whistle were the city employees themselves - whose morale has been devastated, not just by this but by three and a half years of him at the helm.

The school teachers were the ones who blew the whistle. This goes back to 2022. Ken Hopkins railed against the proposed teacher's contract, which people thought was a little weird considering he was a former teacher and the city council was like, this is a pretty fair contract. Ten days later he was completely fine with the contract. Nothing changed in the contracts and that seemed a little weird. Later that week, his son resigned as principal from East Greenwich. The next week he was hired as the principal and executive director at the Career Tech. The teachers went ballistic. They honestly chased him out of town. By the end of March of that school year, he was already looking to transfer and said he was taking a job at a different school department.

Then it was the firefighters who blew the whistle on him hiring his son, and the police officers were the ones who were coming to me, [saying,] "I can't believe this is happening." What [the mayor] doesn't seem to understand is that it's the city workers who are fighting back. I'm their voice, yes, but they're sick of it. I don't know which legal loophole you slid down and that's fine, but you're almost 70 years old and I shouldn't have to tell you that you shouldn't do that.

Bill Bartholomew: Mayor Hopkins, you did receive the endorsement of the police and fire department unions.

Mayor Hopkins: Keep in mind Bill, that the people that she's referring to are disgruntled former employees that worked under her husband's administration that I did not keep. Secondly, the police union and the fire union have both endorsed me overwhelmingly as the next mayor to continue the job that we're doing now. To go after my son, who has a master's degree in educational administration, and was a principal at East Greenwich High School, and who the Cranston superintendent reached out to to fill a position for one year at the Career and Tech School. He went in and did that and then the Town of Lincoln reached out and he is now the principal at Lincoln High School. Lincoln is better off by having him as their principal and if you talk to the school teachers in Lincoln, they love the fact that he's there. He's extremely professional. This was an unwarranted attack on the superintendent and her hiring practices.

Representative Fenton-Fung: On the police and fire endorsements, his brother was on the police department until very recently and I was told last year by the members of the executive board that, "Barb, he gave us a 10% raise, so of course, just FYI, we will probably endorse him next year." No big deal. You got a 10% raise. I understand why the union would back you.

I was told last year that he has family members in the fire department and that's fine. Unions have to do what they have to do. The rank and file know how well I've supported them up at the State House. Not only supporting the retirement changes from the top five to the top three but also working with them on some of their healthcare bills, like getting rid of PFAS from their uniforms - those are the forever chemicals - or when we're talking about some of the presumption bills and making sure that they're taking care of PTSD. We did a great compromise bill between the League of Cities and Towns and the unions. It's been really important that we've worked well together. I understand what union endorsements have to do.

Mayor Hopkins: Mrs. Fung, how far do you have to go to try to disparage the Hopkins name? That was a name given to me by my father. "Remember your name and your word" was a message that I passed on to my kids. To reach out [so far as] my nephew's girlfriend got a job in the police department because of my influence - that's as far as you can reach to try to not tell the truth. If you want to go to the police department, let's talk about the fact that they wanted to get rid of Colonel Winquist during her husband [Mayor Alan Fung]'s administration and he refused to leave. We had "ticketgate" - the biggest scandal in the last 50 years in the City of Cranston's police department under her husband's administration. In my administration, I work daily with Colonel Winquist, as well as his staff, which includes Major Todd Patalano who was fired and then cost the City $300,000 in a lawsuit to bring him back because he was innocent and accused of things under the Fung administration. The Cranston Police Department knows exactly who I am. My brother Joe, who she just referred to, is a 25-year veteran of the Cranston Police Department. I was the athletic director 25 years ago, then I was a teacher at Cranston East. I've been mayor for three and a half years and you can ask a person in that police department how much I support them. Cranston is the safest city as a result of my administration.

Bill Bartholomew: Before we get to closing statements, just a couple of quick hits. Yes or no type of deals. The police gun range has received a lot of complaints from residents in Western Cranston, particularly those who are concerned about it being in proximity to a school. Should that police range be relocated, Mayor Hopkins?

Mayor Hopkins: Yes, I'm working on that as we speak.

Representative Fenton-Fung: I don't think it needs to be, we just passed a law at the State House that would allow for the use of silencers during training, with supervision, and I think that might be a really good compromise.

Bill Bartholomew: The Budlong Pool, without getting into super detail because we could do a whole conversation on that - should it remain open or should we hit a reset button and completely remove it and a new pool put in? Should this historic facility be preserved?

Representative Fenton-Fung: It should have been preserved. We should have had a community conversation about potentially enclosing it with the $42 million covid, golden parachute that we had. That would have added value to the city and I think it would have been a great thing for kids.

Mayor Hopkins: We're saving the historical aspect, which is the building itself. We're building a brand new pool. Factually, 8,000 square feet will accommodate almost 500 people based on state law. The most people that ever went into that pool during the last five years was 240. Those are the facts. There also were police who had to be called in because of gang fights, teenage violence, drug abuse, and drug sales in the parking lot, which the recreation director previous to me had to call in for help. I want to create a family atmosphere - a smaller pool with a splash pad and a barbecue pit so that families from Cranston can enjoy it and I'm getting positive feedback from that. But keep in mind the city council gave me $4 million in funds to build the biggest size pool that we could and that's exactly what I'm doing.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Quickly on that - you and the city council don't get along. You guys are suing each other and that's why you couldn't create a vision that you could sell to them and get the pool back to where it was.

Mayor Hopkins: That vision's a reality. It's under construction as we speak.

Representative Fenton-Fung: It's unfortunately going to be one-third the size of what it used to be and it's too shallow for us to even have kids cannonball.

Mayor Hopkins: To rebuild it, Barbara, at the size it's at, because it's so broken and was built in 1930, that pool would cost the City of Cranston taxpayers millions of dollars to fix. I'm going to build a brand new one for the next 50 years that will accommodate and serve the needs of our city without influencing the taxpayers.

Representative Fenton-Fung: You didn't listen to the neighborhood, you forced this plan down their throats. If you were in that neighborhood, you would understand how much they hate this new pool. And that's unfortunate because this should be a neighborhood and community pool. This pool...

Mayor Hopkins: They had an opportunity to speak.

Representative Fenton-Fung: You didn't listen. This is just like this debate. Everybody has an opportunity to speak but you're not listening and that is the entire summary of your Mayorship.

Mayor Hopkins: Barbara, you're not listening because I'm telling the factual truth. You are using lies and innuendos to try to stir up political opposition.

Representative Fenton-Fung: I'm not...

Mayor Hopkins: That's exactly what you're doing and you know why you're doing it.

Representative Fenton-Fung: No.

Mayor Hopkins: You told me you weren't going to run against me in a private meeting that we had over lunch.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Yes, four years ago. Then your performance and the insider deals...

Mayor Hopkins: The insider deals were approved by the Ethics Commission. We know where you went with that and that was false. Again, another lie. We know what the bond ratings tell us about the condition of the city. Our rainy day fund has $19 million in it. When I inherited it, it was $14 million. We have cut budgets, we have streamlined government. We have cut 24 positions in the city to make the city work and we used the ARPA funds appropriately to make sure that we didn't put a burden on the taxpayers.

Representative Fenton-Fung: If your finances were going so well, why have taxes gone up three straight times?

Mayor Hopkins: That's a lie.

Representative Fenton-Fung: It is not.

Mayor Hopkins: Barbara, again, you're not telling the truth. You're not. This is the third year. The first year we had COVID - zero tax [increases]. The second year when we found out about the budget deficit that was left to us, we raised taxes slightly. In the third year the Democratic...

Representative Fenton-Fung: Ken, can you stop for a second?

Mayor Hopkins: Can I finish talking, please? The Democratic-controlled city council added to the tax because they wanted to give more money to the school. This year I did a zero tax increase. We have a state-mandated revaluation. We lowered the levy, we lowered the rate to the same amount of money as last year. Unfortunately, you can't tell the truth about that because some people went up, some people went down and some remained the same. That's a zero tax increase...

Representative Fenton-Fung: Unfortunately, the facts are just the facts. You can read a budget. Ken hasn't learned how to read an audit yet. Yes. Did the...

Mayor Hopkins: Double A+ by the way.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Did the rainy day fund go down during Covid? Yes. That's what rainy day funds are for. But during that time, my husband saved the city and brought it from near bankruptcy to one of the best cities in America and he made that three years in a row. Ken inherited a city in great condition. He acknowledged there was a surplus. The auditor acknowledged there was a surplus. So it kind of behooves us to think - Was Ken lying then or is Ken lying now? It's just very simple.

Mayor Hopkins: First of all, I don't lie. Secondly, my facts tell me that the surplus that her husband left us was $3 million. And I agree with that. But $2.7 million of it was the schools. That wasn't the city. The city council gives them the budget, the school committee determines where they're going to spend it, which is 55% of the city's budget. It was the schools that created that surplus, not Alan Fung.

Representative Fenton-Fung: And to that. When we're looking at the schools, Ken wants to allow the schools to issue tax bills with no oversight from the city council or the mayor's office. When we're talking about education, that could be a whole other podcast for you, for sure. [If] it was so great, why would taxes have to go up? You have to think, why are you overtaxing people? Your proposal to have the schools issue tax bills. If I were looking at what Cranston's going to be like the next four years, I don't want more taxes and I wouldn't want Ken Hopkins.

Mayor Hopkins: That was a tongue-in-cheek comment with Dan York on his radio campaign. I said, "Well, if we're going to spend 55% of the budget on the schools," tongue-in-cheek, I said, "Maybe they should do their own taxes instead of putting the burden on the city taxpayers to have to foot their bill."

Representative Fenton-Fung: Are you lying now because [the idea] wasn't popular?

Mayor Hopkins: What they've done is streamlined [their budget]. What they're doing now is they're saving money by taking their bus situation and finally taking a good look at it because most of the buses that I saw weren't even half full. Now they're taking a good look at that and they're able to save money. But again, that's a job I'm doing to make sure that taxpayers don't have to pick up that extra burden of mismanagement.

Representative Fenton-Fung: That's a state legislative commission [not city]. We look forward to the results of that.

Bill Bartholomew: Let's move to closing statements. We'll begin with Mayor Hopkins.

Mayor Hopkins: I welcome the fact that we have this opportunity to clear the air. To indicate that I am a liar - that's an absolute fallacy that continues to come from my opposition. They know that the city's in great shape. We're paving, we're building, we're fixing new recreation facilities, businesses are coming in. Job performance is 6.5% in the private sector.

I go door to door and I ask the people, not who are in favor of what I do, but want to know the truth. And when I tell them the truth, they say, "Oh yeah, put one of your signs on my lawn because now I understand what the truth is." I tell the truth. I've told my children to remember their name and their word, and I live on the credo of faith, family, and friends - and I do not lie. I take offense to the fact that this woman has attacked my family and that's as underhanded as you can get.

Representative Fenton-Fung: This woman, that's an interesting remark. I know we could go on about that. Disrespect will just stay as it is. I look at reelection as if it's a sports contract being renewed. "All right, we've been here for four years. Do we want another four years of this?" People in Cranston have looked, their taxes have gone up for the past three years and they're not getting great value for it. The Budlong Pool has been closed all of those four years. The ice rink, unfortunately, lost the bubble. We lost a whole sheet of ice his first year as mayor and this current structure has significant structural issues that need to be addressed and haven't been. When we're looking at value for the money, it's not there.

Ken also doesn't show up to work a whole lot and city workers were the first ones to blow the whistle. We have his calendars. There's nothing on his calendar 40% of the time. Look, it's pretty obvious that I have the energy for this job 24/7 for the next four to eight years. There are significant questions on how much the mayor will show up. When he was talking about reelection with the Cranston Herald, he said, "If I win, I play golf. If I lose, I play golf. At the end of the day, I play golf." That's not what we're paying you a six-figure salary for. And to be honest, I don't morally think that we should have any of our family members be hired while we're in that executive office. I take a look at the big picture and I'm looking at a vision not only of trying to leave this in the past but building a vibrant healthcare and biomed sector, revitalizing our village hubs that have been decimated over the past few years coming out of Covid, and fixing our infrastructure.

We didn't get into flood mitigation today, but that's the number one issue when we're talking about infrastructure at the doors. It used to happen just in certain areas of the city and the Wilbur Ave Bridge, but now it's happening on Pontiac Avenue, Fletcher Avenue, and Molly Drive. This mayor does not have the vision and has not executed plans to improve this for families - and we notice that. I appreciate all the support that I've gotten this year. I've been very blessed to be at your doors and I would ask for your consideration and your vote come September 10th.

Mayor Hopkins: Representative Fenton-Fung, I'd like to ask you one question. Why don't you caucus with your party at the State House? Why do you support the Speaker, Joe Shekarchi, on numerous votes - and we'll be bringing that up over the next couple of weeks. She seems to me that she wants to act as a Republican, but in reality, she's just a RINO [Republican In Name Only].

Representative Fenton-Fung: Let's talk about facts. Ken has voted as a registered Democrat three times since 2008. He donated to the chair of the Rhode Island Democrats just last year. Ken chose a Democrat, Governor McKee, to stand by his side during his reelection. Ken didn't support the Republican for governor in the last election, instead, he attended Governor McKee's reelection kickoff.

As far as my having collegial relationships with Republicans, Democrats, and the Independent in the State House, I think that's important because that's how we get good bipartisan measures done. When it comes to not caucusing, I forget sometimes that some people don't realize the story. In a very Rhode Island moment, the chief of staff for the House Republican office is a woman [Susan Stenhouse] that my husband fired from the City of Cranston at one point.

Look, I'm the first person in over a century to defeat a sitting Speaker [Nicholas Mattiello] and I knew that I had to deliver big time for not only District 15 but for Cranston. And I wasn't going to let anything stand in my way of delivering for other people Cranston. I understood that there were probably some poor feelings in the past due to the fact my husband had to fire that woman. It was going to hold me back. There were certain things that I felt as though she could probably get in the way of. I am a Republican who works with a different assistant, but I love those guys. I vote with them on many different measures. I support them and they invite me to their Christmas parties. I'm so happy to be one of the Republicans up there and it'll be one of the hardest things for me to leave and not to be able to see Mike Chippendale and Brian Newberry.

Mayor Hopkins: Ironically she talks about working with both sides of the aisle, yet she criticizes me for doing it. At the same time, the person she just talked about, that I didn't support [Ashley Kalus] just called me up and gave me a $2,000 donation. She's on my side, as well as Charlie Lombardi in North Providence and Joe Polisena in Johnston. I work with people, I work with Frank Picozzi, I work with the governor. I've worked with the governor's office. I recently just got another $2 million for flood mitigation from Congressman Magaziner. I work with Jack Reed. I have to because I am the only voice of the Republican party.

Representative Fenton-Fung: I guess I'm confused then. If you're going to criticize me for being bipartisan, why are you then trying to take credit for it? ...

Bill Bartholomew: Should elections be nonpartisan?

Mayor Hopkins: As a mature adult, not an aged old man, I still have the ability and the willingness to continue to do this job for the next four years. Representative Fenton-Fung continues to attack my age. We have a lot of elderly people in Cranston that are my age. They know exactly what I can do. I am out there daily talking and working. She talks about me being at work 60% of the time, again to mislead the facts. That was my public schedule. I am in the office daily working on things, working on contracts, talking to the police, going out, and I'm very visible in the city. If you look at my website, you'll see the things that I do. When I go out to support the girls' softball team and when I go out to support baseball programs at the schools, I don't put that on my schedule. That's part of what I do. I'm a very visible mayor. 60% of the schedule is public. That's what she's referring to. And once again, she continues to not tell the truth.

Bill Bartholomew: Should city politics in Cranston be partisan or would it be more effective nonpartisan?

Mayor Hopkins: With maturity and wisdom over age, I've got enough realization to know that I am the only Republican mayor in the state of Rhode Island. I'm mature enough to work with everybody.

Bill Bartholomew: You want to keep it as is.

Mayor Hopkins: I want to keep it being an open conversation so that I can work with everybody. That's what mature people do.

Bill Bartholomew: What do you think about the idea of Cranston elections being nonpartisan?

Representative Fenton-Fung: I think it is a good idea. When we're taking a look at the big picture, it might cut down on some of the rancor that's going on here in Cranston right now. It's complete chaos between the administration and the city council. They're not getting anything done. Unfortunately, we just left $8 million for a community center on the table because the administration and the city council couldn't get together. That's unfortunate. When Ken became mayor, there was a Republica-led council, and unfortunately, Ken could not get along with one of the council members and that council member, [Robert Ferri]...

Mayor Hopkins: Not true. Again, she's lying. She's telling a lie. That council person who I brought in, as I recall…

Representative Fenton-Fung: Are you trying to speak over me again? Why don't you stop that, because it's incredibly disrespectful.

Mayor Hopkins: Disrespectful is attacking my age and my children. That's disrespect. What I'm trying to say, Bill, is that the person I brought in Mr. Ferri, switched parties not because he didn't get along with me, [but because] he didn't get along with the chair of the Republican Party.

Bill Bartholomew: You're alleging dysfunction between the administration and the city council. Mayor Hopkins is rejecting that.

Representative Fenton-Fung: They're suing each other right now and when rancor becomes dysfunctional and not being able to get things done for the city, you have to think - should these people be reelected? When you watch those city council meetings, which you can watch on YouTube, some of them are incredibly uncomfortable. The administration and council members have been swearing at each other, yelling at each other. This is not what we need to work together. When Alan Fung was mayor, he had a 9-0 Democratic council, yet they worked together to get enormous things done, like pension reform. Right now that is not happening. Personalities get involved because unfortunately, the mayor and Mr. Ferri didn't get along. There was a party switch. The Democrats took control of the Democrats, then won again in a special election in Ken's backyard last year. And for the first time in forever, this very Republican ward went Democrat. And that should be a warning that the people aren't very happy about what's going on.

Mayor Hopkins: That needs to be addressed. The reason that person lost, in a very close race, was because there was no involvement from the Fung people. They did not help our candidate, who was a Republican. They laughed when the Democrat won. They did not support the Republican candidate and we had a great one who is now running for school committee. But the Republican Party, on a vote of 22 to one has endorsed me in the city of Cranston. I brought Mr. Ferri into the Republican party. He left over a disagreement with the party Chair, not with Mr. Hopkins.

It's the difference between fact and reality. Tell the truth and we'll be fine. Don't stretch the truth and talk about disparaging people and their families by not telling the truth. You can manipulate the figures any way you want. I'm here to tell the truth.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Unfortunately, Ken doesn't understand how not to take an attack on his job performance personally. And he does this. He attacks people on social media when they question what he does. He gets kind of nasty and people have noticed that.

Mayor Hopkins: What I do is give them the correct answer. I tell them the facts.

Representative Fenton-Fung: That's an interesting way of approaching your disrespect to me today that has probably been noted by the people listening. They can read between the lines. As far as the Republican City Committee goes, I didn't seek their endorsement. It has an incumbent protection mechanism. We knew how this was going, and I have several concerns with the way that people are overlooking certain things in the city. So I didn't seek that endorsement.

I'm grateful for all the wonderful support that I've gotten door-to-door, just like I did in the Speaker Mattiello race. I'm never going to out-insider him, okay? I'm the reformer. I'm the one who shakes up the status quo and I know that's uncomfortable for certain people. I think Dan Yorke, who you work with every afternoon, said I'm fearless. I don't expect everybody to [say], "Let's go and shake up the status quo." But I'm happy to be their voice and I'm happy to have their support and I thank them in advance.

Mayor Hopkins: Dan Yorke also mentioned last week that Barbara Ann's campaign, as a result of her mistruths, "is going down the toilet." That's a quote, and she has to reach out and throw mud to see what will stick. I'm here to represent the truth and give you the facts.

Bill Bartholomew: Alright, Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung and Mayor Ken Hopkins. I'm Bill Bartholomew. This has been the Bartholomewtown Debate Series, the Republican Primary for Mayor of Cranston. Thank you both so much for a spirited conversation today and best of luck to each of you.

Representative Fenton-Fung: Thank you so much, Bill.

Mayor Hopkins: Thanks, Bill.