Solomon says poll puts him ahead of Cianci
Providence, RI – Providence mayoral candidate Michael Solomon held a press conference today at Prospect Park on the East Side to counter the claim asserted last week by his opponents that he is not the best candidate to defeat Buddy Cianci in November.
“I have spent the last four years as president of the city council cleaning up the messes that Mr. Cianci left behind. During the dark years of the Cianci administrations, cushy pension deals were handed out as favors with no thought about the long-term fiscal impact on our city. All while Mr. Cianci failed to properly fund the city’s pension system,” said Solomon.
Years of these special deals and kicking the can down the road helped to create the category five fiscal hurricane that we are still recovering from today. Rather than kick the can down the road yet again, I’m proud to have worked hand-in-hand with Mayor Taveras to pass the tough reforms needed to pull this city back from the brink of bankruptcy.”
During the press conference Solomon addressed the errors he made on his ethics disclosure filings and apologized for those errors to the residents of Providence. He also asked they be put in a proper context with his record.
“I’ve worked very hard to bring transparency to the city council by televising hearings, making council votes available online, and requiring lobbyist registration for those seeking to influence city government,” stated Solomon.
He also touted the fiscal reforms implemented in the last four years under his watch as council president.
“We ended 6% annual compounded COLAs that were bankrupting our pension system. We negotiated with our police, fire, and municipal employee unions and we committed to fully funding the city’s annual required contribution to the pension system,” stated Solomon.
My opponents conveniently fail to acknowledge this record of service to our city, and instead attempted to pull me down because I made filing errors on an ethics disclosure form.”
“This election year could not be more critical to Providence’s future and I remain confident that I am the only candidate in this race who can defeat Mr. Cianci,” added Solomon. “That is why today I am releasing the results of our own internal polling. Contrary to the claims made by my opponents last week, I am the only candidate in a position to defeat Mr. Cianci in November.”
The latest general election polling conducted August 17-22, (440 interviews, MoE +/- 4.6%) Michael leads Cianci by one, Elorza trails by 7. Specific results follow:
Solomon v Cianci
Solomon, 36%
Cianci, 35%
Harrup, 6%
Don’t know, 23%
Elorza v Cianci
Cianci, 38%
Elorza, 31%
Harrup, 6%
Don’t know, 25%
The poll was conducted by John Della Volpe, founder and CEO of SocialSphere, Inc.