In addition to races for nearly all seats on the City Council and School Committee, Cranston voters on Nov. 4 will decide on six local ballot measures – including $18.2 million in bond issues – and a handful of contests for local legislative seats.

Topping the local issues is Question 9, which asks voters to approve a $15 million bond for improvements to school buildings.

“We’re hopeful,” said Dr. Judith Lundsten, superintendent of Cranston Public Schools, who along with others in recent weeks has spoken with various groups and community members about the question. “They really see that it supports the kids’ learning.”

The bond – combined with remaining funds from a 2002 bond and another bond aimed at middle school repairs, for a total of more than $23 million – is meant to address a range of health and safety needs across the district’s more than two-dozen facilities. The projects, which range from floor repairs and Americans With Disabilities Act improvements to window replacement and sprinkler installation, stem from a review conducted by architectural firm Saccoccio and Associates.

Lundsten said the firm evaluated each of the district’s buildings – encompassing 1.6 million square feet.

“They looked at everything,” she said.

Lundsten and Ray Votto, the district’s chief operating officer, said the district is in line to receive significant reimbursement through the state for the work after winning an exemption, on health and safety grounds, to the Rhode Island Department of Education’s building moratorium.

As long as half of the bond is utilized within a five-year timeframe, Votto said, the city would be reimbursed 52 cents for every dollar spent. The state has also ruled the two existing bonds are eligible for reimbursement.

School and city officials have previously assured that the buildings are safe, and that the range of projects planned through the bond funding are meant to enhance safety and address changes in fire and building codes in recent years. Lundsten and Votto noted that the majority of the district’s buildings are decades old, including 85-year-old Hugh B. Bain Middle School, 89-year-old Barrows Elementary School, 88-year-old Cranston High School East and the 94-year-old Briggs Building.

The project would be the most significant in terms of facilities that the district has undertaken in several years. Orchard Farms Elementary School was built just more than a decade ago, and is the only school building completed in the last 20 years. Other projects have included the new additions at Cranston East several years ago.

Votto said the first projects set to be completed are windows at Park View Middle School – funded using the existing middle school bond – and sprinkler installation at Oaklawn and Edgewood Highland elementary schools. Activities at both buildings would be relocated over the summer.

Lundsten said the district intends to have all the required preparation complete so that work can begin on the day after school ends.

“Our plan is to have everything drawn up and ready to go the day school closes,” she said.

For additional information, visit the district’s website at www.cpsed.net.

Another bond issue facing voters is Question 10, which seeks $1.2 million for renovations, repairs, upgrades and equipment across the Cranston Public Library system’s six locations.

Ed Garcia, the library’s director, outlined the most pressing capital priorities.

“The Central Library and Knightsville Branch currently need new roofs,” he said. “All locations are in need of an upgrade to our 20-year-old phone system. The Central Library parking lot needs repaving. The Oak Lawn and Knightsville branches are long overdue for network wiring upgrades, and we're hoping to upgrade to energy-efficient lighting at the Auburn Branch.”

Garcia said the cost of the bond to taxpayers would be negligible, and pointed to statistics regarding the library as indicative of the system’s importance to the community.

“In the past two years, over 1.4 million items have been borrowed from our library,” he said. “Over 70,000 people have attended a Cranston Public Library program or class, and last year we saw a 32 percent increase in library visitors.”

Additional information is available on the library’s website, www.cranstonlibrary.org/bond-2014.

The final bond issue, Question 9, seeks $2 million for improvements, repairs and equipment at the city’s fields and playgrounds.

In terms of ballot questions, voters will act on three measures.

The first, Question 11, would abolish the classified position of personnel director and replace that post with a department head serving at the pleasure of the mayor.

The second, Question 12, would institute term limits for School Committee members. The measure would restrict members to five consecutive two-year terms, which is the same standard applied to members of the City Council. Under the proposal, those who have reached the 10-year limit would be eligible to run again – and serve another five terms – after a two-year absence.

The final local ballot measure, Question 13, would alter the composition of the city’s Planning Commission. Two positions would be added – both appointed by the council president – to the five positions currently appointed by the mayor. The council president’s appointees would serve four-year terms.

On the legislative side, there are few contested races for Cranston representatives.

In the House of Represenatives, state Rep. Peter Palumbo (D-16) faces a challenge from Republican Robert Lancia, and state Rep. Arthur Handy (D-18) is seeking a new term against Republican Donald Gendron.

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D-15), House Deputy Majority Whip Charlene Lima (D-14) and state Rep. Robert Jacquard (D-17) are all running without opposition.

State Sen. Hanna Gallo (D-27) faces a challenge from Republican Sara Sweeney, while Sens. Frank Lombardi (D-26) and Joshua Miller (D-28) are both unopposed.