Monday was the final meeting for four members of the Cranston City Council. Council President Anthony Lupino and Vice President Emilio Navarro chose not to run for re-election this fall, and …
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Monday was the final meeting for four members of the Cranston City Council. Council President Anthony Lupino and Vice President Emilio Navarro chose not to run for re-election this fall, and Republicans Jim Donahue and Leslie Ann Luciano were defeated in their citywide race. The four members, along with former Ward 4 Councilman Robert Pelletier, were honored this week and given plaques in recognition of their service to the city. Each council member then had the opportunity to say a few words, thanking their colleagues, the administration, city workers and, most of all, the residents and constituents that elected them to office.
“It really has been an honor and a privilege to serve the residents of Cranston. It’s definitely been an education but I consider it the best education. To the incoming council members, good luck to you; we wish you well. The success of the city depends on you and your work with the city. I really appreciate all of the leadership, the mentoring and the support of Mayor Allan Fung. He was my inspiration for running for office; he continues to be my inspiration.”
- Jim Donahue
“It has been a great privilege and honor to represent the city of Cranston. I’ve learned a great deal about the world and the way that it works. It’s been a rough couple of years with breast cancer and the recent death of my husband, but I’ll be back in 2014 and stronger than ever.”
- Leslie Ann Luciano
“Where do I begin? I won’t name all the names – there’s too many. First and foremost, I would like to thank the families of the council members. It’s a tough job to begin with, but it’s really tough when you have to leave your family at home. To the council, it’s been a pleasure working with all of you. We’ve disagreed and that’s good. I respect those that agree with me; I think I respect those who criticize me maybe a little more because they keep me on my toes.”
- Anthony Lupino
“To the residents of the city, it was an honor and a privilege to serve. It is thankless, but we do it because we want to represent the people and make sure their voices are heard. They’re the most important people in the city.”
- Emilio Navarro
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sarena45
Over the years I have worked with some of these Council members on different issues. There are some that I thought didn't represent their Ward, while others did so with knighted honor. Those that missed or will miss 1/4+ of the meetings should always take the honorable road and step down. A special thank you to Emilio L Navarro for all that he did during the Cullion Concrete Plant fight & putting in the $6K Conservation Bond for me. The many groups of us that worked hard on this were pivotal along with Emilio's championing this for Cranston! A special thank you to Jim Donahue for Dyslexia insight and helping with some Special Education issues. Finally, thank you to Tony Lupino for taking on a difficult job at Council President. His comments in an outgoing statement in the Herald clicked with me. I am grateful to him for his help on the flooding, Conservation Plan and Cullion Concrete. I'm sure there are many other areas I am grateful for, mostly for the insight for that which we didn't agree on. Many of our elected positions are taken because we want to change our City for the better, unfortunately there comes a time when it becomes very stressful and seemingly thankless and often criticized. I have always email Council President Lupino and received an immediate response with a black & white answer or guidance. We totally didn't agree with everything, but like he shared with me this quote...which is perfect "There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right" ~ Martin Luther
Wednesday, January 2, 2013 Report this