Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung is officially running for mayor of Cranston

In a letter addressed to “My Friends” and accompanying flier acquired by the Cranston Herald, State Rep for the 15th District Fenton-Fung has announced to supporters her candidacy for mayor, a seat held until 2020 by her husband Allan Fung.

On Tuesday, January 30, the Fungs are welcoming the public to Revolution in Pawtuxet Village, to kick off the campaign.

“We find that the current mayor has strained the finances with reckless spending,” Fenton-Fung writes in her letter. “”He turned an audited three-million-dollar surpluses in Allan’s last budget year into needing to use twelve million dollars in federal COVID funds and raise taxes just to make ends meet only twelve months later. That’s not the type of math any taxpayer likes! He has kicked programs for people with physical disabilities to the curb. And while some business owners can’t even get a return phone call from this administration, family and friends are getting special treatment and taxpayer funded jobs.”

Fenton-Fung recognizes her husband as the architect of Cranston’s first comeback 15 years ago. She concludes that “it was an amazing turnaround of the city’s finances & the creation of a bustling economy that led to a strong and dynamic city. People were proud to call themselves Cranstonians.”

“We’ll diversify our business sectors to make it more resilient so that we can stabilize taxes, and support small businesses with more vibrant Main St. style programming,” she writes. “We’ll also focus on infrastructure - from road paving and lead pipe replacement, to longstanding stormwater management problems that are resulting in disastrous flooding.”

Fenton-Fung states that she will focus on better housing, education, smart city enterprises, and safe streets. She announces “That’s why I’m running. Because not only has the city lost its mojo, the third floor of city hall has lost its way. But we know how to fix it!”

Fenton-Fung and her husband are ready to discuss their proposals for “what’s going to be a bright future for our city,” and she invites the public “to BE BOLD and work together with everyone to right this ship.”

Fenton-Fung and Mayor Hopkins have exchanged heated remarks within the local media for the past year, including in editorials to the Cranston Herald.

She wrote in one email to the Cranston Herald “One full fiscal year into the Hopkins administration, a period in which he never sought our advice, there was a twelve million dollar deficit. It seems he did a bit too much frivolous spending on his taxpayer funded SUV and ridiculous office renovations, instead of paying attention to city finances. We are completely embarrassed that we ever supported him - is he lying or is it that he doesn’t show up at work enough to know what’s going on?  Mark him absent from his responsibilities.”

She concluded “Sometimes a change in leadership is necessary when a mayor can’t understand basic accounting, tosses programs for people with disabilities to the curb, and squanders once in a generation federal funds.  When Allan left office, Hopkins touted that there was a three million dollar surplus for the end of that fiscal year - Allan’s last budget.”

Concluding her letter to supporters, Fenton-Fung touted a return to form in the mayor’s office. “We’ll get it done the FUNG way…with a level of honesty & camaraderie that has been missing from City Hall for the past three years.”

In the poster which accompanied Fenton-Fung’s letter, donors were asked to purchase tickets at one of three tiers: Friends: $125, Teammate: $250, and Team Captains: $500.