Only a week after the bell rung to begin the General Election race for Cranston mayor, both candidates are already circling each other and throwing their first few jabs.

Cranston City Councilman Robert Ferri, the Democratic candidate, has called on Cranston Mayor Kenneth J. Hopkins to answer five pointed questions about a pending Rhode Island Superior Court lawsuit that accuses the incumbent mayor of motor vehicle theft.

“As I campaigned across Cranston this weekend, countless constituents across the city are asking about the allegations that Mayor Hopkins stole a sports car and drove it illegally — unregistered and uninsured,” Ferri said in a widely distributed press release. “Cranstonians need to know that elected officials and their staff are held accountable to the same laws as everyone else and anything less undermines public trust in city government.”

According to Ferri, his Republican opponent “has offered no additional explanation for his actions that led to the lawsuit (which he does not refute).”

“Namely I have heard the following unresolved questions from numerous constituents,” Ferri said. He then listed five questions for Hopkins.

“Did the Mayor put a city plate on an unregistered and uninsured vehicle?”

“How many times did the Mayor then drive that vehicle illegally?”

“What would have happened if he had been in an accident while driving the unregistered and uninsured car?”

“Why doesn’t the Mayor produce any of the text messages or written communications between him and Mr. Broccoli that might explain the incident?”

“Why was City Solicitor Chris Millea involved in a seemingly personal matter?”

According to Ferri, “the people of Cranston deserve answers to these questions.”

The questions, all fairly reasonable queries, were forwarded to Hopkins’s office for answers. The mayor’s office did not respond, however the Hopkins’s campaign for re-election did send a statement (after the questions were later sent on directly to the campaign).

Hopkins responds

Hopkins’s campaign released a statement titled “On Ferri Tales Chapter 1.”

“In his first real statement of the general election campaign my opponent is trying to jump start a campaign that to date has been low on specifics and ideas and appears to be following the same failed strategy of my primary opponent,” Hopkins said in the statement.

Last Tuesday, Hopkins won the Republican primary. He faced state Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, the wife of former Cranston Mayor Allan Fung. Early unofficial results handed Hopkins the victory, with 3,470 votes (or 58.5%) and Fenton-Fung with 2,466 votes (or 41.5%).

A week before the primary, Fenton-Fung held a press conference calling on Hopkins to answer for accusations leveled by the former owner of a classic car the mayor has been spotted driving. A lawsuit alleges he took the car without paying.

“As I said on Aug. 30, the Broccoli lawsuit was a last minute, choreographed political attack to try and hurt my chances in the Sept. 10 primary,” Hopkins said in Monday night’s statement. “The voters rejected such tactics and the outrageous claims of the lawsuit. I was honored with their votes and support in the overwhelming primary win.”

Hopkins was asked to answer Ferri’s five questions. He refused to address them line-by-line.

Instead, Hopkins offered the following explanation.

“As I campaigned around the city in the last two weeks, very few people even acknowledge the lawsuit and even fewer believe its allegations,” Hopkins said. “Only politicians like Mr. Ferri will try and ratchet up the discussion of this matter. As a sign of its sole political purpose, I have not yet been served with a summons and complaint and to my knowledge no one else has to date.”

“These allegations will be properly answered and challenged in the Superior Court,” according to Hopkins’s statement, which was distributed by his campaign manager, Bob Murray. “In three different courts in Rhode Island most of the Broccoli allegations have been dismissed and I expect they will be once again. As a sitting council member, it is reckless of Mr. Ferri to try and make political gain when city officials are named defendants after doing their jobs and clearing up his distressed properties that were causing blight in some neighborhoods. I will not answer these selective partisan attacks or questions. The court system is the proper forum for the truth to be revealed to these baseless claims.”

No response was received to an emailed request for comment from City Solicitor Chris Millea. Ferri’s fifth question asks why Millea was “involved in a seemingly personal matter.” Millea has been accused of trying to help Hopkins pay for the “MG” he has been accused of stealing.

Chief Winquist answers

Ferri’s third question — “What would have happened if he had been in an accident while driving the unregistered and uninsured car?” — was forwarded on to Cranston Police Chief Col. Michael J. Winquist.

“I can’t speak specifically about the allegations in the media about the transfer of a vehicle the Mayor publicly stated he purchased,” Winquist replied. “I have no factual basis to do so. Anyone involved in a crash with an unregistered and uninsured vehicle would likely be cited and required to appear in the RI Traffic Tribunal. Officers are permitted to apply discretion when conducting traffic enforcement and consider the nature of the violation, driving history, the driver’s conduct during the traffic stop, etc. Public officials would be treated no differently than any other member of the public.”

In a separate email reply, Winquist offered one final observation: “As a follow-up to your question, you may recall members of the Cranston Police Department, including Major Patalano, at my direction, arrested and charged two local politicians, former Councilman Matthew Reilly and State Senator Joshua Miller.”

Reilly, who was caught smoking crack cocaine in his car, was a Republican. Miller, now a lame duck outgoing Democratic state senator, was accused of keying a vehicle with GOP stickers.