DUKING IT OUT: Doyle (pictured above) and
Grebien each tout a message of change. |
The two Democrats squaring off in the Pawtucket mayoral election generally agree on the broad vision for transforming this onetime blue-collar manufacturing mecca into an American city reborn: an MBTA commuter rail connecting Boston artists and Pawtucket lofts; a rehabilitated train station catalyzing Pawtucket retail growth; a Broad Street revitalization project assisting small businesses; a statewide funding formula providing a much-needed cash infusion to the public schools; and a new Division Street hotel.
Thus, the race between incumbent Mayor James Doyle, 70, and Councilman Donald Grebien, 40, has largely turned into a clash over style rather than substance.
Doyle, an 11-year incumbent who takes credit for putting the city on a sound financial footing and raising its artistic profile, cites the need for an experienced hand guiding the city through tough economic times. By contrast, Grebien, also an 11-year incumbent, is campaigning on a message of change. He says he has lost faith in an administration that has had more than a decade to get the job done on major issues from economic development to a failing school system.
The “change vs. experience” dialectic was on display last week when a standing room crowd packed into the Gamm Theatre in a debate sponsored by the Pawtucket Alliance for Downtown Success (PADS) and the Times of Pawtucket. The turnout showcased the ethnic succession of a city made famous as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Sitting side by side were older Irish Catholics, newer immigrants from Cape Verde and the Dominican Republic, and younger artistic hipsters.
Maia Small, a steering committee member of PADS, represents in many ways the changes that have come to Pawtucket. She moved to Pawtucket four years ago from Providence and owns an architecture firm in the city. “With economic development issues like the train station, city government has to be more proactive,” Small says. “Pawtucket’s been in a preventative stance, and we need to do a better job of promoting the city on a state level and in the private sector.”
Doyle acknowledges that there is much more economic development work to do, but he also points out how far the city has come: “When I inherited the city in 1998, I looked out of the City Hall windows and saw abandoned mills, boarded-up houses and the sad reality that manufacturing jobs had left the mills to go south. We were left with nothing. But we quickly realized that we could attract people — artists and professionals — who were being priced out of the Providence and Boston market.”
Doyle describes how the city pushed through historic and arts zones to create economic incentives, and used a hands-on approach to meet the needs of newer Pawtucket residents and businesses, assisting them in moving, for example, and working on speedy responses to problems ranging from sidewalks to street signs.
The arts community remains divided in this election, however. “We came to live and work in Pawtucket,” says one prominent civic leader. “And we were sold a bill of goods that have not materialized: a train station, easy access to Boston, a commuter rail, restaurants.”
Grebien hopes to win over voters who have lost faith in city government. “People have been promised everything,” he says, referring to Doyle’s administration. “They have put all of these plans together, but failed to execute them. People want a change in leadership.”
Grebien, a parent of two children in the public schools, points to significant tax increases over the last 11 years that have not improved public schools. “We need to sit down with parents, administrators, and the school committee and make a plan to turn dropouts into graduates,” he says.
Another of the challenger’s proposals — to cut city spending by $8 million — has been one of the campaign’s biggest conflicts.
“[Grebien] wants to reduce the budget by 10 percent, but he has only found about $100,000 in savings thus far,” Doyle asserts. “His proposal would require closing fire stations, reducing police response time, shutting down libraries, ending senior events. He would have to decimate city services to get to that figure. People would leave — and I wouldn’t blame them.”
In response, Grebien says, “The mayor is out of touch. He’s been mayor for 11 years and he’s had four decades of being in government. He has a $4 million deficit that he’s not willing to acknowledge. That’s not true leadership.” Grebien then listed his proposed cuts: outside legal fees, the misuse of city cars, and mandating medical co-pays for non-union employees.
The conventional wisdom in Pawtucket is that Doyle will likely win a close election. John Barry, a City Council leader, says, “This has been a very spirited campaign between two hard-working candidates. With the unique times that we are in, it is imperative that people support the mayor.”
Grebien strikes his most forceful tone in responding to this conventional wisdom and to a question about Doyle outspending him by a three-to-one margin and Doyle appropriating the “change” mantra with his slogan “bringing positive change to Pawtucket.”
