Cianci for Mayor MAYOR OF PROVIDENCE BIOGRAPHY Widely considered to be one of the most exciting and charismatic leaders in the City of Providence’s history, Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. took the oath of office on January 8, 1995 for the fifth time in his career since he was first elected Mayor at the age of 33 in 1974. Unopposed for reelection, Mayor Cianci assumed his sixth term of office in January 1999. On September 23, 1999, Mayor Cianci became the longest sitting Mayor in Providence’s history. On November 2, 1999, when the successor to Mayor Emory Folmar of Montgomery, Ala. was sworn in to office, Mayor Cianci achieved the distinction of being the longest-serving American mayor of a city of 100,000 or more. An outspoken champion of inner city revitalization, Mayor Cianci has received national recognition throughout his governmental career and, in 1996, was voted “America’s most innovative Mayor” by the American Association of Government Officials. In the summer of 1997, Mayor Cianci was recognized by the Utne Reader and Swing Magazine as a champion of the arts, an evaluation that led to the Utne Reader’s designation of Providence as one of the nation’s 10 “Most Enlightened” cities and Swing Magazine ‘s selection of Providence as one of America’s top 10 cities. Earlier in 1997, USA Today chose Providence as one of the United State’s five “Renaissance Cities” to be featured in the nation’s newspaper. In spring 1999, Travel & Leisure named Providence’s Roger Williams Park Zoo one of the ‘top ten’ in the nation. A further distinction was added in December 2000 when Money Magazine named Providence the “Best City in which to live in the East” and one of America’s top five urban centers. This honor was repeated in Money’s December 2001 issue. Mayor Cianci, appointed to the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Advisory Board in June, 1998, is chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Mayors and Business Community Task Force. He was one of five of the nation’s mayors selected to receive the 1994 City Livability Award by an independent panel of judges serving the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Mayor Cianci was cited for his exemplary commitment to, and support of, the arts community, particularly in Downtown Providence where he has established an Arts and Entertainment District and, in 1996, created and championed legislation providing tax incentives to artists living or working in the District. The legislation, providing for personal income tax and sales tax breaks for artists, is the first of its kind in the United States and has served as a model for other communities. On November 18, 1998, Mayor Cianci and Prof. Mario Primicerio, Mayor of Florence, Italy, signed a Friendship Pact at Palazzo Vecchio, inaugurating an innovative cultural exchange between the two Renaissance cities. The first exchange, bringing Florentine artists, artisans, musicians and rarely exhibited works from the Uffizi Gallery to Providence, occurred in September, 1999. The Splendor of Florence Festival, a city-wide celebration, ran from September 18-26, 1999. Mayor Cianci’s innovative initiatives in spearheading the arts and culture in Providence have yet again earned him prestigious national recognition. Voted by Americans for the Arts and the United States Conference of Mayors as the winner of the year 2000 “Government Leadership in the Arts Award,” as the local arts award recipient, Mayor Cianci received the award at the Mayors Art Gala, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, DC, on January 27, 2000. Americans for the Arts and the U.S. Conference of Mayors state, “Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci has been selected as the local arts leadership award recipient in recognition of his outstanding commitments and contributions to Providence, Rhode Island’s artistic and cultural landscape.” In 1994, the City was heralded as the “safest city” in the continental United States by the author of the Livable Cities Almanac. Under the Mayor’s leadership, more police officers than ever before are now patrolling Providence streets while making new advances in reaching out to members of the community. Combined with the City’s Community Policing Program, instituted in 1991, the Mayor’s anti-crime initiatives have been credited with a 33 percent decrease in violent crimes in Providence between 1991 and 1994. As architect of the nation’s first Gun Court in Rhode Island Superior Court, Mayor Cianci brings new dimensions to the fight against crime. In 1994, he asked the Rhode Island General Assembly to establish the Gun Court, which is designed to deal specifically with gun-related crimes, to dramatically expedite their prosecution, and to ensure stronger sentencing guidelines. Legislation establishing the Court passed successfully through the General Assembly. The Gun Court began hearing cases on September 12, 1994 and is now viewed as a national model. It has been featured by newspapers throughout the nation. Mayor Cianci has spoken about the Gun Court on radio stations across the United States and Canada, and the Gun Court has received widespread coverage by CNN NBC Nightly News, and CBS Nightly News. Gun Courts are now being proposed nationwide, with Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois, Connecticut and Florida, as well as Fulton County, Georgia, taking steps to establish Gun Courts. A juvenile Gun Court, established in Birmingham, Alabama, is based on Providence’s model. Mayor Cianci has also received widespread recognition for his development of The Providence Plan, a decade-long mission statement which answers the city’s public safety, educational, housing and employment needs. Since its inception in 1991, The Providence Plan has made unparalleled inroads into all aspects of urban revitalization. Through The Providence Plan Housing Corporation’s new programs, literally thousands of city residents have received grants for home painting and home repairs and assistance in the purchase of newly-constructed or rehabilitated homes. Providence residents have witnessed an unprecedented sidewalk repair and replacement program. Another component of the housing program incorporates a far-reaching plan to demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties in the city. Education reform has led to an all-encompassing restructuring of the Providence Public Schools under Mayor Cianci’s leadership as he has worked with community leaders and professionals to offer the best scholastic opportunities possible to city youth. Since taking office for the fourth time in 1991, the dropout rate in the city’s public schools has decreased by one third. In addition, Public Service Academies, instituted in 1991 and 1992, are training the city’s future teachers, police officers and firefighters, guiding participants toward higher education and ensuring preferred hiring upon completion of studies. The city’s newest school, the Alan Shawn Feinstein School for Public Service that opened in September, 1994, is the nation’s first high school devoted to promoting public service. Also during his fourth term, Mayor Cianci successfully wooed the Providence Bruins to the Capital City, the first A.H.L. home hockey team to set up shop at the Providence Civic Center since 1978. The Bruins have enjoyed an incredible welcome since their first season in 1992, and have broken all A.H.L. attendance records at their new home. In January of 1997, Providence was selected to be the Host City for the AFC Championship Games. The City of Providence has expanded tremendously as part of the Capital Center Project, completed in June of 1996. The all-encompassing revitalization of the Downtown has moved three Providence rivers, created magnificent river walks and city water views, and has inspired a number of major developments and construction projects, including the creation of the new Rhode Island Convention Center and adjoining Westin Hotel. The centerpiece of the River Relocation Project, Waterplace Park, has been heralded nationally, and has received numerous design awards in national competitions. The success of the project is especially gratifying for the Mayor, who has maintained a long- held commitment to its successful completion since his first tenure in office. The second phase of the Capital Center Project, which will be concentrated on the southern portion of the city, located on Narragansett Bay, will relocate a major interstate highway to make way for further development of Providence’s waterfront. While Providence continues to grow with new hope and pride, Mayor Cianci has tirelessly worked to increase City services while maintaining a stable and affordable tax rate. When he returned to office in 1991, Providence homeowners were paying a tax rate that was 25 percent higher than the State average. By 1993, that tax rate had fallen to 5 percent below the State average. This phenomenon is due in part to the Mayor’s successful campaign to increase state funding to the City. Since his return to office in 1991, the City has enjoyed tens of millions of dollars in increased state aid, including an annual allocation of $7 million to reimburse the city for services provided to its inordinate number of tax-exempt institutions, including colleges, universities and hospitals. Mayor Cianci’s creative style and flair have led to the successful introduction of The Mayor’s Own Marinara Sauce, or MOM’s, the net proceeds of which go directly to the Mayor’s Scholarship Fund, which, since 1994, has awarded 88 scholarships to deserving Providence high school students. The Mayor’s Scholarship Fund, thanks to the sale of the sauce, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through various fundraising methods including a major annual Golf Tournament. MOM’S, which has received enormous national attention, has been on the market since August, 1995, and has been extremely successful.- Carried by all major supermarket chains in Rhode Island, and scores of gift shops and mom and pop grocery markets, 50,000 jars were sold during its first six months. Additionally, thousands of gallons of the marinara were sold to food service providers, including a local pizza chain that is currently offering “The Mayor’s Own Pizza” for a limited time. Every pizza brings an additional $1 to the Scholarship Fund. In 1997, the Mayor introduced the Mayor’s Choice Coffee, joined by The Mayor’s Own Extra Virgin Olive Oil in 1999. Net proceeds of all of the Mayor’s products are devoted to his scholarship fund. ***** Born in Providence on April 30, 1941, the Mayor is the son of the late Dr. and Mrs. Vincent A. Cianci. He has one daughter, Nicole, and two grandchildren, Olivia and Joseph. Educated at Moses Brown School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Government at Fairfield University, a Master’s degree in Political Science at Villanova University, and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence at Marquette University School of Law. He served his country in the U.S. Army from 1966 through 1969, where he received a Direct Commission as a Lieutenant in the Military Police Corps, and in the Army Reserves, Civil Affairs Branch, through 1972. Admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1967, he was appointed a Special Assistant Attorney General in 1969 and, in 1973, became the prosecutor of the Rhode Island Attorney General Department’s Anti-Corruption Strike Force, a position he held until his first election as Mayor in 1974. Re-elected in 1978 and 1982, Mayor Cianci returned to the private sector in 1984 where he resumed his law practice and pursued a number of business ventures. He became Rhode Island’s top-rated radio talk show host and was featured regularly on area newscasts as a television commentator and political analyst until, again, in 1990, he was elected to his former position as Mayor. Throughout his career, Mayor Cianci has been honored and recognized by countless institutions and organizations with awards and honorary degrees. Named the recipient of the prestigious Robert “Cy” Killian Humanitarian Award by Big Brothers of Rhode Island on May 1, 1997, Mayor Cianci is also recognized with the Tree of Life Award from the Jewish National Fund on May 20, 1997. In the spring of 1994, he became the first New Englander to receive the Guardian of Peace Award from the State of Israel Bonds. Other awards include the Women’s Center of Rhode Island’s “Safety in the City” award, given in appreciation for the Mayor’s support of the nonprofit organization’s services for battered women and children; the Genesis Center Award for service to the city’s refugee and immigrant population; the West End Community Center Award; the Silver Lake Multi-Purpose Community Center’s “Man of the Year” Award; the Providence Federation of Musicians Award; the Providence Recreation Department Leadership Award; the Camp Phoenix “Man of the Year” Award; the Elmwood Foundation Revitalization Award; and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Award. Mayor Cianci has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree by his alma mater, Fairfield University. Other honorary degrees bestowed upon him include a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Johnson & Wales University, a Doctor of Law degree from Roger Williams University, and most recently, a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Southern New England School of Law. In July 1996, Mayor Cianci was decorated by Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro with the title of Grand Ufficiale in the Order Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. Earlier in his career, he was named the recipient of the Commendatore in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the President of Italy, and was named President Ford’s personal epresentative to the International Conference for Cooperation in Milan, Italy, where he became the only U.S. mayor elected to the conference’s board of directors.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 09:46:55 +0000