 |
| projo.com |
About Providence |
|
||
|
2006 EPpy Winner -- Best multimedia Providence, R.I., Mostly cloudy 30° |
|
|
|
6.14.2001
Despite legal woes Cianci still popular • Most also believe corruption a 'serious' problem BY D. MORGAN McVICAR Journal Staff Writer Sixty-four percent of Rhode Island voters surveyed over recent days said Cianci is doing a bang-up job as mayor and providing strong leadership for the city. His approval rating was three times higher than that of the two top leaders of the General Assembly, 4 percentage points higher than his closest competitor, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, and almost twice as high as President Bush's. A majority of the same voters who lauded Cianci's performance agreed that corruption is a serious problem in Providence city government. Forty-one percent of those polled said they think Cianci is guilty of the charges. And when asked whether they believe Cianci is an honest person, only 22 percent of respondents said yes, compared to 50 percent who replied no. One needn't be an M.I.T. graduate to figure out that many of those who do not believe Cianci is honest and do believe he committed crimes nonetheless approve of his work as mayor and think he's a good leader. All of which suggests what? That Rhode Islanders believe a dishonest criminal running a corrupt administration makes for a great mayor? Darrell M. West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy and the John Hazen White Sr. Public Opinion Laboratory, has conducted many polls over the years. But rarely has he confronted results with such an apparent disconnect. "I find the results startling," West said, "in the sense that it suggests that people are tolerating dishonesty. By their own admission, many think he's dishonest. But they turn around and say he's doing a good job. "That certainly creates an enormous public perception problem for Rhode Island," West said. "Journalists outside Rhode Island are going to interpret it as Rhode Islanders tolerating corruption." The last time West took a poll of public sentiment about Cianci, last October, five people had been convicted in connection with corruption in City Hall, and his top aide was under indictment. Sixty-percent of voters polled that time gave Cianci thumbs up. Since then, Cianci and his chief of staff were added to the list of the indicted. And Cianci's approval rating increased, to 64 percent. "A couple of years ago, I joked an indictment would be worth 10 points to him, and I was wrong," West said. "It's a remarkable political case that someone under indictment gets a 64-percent job-approval rating. "But the mayor has done a pretty successful job of spinning this case. He immediately put the prosecution on the defense and made their conduct an issue as opposed to his own. And the city still looks good." Cianci said he is "gratified" by the results, and pointed out he received the highest approval rating of any official in the state. Asked about the 81 percent of poll takers who think corruption is a problem in Providence government, Cianci said, "If I were polled, I would have said that, too. It's a problem statewide and in the country. There's corruption everywhere. I don't accept it. "Look it," Cianci said, "people elected me to do a job. They are satisfied, the highest in the state and the strongest leadership in the state. Yes, I've been accused of some wrongdoing. And that will be played out in court." Asked about the 50 percent of poll respondents who said they do not believe Cianci is an honest person, the mayor said, "With the deluge of bad publicity, what do you expect? "Honesty is very important to me," the mayor said. "I care about my legacy. I care about building my legacy. And if I'm remembered as a good mayor who did his job and provided leadership, that's fine. I'll leave it to pundits to make their own judgments. "But the fact is I know who I am and I have faith in my own integrity. When you have a job like this, you're going to be accused of a lot of things. And when you can't fight back because of restrictions, it makes it difficult. "But we will have our day in court." Ross Cheit teaches public policy and ethics at Brown University. Asked what the poll says about Rhode Islanders, Cheit said, "Apparently, people can't muster much outrage because [corruption] seems so expected or not surprising. And that's what's so disappointing. "What is particularly sad about it is you could argue that one of the places we get our values, one of the places we hope will elevate public discourse is from public leaders. They can set a high moral tone or example that has some effects. "What is so troubling to me about Plunder Dome, when you look at the mayor's reaction, it wasn't the reaction of someone shocked and outraged this is going on in his administration. He doesn't seem surprised and doesn't seem outraged. What message is he sending?" The poll results, Cheit said, confirm "how low people's expectations are — this comes with the territory. They don't expect a mayor to be more ethical than Buddy is. And that's really sad." One of Cianci's most loyal supporters and a top member of his administration continue to stand by their man, a mayor and a person they say most of those polled simply do not know. "My dealings with him have been impeccable, straightforward, honest," said Oskar Eustis, artistic director of Trinity Repertory Company. "It's ridiculous for me to have an opinion whether or not he's guilty," Eustis said. "We need to get this over with and we will. It is inappropriate and massively counterproductive to try and prejudge this process before it goes forward." Of the apparent public perception that Providence government is corrupt and Cianci is guilty, Eustis said, "That is a very natural backlash from people in the city to the cloud that has been hanging over Providence for years now. "I have said and will say again I have been around way too long to believe that because the FBI targets somebody means they're guilty. The FBI has targeted lots of people who turned out to be innocent." Patricia McLaughlin, Cianci's director of administration, said that the 81 percent who think city government is corrupt have never had the opportunity to watch the majority of city workers going about their jobs. "I believe we've been working hard," McLaughlin said. "A number of issues are going quite well for the city. There's an incredible good feeling about Providence nationally. And there's a lot of development planned for the fall. "Clearly, no one likes to hear that," she said of the 81 percent. "But what you continue to do is to do a good job, deal with the budget, the new bond issue, revaluation, and get it done in a professional and efficient manner for taxpayers." Asked if she thinks the mayor is an honest person, McLaughlin said, "I have dealt with the mayor on development projects and found him to be an extremely effective leader and honest in the development projects. And I've worked really close with him." Digital Extra: Review all the results of the the Brown University poll : http://www.insidepolitics.org/heard/rel601.html 
|
Advertising newspaper adsshop & subscribe
|
|||
|
||
