Brown University Prof. Ross Cheit, right, moderates last night’s discussion with former governors Lincoln Almond, left, and Bruce Sundlun at government watchdog group Common Cause’s annual dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

WARWICK -- They had never shared a stage like this.

The state’s 71st and 72nd governors, Bruce Sundlun and Lincoln Almond, sat side by side for nearly an hour last night in a playful but sometimes tense exchange about Rhode Island’s future.

They certainly have experience. The governors had served as Rhode Island’s chief executive for a 12-year span that included high-profile incidents of public corruption, the state’s credit union crisis and budget deficits that rival the state’s current projected $211-million hole.

The governors, who said they had never sparred publicly, did not agree on much last night. And they weren’t shy about their feelings, much to the delight of the 170 spectators gathered at the government watchdog group Common Cause’s annual dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Sundlun and Almond sparred over whether to create a statewide school district, whether to cut state spending on social programs such as RIte Care, ethics reforms and separation of powers.

They were not asked specifically about the job performance of Governor Carcieri or about his plan to cut the state’s public work force by more than 1,000 jobs.

But both men drew heavily from their experience. Sundlun, now 87, served from 1990 to 1994, a low point in the state’s history. On his first day in office, he closed 48 banks — a period now known as the credit union crisis. On the second day, he learned that Rhode Island had the largest deficit by percentage than any other state in the history of the United States.

He recalled meeting with legislative leaders behind closed doors to discuss his own plan to cut the state’s work force by 650 employees. Then-Senate majority leader John J. Bevilaqua told Sundlun, “Governor, Democrats do not lay off people,” according to Sundlun.

Sundlun told last night’s crowd that he then decided to reduce the number of job cuts to 500, a move that led to a pleasant working relationship with the General Assembly for the rest of his term, he said.

Almond, meanwhile, said he struggled through a budget deficit of $250 million in his first year in office. “We’ve had those other deficits before,” he said. “In ’95 I had four months to close a very, very large deficit.”

But neither governor went into great detail in offering suggestions to current state leaders.

“We’ve got to simplify government and we’ve got to spend less money on government,” Sundlun, a Democrat, told the crowd that included Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline and former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell.

Sundlun called on state leaders to rein in spending on subsidized childcare and for them to consolidate the state’s 36 school districts, a move he said would save millions of dollars. “We need 36 school districts like a hole in the head.”

“I disagree,” Almond said, casting doubt on the assumption that consolidating administrative functions would create significant savings. He said that the justification for consolidation should be improving services, not saving money.

Almond, a 71-year-old Republican, also criticized creating a single statewide teachers’ contract. Who’s to say a statewide contract would be better than several local contracts, he asked. “We’ve got the worst labor contracts in the country,” he said.

Almond cautioned leaders who look to cut state programs to balance the budget. (He didn’t specifically mention Governor Carcieri’s plan to cut $50 million from state programs in the coming budget cycle.)

“Programs are extremely important to the welfare of the people of Rhode Island. We can cut them and we can save quite a bit of money and solve the structural deficit,” he said. “But what’s the state going to be like without those programs?”

There were some light points last night, especially when Almond repeatedly was the first to answer questions.

“You’re talking more than you did when you were governor,” Sundlun quipped.

And while they did not agree on much, the governors largely agreed that the state is headed in the right direction despite a recent Brown University poll that suggests that the majority of Rhode Islanders believe it is not.

“People feel like the state’s broke. I think people feel the wheels have come off the state. For three years we say we’re not competitive. We have the worst of this and the worst of that,” Almond said. “Get over it. It is what it is. Our state is pretty good. It’s a good place to live. Let’s start saying some good things about Rhode Island.”

Sundlun responded: “I agree 100 percent. This is a wonderful place to live,” he said.

“Big deal we’ve had two people from the legislature criminally indicted so far. Before those two, you have to go back to World War I before you find anybody who was criminally involved.”

speoples@projo.com