01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, March 1, 2005

ONE WOULD PREFER never mentioning Buddy Cianci again. Unfortunately, there are still pockets of people who persist in believing that the former mayor -- currently residing in federal prison at Fort Dix, N.J., for racketeering-conspiracy -- was responsible for the Providence renaissance.

I've even heard people look at the renaissance and say, "Hey, corruption works!"

Such an analysis could not be more wrong. And Rhode Island will be hurt to the extent that its citizens persist in believing it.

The sad truth is, Providence struggled back under Mayor Cianci in spite of him, not because of him. It is true that the ex-mayor was uncommonly skilled at attracting attention, and even seemed to love his city in some ways. But his corrupt administration and his egocentric manipulations hurt Providence far more than they helped.

Just look at the current flowering of the capital city. In case you haven't noticed, amazing things are happening in Providence, now that the disgraced mayor has been locked away.

A private developer, The Procaccianti Group, will buy the Westin Hotel, and plans to add a 200-room tower to it -- a deal that the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority approved yesterday. It is outrageous, of course, that state bureaucrats failed to go after all of the millions of dollars in loans unpaid by The Procaccianti Group and related companies in the 1990s credit-union crisis. But the taxpayers should still fare well, since the new tower -- built without tax breaks -- will generate revenue for the state-run Convention Center and draw business downtown.

And that may be just the start. The developer also has on the table plans to create a "power block" stretching from the Westin to the Holiday Inn, which it also owns. The Procaccianti Group wants to turn the latter hotel into a high-end Hilton, and help construct a 27-story condo tower nearby. Restaurants and shops are also part of the plan.

Add that to the thriving Providence Place mall, ongoing construction of the GTECH headquarters, transformation of the Masonic Temple into a luxury hotel, the rehabilitation of beautiful Downcity buildings, including the Cosmopolitan condos and the Hotel Providence, and the newly announced 32-story condo tower to go up in the Financial District. Developers are now willing to do business in Providence -- with or without special handouts from the taxpayers.

If these plans go through, there will be perhaps more than a $1 billion in new taxable property for Providence, a city that has desperately needed an influx of taxpayers and the business activity they generate.

Mayor David Cicilline deserves great credit for presenting a new face to the business world -- one of openness, and transparency. Rather than attempt to jerk around businesses for his own benefit, he has pursued them in the city's interest.

He has been a far from perfect mayor, failing to make a dent in dramatically escalating property taxes and the serious budgetary threats Providence faces -- a failure of nerve symbolized by his new contracts that give extraordinary full-time benefits to part-time crossing guards. But he has undoubtedly fueled development by sending the crucial message that the City of Providence is now basically an honest broker.

But isn't all of today's growth predicated on the accomplishments of the Cianci administration: the Providence Place mall, the Convention Center, the moving of the rivers? Those were, undoubtedly, building blocks that helped make Providence seem a livelier, more attractive, more livable city.

The problem is, they weren't Cianci's accomplishments. They were projects of the federal and state governments and of business that had little to do with him, though he always rushed to grab credit as soon as others came up with the money and did the hard work of planning and building.

The Cianci legacy was something different: in boom years, a dampening of development in the biggest city between Boston and New York, a capital city loaded with outstanding institutions and charm, at the head of a magnificent bay. Now that his fog has blown away, Providence's virtues are more easily seen.

It is important to remember the real Cianci legacy: a police department marred by politics and cheating (now, thanks to Cicilline-appointed Chief Dean Esserman, it is far more professional and responsive to the public); ever-higher taxes; disappearing private-sector jobs; poor schools; and rank injustice.

During his first administration, 30 people were indicted, 21 were convicted and 16 went to prison. In his 21 years in office, three of his right-hand men were indicted for corruption, and two were convicted.

He will return one day, to charm the populace all over again, no doubt with a radio show. The people who like that kind of thing will wish they could vote for him again.

But if there is one thing citizens should learn -- a lesson taught by the State House, no less than City Hall -- it is that an open government and restraints on power ultimately produce a better society than the longstanding Rhode Island model, in which self-serving politicians dispense largess to favored clients like feudal lords.

As Buddy Cianci proved again and again: Corruption doesn't work (for the rest of us).

Edward Achorn is The Journal's deputy editorial-pages editor. His e-mail address is eachorn [at] projo.com.