Related story: Belly-Bump politics: Is is just Johnston?

By Neil Shea
Journal Staff Writer

The news broke while I was on vacation: Johnston's mayor and the town's most ornery councilman had been involved in a ``belly-bump'' (that's Rhode Islandese for what guys do when they're too overweight to go toe-to-toe) during a little confrontation at Town Hall.

Fellow Journal reporters Tom Morgan and Seth McLaughlin did fine work covering the news and follow-up on who was pressing charges, so I wanted to put the scuffle in context, setting it against the Wild West reputation of Johnston politics.

Immediately after the belly-bump story appeared in the paper, radio talk shows picked it up and people called in saying, ``That's Johnston.'' Johnston residents agreed, ``That's Johnston.''

It's amazing how many people I've met who say ``That's Johnston.'' From north to south, east to west in Rhode Island, people have said that to me, often unsolicited, after they hear some bit of news about the town.

Johnston does have a record of rowdiness, but lately the reputation hasn't held up. Council meetings aren't as contentious as they used to be. Ralph aRusso is dead. Leo Fox quit. Louis Vinagro has been quiet since getting out of jail. The FBI isn't investigating the mayor ...

Then, all of a sudden, Johnston seemed to fulfill its reputation as Rhode Island's other zoo. Putting that sort of history and reputation in context every once in a while is a good thing. So I dug a little.

And found that before they ever bumped into each other, Mayor William Macera and Councilman Ernest Pitochelli bumped into the law.

Years ago, before my time here, on different occasions, Pitochelli and Macera were each accused of assault. In the mayor's case, a couple of firefighters said he shoved them. In Pitochelli's case, a man said Pitochelli poked him. In both cases, the charges were later dismissed.

It got me to thinking about Johnston politicians' apparent predisposition to assault -- or at least silly scraps that wind up in court.

So I recounted Johnston's greatest hits. This included Pitochelli's and Macera's assault charges. Then I added in Vinagro's assault conviction, for punching a DEM employee in 2003. These things might seem a little unrelated, except that all three men are politically outspoken, are known to lose their temper and have each run for mayor.

Each of them has lost a race for mayor at least twice. In 1998, they all ran against one another, and Macera finally won.

So, with all this historical information, I could present a sort of brief profile of the town, and let people decide for themselves on the worth of the Rhode Island axiom, ``That's Johnston.''