Democrat joins in the already hotly contested race to be Cranston's next mayor

The Cranston mayoral election continues to be the race to watch this year – and it's heating up even more with the entry of a Democratic candidate, citywide Councilman Robert Ferri.

"I don't think the current administration is really competent in getting the basic things done correctly," Ferri told The Providence Journal in an interview this week.

The two-term councilman was first elected as a Republican in 2020, but switched parties in 2022, giving Democrats a majority on the council. As he tells it, Republicans expected him to vote with them on every issue and would "ridicule" him when he disagreed and didn't fall in line.

"A lot of my moral values are more Democratic than they are Republican," he said.

Ferri is currently the only Democrat in the race. In the Republican primary, Mayor Ken Hopkins faces a serious challenge from state Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, the wife of former Mayor Allan Fung.

Who is Robert Ferri, and why is he running for mayor?

Ferri, 68, owned Town Hall Lanes in Johnston for 20 years and is now retired. He also owned a company that managed properties for the Providence Redevelopment Agency, but it hasn't been active for a year and was dissolved last December, he said.

Asked about his reasons for running, Ferri said that Cranston has faced a structural deficit every year that he's been on the council and hasn't done enough corrective belt-tightening. For instance, he said, Hopkins' administration proposed borrowing $1.3 million for a new artificial turf baseball field that wouldn't have lasted as long as the payment on the bond.

More: The most exciting race in Rhode Island this year might be for Cranston mayor. What to know.

At the same time, however, Ferri argues that the city is having a hard time attracting workers because salaries aren't competitive. In his campaign announcement last week, he criticized current and past mayoral administrations for neglecting "long-term investments in our schools, housing, public safety, parks and recreation, and sidewalks and roads."

Basic services like trash collection, rodent control, tree trimming and sidewalk repairs "are all suffering right now," Ferri told The Journal. "And I have proof for that, because I could show you 250 emails that I've gotten over the last three years of people just complaining. I think you need to get the basics right before you move on to any pet projects or any bigger projects."

Democrat switched parties after disillusionment with GOP

Ferri said that he grew up in a Republican household and always thought the GOP was more financially responsible and stood for working people.

"It turns out it's the exact opposite," he said. "And I didn't realize that until later in life."

As soon as he took office, he faced pushback for voting on the issues, not along party lines, he said. Finally, at one Republican committee meeting, party leaders told him to stop.

"They basically said to me, 'If you run as a Republican again, we're going to make sure you get beat,'" Ferri said.

On bigger issues like guns and abortion, he's aligned with Democrats, he said. His views on organized labor have evolved: "I always thought that unions were bad, and I realized that they're good."

What rival candidates say

Fenton-Fung said that Ferri's entry into the race "is just more evidence that people recognize there is a glaring lack of leadership in Cranston."

"I look forward to putting Cranston back on track, and doing so in a bipartisan way that other candidates don’t have the track record in or skill set to accomplish," she said.

Ferri, for his part, argued that the state representative doesn't know the "inner workings" of the city and doesn't have experience running a business or running a city.

In a statement, Hopkins said that Ferri was "grasping to find ways for developing a campaign strategy" and "making broad, unsubstantiated accusations."

"The truth is that I have led Cranston into becoming a highly desirable place to live and run a business," he said. "Under my administration, Cranston has been recognized as one of the top cities in the United States and all of New England as recognized by Fortune magazine and Livibility.com."

Hopkins said that he "inherited a multi-million-dollar spending deficit left behind by the previous administration" but shrank the city budget nearly $5 million by eliminating 24 positions and imposing a spending freeze.

"Although the size of city government has been reduced, I increased funding to our schools and continue to invest in roads and revitalizing residential and business corridors such as Pawtuxet Village, Rolfe Square and Knightsville," Hopkins said. "Economic development is expanding as evidenced by the recent opening of Topgolf and many other businesses throughout the city.  We have also delivered top-rate city services in public works and recreation. Under my administration, Cranston will continue to be a safe city for our businesses and residents with our outstanding police and fire services."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cranston mayor's race: Democrat Robert Ferri explains why he's running