Buddy's Back
10 September 2014 -- 253/365
Providence, Rhode Island
Once again, it's election season in the US, and the campaign signs are sprouting faster than teenage acne. Seemingly overnight, these large "Buddy Cianci" signs have sprouted throughout Providence for what will prove to be, if nothing else, a very entertaining mayoral race. For those not familiar with the saga, Buddy was Mayor of Providence from 1975 to 1984 when he was forced to resign following a felony assault conviction. (He caught his wife fooling around with someone, confronted that someone, and burnt the guy with a lit cigarette. Personally, I think the guy was lucky since others in Buddy's crowd - myself included - would likely have simply planted the guy next to Jimmy Hoffa.) Buddy was then reelected Mayor from 1991 to 2001 when, again, he was forced to resign following a felony racketeering conviction under the RICO act. (The RICO act effectively says, "we have no proof you did anything, but you must have been guilty so we're going to convict you anyway.") Buddy served 4-years in the Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix in New Jersey. He became eligible to run for Mayor again in 2012 and has thrown his hat (sans toupee) into the ring for this year's election. Throughout his career he was extremely popular in the predominantly Italian city of Providence, but since his last stint as Mayor the demographics in the city have changed dramatically. It's now over 30% Hispanic, something that will strongly favor his challenger, newcomer Jorge Elorza. It will be an interesting race to watch. For the record, I've always been a big fan of Buddy's, and wish he had run for Governor instead of Mayor. The two gubernatorial candidates this year leave me convinced that I'll be writing in my own name on election day since I can't support either Raimondo or Fung for that office.
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