Garrett Mancieri announces City Council candidacy
WOONSOCKET – In a statement announcing his candidacy for City Council, Garrett Mancieri said that with inflation rising on many people and families, it is important now more than ever to elect a strong City Council that will prioritize progress over politics in Woonsocket. As a former member of the WCC from 2013 to 2016, Mancieri along with his fellow council members and the Baldelli-Hunt administration exited a budget commission that was forcing five years of tax increases but were able to actually lower the tax rate in 2016, he said. Since then, property tax rates have gone down every single year except this year where the City Council voted to raise property tax rates for 2022-2023 higher than what was proposed by the administration, he said.
“This is the absolute worst time to raise property taxes here in Woonsocket” Mancieri said in his statement.
“Look at the price of gas that people need to pay to get to work, the prices they are paying at our grocery stores, the rises costs to buy a home and rents; this is the wrong direction to go in to raise property tax rates to have inflated contingency accounts and not utilize the ARPA funding well over 30 million we have received left sitting in accounts to best serve our taxpayers and to make our community a better place.” Mancieri said he will bring a greater balance to the council and not participate in political factions, grandstanding or agendas which tend to stop or slow progress in Woonsocket. “I am hoping that we can move away from the unprofessional decorum at Harris Hall of calling or insinuating that elected officials are idiots or morons and instead prioritize good legislation, green light city projects, and pass budgets that allow our City to not just survive but thrive,” he said in the announcement.
Mancieri said his accomplishments include sponsoring the Downtown Overlay District that has attracted several million-dollar redevelopment projects and brought in new/expanding businesses resulting in the lowest vacancy rate in the downtown for over 40 years. He also passed legislation that amended zoning laws to be more business-friendly, increased government transparency with a new city website and public solicitation for city appointed boards, ensured all veterans that honorably serve our country received credit when applying for city positions, and made key investments leading to long term savings. he said.
Mancieri said that if elected he would seek to draft legislation streamlining the Certificate of Occupancy certificate process for new and expanding businesses, passing a new comprehensive plan that reflects the goals and objectives to make our community a destination, expand the Downtown Overlay District bringing in additional tax revenue from new construction and redevelopment projects, work in collaboration with the School Committee to raise test scores and graduation rates, adopting clean air regulations and procedures to reduce odors from the waste facility, paying the City Solicitor hourly instead of salary to save taxpayers money, and proposing a charter change to create term limits for city offices and a new transparent public budget process will be the focus of legislation in this term.
Mancieri has served as the executive director of the Downtown Woonsocket Collaborative from 2015-2020 (Board Chair 20152019), the Autumnfest Steering Committee (Board Chair 20192021), Board Chair of Woonsocket Head Start and Child Development Association, Board Chair of Beacon Charter Schools, and a Member of the Sojourner House Community Board, WED Facility Sub-Committee, WED Building Committee, Northern RI Board of Realtors, Main Street Holiday Stroll Committee, Levitt AMP Woonsocket Committee, Main Street Rhode Island Steering Committee, Woonsocket Democratic City Committee and more. Mancieri is a 2002 graduate of Cumberland High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Rhode Island College. He is the Broker/ Owner of Mancieri Real Estate in Woonsocket.