Smiley Says Providence Is the Best Run City, New Study Ranks City 60th
GoLocalProv News Team
Smiley Says Providence Is the Best Run City, New Study Ranks City 60th
“Looking to join the best-run city in the country? We're always hiring! Find more information about what positions are open and where you may fit here,” wrote Smiley.
A new study rebukes that Mayor’s claims and ranks Providence 60th in the country.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe study "Best and Worst-Run Cities in America" released by WalletHub on Tuesday ranks Providence 60th overall and scores Providence especially poorly for city services. By comparison, Warwick ranked 13th overall.
Providence ranked 95th for city services and 52nd for budget per capita.
This is the second study that ranks Providence poorly.
Moody's and the WSJ ranked Providence poorly — second to last — and it was based on the data since Smiley was in office. The report was released in April.
Providence ranked 54 of 55 cities tracked.
Josh Estrella, spokesperson for Smiley, defends the city’s ranking.
“When Mayor Smiley took office last year, he prioritized local quality of life improvements and set out to make Providence the best-run city in the country. By focusing on the issues our residents care most about and investing in quality city services, we believe we are on our way to achieving that goal. Earlier this year Forbes included Providence as one of the top 25 cities with the best quality of life in the United States however we have never referenced a study when speaking about our interdepartmental goal of making Providence the best-run city in the country," claimed Estrella.
The Forbes ranking Estrella cited was actually a brief in Forbes, citing a ranking in U.S. News and World reports.
In recent weeks, GoLocal has unveiled a number of personnel issues facing the City of Providence.
On June 4, GoLocal unveiled that the director of Human Resources for the Smiley administration has a second municipal job in Massachusetts.
His name is Paul Winspeare.
Smiley named him to oversee the city’s personnel functions in May of 2023; his salary in Providence is $132,567.89.
Months after he was named to the six-figure Providence position by Smiley, in November of 2023, Winspeare also applied and was appointed to be the personnel director of Georgetown, Massachusetts. He was officially hired by the Georgetown Board of Selectmen at the December 11, 2023 meeting.
In May, two high-level officials in Smiley’s administration were involved in a workplace battle, which led to a Superior Court judge issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO).
Superior Court Judge Joseph McBurney had issued the order against the City of Providence’s Recreation Director Stephen Grace.
According to the complaint signed by former State Representative Anastasia Williams, who now works for the city, Grace lunged at her and threatened her.
“The Defendant, Stephen Grace, is hereby restrained from interfering with, molesting, harassing, threatening, annoying or contacting the Plaintiff in any manner, directly or indirectly,” according to McBurney’s order.
Grace was appointed by Smiley.