By Dan McGowan Globe Columnist,Updated March 29, 2022, 7:41 a.m.
When Brett Smiley was running for mayor of Providence in 2014, he sought to frame himself as the fresh-faced outsider running against the Democratic machine. It wasn’t entirely true, since Smiley was already deeply involved in both city and state politics, but it made for a smart campaign narrative.
He famously vowed to end the “know a guy” culture of city politics, but he didn’t make it to Election Day (although his name was still on the Democratic primary ballot, and he received 745 votes). He dropped out to endorse the eventual winner, Jorge Elorza, in an effort to block Buddy Cianci from returning to City Hall.
Now, after stints running the city for Elorza (as COO) and the state for former governor Gina Raimondo (as chief of staff and director of administration), Smiley is officially one of the most important guys to know in all of Rhode Island politics. And that means that instead of running as a long shot to be mayor, he’s a top-tier candidate for the job.
“…He’ll be more prepared to run the city on day one than any mayor in nearly a century.”
EDWARD FITZPATRICK/GLOBE STAFF
But in a race filled with insiders – the Democratic primary field includes Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune, former longtime City Hall staffer Gonzalo Cuervo, and former council president Michael Solomon – Smiley’s experience in Providence and the State House stands out, so much so that he’ll be more prepared to run the city on day one than any mayor in nearly a century.
Even Smiley’s critics, and some opponents in this race, acknowledge that he’d be an effective manager of the city.
The challenge will be actually winning.
To do so, Smiley is promising to be the quality-of-life mayor, a pragmatic leader who is going to improve snow plowing, clean up the graffiti, and finally hold the utility companies accountable for seemingly targeting freshly paved roads that they can cut into, causing those craters that force you to buy new tires every year.