Thursday, October 19, 2023
GoLocal Prov published an editorial about Mayor Kenneth Hopkins’ handling of the Budlong pool issue. The following is his response:
Dear Editor:
I read with interest your concerns for my swimming ability and political well-being on issues surrounding the modern new Budlong Pool that I am delivering for Cranston families.
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Growing up in Johnston, my late parents, James and Eileen Hopkins, made sure I and my four brothers and sister learned how to swim so we could enjoy the beauty of our Ocean State beaches and local pools. Today, I keep my above-ground pool clean and ready for my grandchildren and family use even when my mayoral duties limit the times, I can enjoy the pool.
While lifeguards are very important for swimmers’ safety, please be assured that I am comfortable in moving forward with the replacement of our deteriorated Depression-era-built pool. While my predecessors were happy to just keep putting band-aids and temporary fixes to get another summer out of the pool, I will not further waste taxpayer money. A nationally recognized aquatic design firm has analyzed our existing pool and bathhouse and has recommended no further shortcuts to reopen the pool.
Instead, they have designed a modern, safe, code-compliant pool and bathhouse that will more than adequately serve our residents in terms of size and great amenities. It will be enjoyed by our community for the next fifty years. We all want 21st-century schools but certain partisan activists and attention-seeking politicians in our city want our kids to swim in an out-of-date and dangerous pool that needs considerable repairs. I will not waste millions of dollars for a pool that may last only five more years.
Let’s be clear. The Cranston Forward political action committee is the mouthpiece and political arm of Cranston Democrats. One of its founders is the husband of the Democratic Ward 2 councilwoman. The progressive activists leading that group have made their propaganda campaign of misinformation and criticism based on faulty premises and have misled residents on the true state of the pool condition and our exciting plans for the future of the Budlong pool.
Your suggestion that I have been battling Republicans and Democrats in this process does not really hold water. Some Democratic members of the city council acknowledged the $4.7 million dollars we have available cannot replace the exceedingly oversized pool or even one that is half that size. Only one Republican politician has stuck her publicity-seeking toe in the pool water for attention. Based on the documented, historic usage of the pool, the new pool I propose can and will serve our residents in splashingly good stead.
So, thank you for being concerned about my ability to navigate the deep end of the pool. I am buoyant in the excitement of a brand-new pool complex that will serve Cranston families for decades to come.
Kenneth J. Hopkins
Mayor, City of Cranston
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