After the Woonsocket City Council voted to approve a motion tabling a resolution requesting that the state to create a budget commission for the city, until after the House Finance Committee votes on the supplemental tax, I asked Mayor Leo Fontaine for his reaction…

Anchor Rising: Tonight, the City Council voted to table the resolution regarding a request for a budget commission, which is tied intimately to the vote on the supplemental tax that will be taken by the General Assembly on Tuesday. What is your reaction to the City Council’s action? &nbsp	&nbsp
Woonsocket Mayor Leo Fontaine: Clearly, I think it recognizes the importance of the circumstances that we find ourselves in and the importance of the vote at the General Assembly. Right now, we’re dealing with the fact that the school department overdrew their accounts, just this past week…so there’s a real urgent need for us to move forward right now, and this passage at the General Assembly is critical. That’s why the Council has kept this on the table for another vote in the near future, so that if the General Assembly either delays this yet again or denies it, then we would be in the position to move forward… &nbsp	Audio 44 sec
AR: And in your opinion, what’s the best path forward for Woonsocket? &nbsp	&nbsp
LF: Well, I would have liked to have seen the legislation passed through the General Assembly before now. Our initial deadline had been the 15th…and if it had been passed by then, we would have been in the position where the school department would have had the money. They wouldn’t have overdrawn the account or had to borrow from us. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to keep ourselves moving forward with the supplemental and continuing on with our plan. &nbsp	Audio 34 sec