December 18, 2006 Contact: Sue Baker
For Immediate Release 738-2000
WARWICK – Mayor Scott Avedisian today offered his thanks and best wishes to the city’s three outgoing City Council members – Sue Stenhouse, Tim Lee and Council President Donald Torres – saying that their service “will have a lasting and positive effect on the City of Warwick and its residents.” Their last meeting is tonight.
“Throughout her time on the Council, Sue has played a tremendously important role in helping me move my initiatives and programs forward,” Avedisian said. “Given the party makeup of the Council, that wasn’t always an easy task, and I will certainly miss the vision, reason and objectivity she brought to the Council.
“For a long time, Sue was the only member of the minority party and served on every single Council committee, so the demands on her time just to attend those meeting were enormous,” Avedisian continued. “But, because of the type of person she is, Sue also spent a tremendous amount of time outside of Council Chambers on these issues so that she would be able to make thoughtful, informed, and fair decisions. Sue has been an effective and passionate advocate not only for residents of Ward One, but also for people in other Wards who came to realize that they could go to her for help and would not be ignored or turned away. I have been proud to call her my Councilwoman for the past seven years.”
Lee, who was elected in 2004, “jumped into city government with both feet and in a short time resolved a number of issues of chronic concern,” Avedisian said. “He has been able to bring about positive changes in Ward Three neighborhoods. He helped to eliminate blight in areas throughout Warwick and to increase public safety citywide through an ordinance requiring snow removal near schools and the creation of the Neighborhood Intensive Traffic Enforcement program. He has also been vocal when he felt something the Council was doing wasn’t in the best interests of our citizens.”
“Council President Torres is someone who I have come to consider a friend, and I thank him, particularly, for his leadership of the Council for the past two years,” Avedisian said. “Even when issues became heated, he was first and foremost a gentleman and was always willing to keep the lines of communication open between my office and the Council. Donald is someone who got into government service for the right reasons, and although we have not always agreed on every issue, I know that he was always advocating for what he felt was right for Warwick and its citizens.
“Donald has said he isn’t quite sure what he’ll be doing now that he’s retired from the Cranston Fire Department and the Council, but knowing him, he won’t be still for long,” Avedisian laughed.
“Whatever the future holds for him, Sue and Tim, I wish them all the best for happiness, health and success.”