Providence Mayor's Race: Interview with Dianne 'Dee Dee' Witman

PROVIDENCE, RI — The race for Providence mayor is a three-way event, with two independents running against the incumbent. The incumbent is Democrat Mayor Jorge Elorza; the challengers are two Independents, Dianne "Dee Dee" Witman and Jeffrey Lemire.

Patch did interviews with all three candidates. Here is Dee Dee Witman's interview.

Witman's campaign has run an ad introducing her to people who may not know her personally or by reputation. (Full disclosure: This reporter has known Dee Dee since September 1964 when we started Classical High and landed in the same home room. She went on to college.) A widow (married to Dr. Gary Witman, who died earlier this year) she raised a family but also worked on raising money for charities, non-profit organizations, and ultimately for political candidates on both sides of the aisle.

She was a natural at fundraising, she said. She started by asking her parents for stuff, she quipped.

"Asking was easy," she said. Witman started political fundraising in 1988 for Richard Licht, now a judge. She also worked for Bill Clinton, Buddy Cianci, Don Carcieri, and until recently, for Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, who's hoping to unseat Gov. Gina Raimondo.

"I worked for both Democrats and Republicans," she told Patch in a telephone interview this week. Her only criteria: she had to like them, and they had to be pro-choice.

Did she anticipate all the interest this race would attract?

"Yes and no," Witman said. She was unhappy with Elorza's leadership, knew other people were also dissatisfied and thought a challenge could catch fire.

"Things aren't working," she said. Businesses have trouble with permitting and licensing, she said. The schools are deteriorating, and crime is scaring people away.

But she was last-minute filing her papers. She was fed up with Elorza, had toyed with the idea of running herself for almost four years, but was busy not only working but also taking care of her husband.

Dr. Witman, former head of the emergency room at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Mass., was injured in a freak accident when a rogue wave hit him at Narragansett Town Beach. The accident left him a quadriplegic. He did work again but died earlier this year. He had urged her to run, she said. (Everyone wasn't supportive, she laughed. When she first broached the subject to friends, one actually fell off a chair laughing, she said.)

She took out the papers but still wasn't sure if she wanted to go forward. But then she received a letter the night before the filing deadline. It was from one of her late husband's associates, who had meant to reconnect with him but for one reason or another never followed through. She wrote to say how sorry she was that she did not write to Dr. Witman before he passed away.

"I have such regrets," the woman said.

"I don't ever want to regret," Witman said. So she threw her hat in the ring. She also put $500,000 of her own money into her war chest. She has since done some fundraising, and a super PAC has been running commercials on her behalf.

Although this campaign marks her first run for elected office, she has served on boards, she said. Witman, 68, was appointed in 1990 to the Providence Public Building Authority and served there for about 20 years. The authority, which is under the mayor's office, issues revenue bonds, which are used to pay for municipal and school buildings. Her work, which involved more than just dealing with buildings and finance, brought her into contact with city officials, business leaders, and unions, for example.

Among her contributions, Witman insisted on a price comparison of mid-sized U.S. cities (like Providence) to see if the City was paying too much on the bond rates, fees and counsel costs. That information "brought our prices down considerably," she said.

If elected, she will start by auditing the city's books.

"I really want to get an honest assessment of the budget," she said and allowed she suspects a lot of "smoke and mirrors" in City Hall's math. She wants both an internal and an external audit, she said.

She's also concerned about crime and wants police staffing increased "to a full complement," she said.

She's committed to hiring a full-time fire chief.

To help the taxpayers, she would look for ways to increase the tax base. The City needs to attract new business, she said, because businesses pay real estate and tangible property taxes, hire people and spend money.

The City has "hundreds of abandoned commercial properties," she said. They should be back on the tax rolls. As new mayor, she would "get going on this."

Under her administration, tax stabilization agreements would not be extended, she added.

Also, the universities and the hospitals have to start paying their fair share. They're not being taxed because they're exempt non-profits.

On the schools, she would like Providence to return to K-8 neighborhood schools. That model helps to build community, she said.

There was more to say, but she was running to another campaign event.

Both her campaign and the Elorza campaign had several hundred thousands of dollars left going into the final weekend, according to their finance reports. Lemire has not raised or spent any money.

Photo Courtesy Dee Dee Witman Campaign