Stephen Laffey

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Stephen (Steve) Laffey (IPA pronunciation: [ˈlæf iː]) was the mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island with his term ending in 2007. He was also an unsuccessful candidate in the 2006 Republican primary election in September 2006.

1 Background
2 Business career
3 Political career
4 External links

[edit] Background

Laffey was born in 1962 in Warwick, Rhode Island, one of five children born to John and Mary Laffey. When he was four years old, his family moved to Cranston, where his father worked as a toolmaker and his mother as a nurse. Laffey's family suffered from problems with mental illness as one of his brothers was committed to a mental institution and one of his sisters suffered from schizophrenia. Nevertheless, Laffey describes his childhood as being similar to the TV sitcom Leave it to Beaver. [1]

Laffey attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine from 1980-1984, majoring in economics. Laffey is also a graduate of Harvard Business School.

His first marriage produced son Peter; his second, to Kelly Laffey, has given him Samuel, Sarah Grace, Audrey Elizabeth, and Jessica.

[edit] Business career

Prior to becoming mayor of Cranston, Laffey worked for Morgan Keegan & Company, a Memphis, Tennessee-based financial institution. In 2000, Laffey was appointed president of Morgan Keegan. Laffey left the firm in 2001, with Morgan Keegan enjoying record profits. His strategic vision apparently clashed with members of the old guard. According to the Memphis Business Journal, his departure from Morgan Keegan was a "palace coup" after "a group of longtime producers from the Memphis-based securities firm's investment banking and retail sides demanded Laffey's removal." [2]

[edit] Political career

[edit] Mayor

Upon his departure from Morgan Keegan, Laffey left Tennessee, returned to Cranston, and successfully ran for mayor in 2002, taking office in January 2003. He was subsequently re-elected in 2004 (despite an attempt by the unions to defeat him in the primary) by the largest percentage in recent Cranston history.

Laffey and his supporters argue that he has saved Cranston from financial ruin. They cite the change in Cranston's bond rating which had gone from the lowest in America to "investment grade" under his tenure, increasing an unprecedented 8 steps in three and a half years (Standard & Poor's, 06/15/06). Laffey credits this to confronting unions and cutting excesses in school spending. One such cut was his firing of unionized crossing guards who were being paid over $100 a day and benefits for one daily hour of work. This is estimated to have saved the City of Cranston approximately $500,000 a year (Providence Journal, 01/12/05, 03/27/03). In 2006, Laffey distinguished Cranston by making it the only city in Rhode Island to cut property taxes that year (Providence Journal, 05/10/06).

While mayor, Laffey was instrumental in getting his city to accept Mexico's Matricula Consular education card for identification purposes. A spokeswoman for Laffey said he advocated accepting the cards at the urging of the chief of police, so that officers would be able to better identify individuals they come in contact with. Laffey has also said the cards offered all immigrants "the fair chance to live the American Dream."[3][4]

[edit] 2006 Senate race

Main article: Rhode Island United States Senate election, 2006

Laffey announced on September 8, 2005 that he would be running for the United States Senate, challenging the more liberal Republican incumbent Lincoln Chafee in the Republican primary [5]. Main points of Laffey's campaign include eliminating what he calls pork barrel spending, simplifying the tax code, and reducing prescription drug costs. He was defeated by Chafee in the primary election on September 12, 2006.

His platform is largely conservative; he is pro-life, calls himself "undecided" on stem-cell research, and supported both the Central American Free Trade Agreement and Samuel Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court. It is tempered by a few, more moderate views, however; for example, he supports civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, and has voiced opposition to the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would would make gay marriage illegal. [6]

[edit] Future

Stephen Laffey will leave office in January of 2007, but plans to remain active. There is speculation that he could attempt another US Senate run against Class 2 Senior Senator Jack Reed (D), many close to him have acknowledged that he is more likely to seek the Governorship in 2010 by which time incumbent Republican Donald Carcieri will be unable to run due to Rhode Island's two term limit. It is believed should Laffey seek the Governorship his principal opponent would most likely be Providence Mayor David Cicilline (D).

[edit] Controversies

During his term as mayor of Cranston, Laffey has been at the center of a number of well publicized controversies, often due to his unconventional comments. For example, when some photos on his official website appeared digitally altered to remove individuals who no longer supported Laffey, the website had this disclaimer: "Hackers and perhaps even space invaders or extraterrestrials may also have gotten past our rigid security firewall and tampered with some files." [7][8]

While he was in college, Laffey penned several columns for a college Republican newspaper offensive to gays. When asked about them, he said he was "just having fun." In the columns, Laffey wrote things such as, "All the homosexuals I've seen are sickly and decrepit, their eyes devoid of life" and "When I hear it (Boy George) sing, 'Do you really want to hurt me, do you really want to make me cry,' I say to myself, YES, I want to punch your lights out, pal, and break your ribs." [9][10]

Chafee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee attacked Laffey for calling for the city of Cranston to accept consular ID cards from Mexico and Guatemala. Mailers sent out by the Chafee campaign called the cards "illegal immigration cards" and said accepting them poses a security risk. However, others contended that the cards help police and immigrants.[11]