NORTH PROVIDENCE – Mayor Charles Lombardi, who celebrated his 80th birthday on July 6, says he’s not ruling out a run for another 4-year term in office when the time comes in 2028.
“The ball’s in the air right now,” he said.
Lombardi says he certainly doesn’t feel his age, and still gets up early each morning to go to his Luxury Cleaners business before coming to Town Hall.
It’s the business sense that that he used to build the dry-cleaning company that Lombardi says he continues to employ in the mayoral job he first won in a special election back in 2007.
“I have a good time,” he said. “We’re getting things done.”
He notes that several of his employees have been with him for more than 30 years.
Lombardi has his share of critics, including those who say he’s not as attuned to details of running the town as he once was, who don’t like his frequent my-way-or-the-highway style, or who take issue with his blurring of the lines between personal and municipal business, but he says he makes no apologies for who he is.
Because North Providence has 4-year staggered terms, Lombardi isn’t up for election this year, having won with no opponent in 2024.
Council President Dino Autiello is frequently mentioned as a likely successor to Lombardi if he should run and win.
Lombardi said he remains sharp in his game plan for the town, and wants to continue helping the town flourish into the future. He continually points to what North Providence could have been if he hadn’t won that race in 2007 and saved Camp Meehan from condo developers.
He also notes the complete overhaul of local schools and improvements of the North Providence Police and Fire Departments to among the best in the state.
Those new schools were blamed in part for a larger-than-usual tax increase in North Providence this year.
