Former East Providence Manager Lemont passes away

Did two stints as city's chief executive officer

By Mike Rego
Posted 5/23/18

EAST PROVIDENCE — Paul Lemont, an East Providence native, life-long resident and who twice served the city as its manager, passed away on Sunday, May 20. He was 77.

Mr. Lemont, a lawyer by …

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Former East Providence Manager Lemont passes away

Did two stints as city's chief executive officer

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — Paul Lemont, an East Providence native, life-long resident and who twice served the city as its manager, passed away on Sunday, May 20. He was 77.

Mr. Lemont, a lawyer by profession, first became city manager in East Providence in the late 1980s, serving into the early 2000s before stepping away from the position. During his initial spell, East Providence earned the distinction of an “All-American City” and enjoyed its most stable period in recent memory at the chief executive officer position.

Mr. Lemont returned to the role on an interim/acting basis late in 2013, following the firing of then-manager Peter Graczykowski. The intermitting decade after his departure was a tumultuous one for the East Providence city manager post, which in part led to a state takeover of oversight by a budget commission in December of 2011. His return, for a brief period at least, brought back a sense of consistency to East Providence’s governance after the commission returned control to the city in September of 2013.

Mr. Lemont led the city through two more budget cycles prior to being replaced by Richard Kirby on a full-time basis in September of 2015. Messrs. Lemont and Kirby would later become embroiled in a harassment case brought against them, Fire Chief Oscar Elmasian and the city by former Human Resources Director Kathleen Waterbury. Mr. Kirby was fired less than a year after being hired. The case was eventually settled against the wishes of the men. All three, including Mr. Lemont, maintained their propriety throughout the matter.

Chief Elmasian had a long-standing relationship with Mr. Lemont, stretching back to the former’s days as president of the East Providence Firefighters Union then when he became director of the department.

“I sat across the table from Paul on many occasions. It was an honor to work with him and for him,” Chief Elmasian said. “You never had to worry about him going back on his word. He was a man of integrity. He was a good guy to do business with. You knew where you stood with Paul. He certainly let you know how he felt.”

The chief particularly remembered a discussion he had with Mr. Lemont when he was still union president some decades ago. Mr. Lemont told Mr. Elmasian during that conversation, “You’re going to be a chief one day, you should start thinking like one.”

When the refurbished EPFD Headquarters at Station 1 reopened several years later with Mr. Elmasian now the chief of the department and Mr. Lemont back as manager, the latter walked by the former, winked and said, “See, I told you so.”

“To work for him as a department head was great,” Chief Elmasian added. “He not only stood behind his department heads, he stood in front them. He never dressed you down publicly. Behind closed, he told you what needed to be said. He told you what he expected of you, what he wanted you to accomplish and he gave you the tools to do it. He was excellent to work for.”

East Providence Police Chief Chris Parella had a similar experience with Mr. Lemont. In the manager's dual role as the city's public safety commissioner, Mr. Lemont swore Chief Parella in as an East Providence Police Officer in 1990.

He remembered Mr. Lemont saying to him at the time, “if you keep your nose clean and don’t do anything stupid, you could be chief someday.

"I’m not sure I always lived up completely to those orders, but 24 years later, he swore me in as chief of the department. Mr. Lemont loved his city, but relished above all else his role as Commissioner of Public Safety."

Chief Parella, on behalf of the entire EPPD, extended condolences to the Lemont family and offered "sincere thanks for his leadership throughout the years."

In between his stints in East Providence, Mr. Lemont was most notably town manager in neighboring Seekonk for a brief period. A veteran of the United State Army, he was significantly also Vice President of Industrial Relations at the former Providence Gas and long-time member of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council.

Meredith (Turk) Lemont, his wife of 53 years, survived her husband along with his two sons, John and David, and a sister, Marsha.

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