To say that the last 10 years in East Providence were  eventful ones would be quite the understatement, considering the numerous noteworthy events that took place here from 2010 to 2019. It was a definitive decade in many regards for the city.

The timeframe began with a sweeping change of those elected to office and closed with Bob DaSilva finishing his first 12 months of a four-year term as East Providence’s initial elected mayor.

In between there was likely enough turmoil for two decades-worth of activity here or in any other city, and it’s more than reasonable to ascertain that tumult led to the single biggest change any municipality can undertake: switching its form of government.

For the better part of the last 10 years there was so much tomfoolery exhibited by members of the City Council and their appointed City Managers that residents had it to the hilt. So when the latest call of many previous to finally amend the City Charter to give voters the opportunity to choose their chief executive was made, they responded in overwhelming numbers. And they were later the beneficiaries of a basically sound, serious campaign between Mr. DaSilva and his opponent, Jim Russo.

Two more noteworthy events that marked the decade had to do with the city’s finances: the appointment by the state of the Budget Commission to oversee day-to-day operations of East Providence as it approached near insolvency in late 2011 and the asset forfeiture money the E.P. Police Department earned through its involvement in the Google prescription drug case. The budget commission set the city on its current course of solid financial footing, while the “Google Money” bailed it out of its police pension debt and allowed the department to utilize a host of funds it otherwise wouldn’t have had access to.

The decade ended with another very important piece of news, the beginning of construction on a new East Providence High School, which will only enhance the city’s status from perspectives both inside and out.

What we thought were some of the other notable stories of the 2010s were highlighted in a review featured in the front pages of this week’s Post. There were several more we didn’t have room to recite, but safe to say the last 10 years have been quite the ride in East Providence, one that starts the new decade, at least, as a pleasurable cruise. We’ll see how long the rather smooth sailing continues into the 2020s.