By JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — Cumberland resident R. David Cruise, a political phenom since he was elected to the Cumberland Town Council at age 19 in 1976, was confirmed Thursday as a Traffic Tribunal magistrate.

The Senate, where Cruise was once a member and currently serves as chief of staff to the Senate president, unanimously approved his nomination, which was made by Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams.
Cruise told The Times he had “mixed emotions” on Thursday.
“I’ve spent about 34 years, on and off, in this building,” he said, referring to the State House, “it’s almost part of me.”
Joining the judiciary on the traffic court “is a whole new avenue for me. I’m looking forward to it,” Cruise said of the position, which pays $128,650 annually.
“You are putting a face on the court,” Cruise said. “It is the busiest court. It is the court where people coming in with traffic problems, it is their first experience with the judiciary. So it is important to help them through it and let them leave with a positive reaction.
Among those speaking in favor of Cruise at a Senate Judiciary
Committee hearing before his confirmation by the full Senate was his boss, Senate President Joseph Montalbano.
Montalbano said Cruise “has repeatedly shown the qualities of wisdom and fairness” required by a judge
Former Gov. Bruce Sundlun, for whom Cruise also served as chief of staff, recalled getting help from Cruise during the credit union crisis that marked the first days of his administration.
Pawtucket City Councilman Henry Kinch, who is clerk of the Providence County Superior Court, called Cruise “an absolutely indispensable person” during that banking crisis. Kinch said Cruise “has enough patience to make sure the system works correctly and enough impatience so that the person in front of him won’t be running the calendar.”
Williams said Cruise “follows what we think of as the American Dream, he came from humble beginnings to make a success of himself.
Noting that it is unusual for the person who nominated a court appointee to appear in person to speak for him, Williams said after his committee testimony that he did so specifically to swat down rumors that Cruise’s appointment was made in exchange for the General Assembly approving plans for a Blackstone Valley Courthouse in Smithfield.
“It’s insulting,” Williams said of the insinuation. “First of all, we already had a commitment for a Blackstone Valley Courthouse a year ago. All that happened this year was an amendment to change the location, so how could it be a quid pro quo?
“It’s that kind of rumor, and Rhode Island is famous for its rumors — make it up, then it’s all over the state the next day — those kind of rumors is exactly what destroys the self-esteem of Rhode Island,” the chief justice said. “I’ve been a (Supreme Court) for almost 13 years. I don’t need to make an appointment on a court I didn’t even want to see changed to get a Blackstone Valley Courthouse. That’s kind of ridiculous.”
A short time later, Senate President Montalbano said “I find the question insulting,” when asked about rumors of the arrangement with Williams.
“For a person as qualified as David Cruise,” Montalbano said those types of allegations diminish his public service. He’s been a public servant for more than 30 years.
Besides his work as chief of staff to Montalbano and Sundlun and his service on the Cumberland Town Council, of which he was president for four years, Cruise was appointed by then-President Bill Clinton as a senior advisor in the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was also deputy chief of staff for former Lt. Gov. Thomas DiLuglio.
The Senate gave what is called its “advice and consent” to Cruise and Alan Goulart, also appointed to a 10-year term as Traffic Tribunal magistrate.
Also confirmed Thursday for a second 10-year term as a Superior Court Magistrate was Cumberland resident William McAtee.
Superior Court Presiding Justice Joseph Rogers said the pre-arraignment calendar that McAtee is charged with “is critical in the early disposition of criminal cases with the result that significant dollars are saved by the early resolution of cases without having the court, attorney general’s office and frequently the public defender’s office preparing for trial when the likelihood is the case will be resolved. In addition, hundreds of prisoners no longer need to be transported from the Garrahy Complex to the Licht Complex on a daily basis because of the presence and authority of Magistrate McAtee.
“Bill McAtee has done a superlative job,” Rogers told the Senate Judiciary Committee, “and I seek his reappointment for 10 years.”
McAtee received unanimous approval by the Senate, as did Susan Revens for the same term in Superior Court.
Mary McCaffrey, a Family Court magistrate, was confirmed by the Senate Thursday as a District Court judge.