By JON BAKER

LINCOLN  —  Now 62, Ed O’Neill looked mighty relaxed as he kicked back in the plush basement living space of his Lladnar Drive home on a recent cloudy afternoon. And why not?

He spent 35 years as a global automotive supply chain manager at Texas Instruments Inc., formerly located in Attleboro, and genuinely seemed to be enjoying his retirement.
He admitted he loves spending more time with his wife of 38 years, Carole, and 31-year-old daughter Erin, who has autism and needs focused care.
Truth be told, however, he’s less than pleased at the way his own state government operates. That’s why he decided a few months ago to forego that mellow lifestyle and run for the State Senate District 17 seat against veteran Sen. Joseph Montalbano of North Providence.
O’Neill never has held a political office, though the lifelong independent states with pride he finished a close second behind T. Joseph Almond for the town administrator slot back in 2006.
The natural question for the tall, congenial Lincolnite had to be asked: What makes you think you can defeat Montalbano, who has held the office for nearly 20 years and now serves as Senate President?
“Frankly, it’s because of the fiscal mess we’re in, and I think there’s a tremendous need for leadership, someone with business skills to develop a long-term financial plan for the state,” he said. “I believe I have a lot to offer the people of this district. Absolutely, I think I can win. I wouldn’t even try it if I didn’t believe I had a chance.
“I started campaigning door-to-door last weekend, and I hit 300 homes in North Providence, which is Sen. Montalbano’s neighborhood; I did that because that’s where I thought I’d meet the most resistance,” he added. “I thought it went very well.”
O’Neill claimed he knew how many residents he reached because he had 300 “North Providence-specific” brochures printed. He mentioned he would do the same for those in Lincoln and Pawtucket.
See O’NEILL, Page 8
“I got pretty excited about it. People were open to talk to me, and they seemed anxious for change,” he stated. “They responded well to me being an independent candidate. In fact, several people asked me if they could put my sign up on their lawns. They said they liked what they read in my brochure, and invited me to do that.
“Some also indicated they had never expected anyone running for state seator to be knocking on their door,” he added. “That’s a plus, but I’ve got a lot more doorbells to ring.”

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Still sitting on a couch in this same apartment, O’Neill noted there was an accumulation of events that “forced” him into running come Nov. 4.
“The first was the attempt to put the proposed Blackstone Valley courthouse in Lincoln,” he explained. “I led the charge for ‘Stop the Courthouse.org,’ and we were successful in that area. Second, when the people of Lincoln voted against ‘24/7’ expansion of Twin River, and also the addition of table games and increased gambling at the casino back on Nov. 10, the legislature ignored the wishes of the Lincoln voters, and so did Sen. Montalbano. We were given a few crumbs in terms of additional revenue from the expanded hours, but that was it.
“Then there was the controversial Camp Meehan project,” he added. “Lincoln purchased their portion of the property a while ago, but North Providence is still trying to purchase its section. The latest effort was via eminent domain, but that bill died in the House of Representatives at the last legislative session. My question is this: Where was Sen. Montalbano in terms of supporting his constituents’ desire to obtain this land as open space? To me, that was a slow burn.
“Those were the three more specific local issues that helped me decide to run, but the bigger issue is the state budget, which I believe continues to grow. Without any structural changes to reduce the cost of state government and its operations – the budget is $6.8 billion – we’re going to be in trouble. The new budget the Governor signed was balanced for this upcoming fiscal year, but the problem is we’ve got redundancy in it.
“Let’s put it this way: We’ve got 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island, with a lot of police chiefs, fire chiefs, school superintendents and highway department positions. I could go on and on. My thinking is this: Why can’t we regionalize some of those departments to reduce overhead? I know that may upset some people, but we have to be open to new ideas, look at things differently if we’re going to reduce the budget.
“Hey, you have to break some eggs to make an omelet.”

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O’Neill truly believes his education and past jobs have helped him prepare to be elected to the Senate.
He graduated from the then-Pawtucket West High School (now Shea) in 1965, and landed an entry-level position at Texas Instruments shortly thereafter. He also garnered an Associate’s degree from now Community College of Rhode Island in 1967.
While working full-time, he attended night classes at then-Bryant College, chasing a Bachelor’s of Science in business administration, which he earned in 1979.
He later took courses at both Stonehill College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while working at TI, the reason being he had to pay his own way through school.
“When I took that position as global supply chain manager, I was responsible for the entire supply chain,” he stated. “I had a team of 52 people, and we took orders from customers for the devices they wanted, then we’d order the materials from suppliers. We’d build those requested products at sites all over the world, and they would ship them to the customers.
“All of those processes fell on my shoulders,” he continued. “If a customer had a problem with delivery, or anything else, I would be the last one he or she talked to to make sure the problem was solved. All of this relates to being a senator … I think everything is a negotiation. People seem to believe that only price is negotiable, but – fact is – anything is.
“In politics, it’s give-and-take, and people need to know that (a senator) must have a moral compass, have integrity, and that causes people to respect you and your company – in this case, the Senate. They need to know you’re going to act in the best interest of the company, or the locale, or the state. In the Senate, if I get there, I would act in the best interest of the district’s taxpayers. … I would watch out for what’s most important to those residents and the state, as opposed to special interests.”
O’Neill also mentioned this: hundreds of District 17 constituents don’t realize that their senator represents more registered voters from Lincoln (43 percent, 8,603) than either North Providence (38 percent, 7,534) or Pawtucket (19 percent, 3,824).
Among his other planned “fixes” – besides budgetary structural changes – if he were to be elected in November: term limits of no more than eight years; 10 percent health insurance co-pays for legislators; ethics training for legislators/decision makers; ending discretionary legislative grants; and completing the Camp Meehan acquisition.

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“If I was in the Senate, I’d work collaboratively with not only other Senate members but also constituents to introduce and pass legislation that’s supportive of District 17,” he said, adding it won’t be an easy process to oust Montalbano.
He admitted he’s loaned his own campaign $30,000, and has a core campaign base of 12 friends and family members. In addition, his largest campaign donation, he said, has been a mere $100. However, O’Neill did mention he has slated a fundraiser for Sept. 17 (6-9 p.m.) at Lancellotta’s in North Providence, and also that Gov. Donald Carcieri, a Republican, is scheduled to appear.
“It’s a great honor for an independent like me to gain his support,” he offered. “He knows me because I’m on the Rhode Island Statewide Coalition’s Board of Directors, a member of Operation Clean Government and also Friends of the Hearthside … When I was campaigning last weekend, people told me they’re tired of the conflicts of interest involving members of the General Assembly, and I want to help them gain trust.
“Right now, the campaign is my full-time job – 24 hours a day, seven days a week; I truly want to win this election,” he added. “I will say Joe Montalbano is in for the fight of his life.”
The query remains: Will the voters agree?
For more information on his candidacy, visit www.electedoneill.com.