Editing Central Falls, Rhode Island (section)

==Government==
[[File:Central Falls Rhode Island City Hall.jpg|thumb|upright|Central Falls City Hall]]

In the [[Rhode Island Senate]], Central Falls is in the 16th District, represented by [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] Jonathan Acosta. At the federal level, Central Falls is a part of [[Rhode Island's 1st congressional district]], represented by Democrat [[Gabe Amo]].

The city has a mayor-council government led by Mayor Maria Rivera. The city council consists of five wards and is represented by Jonathan Acosta, Robert Ferri, Hugo Figueroa, Franklin Solano, and Jessica Vega.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.centralfallsri.us/elected_officials|title=Elected Officials|website=City of Central Falls|access-date=2020-01-17}}</ref>

The [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island|Pawtucket]] Water Supply Board owns and operates the water system.<ref>{{cite web |title=System Overview |url=http://www.pwsb.org/Business/infobusiness/infobusiness.htm |publisher=The Pawtucket Water Supply Board |access-date=29 December 2021 |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229162344/http://www.pwsb.org/Business/infobusiness/infobusiness.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Issues===
On April 25, 2010, the ''[[Providence Journal Bulletin]]'' ran an article detailing rampant fraud and corruption by Mayor Charles D. Moreau, outlining no-bid contracts and kickbacks from a high school friend, Michael G. Bouthillette, who was granted almost $2 million in overpriced property boarding fees. The article further states that Bouthillette gave him a $6,875 furnace for his home for only $6,000, which Moreau said he paid in cash. Bouthillette was a donor to Moreau's multiple reelection campaigns. These allegations and others are being investigated by the [[Rhode Island State Police]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stanton |first1=Mike |last2=Malinowski |first2=W. Zachary |date=25 April 2010 |title=Boarding up Central Falls: Mayor Awards Lucrative Work to Friend |url=http://www.projo.com/news/content/Central_Falls_Boardups_04-25-10_UQHSU35_v115.3a580b3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427033249/http://www.projo.com/news/content/Central_Falls_Boardups_04-25-10_UQHSU35_v115.3a580b3.html |archive-date=27 April 2010 |website=[[Providence Journal Bulletin]] |access-date=4 June 2019}}</ref>

Central Falls's government's financial straits worsened in the 2000s as the state cut money to cities and towns, and [[pension]]s and pensioner health insurance for city employees accumulated to the extent that the city government declared insolvency in May 2010 and went into [[receivership]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.projo.com/news/content/CF_REPORT_12-17-10_O6LGEUG_v52.34c8f37.html|title=providencejournal.com: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Providence, RI|website=providencejournal.com}}</ref> On August 1, 2011, Central Falls filed for bankruptcy under [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9, Title 11]] of the United States Code. It made the filing as it grappled with an $80 million unfunded pension and retiree health benefit liability that was over five times its annual budget of $17 million.{{update after|2013|11|6}}

===Presidential Election Voting===
Like most other [[Majority minority|majority-minority]] urban municipalities, Central Falls is overwhelmingly Democratic in presidential elections. No Republican has come remotely close to winning the city in over three decades, during which time voters have consistently backed Democratic nominees with lopsided majorities. In 2020, however, Donald Trump won a massive increase in the vote, mirroring his performance in other majority-Hispanic areas. Despite this, Joe Biden still won by an overwhelming percentage.

{| class="wikitable" class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin:1em 0 1em 1em; font-size:95%;"
|+ '''Central Falls city vote<br /> by party in presidential elections'''<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.elections.state.ri.us/elections/preresults/ | title=Rhode Island Board of Elections: Previous Election Results | access-date=2018-08-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814134832/http://www.elections.state.ri.us/elections/preresults/ | archive-date=2018-08-14 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
! Year
![[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]]
![[Democratic Party (United States)|DEM]]
!Others
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[2024 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|2024]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|34.3% ''1,265''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''63.4%''' ''2,335''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.3% ''84''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[2020 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|2020]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|26.05% ''1,113''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''71.93%''' ''3,073''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.02% ''86''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 2016|2016]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|15.51% ''657''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''80.12%''' ''3,394''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|4.37% ''185''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 2012|2012]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|12.89% ''512''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''85.87%''' ''3,410''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.23% ''49''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 2008|2008]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|16.97% ''661''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''81.95%''' ''3,191''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.08% ''42''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 2004|2004]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|23.05% ''807''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''75.61%''' ''2,647''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.34% ''47''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 2000|2000]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|17.57% ''611''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''79.07%''' ''2,750''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|3.36% ''117''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 1996|1996]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|13.68% ''486''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''76.75%''' ''2,727''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|9.57% ''340''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 1992|1992]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|23.39% ''955''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''55.57%''' ''2,269''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|21.04% ''859''
|-
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 1988|1988]]'''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Republican}}|33.36% ''1,493''
|  style="text-align:center"; {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''66.24%''' ''2,964''
|  style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.40% ''18''
|}