Lost in all the inaugural hoopla surrounding Lincoln Chafee and Angel Taveras was an entertaining coup on the Cranston City Council that had three Republicans joining with two Democrats to seize the leadership.

A former Cranston reporter for the ProJo, I was growing concerned that Mayor Allan Fung's steady reign had drained the drama from city politics.

Marion Davis writes about the competition -- which will result in either Cranston's first female mayor or Rhode Island's first Asian-American mayor -- in this week's Phoenix.

Allan W. Fung chose to support Stephen J. Laffey, and it paid off. His well-organized political machine — complete with color-coordinated blue and yellow signs — helped Fung win an at-large seat on the City Council and reelection two years later.

The Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee has always had an independent streak, as seen by its support for Steve Laffey when he was mayor in Cranston. Here are the group's latest endorsements:

PROVIDENCE, R.I.- On August 13, 2008, the Rhode Island Political Action Committee (RILPAC) members voted to endorse the following candidates for the 2008 election:

Speaking generically, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian says that closing the door to renewed negotiations isn't a good practice and that it has negative consequences.

He made the remark in response to a question I asked this morning during a taping of WPRI/WNAC-TV's Newsmakers: Does he support Governor Carcieri's stance in his clash with Council 94? Avedisian responded by saying he supports the governor as the leader of the state, but that when it comes to negotiations, it's best to remain open to continued talks.

The blogosphere and politics are merging in Cranston, with Kiersten signing on with Cynthia Fogarty's Democratic mayoral campaign.

The Fogarty for Mayor campaign is pleased to announce that it has hired Kiersten Marek as its campaign coordinator. Kiersten is a Cranston resident and clinical social worker who owns and runs the blog Kmareka.

Speaking of mayors past and present, Kiersten has an interview with Cranston mayoral candidate Cynthia Fogarty, and she plans more coverage:

Please watch the interview to learn how Cindy will handle our city's affairs and forward it to other Cranston residents who could benefit from seeing it.

We are planning to do a debate between Cindy Fogarty and her opponent, Allan Fung, using Blogtalkradio.

The Cranston mayoral race bears watching, in part because of that city's tradition in incubating candidates for bigger future runs.

Matt has this update:

Last week, Cindy Fogarty kicked-off her campaign for Mayor of Cranston. Kmareka has the audio of her announcement and the test of her speech here.