Fung unveils plan to revamp DMV; Trillo claims he stole it

October 22, 2018 5:45 pm

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) – Mayor Allan Fung takes on the DMV in his latest campaign platform.

Promising to make changes if elected governor, Fung slammed Governor Gina Raimondo’s administration, saying she’s added six-figure jobs in the department. He says he will cut those positions and put the money towards hiring front-line staff.

Raimondo fired back, saying he’s looking to “politicize everything”.

“I implemented a new IT system at the DMV, the two governors before me weren’t able to do it. We got it done,” she said.

Amongst Fung’s proposed fixes – staggered work hours during the week, openings on Saturdays at the Cranston branch, and a reservation system.

“This worked very well early on when we switched over to the RIMS system… but then went to the wayside,” Fung said.

But these are changes Independent candidate Joe Trillo says Fung stole. He says Fung copied the plan he unveiled in a September interview with GoLocalProv.

In a statement, Trillo said in part, “It is practically a copy and paste of what I highlighted publicly.”

Fung also proposed putting armed officers in every DMV branch in case of an emergency. A DMV spokesperson says right now Capitol Police are stationed at the DMV branch – other branches are staffed with unarmed security.

Fung also says he’s heard complaints that some branches don’t have viable second exits – the DMV says all of their buildings are up to code.