Mayor Frank Picozzi became the first independent candidate to win the office of Mayor of Warwick in the two-party era in 2020. Now, another independent hopes to take the title.

Patrick Maloney, Jr., the owner of Game On! on Namquid Drive, officially filed to run for mayor last Wednesday. Maloney, a member of the School Committee from 2008-2012, said that he was torn on whether to run for mayor or for Rep. Joseph McNamara’s seat in the State House, but eventually decided he could make more of an impact as mayor.

Maloney ran as an independent for McNamara’s seat in 2020 and a candidate for Ward 1 in 2014, 2016, (as a Democrat) 2018 and 2022 (as an independent).

While in prior campaigns Maloney refused to accept campaign donations, he’s open to receiving donations this year- though only in very small amounts.

“If somebody did donate to my campaign, I expect it to be a very low amount- $5, $10, whatever. Ten dollars buys a sign. If somebody gives me $10 and they’re willing to put a sign up [that’s fine]. But I’m also at the point where I don’t want to make people spend money on me, because my whole goal is to make sure they have more money in their pocket, not giving it to a politician.”

Maloney previously approved of Picozzi, saying in an interview with the Beacon while running for City Council in 2022 that he would “give him a passing grade” through his first two years in office.

While Maloney said that he would still give Picozzi a passing grade- albeit lowering it to a C+- he said that Picozzi has not done a good job with the city’s finances, specifically mentioning City Hall Plaza and the Warwick Police Department’s purchase of a BearCat G3 Armored Vehicle as excessive and unnecessary spending items.

“I think he’s been an amazing cheerleader for Warwick,” Maloney said. “I don’t agree with the spending. I think the City Council needs someone that’s not only going to work with them, but is going to stand up to the City Council.”

Warwick’s biggest problems over the next four years, Maloney said, would likely be related to the city’s finances. Maloney said that he went around the city counting closed small business storefronts prior to the pandemic, and came up with a final count of over 200.

Should Maloney be elected, he would prioritize small businesses in the city through initiatives. He placed a heavy emphasis on checking in with the city’s departments frequently, recalling that during his School Committee tenure, he would do the same and get answers on different topics.

Maloney recalled a time when he went to the maintenance department to ask about hand sanitizer, wondering why dispensers hadn’t been installed in schools yet after Warwick Public Schools spent money on sanitizer.

“The guy said to me that this was the first time [he could remember] that a School Committee member ever visited the maintenance department, and he’d been there for over 18 years,” Maloney said.

Mentioning the current court case accusing Warwick Water Division Director Terry DiPetrillo of sexual harassment and creating a culture of sexism, Maloney said that if he were in office, he would have had more of a presence in the Water Division to make sure that that environment didn’t exist.

Though Maloney will have to go against an incumbent, he doesn’t see the mayoral race as an uphill battle. He said his confidence stems from his belief in the people he’s met and the city.

“There’s a lot of people out there that support me,” Maloney said. “And there’s a lot of people that don’t talk about politics, and they don’t want to know about politics, but they know things are not good. And I think what’s going to happen is they’re going to come out and want to vote.”