By JON BAKER

LINCOLN — Ask T. Joseph Almond why he’s chosen to run  again for town administrator and he responds with a smile and simplicity: “I’ve always loved being involved in public service.”
Nearly 24 years as a Lincoln police officer easily explains that.

And, if you ask the 52-year-old family man if he believes he can reign after November’s election against Democrat John D. Barr II and iPublic ndependent candidate James Spooner, he flashes another grin, answering “Sure.”
It’s only mid-September, but Almond already has found himself in the midst of a rather heated campaign with Barr, who has accused him of illegally purchasing a town vehicle and also “creating” funds to have a street wall rebuilt in front of the Cobble Hill Road home of his brother, Saylesville Fire Chief Dave Almond.
The town administrator aggressively answered both allegations in a recent letter to the editor to The Times and The Call, stating “In the past several months, Mr. Barr has demonstrated his propensity to deliberately issue false statements attacking my record and questioning my honesty.”
“At first glance, Mr. Barr’s actions could merely represent an inability to competently research available facts. More often than not, however, political candidates are employing a careless indifference to learn the truth prior to issuing (such) attacks.
“In this specific issue (of the wall),” he added, “Mr. Barr elected to intentionally lie, and mislead the voters into questioning my integrity in pursuit of his political ambitions.”
According to Almond, the vehicle was bought “above board,” and in conjunction with the police department. As for the wall in front of his brother’s residence, only the Town Council was involved with the decision to fund and repair, as Almond had consulted with the state’s Ethics Commission and Town Solicitor Anthony DeSisto to “remain clear.”
Almond claims he’s had a stellar initial 18 months in office, and backs up such, he says, with public records.
“I’m delighted that we’ve got a great story to tell,” he stated while relaxing in his Town Hall office. “Right now, when you look at the fiscal condition of the state, it’s been an extremely difficult two years, but we in Lincoln are among the very best of Rhode Island’s communities in fiscal health, and we’ve been recognized by our peers for our achievements.
“We in Lincoln have been able to progress forward through these really tough economic times,” he added. “Two years ago, I ran on a platform of property taxes, civil government, professional management and to create a comprehensive capital development plan to address the many needed improvements in town, including recreational areas … My platform now is simply to continue to move forward with everyone of those accomplishments. Why would I want to change something so positive?”
“We brought together representatives from the administration, Town Council, Budget Board, school department and school committee, and published a long-term capital plan that was approved by the council. It’s one of the few such plans statewide. In conjunction with that plan, we recenly passed a town ordinance dedicating added gaming revenue (from Twin River) to capital development and tax relief.”
Almond mentioned that, in his first year at the helm, he helped reduce property taxes for 65 percent of Lincoln homeowners; and, just this year, the town wouldn’t have had a property tax increase if not for “the actions of a few” at the Financial Town Meeting in May.
“Even after that, we were able to get that increase down to 16 cents per $1,000, and how we did that was to apply all the good budget savings we had achieved in the last year,” he said. “We saved $400,000 in Blue Cross/Blue Shield (from educational union contracts); $150,000 in trash trucks; and another $100,000 in workers’ compensation.”
When it comes to professional management, Almond noted he, with help from colleagues, introduced “zero-based budgeting,” which requires a needs assessment to be completed for any and all spending proposals.
“We practice extremely responsible fiscal management; we follow best practical purchasing, saving over $300,000, and we’ve maintained a general surplus of eight percent of our total budget,” he said. “In addition, we’ve restricted over $2 million in open space and capital reserves, and we did that having to make up $347,000 in state funding cuts.”
During his tenure, Almond has co-founded a coalition of communities with a primary objective to contest the inequitable share of state aid to education. He said Lincoln only received 15 percent of its school funding from the state, though it was double that just 10 years ago.
“That’s had a significant impact on the taxpayers,” he mentioned. “The coalition fought a proposal this year for a new fundamental formula that would’ve continued the status quo … We’ve also tackled health-care costs, coming together to address those rising costs. We created a collaborative purchasing corporation, and Lincoln saw a decrease in administrative fees from $90 a month to $38.
“We also saw the first regional mayoral academy win approval in Rhode Island,” he added. “It’s proposed to be built in Cumberland, and to serve the communities of Lincoln, Central Falls, Pawtucket and Cumberland. The idea is to create healthy competition in education to benefit our students. And, as a coalition, we voiced our opposition to the mid-year cuts in state aid to education, and also general revenue sharing.”
Should he win re-election, Almond maintained he would continue to support the new senior center, Manville Park improvements, etc.
“We’ve got such positive momentum in town,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of the fact that the (town) has been recognized for two straight years by nationally-recognized magazines as a premier place to live. In 2007, we were named the 60th best community in which to live in the entire United States by Money Magazine, and, in April, we were named the 63rd best community in which to live and launch a new business by Fortune/Small Business.
“For me, as a sitting administrator, I think I have -- we have -- had a great first term,” he continued. “The council and all of our elected officials share in this credit … I just want to run an informational campaign based on the numbers. If a candidate elects to make false claims, then I will respond accordingly. I also would gladly debate anyone, and I welcome scrutiny of my record.”