Lisa Baldelli-Hunt

Lisa Baldelli-Hunt (born June 13, 1962) is an American politician and former Mayor of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Baldelli-Hunt lives in Woonsocket, Rhode Island with her husband and family.

She went to Bryant College and was involved with the commercial real estate business.

Baldelli-Hunt also worked for the United States Postal Service.

Baldelli-Hunt is a member of the Democratic Party.

Baldelli-Hunt's nephew is current Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.

Her uncle is former mayor of Woonsocket, Charles C. Baldelli who served from 1985-1989.

Baldelli-Hunt was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives for District 49 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in 2006.

She served from 2007–2013.

In 2010, Baldelli-Hunt opposed a Rhode Island bill that allowed same-sex and unmarried couples the right to plan the funerals of their late partners.

In 2011, Baldelli-Hunt proposed a law that would allow local police to place signs at the homes of people in the sex offender registry.

The bill failed to get out of the committee stage.

Baldelli-Hunt told GoLocalProv regarding people in the sex offender registry, “I’m not interested in their rights or protecting them.

I have no concern for them because they are the worst of the worst.” Baldelli-Hunt proposed the law hoping it would goad registered people into moving out of the state.

“It’s not our responsibility to be concerned with how other states handle their sex offenders,” Baldelli-Hunt said.

In 2013, Baldelli-Hunt was elected as mayor of Woonsocket, beating incumbent mayor Leo T. Fontaine.

She was the second female mayor in the city's history.

Baldelli-Hunt served until October 6, 2022, when she was removed from office by the Woonsocket City Council.

Council President Daniel Grendon was immediately sworn in as interim mayor.

Baldelli-Hunt ran unopposed in the Woonsocket mayoral elections and again won mayorship on November 9, 2022 for a fifth term with 76% of the vote.

Baldelli-Hunt stated that she had plans to revise the charter of the city of Woonsocket to prevent the City Council from removing mayors from office.

In 2013, Baldelli-Hunt voted against a bill allowing same-sex couples to get married in Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island House of Representatives approved the measure in a 51-19 vote.

Baldelli-Hunt was one of three Woonsocket politicians who opposed the bill, along with Stephen Casey and Robert Phillips.

In 2015, Baldelli-Hunt agreed to pay a $750 civil penalty for violating the state ethics code by hiring her son and teammates on his baseball team for unadvertised summer jobs.

In August 2018, The Woonsocket Teachers’ Guild declined all contract proposals from Baldelli-Hunt’s negotiation team.

This prompted a work-to-rule order when the school year began, where teachers only worked during school hours and did not offer after-school activities or tutoring to students.

For the next year, teachers followed the order and students were denied access to additional supports.

2018 was the first year in three decades that Woonsocket teachers began the school year without a contract.

The Teachers’ Guild claimed Woonsocket teachers were among the lowest paid teachers in Rhode Island.

They said in nine years they had only received a 2% raise.

In September 2018 teachers, paraprofessionals, and their supporters engaged in a demonstration staged at Baldelli-Hunt’s campaign event.

In November 2018, school workers were accused of participating in a sick-out, after 200 educators called out sick, leading to classes being canceled.

In May 2019, a contract was finally approved.

The new contract included a “$7.1 million increase in total salaries paid over three years”, according to School Committee Chairman Paul Bourget.

In November 2019, Baldelli-Hunt objected to New York City's Special One-Time Assistance Program, which helped five formerly homeless families relocate back to Rhode Island communities without advanced warning.

Baldelli-Hunt cited limited resources as her reasoning for opposing the program, and called on local social service agencies to get involved in blocking the moves.

In March 2020, a statement claiming to be from the family of child welfare reform advocate, Nicholas Alahverdian, stated, "the 32-year-old died after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma."

Baldelli-Hunt honored Alahverdian, telling NBC, "he was just always a fine young man, a gentleman, very dedicated to his cause."

In January 2022, the Providence Journal reported Alahverdian was found alive in Scotland, after being hospitalized for COVID-19.