Longtime business leader David Soucy announces bid for City Council
Past owner of Soucy Insurance eyes more civic involvement
WOONSOCKET – With two mayors in the family, David Soucy has long felt a calling for elective office, but he is also a practical man.
The longtime owner of the Soucy Insurance Agency worried that a seat in local government could put him in a position of making decisions that could alienate potential customers. So, for many years, he resisted the impulse to seek elective office.
But all that changed recently when Soucy sold his namesake company, paving the way for this announcement on Monday: The 57-year-old businessman and civic booster is running for a seat on the City Council.
“I am proud to have supported our great community through the years,” said Soucy. “Now I feel it is time for me to get more involved in helping to enhance the city my family has called home for generations. I believe I can serve Woonsocket best as a member of the city council, working with the mayor and other council members to help the city reach its highest potential.”
Soucy says he hopes to be a force for consensus on the
council, helping end a period of conflict and stagnation that have marked the legislative body’s relationship with the administration of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt.
His greatest concern, he says, is that the lack of cooperation between the council and the administration has resulted in missed opportunities for economic development.
He says sitting officials ought to be able to set aside personal animus to work in the public interest.
“We want to make sure we don’t miss the boat,” says Soucy. “Even if we don’t like each other, we can’t miss opportunities. We don’t want to get left behind. We’ve been left behind for far too long.”
Soucy is the grandson of the late Mayor Adelard L. Soucy, who was first elected to that office in 1918 and served four terms. A first-generation French-Canadian who was born in Manville, Adelard Soucy founded the family insurance agency in 1914 and, prior to being elected mayor, had represented Woonsocket in the General Assembly as a member of the House.
Years later, one of Adelard Sou- cy’s three sons, Jean Paul Soucy, was also elected mayor. He served just one term, but accomplished something that seasoned pundits thought was next to impossible, namely, defeating an incumbent many viewed as part of a powerful, Democratic machine – the late Mayor Kevin K. Coleman. The second Mayor Soucy was elected in 1957, but served just two years, after Coleman returned to reclaim the mantle.
Though it’s a safe bet that more than one of the incumbents on the council will run for re-election. David Soucy is the first newcomer to announce his intentions to run for a seat on the seven-member panel.
The announcement comes a week before the opening of the official declaration period, when candidates for all elective offices must file formal papers with the Board of Canvassers at City Hall – the first step in securing a spot on the ballot of the general election. The declaration period lasts just three days, June 25-27.
Though he has never held elective office before, David Soucy has a long record of civic engagement and philanthropy that dates back many years. The Community Care Alliance, Connecting for Children & Families, Beacon Charter School, NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, the Northern Rhode Island Council for the Arts and Autumnfest are among the beneficiaries of his charitable efforts.
He is also a founding board member of the Stadium Theatre Foundation and continues to support the theater. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Francis L. Lanctot Award, presented by the Stadium Theatre Foundation to honor a individual’s ongoing contributions and involvement with the theater.
With a commitment to safeguarding the city’s cultural heritage, Soucy is also a founding board member of the Museum of Work & Culture Preservation Foundation, serving as president for three years.
Soucy currently serves as the Rhode Island representative on the board of directors for the Milford Federal Savings and Loan Association. He been a member of the Woonsocket Rotary Club for 28 years and is a former president of the organization. In 2009, the Autumnfest Steering Committee made him the grand marshal of the annual parade.
In addition, he’s served local government in various appointive capacities, holding positions on the Planning Board and the Harris Library
Board of Directors. He’s also served on the YMCA board, the Mount Saint Charles Academy governing board and the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. The chamber’s directors honored him earlier this year as the 2018 recipient of the Ben Mondor Community Service Award,
Though he still holds the title of company president, Soucy Insurance Agency was acquired several months ago by Ken Thompson, who owns the Thompson Insurance Agency in East Providence, according to Soucy. Other than a change in ownership, Soucy says very little has changed at the agency, where he began working in 1983.
A Woonsocket High School graduate, Soucy received his bachelors in management from Rhode Island College and lives at 356 Woodland Road with his wife, the former Charlene Noel. They have two sons, Spencer, 24, and Peter, 21, both graduates from Mount Saint Charles Academy. Spencer also graduated from University of Rhode Island and Peter is in the undergraduate program at Hofstra University in New York.