Pinch Announces Retirement

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

June 9th 2025

RICHMOND – After serving 10 years as the Town Administrator, Karen Pinch is retiring.

In her June 6 letter of resignation, Pinch said that the terms of her contract require that she give the town 60 days’ notice, and that until the end of that two-month period, she would help with the transition.

With her husband, Steven, who retired last year from Narragansett High School where he was a guidance counselor, (he still serves as Chief of the Union Fire District of South Kingstown) Pinch said she began to think of retiring herself and spending more days at her happy place, the beach.

“It’s been in my head for years, but it just got to the point where Steve had retired and I was still here and, I won’t lie, that summer weather doesn’t hurt either,” she said. “I’m a beach girl. So, it was a bunch of stuff. It wasn’t any one thing.”

At 58, Pinch has had two demanding and successful careers, the first in the Rhode Island State Police, where she spent more than two decades, rose to the Lieutenant Colonel and was the first woman on the Command Staff.

Pinch retired from her state police position with extensive administrative experience, which she brought to Richmond when she became Town Administrator in 2015.

Chief of Police Elwood Johnson, who also served in the Rhode Island State Police before coming to Richmond, said he had always enjoyed working with Pinch.

“I knew her then and I know her now,” he said. “She’s just a wonderful person to work with.”

In addition to managing the town staff, Pinch’s duties include negotiating contracts for unionized employees, preparing the annual and capital town budgets and applying for grants.

Pinch said that being awarded a large grant from former Congressman James Langevin for the town’s new recreation pavilion is a recent highlight of her time in Richmond.

“I’m proud of the grant funding that I got from Congressman Langevin to do the 4 Richmond Townhouse. $578,000, I think, was a pretty big deal.,” she said.

A recent disappointment was the voters’ rejection of the proposed municipal budget, which included 3% raises for town staff.

In her resignation letter, Pinch said the low salaries in Richmond had led many employees to leave.

“The last several years have brought many challenges,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, some of those challenges have caused many good people to leave our employment.”

In an interview Monday, she elaborated.

“I think it’s disheartening to the staff to feel under-appreciated, knowing that their hourly rates of pay are less than comparable towns,” she said. “I wasn’t comparing them to Providence and Cranston, I was comparing them to towns that have a population within 2,000, North or South of Richmond. And we were comparing hourly rates, not annual salary, so it was apples to apples, contrary to what some people are saying.”

Councilors React

“I was very disappointed to hear her resignation,” Town Council President Samantha Wilcox said. “As I meet new people throughout the state, she’s one of the first names that people either ask about or compliment from the reputation she has in our town. She’s very well-respected.”

Council Vice President Mark Reynolds said he understood why Pinch was ready to retire.

“I wasn’t expecting it, but it certainly makes sense for her, based upon her life circumstances,” he said.

Councilor Dan Madnick said he had known Pinch since he was appointed to the Planning Board in 2019.

“I have nothing but respect and admiration for how she has handled the position and how she has worked extremely hard for this town,” he said.

The Transition

The Town Council now has just a couple of months to search for, interview and hire Pinch’s replacement.

Wilcox said the search would begin immediately.

“We should, as soon as we can,” she said. “There’s a procedure laid out in our charter, what we need to do. We need to have a search committee formed that will give council at least two recommendations, and council will go from there.”

Reynolds said the council could appoint an interim administrator as the search continues.

“We also have the option of appointing someone as an interim and then, while we conduct a search, just to give us a little bit more time, so we don’t feel rushed into it,” he said.

Madnick said he was concerned about the institutional knowledge Pinch will take with her when she leaves.

“With a 60-day transition time, and in that time, we‘re going to have to create a committee, put out requests for qualifications, interview and then pick someone,” he said. “There’s very little time to transfer knowledge from the outgoing administrator to the incoming administrator, and that’s going to be at the detriment of the town.”

Parting Words for Pinch

Wilcox: “ I’m really excited for her. People work too much and too long, and she deserves a good retirement.”

Reynolds: “She was well-liked, well-respected, and did what needed to be done, that some folks who were employed didn’t like at the time, but everybody respects her and they clearly feel loyalty to her.”

Madnick: “All too often, I would drive by the Town Hall and see her vehicle parked outside long after working hours were past. I always found her friendly, approachable, and most importantly, a very good listener.”

Johnson: “She never loses her cool. She’s respected statewide.”

The council is expected to discuss the formation of a search committee at the June 17 meeting.