NBC 10 I-Team: Stenhouse resigns after dressing man as woman to improve event optics

A bizarre stunt has the head of a city agency in Cranston out of a job.

Sue Stenhouse, the executive director of the Senior Enrichment Center, recently parted ways with the city following an incident at a press conference at which a male bus driver was dressed up as an elderly woman.

NBC 10 News covered the press conference last week at the Cranston Senior Center. Sources told the I-Team that the bus driver for the senior center masqueraded as a woman to make it look good for the media.

Video and pictures from the Jan. 5 press conference show the man standing next to Stenhouse and Mayor Allan Fung.

The man was wearing a dress, earrings, lipstick, a wig, as well as a tag that read, "Cranston Senior Home Resident."

Fung's office told NBC 10 that Stenhouse resigned and that they cannot comment on personnel matters.

When NBC 10 visited Stenhouse's Warwick home Wednesday evening, she at first told a reporter to go away.

Then, she opened her door and exchanged a few words with NBC 10.

"I've been in a meeting all night being a great public servant for the city of Warwick," Stenhouse said. "Now, I get this (expletive.) And you guys did not reach out to me. And that was a big lie on the news."

Stenhouse was complaining about NBC 10's original story that aired on the 6 p.m. news. She claimed the station did not contact her beforehand.

NBC 10 maintains it reached out to Stenhouse ahead of the broadcast and she knew the story would be airing.

Stenhouse, who earned $54,491 per year as director, has been an active player in Rhode Island politics for many years.

She served as a councilwoman in Warwick for seven years and had an unsuccessful run to be secretary of state in 2006.

Before she became executive director of Senior Services in Cranston in 2013, she worked at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce for two years. Prior to that, she was the Director of Community Relations for the governor's office for eight years.