Mar. 13rd Charlestown Town Council Meeting Report

Lots of cheers and jeers on commission and committee appointments, plus cleaning up the financial management mess

Left to right: Susan Cooper, Rippy Serra Deb Carney, Grace Klinger and Stephen Stokes

Content from Charlestown Residents United

Main topics:

• ·       Committee and Commission appointments.
• ·       Food trucks in Ninigret Park.
• ·       No action on controversial proposed Chariho Schools tri-town subcommittee
• ·       Unexplained bill from our auditing firm.

Our preview of this meeting was published here.

The agenda packet for this meeting is here. The video for the meeting can be viewed here.

Of the 10 applicants for the Charter Revision Committee, the following 7 were appointed: Catherine E. Graziano, Margaret L. Hogan, Anne K. Mulhall, Lorna M. Persson, Laura A. Rom, Evelyn J. Smith, and Stephen C. Stolle. The Council appointed Catherine Graziano as the Chair. These 3 were not appointed: Walter B. (Peter) Mahony III, Craig T. Marr, and Bonnita B. Van Slyke.

Of the 5 applicants for the Ordinance Revision Ad Hoc Committee, the following 2 were appointed: William A. Coulter and Lewis E. Johnson. These 3 were not appointed: Michael J. Chambers, Brett C. Lill, and Bonnita B. Van Slyke.

Of the 5 applicants for the Parks and Recreation Commission, the following 2 were appointed: Frank D. Glista and Timothy E. Quillen. These 3 were not appointed: Melanie H. Champion, Sarah Ray Fletcher, and Walter B. (Peter) Mahony III.

Note that the Council has requested an updated Ninigret Park Master Plan, an important document for the Town's future, from the Parks and Recreation Commission.

Of the 16 applicants (Donna Green added after the agenda packet was compiled) for the Town Administrator Search Ad Hoc Committee, the following 9 were appointed: Paula A. Andersen, Thomas A. Cahir, Lisa A. DiBello, Colleen M. Dickson, Elizabeth A. Ennis, Louan B. Lyons, John F. Pacheco III, Ronald H. Russo, and Timothy A. Stasiunas. These 6 were not appointed: Ronald Areglado, Glenn A. Babcock, William A. Coulter, Donna Green, Michael Recht, Richard J. Sartor, and Stephen C. Stolle.

The new Town financial auditor, Marcum LLP, presented the audit for the year ending June 30, 2022. There was considerable discussion about the report, most notably developing actions to mitigate issues. The auditing firm also noted several areas of material weaknesses. 

There were also a significant number of restatements, changes made during the audit, in this year's audit. The complete audit report is available starting here. The Material Weaknesses section starts here. The statements are listed here.

The spring 2023 roadside litter pickup day was scheduled for April 22 from 8 am until 4 pm.

The Westerly Sun recently reported (here) on a "tri-town subcommittee" to discuss "unfunded mandates and other areas of mutual interest" regarding the Chariho School District. Council President Carney described to the Council, her opinions on this "subcommittee" - that if it is formed it be handled like other public meetings and that it cannot dictate things to the legally separate Chariho School District. Councilor Cooper gave her opinion that this is "not a good use of Town Council time." 

School Committee members Andrew McQuaid and Donna Chambers spoke to express concern about the motivations of some of the people organizing this subcommittee and urged our Town Council to be cautious in our participation. Our Town Council decided to take no action at this time, pending better definition of the group and the support of the Chariho School Committee. No vote was taken.

The Council approved two Ninigret Park Food Truck Nights for May 4 and June 29, 2023 from 5 pm until sunset. They will include live music and beer and wine. The location will be near the playground and gazebo near Little Nini Pond. They hope to have 10 to 18 food trucks on site for each event.

There was considerable discussion about the fee to be paid. The organizer stated that the trucks would be in one stated area of the park but he expected people to wander among other areas; so he listed four areas of the park. 

But according to Councilor Stokes, if the application claimed more than 500 people, one interpretation of the fee calculation would have it dropping from $800 to $350 for the larger event.

There were numerous other questions from those in attendance, that we don't normally see asked before the Town Council about other proposed events, such as insurance coverage, compliance with alcohol serving rules, whether an alcohol corral is needed, whether there will be proper handicapped parking, whether U.S. Fish and Wildlife have agreed to it, exactly where the live entertainment will be placed, ...

After this discussion, the Council approved the events unanimously.

The Council discussed a bill for an additional $30,410 from our financial auditors, Marcum LLP, at the February 13 Council meeting. That has now increased to a total of $55,992.07 in addition to the $69,500 originally quoted as the "all-inclusive maximum price" in the bid documentation. 

The Town has asked, several times, for information to substantiate the additional fees that are noted on the bill as "out of scope" and the Town has requested documentation for the authorization of those additional charges, as required in the contract, with little response. (The representative from Marcum LLP left the meeting before this agenda item.) 

A point was raised and discussed - that the contract, signed by the former Town Administrator, states that any litigation related to the contract will take place in New York.

The Council voted unanimously to direct the Town solicitor to attempt to receive more information and negotiate reduced fees for the outstanding bill with Marcum LLP. The Council also voted to continue this agenda item to the March 27, 2023 Town Council meeting.

The Council unanimously voted to continue not having agenda-setting meetings, judging the current procedure as working well. The Town Council 2023 meeting calendar was modified accordingly.

The second Town Council meeting in March will be on March 27 at 7 pm.

The Chariho School District Financial Referendum will be held on Tuesday, April 4, from 8 am until 8 pm. All voting will be in the Town Hall Council Chambers.

CCA rhetoric versus reality

Politics makes strange bedfellows

 
By Neniu Sciu

A recent exchange of letters to the Westerly Sun debated whether the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) had endorsed (or maybe just “endorsed”) the opponents of our two incumbent legislators, Donna Walsh, whose House district includes all of Charlestown, and Cathie Cool Rumsey, senator for the northern half of Charlestown, both of whom happen to be Democrats and both of whom failed to win reelection.[1]

Granted, apart from the fact that the CCA would endorse a turnip if it were running against Donna, Blake Filippi seemed like an odd choice for the CCA to endorse. After all, his motto is “Don’t Tread on Me” and theirs is more like “We tread on everyone.” Under the rule of Planning Commissar Ruth Platner (CCA-Martha Stewart Living), the town has passed excruciatingly detailed ordinances that regulate everything down to the color of switchplates on outdoor electrical outlets and the color and depth of mulch. 

These ordinances generally accomplish very little other than to drive businesses away, set neighbor against neighbor (since ordinances are generally “complaint driven,” meaning the town doesn’t actively enforce them and, instead, merely responds to citizen complaints), and put the personal preferences/phobias of CCA acolytes on full display.

Yet oddly enough, regulating mines had somehow escaped the CCA’s attention until the folks near the Copar quarry started complaining about noise and dust. And even then the CCA town council majority tried to claim that Charlestown’s quarry owners were all good actors and there was no need for the town to take action, since Copar is in Westerly and is therefore Westerly’s problem.

Till, of course, election season rolled around, and suddenly, crass opportunists that they are, the CCA was vowing to take action. Heavy on the “vowing,” light on the “action.”

Lame Duck’s last quack, phoniness is not illegal and other Charlestown news bits

Charlestown Tapas

By Will Collette

Town Council meets on Monday for lame-duck session

Count on Joe Quadrato to light the way

The Charlestown Town Council holds its final session before giving way to the new all-CCA Party Council members who were elected on November 4. This will be farewell to Councilors Paula Andersen (D), Lisa DiBello and CCA’s Dan Slattery.

The agenda for this upcoming meeting is fairly light. One of the “highlights” will be for the Council to complete the CCA Party take-over of the Zoning Board of Review through the expected appointment of Joe “Bright Lights” Quadrato as a full member of the Zoning Board of Review. 

Quadrato is a member of the CCA Party Steering Committee and one of their major money fund-raisers, according to sources.

As part of my announced pull-back[1] from Charlestown politics, I plan to put less effort into covering the Town Council. Not much point, since the Charlestown Citizens Alliance now holds every elected position in Charlestown and all the levers of power. They can do any damned foolish thing they want with no one in Charlestown to stop them. RI Superior Court is going to get a whole lot busier.

You can look up the agenda for yourself on Clerkbase.

Filippi claim that his “RI Liberty Coalition” was a fake organization is upheld

Filippi - phony or fanatic? Both?

The RI Ethics Commission dismissed my complaint against State Representative-elect Blake Filippi (or is that Fake Bilippi?) that he failed to list his directorship of the extremist Tenther group, the RI Liberty Coalition, on his ethics disclosure form.

After I filed my complaint, Filippi’s principal defense was that the RI Liberty Coalition was not actually an organization since it only consisted of himself. This is similar to the way that Chariho School Committee member-elect Ron Areglado carries a non-existent organization, the Center for Ethical and Moral Leadership, on his resume.

It is not against the law for a candidate to make up phony organizations and not a legal requirement to report these fake organizations on official reports, such as the annual financial disclosure form. Accordingly, the Ethics Commission ruled that the RI Liberty Coalition was not a “business entity” (non-profit or otherwise) under the meaning of the Act. Click here to read their decision letter.

There's just so much about this guy that doesn't check out - where he really lives and why he gives so many different addresses, his radical connections, his opposition to Social Security and environmental regulation based on his Tenth Amendment beliefs (yet he pretends to care about the Copar quarry victims and about taxes on retirees), his company's labor law violations. I am wondering if it's time to start asking him to crack out his birth certificate.

Quarries on the move in Westerly

Election pre-reflection

History helps

By Will Collette

Tomorrow, America goes to the polls. I hope all Progressive Charlestown readers will do their civic duty and cast their ballots. Though no one is forcing you to vote, you should do it because it is both a right and a responsibility of citizenship and because, believe it or not, it makes a difference.

In 2012, only after every ballot was counted did we learn that Democrat Paula Andersen actually won the Charlestown Town Council vice-president position, rather than simply being a back-bencher. A lot of elections in Rhode Island – almost all of the state offices, for example – are expected to be very close. 

The Providence Journal has reported that requests for mail ballots are up 26% statewide over the number requested in 2010, and because the process for counting them is laborious, the results of some races may not be known until after Election Day.

Very aggressive, well-funded Republicans are trying to decimate South County’s outstanding roster of state legislators. Representatives Donna Walsh, Teresa Tanzi and Larry Valencia, plus Senator Cathie Cool Rumsey, are all facing big-money attacks, all sounding pretty much the same, that blame these conscientious legislators for just about every imaginable crime except the Kennedy assassination. 

Election Summary

The List

By Will Collette

Charlestown voters won’t have to deal with local ballot questions calling for Charter changes (amen). CCA Party-aligned CRACers[1] pushed a collection of ill-conceived measures in 2012 and then they mostly went on to take patronage positions in the CCA Party town government. But for 2014, no charter changes this year.

The CCA Party has nominees for every open elected office in Charlestown – five for Council, five for Planning Commission, two for Chariho School Committee and one for Town Moderator.

Town Democrats have fielded three endorsed Democrats for Town Council – Paula Andersen who is running for a second term, Brandon Cleary who was elected to Planning in 2012 but is now running for Council and Ron Russo. Henry Walsh is defending his position as Town Moderator.

For the first time in a long time, you won’t see Jim Mageau or CCA Party Council member Dan Slattery on the ballot. Councilor Lisa DiBello cancelled her re-election campaign after receiving a $450,000 pay-out from the town. However, she is still on the ballot[2]. It will be interesting to see what she decides to do if she comes in among the Top Five.

Beware of false independents

A check of 'independent' candidates' backing

Letter to the Editor
By Suzanne Ferrio

In-de-pend-dent - not dependent: as not subject to control by others, not affiliated with a larger controlling unit, not requiring or relying on something else, not looking to others for one's opinions or for guidance in conduct, not bound by or committed to a political party (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

In the upcoming Charlestown local election, there are nine candidates on the ballot who will be listed as Independent. There is only one candidate who fits the definition as stated above: Craig Louzon, who is running his campaign with his own opinions and financing.

The claim by Charlestown Citizens Alliance that their candidates are true "independent candidates" is questionable and misleading when you consider the following:

• They are all endorsed by one political group - Charlestown Citizens Alliance 

• They campaign under a unified platform - Charlestown Citizens Alliance 

• They campaign as united candidates - Charlestown Citizens Alliance 

• 100 percent campaign financing by one entity - Charlestown Citizens Alliance 

• 60 percent out-of-state financing - Charlestown Citizens Alliance 

Charlestown Citizens Alliance is not an officially-recognized political party; they are a registered Political Action Committee or PAC whose sole purpose, by definition, is to raise money for special interest groups. 

If their candidates are truly independent, why is it not a single one has offered their own platform, sent out their own campaign material or secured any individual funding?

With Charlestown Citizens Alliance providing everything for their campaign, how can their candidates claim to be independent? More importantly, can they be trusted to be "independent" if elected?

Your vote is important. Vote on Nov. 4 and please support Paula Andersen, Brandon Cleary, and Ron Russo for Town Council, Henry Walsh for Town Moderator and Craig Louzon for School Committee.

This Letter to the Editor was submitted to The Westerly Sun, The Chariho Times and Progressive Charlestown.

How the CCA Party won the 2012 election

Understanding the Charlestown Citizens Alliance, Part 2

By Will Collette

Click here for Part 1

Prepare yourself for a deluge of CCA Party lies and fear-mongering
For more cartoons by Joel Heller, click here

After the Charlestown Democrats failed to wrest control of Charlestown town government from the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) in 2012 despite a good slate and effective fund-raising, I spent a good deal of time thinking about how the CCA Party did it.

Town Democrats ran three candidates for Town Council and four candidates for the Planning Commission and managed to get one candidate elected for each body – Paula Andersen for Council and Brandon Cleary for Planning. 2012 was the first time since 2004 that Charlestown Democrats ran a serious endorsed slate (the Mageau slate in 2006 were not endorsed).

Rep. Donna Walsh was the town’s top vote-getter (2547 Charlestown votes), swamping her two Charlestown-based opponents Tina Jackson and Kevin Prescott, although it helped that both had extensive criminal records.

Charlestown went heavily for Cathie Cool Rumsey, helping her to defeat incumbent Republican Senator Frank Maher. Charlestown voted by large margins for President Obama, Senator Whitehouse and Congressman Langevin.

Democratic votes were great in three out of Charlestown’s four electoral precincts, where Paula Andersen, Donna Walsh, Cathie Cool Rumsey, President Obama, Sen. Whitehouse and Rep. Langevin won by good to excellent margins. 

Only Precinct Three which includes Charlestown’s wealthiest neighborhoods (East & West Beach, Quonochontaug, Shady Harbor, etc.) was a glaring weak spot for the Democrats. Ironically, Cathy and I live in the third precinct.

Looking strictly at the numbers, it was like that crass old joke about the Lincoln Assassination (“Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?”) because in the end, the CCA Party still firmly controlled all the levers of power in Charlestown. 

If you analyze the Charlestown elections in 2008, 2010 and 2012, you can pretty much figure out how the CCA Party plans to win in 2014 – through lots of out-of-state money, fear-mongering and lies, and an effective get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort, especially in Precinct #3.

Rep. Langevin hosts working lunch in Charlestown

Stop in Charlestown was part of "RI in Business" tour to promote and highlight economic growth
By Will Collette

Left to right: Rep. Donna Walsh, Breachway Grill owner Craig Marr, Rep. Jim Langevine, Charlestown Town Council Vice-President Paula Andersen (photo by Will Collette)

On his South County swing during his week-long visit to Rhode Island businesses, Rep. Jim Langevin hosted a working lunch at popular local restaurant, the Breachway Grill.

The Congressman met with local business people and leaders to discuss what Rhode Island needs to promote job growth and small business development. In South County, tourism and the hospitality industry generate a tremendous amount of business activity.

Rep. Langevin said,

Pell earns progressive support

Clay Pells wins RIPDA endorsement

By Bob Plain in Rhode Island’s Future

Clay with CDTC member Ginger Glander and Charlestown Town
Council Vice-President Paula Andersen

The Rhode Island Progressive Democrats announced today they are endorsing Clay Pell in his upstart bid to beat both Angel Taveras and Gina Raimondo in the Democratic primary for governor.

“It was abundantly clear to the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats that Clay Pell is the progressive choice for governor in the Democratic primary, said RIPDA State Coordinator Sam Bell in an email from the Pell campaign.

“From his strong commitment to public education and educators, his opposition cutting a property tax relief program for low-income Rhode Islanders in order to raise the estate tax exemption for the wealthiest in our state, and his call to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 immediately, Clay is the candidate who has consistently stood on the side of working Rhode Islanders and embodied our progressive values,” Bell said. 

“We were also impressed by his comprehensive plan to revive our struggling economy through investment – with his Infrastructure Replacement and Rehabilitation program, his commitment to Health Source RI, and his belief that state government can be a force for good in the lives of Rhode Islanders.”

UPDATED: Charlestown Citizens Alliance stacks the deck at Zoning

Sets course that will greatly boost lawsuits against the town

In this case, 49 minutes. For more cartoons
by P.S. Mueller, click here.

By Will Collette

The Charlestown Town Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday night, and as predicted here and in Frank Glista’s letter to the Sun, continued its partisan purge of the Zoning Board of Review (ZBR), replacing old members with new, CCA Party loyalists.

This matter took up most of the very short August 12 meeting, It is well worth your time to watch and listen to this segment of the meeting on Clerkbase (click here and hope for the best).

The Town Council majority consists of three die-hard CCA Partiers led by Council Boss Tom Gentz, his sidekick Dan Slattery and George Tremblay. In recent months, they have used their majority status to oust two long-serving ZBR members William Meyer and Richard Frank and to appoint CCA Party loyalists Mike Chambers, Cliff Vanover and now Joe Quadrato to the Zoning Board.

Dick Frank purged from the Zoning Board by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance

Second board member ousted as CCA stacks Zoning with CCA loyalists

The CCA Party will tolerate no deviation from their party line

By Will Collette

Long-serving member of the Charlestown Zoning Board of Review (ZBR) Richard Frank, husband of former Town Council member Marge Frank, learned at the July 17 Town Council meeting that despite his long and faithful service to town and his willingness to serve another term, he was being kicked off the ZBR.

Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) Council hit man Dan Slattery made the announcement during the usually routine portion of the town council agenda for re-appointment of volunteer commissioners who wish to be re-appointed, that he stood against Dick Frank’s re-appointment and his two CCA Party colleagues, Council Boss Tom Gentz and George Tremblay, nodded to indicate that a majority wanted to purge Frank.

VIDEO: New border regulations for Charlestown

Town Councilor Dan Slattery sets out “protocol” for visits to Charlestown by outside government officials

By Will Collette

Our new color-coordinated Town Council. 
Screen shot - the video is so much improved that 
even screen shots look good

When the Charlestown Town Council met in its newly refurbished chambers on July 17, we got to see how pretty that room can be. Plus, the Clerkbase-delivered sound and video is vastly improved. 

It looked to me like all five Town Council members decided to mark the occasion by color coordinating. The three Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) boys, Boss Tom Gentz and his cohorts Dan Slattery and George Tremblay, all wore matching blue shirts. The two Council women, Paula Andersen and Lisa DiBello, wore pink. They sat boy-girl-boy-girl-boy. See photo to the upper left.

Despite the much improved visuals and sound system, a lot of the content was the same. There was more in the on-going saga of the Churchwoods senior citizens housing project, although for once, there was some great news (details here). 

There were was the outrageous purge of Zoning Board member Richard Frank and more pointless blathering about the bogus threat posed by Charlestown’s partners in the Chariho School District (the dreaded STD issue). I’ll cover those issues separately.

Today, let’s look at another issue that was revisited at the last Council meeting, the sales contract by the state Water Resources Board with the Glista family to buy a parcel of undeveloped land to hold in reserve for open space and potential future use as a source of clean water. For truly amazing reasons, the CCA Boys on the Town Council are trying to monkey-wrench this deal.

Single Taxing District: Threat or Hoax?

Or paranoid CCA Party boogeyman?

By Will Collette

By now, every household in Charlestown should have received a “Special” edition of the Pipeline, the town’s official newsletter. Its production, printing and mailing has been paid for by your tax dollars.

You may be scratching your head wondering what this “Single Taxing District” threat is really all about – and if it’s for real. To save time, let’s call this “Single Taxing District” an “STD” for short, especially since the mailer depicts it to be about as welcome as gonorrhea.

You are right to wonder what this STD threat is really all about because the mailer does a terrible job of explaining what it is. But more importantly, it doesn’t say what the odds are of getting this STD or how you catch it. It also doesn’t say who is responsible for it – it simply makes the vague statement that “suggestions have been made” but not who made them.

The mailer makes it seem like poor little Charlestown was just walking down the road to one of the Chariho Schools, minding its own business, when it got jumped by two bullies, Richmond and Hopkinton, who then stole its lunch money. A very sad story, if only it was true.

Election 2014: Who's in, who's out

Tallies of nomination papers almost complete
By Will Collette


After candidates declare their intention to run for office, the next crucial step is to collect enough signatures - a minimum of 50 - of registered voters on their nomination papers to qualify to appear on the ballot.

There will not be any local candidates on the September 9 primary ballot even though this year's Democratic primary features hot contests for the offices of Governor, General Treasurer, Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor.

Signature counts have been slowly going up on the Secretary of State's website as the names have been verified by the Charlestown Board of Canvassers.

The current count shows that all declared candidates for Charlestown Town Council, Planning Commission, Moderator, and Chariho School Committee have turned in at least the minimum number of required signatures to go on to the General Election.

Here's how the field shapes up.

UPDATED: What’s next for effort to regulate quarries?

How long will the comedy of errors continue?

Well water from the home of one of Copar's victims

By Will Collette

UPDATED: Old quarries kill. Today, Milford, MA rescuers report recovering the body of 18-year old Nenton Dahn of Providence, RI who drowned in the Fletcher Quarry on Sunday. Dozens of people die in old mines every year.

Breaking news: As I prepare this article to run tonight, an e-mail bulletin came in from WJAR Channel Ten that rescue crews are searching for a Providence teenager who may have drowned. He went with his friends to swim in the Fletcher Quarry in Milford, MA. One of the main reasons why quarries must be regulated is to ensure they are reclaimed. Each year, dozens of young people die in quarries. It's just dumb luck this hasn't happened in Charlestown recently.

* * * * *

On June 20, the Charlestown Town Council held a Special Meeting with only one item on the agenda. That was to consider whether to approve a word change in proposed legislation being considered by the General Assembly to give Charlestown the authority to regulate mining activity.

Instead of “excavation,” a word that several key legislators considered to be too broad, the idea was to substitute “material extraction” in its place. To me, “mining” would have been clearer and made more sense than “material extraction,” but Charlestown loves to over-reach.

That June 20 meeting was being held on the very last day of the General Assembly session. Not only did the Council need to hold its meeting and then vote to approve changing the word, they also had to get that resolution up to Providence and into the legislative meat-grinder before adjournment. 

It was simply impossible. But worse, the Council members, particularly Town Council Boss Tom Gentz (CCA Party), knew that it was impossible, knew that this meeting was an exercise in futility, but they put on the show anyway.