Town Council Meeting - June Part Two Play-by-Play

by Tom Ferrio

This meeting is the continuation of the June 11 meeting. But that doesn't mean it consists of boring left-overs.

It seems that the Council grouped the hottest topics together for their second meeting of the month. Going in to the meeting it feels like this will be the title bout after some warm-up matches.

It's 7 pm and here we go...

PREVIEW: Round Two of the Town Council’s June meeting TONIGHT, June 25

Y-Gate Scandal, Platner’s Power Putsch, CRACers and Town Administrator Search Committee top the bill

By Will Collette

This second June meeting was made necessary because the Town Council grossly overloaded the regular June 11 meeting with so many controversial issues that it was simply impossible to finish that meeting at a reasonable. Even with CCA Town Council Boss Tom Gentz’s effort to bully fellow Council members into considering his two resolutions to fork over $398,000 in town money to the Y-Gate Gang.

At this continuation meeting, Y-Gate will once again be taken up near the end of the agenda, meaning late in the evening, long after the time when our Town Councilors lose their ability to concentrate. 

Business as usual, where Charlestown taxpayers, business owners and residents will get screwed with their pants on by the Town Council majority unless there people once again rally around to stop them.

That was then, this is now

CCA used to be irate about "secret" meetings, even perfectly legal executive sessions. Now they’re fine with them

By Will Collette

There was a time when the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) claimed to be the champion of open, honest, transparent government. After all, this was their rallying cry when they organized to oppose former Town Council President Jim Mageau (2006-2008).

They even continued to trumpet this cause after they won all five Town Council seats in the November 2008 elections.

Here’s an e-bleat the CCA sent out on June 23, 2009 attacking the Affordable Housing Commission for going into executive session to discuss the acquisition of property next to Town Hall which was then being considered for a new affordable housing complex.

Councilor’s sworn statement confirms secret Y-Gate meeting

Town Council members met with Y-Gate players in secret session

Y-Gate - the issue that will not die

By Will Collette

On May 22, I reported on a secret meeting the Town Council had with four key players in the growing Y-Gate Scandal when the Council met in closed, executive session on May 14. 

This session preceded the public decision by the Town Council to remove $475,000 from the Town Budget to pay the Charlestown Land Trust so it could buy the Westerly YMCA’s abandoned campground on Watchaug Pond.

The Council members, most conspicuously Councilor Gregg Avedisian who has been at the heart of Y-Gate from the start, pronounced the Y-Gate deal dead unless it is presented to the voters for their expressed approval.

But apparently a lot more went on behind those closed doors than was publicly revealed because at the June 11 Town Council meeting, CCA Town Council President Boss Tom Gentz attempted to ramrod two resolutions through the Council, one to pay $398,000 in town funds to the Charlestown Land Trust, and the second to draw $200.000 from the town’s Open Space/Recreation Bond.

Both resolutions have been carried over to the Council’s continuation of its June meeting next Monday, June 25.

What, exactly, would Charlestown get for its $398,000 Y-Gate “gift?”

IRS rules, national land trust standards and what the Y-Gate documents really say 

By Will Collette

In a week, on June 25, CCA Town Council President Boss Tom Gentz (left) hopes to get two other Councilors to vote with him to pull off one of the worst heists of Charlestown taxpayer funds in recent years. Yep, I’m talking about the Y-Gate Scandal.

On June 25, Boss Gentz will push a resolution authorizing the payment of $398,000 out of Charlestown’s $2 million Open Space/Recreation bond to the Charlestown Land Trust. The Charlestown Land trust will give Charlestown a “Conservation Easement.” 

Where’s the MONEY???

The Charlestown Land Trust was supposed to raise $368,000 for the Y-Gate deal… Then, they pledged to raise $100,000…So show us the money!

By Will Collette

A Progressive Charlestown reader e-mailed me about Charlestown’s Y-Gate Scandal. He noted that the Charlestown Land Trust had made various pledges to raise private funds for the deal and asked if there has ever been a final tally or accounting of how much the Trust actually raised.

This reader noted that under the current scheme, being heavily pushed by CCA Town Council President Boss Tom Gentz, town taxpayers would pay $398,000 and state taxpayers would pay $367,000 to the Charlestown Land Trust for a worthless conservation easement. That’s a total of $765,000. And that's not counting any of the private money the Land Trust had pledged to kick in.

From that, the Charlestown Land Trust would pay the Westerly YMCA their new, reduced price of $600,000 for the abandoned 27.5 campground on Watchaug Pond, leaving $165,000 extra and unaccounted for.

But, the Charlestown Land Trust had also pledged to raise at least $100,000 in private funds when it requested the town put up $498,000 last February.

“How do you kill a Zombie?”

How do we stop the Y-Gate Zombie from stealing OUR tax dollars?

Y-Gate - the issue that wouldn't die

By Will Collette

Despite an outrageous attempt by CCA Town Council President Boss Tom Gentz to ramrod a vote on Y-Gate at the end of the Town Council's second overtime Monday night, action on Y-Gate has been postponed until June 25th. 

This move was so over the top, that even Gentz's usually reliable cohort, Deputy Dan Slattery said NO to continuing the Council meeting to take up Y-Gate.

Boss Gentz is now out of the closet as the leader in pushing this once dead taxpayer rip-off , now resurrected after a secret May 14 meeting between the Council and the Y-Gate players.

That means there is still time for you to contact the Town Council members to voice your opinion.

Who REALLY owns Ninigret Park?

Confused Consensus, continued

Charlie Vandemoer - "I'm not a lawyer" but here's my
interpretation of the effect of  Goulding's decision

By Will Collette

The definitive answer that came out of the June 11 Town Council meeting was…WE DO. We, the citizens of Charlestown hold two deeds to the property the town manages as Ninigret Park, and those are the two documents that count..

In a long and tense discussion, the clearest answer came near the end when Charlestown Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero noted that the town holds two deeds, one to 172 acres of land for recreational use subject to a use plan approved by the National Park Service and one to 55 acres of land that Charlestown purchased directly from the federal government free and clear for $279,000.

Several earlier speakers, including our very insistent federal overseer, Charlie Vandemoer of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, had insisted that all of Ninigret Park, the 172 acres and the 55 acres, were governed by the 1979 final decision of GSA's Acting Administrator Paul Goulding about the disposition of the land.

June 11 Town Council meeting – your midnight review

The highs and lows of Charlestown’s town government

Elyse LaForest, National Parks Service Federal Lands to Parks Program
speaks at June 11 Town Council meeting

By Will Collette

The Monday June 11 Town Council meeting was, as expected, packed with drama as our deeply divided town and dysfunctional Town Council grappled with several issues that have made Charlestown so dysfunctional.

Despite running almost half an hour overtime, the Council left several big issues to be dealt with at a second June Council meeting, now scheduled for June 25^th.

Three real biggies left over until June 25^th are Ruth Platner’s Power Grab (also known as Ordinance #349), the CRACers’Creation, the seven proposed Charter revision questions and….Charlestown’s new zombie issue, Y-Gate.

Will Charlestown finally come over to the dark side?

Maybe we’ll find out Monday night

By Will Collette

One of the several blockbuster issues on the Town Council agenda for Monday, June 11 is perhaps the final vote on the final version of the long-running saga of the ordinance to preserve Charlestown’s dark skies by regulating lighting on Charlestown properties.

As Progressive Charlestown readers know, I am a big fan of astronomy and truly do love our dark sky vistas. But as this ordinance drama as dragged on, it became pretty clear that we were going about the issue the wrong way.

The Charlestown Planning Commission, under the leadership of Planning Commissar Ruth Platner, followed its usual impulse to try to create the most minutely detailed, invasive and far-reaching ordinance they could think of.

Last talk with the Chief

Council to officially accept Police Chief Jack Shippee’s retirement at Monday night meeting

The Chief HATES having his
picture taken

By Will Collette

When I sat down with Police Chief Jack Shippee a few days ago, he had 23 hours left (but hey, who’s counting?) before the start of his retirement. Just about every passer-by asked the same question, “how much longer, Chief?”

Now that he had more than 30 years of service, including his four years in the Air Force, simple arithmetic drove his decision to retire.

The Chief told me that, in the best interests of his family, it made sense to do it now. Chief Shippee cited changes in the pension system that kick in on July 1, including a five-year look-back that would cut his pension rate, as well as higher premiums for health insurance.

He dismissed any political basis for his decision: “It’s economics, not politics…In the years I’ve been here, I’ve worked under every Town Administrator Charlestown has ever had.”

Blockbuster issues on Monday Town Council agenda

Battle for Ninigret Park, the Y-Gate Zombie, Platner’s Power Grab, CRAC Questions and much, much more

Why is it that almost ALL of the Town Council's agenda feels like a
zombie attack?

By Will Collette

The Town Council meeting on Monday, June 11, is a crucial meeting for several of Charlestown’s biggest and most contentious recent issue. On a very long agenda are the following:

• The Battle for Ninigret Park, featuring presentations from National Parks Service Elyse LaForest (whose letters to Bill DiLibero got him fired), our federal overseer from the US Fish and Wildlife Service Charlie Vandemoer (our de facto sixth Town Council member), Deputy Dan Slattery’s motion to give the feds veto power over the town’s use of Ninigret Park and more. Read more by clicking here.

• The Y-Gate Zombie. Will the Town Council majority break its promise to put any payment of tax funds to buy the abandoned YMCA camp in front of the voters for a separate vote, or will they just simply give the money to the Charlestown Land Trust? Read more by clicking here. 

Platner wants more power

• Platner’s Power Grab. Will the Town Council approve Ordinance #349 that could give the Planning Commission extraordinary power over town property owners, including homeowners? Read more by clicking here. 

• CRAC’d Questions: The Charter Revision Advisory Committee has seven suggested changes to the Charter that they would like the Town Council to approve for a November vote by Charlestown citizens. Only one of the seven is really worthwhile. Read more by clicking here. 

• Dark-Sky Friendly Lighting Ordinance. Has the Planning Commission sufficiently watered down the lighting ordinance (Ordinance #347) so that no one opposes it anymore? Was there a better way to do this other than an ordinance that doesn’t really do anything? Read more by clicking here. 

Ordinance #349: All Power to the Planning Commission

Planning Commissar Platner plans to consolidate her control over Charlestown property owners through new Ordinance Council is likely to adopt at Monday June 11 meeting

By Will Collette

Read prior articles, Part One HERE and Part Two HERE

There is a new color-coded version of Ordinance #349 posted on Clerkbase. Click here to read it. 

This ordinance is purported to clarify the existing process for site plan review (already in the Zoning Ordinance) and make it fairer to applicants.  Oh, pulleeze. 

What it does is put the Planning Commission firmly in charge of making the rules and also of judging who meets those rules and standards and who doesn’t.

Cracks in the CRAC?

CRACer Donna Chambers lashes out

By Will Collette

Charlestown town government is spending a LOT of taxpayer money lately advertising all the items that will be on next Monday’s Town Council meeting. Lots of full page, paid legal advertising, required by law, containing the text of ordinances coming up for public hearings on June 11, as well as the seven proposed changes to the Charlestown Town Charter being recommended by the Charlestown Charter Revision Advisory Committee (CRAC).

I reviewed these Charter proposals – read the most recent review by clicking here – and have concluded that Questions 1 through 6 do not deserve the Town Council’s authorization on June 11 to be sent to the voters for their ultimate approval in November.

The new Question #7 they added is pretty good, however. This proposed Charter change would create an ad hoc committee that would conduct an on-going review of town ordinances to see which are outdated, redundant, ineffective or unenforceable, and thus need to be changed or repealed.

Part 3: Charlie Vandemoer: Dupe or Duplicitous?

The sports lights stab in the back was not Vandemoer’s first political intervention in Charlestown

By Will Collette

Read Part 1 by clicking here

Read Part 2 by clicking here
Read "Searching for a home for the Ninigret Bomb" by clicking here.

PROGRAM NOTE: Vandemoer has requested time to speak at the Monday, June 11 Town Council meeting. Also, Elyse LaForest, regional head of the National Park Service's Federal Lands to Parks program and the person with an actual say over what happens in the 172 acres of Ninigret Park subject to Interior Department restrictions, is also on the agenda to speak on Monday.

In the earlier installments of this series, I covered the key role played by Charlestown’s federal overseer, Charlie Vandemoer of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Charlestown politics.

Vandemoer’s job is to run the Ninigret Wildlife Refuge and the other refuges in southern Rhode Island and Block Island. He does a great job at managing the refuges which are truly gems to be treasured.

But if only he had stuck to the job the Interior Department is paying him to do. As I detailed in Parts 1 and 2, Vandemoer found plenty of time in the past two years to instigate some of the ugliest political fighting Charlestown has seen in a long time by poking his nose into matters outside his jurisdiction.

What the June 11 Town Council agenda will REALLY look like

For your convenience, an agenda that shows the actual order in which items will be heard

The return of Y-Gate, the Issue that Wouldn't Die
The Un-Dead Want their Open Space amid the Y Camp ruins

By Will Collette

Monday night's Town Council meeting is loaded to the rafters with controversy - the Y-Gate Scandal, the Battle for Ninigret Park, the lighting ordinance, Ruth Platner's ultimate power grab, the CRACers' Charter revision proposals, special guest speakers and lots of B-list items.

One frustration for regular Town Council meeting goers (and Clerkbase viewers) is that the Council always changes the order of business so that the meetings never run the way they are listed on the agenda. So, to remedy that annoying problem, I have re-arranged the council agenda to list the agenda items in the order in which they will be actually heard. Click here for a printer-friendly version.

I have also added notations and highlighting to flag agenda items that are likely to be controversial or interesting. In the version below, I have included links to previous articles and documents.

As of Town Hall close of business at 4:30 PM today, there were no posted links to the actual documents the Town Council will use to deliberate on these issues. There are also no Clerkbase links to their June 6 agenda meeting so you can hear how they discussed this agenda. I guess you'll get those links when the town thinks you have a "need to know."

Y-Gate Zombie has risen from the dead

Town Council plans to vote Monday to pay $398,000 in Charlestown taxpayer dollars for worthless easement

By Will Collette

Tucked into its jam-packed agenda for the Town Council meeting next Monday, June 11, is “Item 18.f. Approval of purchasing conservation easement on YMCA property for $398,000, in conjunction with purchase of same property for preservation by the Charlestown Land Trust, using open space and recreation bond funds”

The Y-Gate Scandal is back. This item is being spearheaded by the odd alliance of Councilor Gregg Avedisian and Town Council President Boss Tom Gentz (CCA), with Councilor Marge Frank providing the third and deciding vote. It may have grown out of a secret session held in the Town Council's executive session last month (click here).

This action to rob from Charlestown taxpayers to make a gift to the Charlestown Land Trust, the Westerly YMCA and the non-resident vacation home owners in the Sonquipaug Association is still being done by these same Council members. These members know the Westerly YMCA’s purchase price is based on an appraisal based on fictional conditions and that the Charlestown Land Trust considers its conservation easements to be worth less than zero.

This transaction will also be done without a vote by Charlestown residents. The principle beneficiaries, ironically, will be non-residents.

What do the Ninigret Park deeds REALLY say?

Next Monday night may be the last skirmish in the Battle for Ninigret Park

By Will Collette

At the June 11 Town Council meeting next Monday, we’re supposed to get a definitive legal opinion from Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero whether the Charlestown has been violating its “moral, ethical and legal obligations” in its management of the town’s Ninigret Park.

CCA’s Town Council Vice –President Deputy Dan Slattery and our federal overseer, Charlie Vandemoer have been pushing the idea that Charlestown needs to sign a new agreement that gives Vandemoer veto power over all new activities or uses by the town in Ninigret Park.