How intimidating are intimidation lawsuits?

Last week, a commenter wrote about my story on the decision of a North Kingstown group opposing one of the two commercial wind turbine projects to fold rather than fight a $25 million lawsuit by the turbine developer. The commenter noted such lawsuits can be turned against the person who filed the suit. I replied that this is correct, that Rhode Island has a specific state law that applies to such suits and I promised to write more about it.

Well, after sitting in on last night’s raw-edged Town Council meeting, this seems like a good time to go into the subject.

For over twenty years, local public policy disputes tend to lead to threats by one party or another that they will sue to enforce their point of view. When I worked with citizens groups trying to block toxic waste dumpers, such threats escalated to become actual lawsuits so frequently that it started to have a chilling effect on people’s ability to fight for their homes.

These types of  lawsuits were given the name SLAPPs (“Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation”) by University of Colorado scholars George Pring and Penelope Canaan in the 1980s. They invariably involve efforts to use punitive litigation to stifle free speech expression on public issues.

Town Council meeting report - the short version

Disclaimer: the meeting just wrapped up after almost four hours. My ass is sore and I have a booming headache and a crick in my neck. But there were interesting decisions and non-decisions, and some fireworks, so I wanted to get the highlights down right away. More detail will follow. Please excuse the likely typos in this late night product.

Fights. There were a lot of nasty exchanges. Some notable ones - Lisa DiBello and Town Administrator Bill DiLibero over legal expenses. Lisa DiBello and Gregg Avedisian over the YMCA land (Ruth Platner tangentially involved). Lisa DiBello and Dan Slattery over staffing cuts at the Senior Citizens Center. Lisa DiBello and Tom Gentz (DiLibero as a secondary player) over on-the-job private conversations by DiBello with town staff. Lisa DiBello and Gregg Avedisian over Blue Shutters Beach, parking and vendors. Notice a common theme?

Also, Gregg Avedisian and parties not named over burdensome waste water regulations. There was also a big fight between attorney Margaret Hogan whose remarks from the floor ticked off Council President Gentz, whose response from the podium to Hogan ticked her off.

. Tom Gentz made a truly moving plea for the Council to authorize a meeting and serious discussions with LeBlanc about acquiring his land and preserving it in perpetuity. From the floor, Ruth Platner spoke about the Planning Commission's decision to support serious efforts to acquire the land after examining all the natural features the land has to offer.

Planning Commission backs town buy of LeBlanc land

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance sent out its third e-mail in 24 hours (possibly a new record for them) where they announced that their wholly-owned subsidiary, the Planning Commission has backed the purchase of Larry LeBlanc’s controversial land fronting on Route One.

There is a new 12-page report on the town’s clerkbase website (found in the middle of the 28 pages of documents analyzing the land’s potential value to the town as open space – starts on page 9.)

The two other opinions come from the manager of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge (he thinks the land is a valuable natural resource) and the Conservation Commission (not so much – the woods are too thick, in their opinion, to build a parking lot).

Six Things To Do in Charlestown - June 15 through June 21 - UPDATE

It will be another busy week in Charlestown. While I'm writing this I'm admiring the mountain laurel which is simply magnificent this year!

With the update (below in bold), now seven things to do!

• The Town Council Meeting will be on Wednesday, June 15, at 7 pm. Will has written about the busy agenda here.
• If you follow hockey you know that the Bruins will be playing game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday at 8 pm. I'll probably be sitting in front of my TV while ClerkBase shows me the live feed from the Town Council.
• Friday is a big day with the first session of the Charlestown Farmers' Market (and here) running from 9 to noon at the Cross Mills Library, organized by the Charlestown Land Trust. This is not to be confused with the Cross Mills Farmers Market that runs on Saturdays,down the street. I explained our Farmers' Markets here. (The Tuesday evening sessions will not start until July 5 and those will be in Falcone Field across from the former Tim Horton's.)
• While at the Farmers' Market on Friday check out the new construction of the Charlestown Historical Society (CHS) Museum. (An additional article here.) CHS members will be there to give tours of the historic schoolhouse and will be glad to accept your donation to support the new museum.
• It's a busy weekend for CHS members. On Saturday they will be holding a Yard Sale starting at 9 am at Michael's Shell on Route 1. This will benefit the Museum construction.
• Parks & Rec is asking for volunteers to help in the Community Garden on Sunday from 10 am until 2 pm. This is located next to the Senior/Community Center in Ninigret Park. Come on out and have some fun helping out this good cause.
• Of course Sunday is Father's Day! Think about having a family outing at the Kettle Pond Visitors' Center (50 Bend Road). They will be holding a great, easy, nature walk starting at 2 pm. The timing is right to work off that big mid-day meal or work up an appetite for dinner.

As usual, more details such as exact location are available in our Events Calendar.

Enjoy the weekend! Tom

How to Pay Less Taxes, Part 2 – Appealing your assessment

Property tax bills are coming in the next couple of weeks. Your “bottom line” on your tax bill is the product of the tax rate, now $9.06 per $1000 multiplied by the new assessed value of your property.

The tax rate has gone from $7.48 to the new and final $9.06 (an overall increase of 21%) largely because Charlestown lost approximately 17% of the value of its tax base. Increased costs of operating the town contributed to the remaining 4% of the rate increase.

If your new assessment is 21% less than your old assessment, you will probably see little or no change in your “bottom line” bill compared to last year. The town’s assessment database can easily show you how your old assessment compares to your new one. Then use the Progressive Charlestown Magic Tax Calculator to determine what your new tax bill is likely to be.

The most direct way to change your bottom line tax bill is to file an appeal to challenge your new assessment if you believe the new assessment is unfair and you can provide some concrete evidence to prove it. You still have plenty of time to do it (NOTE: see the timetable for the steps in the appeal process set out under state law, below the fold).

Some shoreline residents complained about assessments that were too low in anonymous e-mails that were distributed by the CCA. In fact, the new assessments for Charlestown's million dollar-plus properties were about 20% lower, compared to an average 13% drop for most other properties. Since that means that most millionaire property owners will see little or no tax increase this year, I say "Mazel Tov" to them on their appeals to raise their assessments!

But other Charlestown property owners may feel that their homes are over-valued compared to comparable homes in their part of town. So, let's get into the details for appealing your assessment.

Make Some Money!

Dust off those cameras and tripods and set your focal point to South County! The South County Tourism Council is sponsoring the 10th Annual Photo Contest with prizes totaling over $1,000 to be awarded to the top eight place photographers.

The Council is looking for memorable photography capturing the people and places of South County during winter, spring, summer and the fall. Snap your favorite moments spent in Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown, Westerly and West Greenwich and you could be a winner! Entries for the 10th Annual South County Photo Contest are being accepted now through August 10, 2011.

For an entry form and contest rules click here.

Republished from the South County Tourism Council website.

Is the Planning Commission illegitimate?

That’s what Whalerock’s lawyer Nick Gorham claims in papers filed yesterday in RI Superior Court. Just in time for the Town Council meeting (tomorrow) where, once again, his client’s offer to sell his land to the town will be discussed..

Gorham filed a Memorandum of Law accompanied by around 300 pages of attachments in the consolidated lawsuits filed by neighbors of Larry LeBlanc’s property on Route One, site of LeBlanc’s proposed Whalerock commercial wind turbine project.

In this filing, Gorham asks the court to rule “that the Charlestown Planning Commission’s only role in the Whalerock application for an LWES [commercial wind turbine] is to advise the zoning board of review (Count I) and that the Planning Commission is illegally constituted because it is elected rather than appointed (Count II).”

Gorham raised this issue at the Planning Commission’s April 27^th meeting and effectively closed the meeting. If Gorham is right and the Court agrees to issue the ruling he requests, the actions by the Planning Commission in taking primacy over the Whalerock application last year could be tossed out.

Gorham’s case in a nutshell: state law requires municipal boards, like Charlestown’s Planning Commission, to be appointed, not elected, to prevent taint of political bias. Gorham says Charlestown is the only town in Rhode Island that still elects its Planning Commission, in violation of state law. He also cites prejudicial remarks made by Planning Commission member Kate Waterman as evidence of political taint.

Personally, I doubt an appointed commission would be any less biased and tainted, but I found Gorham’s arguments about what Rhode Island law requires to be well argued. Rather than take my word for it, read his argument yourself. I have cut-and-pasted the core of his brief to the end of this article, below the fold.

BONUS: I learned a great new word from Gorham’s brief. I plan to use it often. The word is “nugatory.”

The last time the Planning Commission’s legitimacy was challenged was in 2007, when attorney Margaret Hogan questioned whether the elected commission complied with Rhode Island law. In January 2008, then town solicitor Bob Craven wrote a legal opinion to the Town Council telling them he said he saw nothing wrong with the practice and recommended no further action be taken.

At that time, no one seemed to want to press the issue any further and accepted Craven’s opinion as the final legal authority. But is it a surprise that the town lawyer would tell the town that what it is doing is OK? Lawyers are supposed to warn you away from doing something stupid. But generally you expect the lawyer to give you a legal justification for what you want to do. A judge may disagree. And I don't remember Craven being considered a great legal scholar.

Unless the Whalerock dispute is settled, most likely by the purchase of LeBlanc’s land by the town, RI Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Lanphear will get to decide whose version of legal reality is correct.

CCA re-shuffles the deck chairs

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance sent out an e-mail message today about major changes in its officer ranks.

The message begins by noting how CCA began almost five years ago as an organization "dedicated to open and transparent town government" - and that "it remains so."

So naturally - in complete secrecy - the CCA "Steering Committee refreshes itself, picks new officers, and recruits members for the Steering Committee."

Why You Should Compost

... Even If You Have No Intention of Ever Starting a Garden 

The deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany, which was at first believed to be caused by eating raw tomatoes, lettuce, or cucumbers and has now been conclusively linked to organic sprouts, has people there understandably nervous about eating fresh vegetables. In rural areas such as Charlestown, though, we can do our own backyard organic farming using our own compost. And even if you don’t grow your own food, there are plenty of good reasons to compost anyway. First in a two-part series. Coming next: Hints for Successful Composting.

Composting had always seemed like one of those virtuous things that anyone who’s halfway environmentally conscious should do. But we never had enough room for a garden in our postage-stamp yard in the city, so there didn’t seem to be much point. Here in Charlestown, though, we’ve got plenty of space for a garden and for the dogs to run around. And lo and behold, there was already a composter on the property when we bought it.

Busy agenda for Wednesday Town Council meeting

Council meets at Town Hall, commencing at 7 PM Wednesday, June 15

In earlier articles, I detailed several controversial issues that will come before the Town Council on Wednesday. These include:

Agenda Item #7. Larry LeBlanc’s land on Route 1 (potential site for wind turbines, affordable housing, a casino, Charlestown school, a nuclear power plant, anthrax factory or open space). Should the town buy the land and end the controversies? Larry’s first offer: $3 million. Current appraised value: $825,000.

Agenda Item #8A. Charlestown’s dark skies as a natural resource. What do we need to do to protect it?

Agenda Item #16. Jim Mageau’s $20,000 demand for reimbursement of his legal defense against assault charges. Is the town legally obligated to repay Mageau under the state indemnification statute?

Agenda Item #18. Request for Private Lawyers paid by the town for six past and present town officials being charged by Council member Lisa DiBello for engaging in a retaliatory conspiracy against her. Is the town legally obligated to cover their costs under the state indemnification statute?

Two other agenda items caught my eye:

Two world-class entertainers suffer strokes

Other than the joy they brought to people around the world, Harold Camping and Clarence Clemons have absolutely nothing in common, at least not until the last few days.

News hit the wire today that Reverend Harold Camping and Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons both suffered strokes. Camping is 89 and Clemons is 69.

Rev. Camping provided the world with so many wonderful straight lines with his prediction that the end of the world as we know it would take place on May 21st. For those of you who have been on vacation, it didn't.

But Rev. Camping did inspire the very successful "Not the End of the World" tag sale by the Charlestown Democrats.

Clarence Clemons is one of the world's best sax players and helped propel Springsteen to superstar status.

Early reports on the conditions of both men are that they suffered some paralysis and speech impairment, but I haven't seen any other details.

How much will legal troubles cost taxpayers?

One of the touchiest topics on the Town Council agenda for Wednesday, June 15, is how much taxpayers will be liable to pay for past, present and future legal troubles. There are not one but two high-profile controversies coming before the Council on Wednesday.

One item centers on former Council President Jim Mageau and the other on present Council member Lisa DiBello. These items are related because both deal with the town’s obligation to indemnify town officials.

Under long-standing common law, we “indemnify” public officials, promising to stand by them when they get into legal trouble while performing their duties. It would be difficult to get anyone to serve in public office otherwise, since lawsuits are part of the everyday landscape of government.

But a public official's right to indemnification is clouded when the conduct in question isn’t clearly part of that official’s formal duties.

Larry LeBlanc's Land - A new chapter

The hottest piece of property in Charlestown is Plat 17, Lot 186. Registered Owner LL Properties LLC. Located right on the northside of Route One, this 98.6 acres has a current assessed value of $1,019,400.

But for a number of Charlestown residents, this is land where monsters might roam. This parcel belongs to developer Larry LeBlanc and a site where he has proposed to build industrial wind turbines or a plat of affordable housing or might deal it to the Narragansett Tribe for use as a casino, or, if the price is right, he might sell it to the town.

LeBlanc land is triangle of undeveloped space in the center of Google Earth image

The Town Council will once again discuss this land. It’s on the agenda for the Wednesday, June 15, regular Council meeting.

The Council discussed the land – and a verbal offer/trial balloon LeBlanc floated that the town buy the land for $3 million – at its June 1^st Special Meeting. Prevailing sentiment both within the Council membership and in the small audience that came out in the middle of a major thunderstorm was that there was “no compelling reason” to consider buying LeBlanc’s land, despite the amazing amount of controversy connected to it.

Nonetheless, the Council said it could not make a fully reasoned decision without a new appraisal and without a more detailed assessment of whether the land would be a good addition to the town’s open space inventory.

The Town Council now has a new appraisal and two opinions about the land’s environmental potential. These new documents will no doubt be major features at Wednesday’s Council meeting.

Here’s what those new documents say:

Local charities lose tax-exempt status

On Thursday, the Internal Revenue Service posted a list has 275,000 non-profit groups whose tax-exempt status has been revoked for failing to file required reports (IRS Form 990) for three consecutive years. Through my involvement with a number of non-profit groups, I know IRS has been sending repeated warnings about the consequences of non-compliance with reporting requirements.

In Rhode Island, the “death toll” was 1,031, including around two dozen in and around Charlestown. Click here for the RI list in pdf format; click here for Excel format.

Most of the groups punished by IRS no longer operate. For example, “Caroling Angels,” a Charlestown non-profit, has just now lost its federal tax-exempt status, but had its corporate charter revoked by the RI Secretary of State in 1994.

But other groups on the local list may still be active. Two examples are active non-profits run by the Angell family in Shannock: the Brandon Angell Memorial Fund (headed by Donna Angell) and the Shannock Memorial Hall Association (headed by Frank Angell).

Donations made to non-profits who have had their tax-exempt status revoked are no longer deductible. Active non-profits can get reinstated retroactively by complying with reporting requirements and paying a sliding scale fee of up to $850. Non-profit groups who lose their tax-exempt status may also find themselves liable for state corporate taxes.

Other local non-profits with revoked tax-exempt status:

Should Charlestown regulate trees and lights?

Before I piss everyone off, I wish to declare my love for Charlestown’s trees and our amazing night-time sky. Add the water, and let’s not to forget to add the people of Charlestown, and that’s my list of reasons why I love living in this town.

And, also by way of disclaimer, I appreciate the efforts of people in town who have put a lot of work into protecting those resources.

BUT (and I’m sure you knew a “but” was coming), at what point does the town government go overboard in its efforts to protect these treasures?