For years I have spoken out against Tiverton town councilors using taxpayers’ money to fight their private battles against businesses in town. The town does not belong involved in civil lawsuits.

During my time on the Town Council, I tried to get these lawsuits settled, or dropped. I’ve seen these anti-business councilors decide they don’t like the activity going on in or around these businesses. They directed the building inspector to find zoning violations, and do things like rule their septic system is outdated, or some other trumped up charge.

They harass the business with demands for engineering reports, costing the businesses thousands.

In the case of Tiverton Four Corners, a lawsuit we lost recently, I objected to hiring an outside counsel, and suggested they stop the harassment.

It didn’t stop them. They issued a cease and desist for the weddings on the property. They harassed the owner about parking and other issues, even sent police out there.  

I recently read we paid out one hundred thousand dollars to the owner of Four Corners for damages, and the lawyer we hired made about the same, all coming out of our pockets. That’s three hundred thousand dollars we could have used to pave.

The Tiverton Town Council over the years has used our tax dollars to fight their personal battles. Their anti-business NIMBY mentality has costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars. The lawsuits will continue till we rid ourselves of these people. We can’t continue to vote in people who waste our money and chase taxpaying businesses away.

Those holes in your road could have been fixed; instead we made the lawyers rich. I think this last loss, where we have to pay one hundred and fifty thousand to the owners of Four Corners, plus about the same in legal fees says it all.

Over three hundred thousand dollars …Waste, corruption, and abuse of power.

Get informed and involved.

Joe Sousa

Tiverton