Solicitor choice divides new Tiverton council

Conflict accusations fly on eve of holiday week showdown

By Tom Killin Dalglish
Posted 12/26/18

TIVERTON — Almost exactly a month after they were sworn in, the newly elected Tiverton town council members — on a night just two days after Christmas — are heading into what may prove to be one of the more controversial council meetings in awhile.

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Solicitor choice divides new Tiverton council

Conflict accusations fly on eve of holiday week showdown

Posted

TIVERTON — Almost exactly a month after they were sworn in, the newly elected Tiverton town council members, convening in Tiverton Town Hall— on a night just two days after Christmas — are heading into what may prove to be one of the more controversial council meetings in awhile.
Amidst complaints about their having an apparent conflict of interest – three of the new councilors (President Rob Coulter, Vice President Justin Katz, and Nancy Driggs) are proposing to directly hire — without advertising or seeking bids, and without recusing — a new town solicitor to represent the town in legal matters. Those matters could include a pending lawsuit that the three of them have filed against the town they've been elected to govern. In a second pending lawsuit, Mr. Katz alone is suing the town.
Their choice is Giovanni Cicione who has been a paid lobbyist for the organization Mr. Katz works for.
An alternative approach to hiring a solicitor has been placed on the agenda as a council agenda item, by Councilors Denise DeMeDeiros, Patricia Hilton, and Joseph Perry.
The second item, an alternative to the method proposed by the majority, would have the council proceed with the normal request for proposals (RFP) hiring process while Mr. Coulter, Ms. Driggs, Mr. Katz seek an ethics opinion from the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.
"I think its in the best interests of the town for the three councilors to seek an advisory opinion from the Rhode Island Ethics Commission," said Councilor Hilton.
About the possibility he or his fellow majority councilors may have, or appear to have, a conflict of interest — by hiring the lawyer to represent the town he's suing, Mr. Katz didn't see the possible problem.
"I think it's a concern of a handful of people, making an issue of a conflict of interest that does not exist," he said Saturday.
The three new councilors, along with a fourth new councilor, Donna Cook, were elected as part of the Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) slate of candidates last month.
They constitute a majority of the council and appear poised this Thursday to vote their choice of a new solicitor to handle the town's legal business.

This Thursday's meeting
On this Thursday's (December 27) council special-meeting agenda is an item called "consideration of and possible vote" on the hiring of a new town solicitor.
Just one candidate is named on the agenda — Giovanni Cicione. Below Mr. Cicione's name on the agenda, is another agenda item, entitled "other potential candidates" — but no other candidates are named.
Additionally, Town Clerk Nancy Mello said there was no back-up material provided with the agenda (for instance resumes, biographical information, letters of interest, description of areas of practice, etc.).

Why a new solicitor
The need for a new solicitor arose on November 16, when the current solicitor, Anthony DeSisto, said in a letter to the council, that, "I do not wish to be re-appointed to the position of Town Solicitor."
Mr. DeSisto has been the Tiverton solicitor since 2015, and has said he is willing to continue in that role until a replacement is found, by a process (called the RFP process)that some have estimated — with advertising and bids, interviews and so forth — could take as long as three months.
Ms. Driggs had a different approach than the RFP process, one that she broached at the December 10 meeting of the council..
The "past relationship" of the new council majority with Solicitor DeSisto, she said, while its members were serving on the Charter Review Commission, was "frustrating and generally, I would say, characterized by a lack of trust."
"I would like to propose," she said, "that we discuss immediately pursuing a relationship with a new solicitor."
"As it happens, I do have somebody in mind, whom I do trust, " said Council Vice-President Justin Katz. a few minutes later at the same meeting.
And he named Giovanni Cicione, of the Providence firm of Cameron & Mittleman. "He's an excellent attorney, and is well known, and with a respected firm."
Raising a possible red flag, Assistant Solicitor Peter Skwirz, a lawyer representing the town at the meeting, said, "I know that there are outstanding legal matters concerning last year's budget process" that could potentially "raise an issue with the ethics code."

Katz and Cicione
According to lobbying reports from the Rhode Island Secretary of State, Mr. Cicione has worked as a paid lobbyist, at least in 2018, for the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity.
That's the same organization where Mr. Katz is employed full time, as managing editor and writer for the Ocean State Current, a publication of the organization.
Why propose Mr. Cicione as town solicitor, Councilor Katz was asked in an interview Saturday.
"I have a great deal of confidence in his understanding of legal processes," he said.
How do you know he's interested in being Tiverton's solicitor, he was asked. "I asked him if he would be interested in doing it, and he said it's something he'd be interested in."
What qualifies him in the area of municipal law and public law, Mr Katz was asked. "I know he's done work for state and local agencies in different areas," Mr. Katz said.
Mr. Cicione's web page identifies his practice areas as corporate and business law, banking and finance, government and public relations, and real estate.
He does does not list municipal law, public law, labor law, land use law, or planning and zoning as his practice areas. Multiple calls to Mr. Cicione for comment were not returned.

Correction
Last week we reported that newly elected Tiverton Town councilor and Council Vice President, Justin Katz, had proposed that a special meeting of the Tiverton Town Council be called for Christmas Eve, December 24, to consider the matter of hiring a new town solicitor. That was incorrect. In reviewing the video tape for the December 10 meeting, it appears that it was Town Council President Rob Coulter, not Mr. Katz, who had initially proposed a Christmas Eve special meeting. The proposal for a meeting on that date was short lived. The actual date for the meeting will be Thursday, December 27, at 7 p.m. in Tiverton Town Hall. We apologize for the error.

Correction:

Earlier we reported that Mr. Katz had said "I think it's a concern of a lot of people, making an issue of a conflict of interest that does not exist."  That was mistaken, The sentence should have read, "I think it's a concern of a handful of people, making an issue of a conflict of interest that does not exist." We apologize for the error.

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