Commission concludes East Providence Charter review, awaits Council’s insights

Appointed body spent nearly four months proposing changes to governing document

By Mike Rego
Posted 7/14/17

EAST PROVIDENCE — When the City Council soon takes up suggested technical and substantive amendments to the City Charter, it did so following a nearly four-month review of East Providence’s …

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Commission concludes East Providence Charter review, awaits Council’s insights

Appointed body spent nearly four months proposing changes to governing document

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — When the City Council soon takes up suggested technical and substantive amendments to the City Charter, it did so following a nearly four-month review of East Providence’s governing document conducted by the appointed Charter Review Commission.
The 11-member body toiled for some 15 weeks between its first meeting on March 2 of this year to adjournment on June 15. In total, the Commission was in session according to the open meeting dictates of Rhode Island General Law for approximately 45 hours, but its efforts, led by Chairman Jim Russo, included likely hundreds of hours of individual research and inspection on and of the Charter.
“I think things went very well. I think each of the members was really invested in the process,” said Mr. Russo, a lawyer by trade and whose professional resume contains time spent as an assistant solicitor in his native East Providence as well as stints as legal counsel for the Rhode Island General Assembly and as a political operative for former U.S. Congressman Robert Weygand.
“I thought we had some really good discussions, even when there was disagreement,” Mr. Russo continued. “I thought we debated each subject in a professional, considerate manner.”
The Commission presented the Council with two distinct proposals. The first, billed as a technical amendment, dealt with changes it deemed necessary to the Charter for the implementation of the city’s switch from a manager-council to that of an elected-mayor form of governance. That change, of course, was necessitated when voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum item on the ballot during the election last fall.
“I thought the approach the Commission decided to take at the beginning really paid off in that we decided to do the technical amendment first. It was important that we properly implemented what the voters voted on in November of 2016,” said Mr. Russo. “We couldn’t leave the Charter the way it was because there were provisions that didn’t work together with the change to the mayoral form.”
The technical amendment includes things like making the necessary changes in the document’s structure by replacing and clarifying references to “city manager” with “mayor,” how elections in the city are conducted and gender-appropriate pronouns among other items.
“I use the example of a high school student. If a high school student was assigned to do a paper on the Charter, there are pages that were out of date, that didn’t apply anymore like with our elections,” Mr. Russo said, referring to a section that said the process of elections in city should start in January of a calendar year and conclude with an election the ensuing April. “Also, if a student was a young woman, they would see references to ‘he’ or ‘him,’ nothing for ‘she’ or ‘her.’ We corrected that, which I thought was really important. And we also made changes necessary where Rhode Island General Law supersedes the Charter. All of these things are not substantive changes, but are very important. And by separating the two, I think it really worked well for us.”
The Commission took up the aforementioned “substantive” amendments for the bulk of its’ seating. Among the pertinent changes the body proposed included making the term of the mayor four years as opposed to the two approved by voters last November. “Recall” language for the mayor as well as members of the Council and School Committee was included. The Commission recommended changes to how those boards and committees empowered by the Charter are appointed. For example, having members from each of the city’s four wards included on the Planning and Zoning boards. The Commission suggested the word “salary” be struck and replaced by “compensation” for both elected officials and appointed administrators to more appropriately reflect modern standards. And it also recommended changes to how department heads are appointed and maintained with the switch to mayoral oversight.
Some of the substantive changes will need to be presented to voters in the form of additional referendum items be it during a special election called by the Council or on the November 2018 ballot.
“With the substantive amendments, we looked at where the mayor and council would be most affected by the change,” Mr. Russo explained. “I was very pleased with the process. And I was very, very happy with the input of the members and the dedication they showed was just great. Even when we had disagreements everyone had the best interest of the city at heart.”
Mr. Russo, who was selected chairman by his peers on the body, was joined as a Commission officer by Bill Fazioli, who served as vice chairman, and Valerie Perry, who was secretary. The other members were State Senator Bill Conley, Rick Lawson, Jason Desrosiers, John Faria, Rob Rock, Michael Kennedy, Chris Dias and Scott Scienzo. The Commission was appointed by the Council earlier this year.
Assistant City Solicitor Dylan Conley served as its legal council (“Dylan was a tremendous help. He really did a tremendous, tremendous job,” Mr. Russo said of Mr. Conley.) Council President and ceremonial mayor Jim Briden served as the Council’s liaison. State-appointed Municipal Finance Advisor Paul Luba was present as each meeting and City Finance Director Malcolm Moore was also present at numerous forums.
“I saw my role as setting the agenda, and I thank the members for their cooperation,” Mr. Russo said. “I just tried to facilitate the debate and allow each member to present their ideas and be heard in a civil manner, and I think we accomplished that. I gave my opinions where I thought I should and set the agenda each week, but we really worked well together as a group.”
The Commission’s work as a unit for the time being has concluded. It went into recess open ended, however, allowing for it to be called back into session if the Council and possibly the first elected mayor of East Providence feel it is necessary in the future.
Mr. Russo, singularly, and the Commission, as a whole, now awaits to see how their efforts are received by the Council, which was scheduled to hear their recommendations for the first time at its July 18 meeting.
“I really hope the technical amendment gets through because it’s really important as we prepare to make the change to the new form of government,” Mr. Russo said. “As for the substantive amendments, I’m sure each of the council members will have their opinions. We did as commission members. I’m really interested in following the debate. I just hope they give each of them a good look, have a good discussion. I hope they give it the time I think it deserves.”

To view the amendments suggested by East Providence Charter Review Commission visit http://www.eastprovidence.com/charterreview

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MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.