TIVERTON - A discussion about removing the sunset clause from the town's casino gaming revenue ordinance ended in shouting amongst town council members during their regular virtual meeting of Monday, March 8.

Adopted last August by the previous town council, the ordinance -- which removed any casino gaming revenue from the general fund and placed it into a Restricted Municipal Capital Projects and Restricted General Fund Reserve accounts -- was originally set to expire at the end of June. But that night, council president Denise deMedeiros proposed that they remove the sunset clause from the ordinance, citing continued uncertainty over any casino revenue for the 2021-22 budget year.

"We did not receive $3 million this year, and we're still not sure what we're going to be receiving next year," she said.

Ms. deMedeiros made it clear that, in light of rumors swirling around, the intention was not to use the restricted money on town expenses, and that the idea would be to create a casino committee that included representation from both the town and public should her proposal pass that night.

"I think this needs to be a community effort," she said.

But several members of the public voiced their opposition to removing the sunset clause, stating that voters had already chosen two years ago to place gaming revenue into the general fund.

"This is clearly an attempt, I think, to wrest control of casino revenue from the voters at the FTR to the town council," said Nancy Driggs.

While Justin Katz acknowledged that voter opinion may have changed since 2018, he called Ms. deMedeiros's proposal "a bait and switch." Out of respect for the voters, he suggested that the town instead put the idea up as a resolution on the ballot at the upcoming financial town referendum (FTR) so that way their voices can be heard.

"You shouldn't just force this through a different door," he said. "That is dictatorship-type stuff."

Though Diane Farnworth agreed that the casino funds should be spent "wisely," she said that this move by the town council would be going against the "spirit of the FTR."

Caller Joel Bishop said "what would be the harm" in putting this matter up for a public vote.

When discussion returned to council members, Donna Cook called the proposal a "snub" to the voters, arguing that it wasn't right for just a few people to "overrule" the will of the people.

"[That's] Saying that it really didn't matter what they thought, it matters how someone feels about it now," she said.

Although Joe Perry shared the sentiment, the majority of the council were in favor of extending the ordinance past June. Councilor Deb Janick suggested that instead of removing the sunset clause, they set a new expiration date of June 30, 2022.

Council Vice President Mike Burk proposed that casino monies placed into the restricted accounts can't be expended until fiscal year 2023.

Ms. deMedeiros added that the casino committee would be coming up with ideas on how to handle the gaming revenue moving forward.

But as the council began to vote on the ordinance with those amendments in place, Ms. Cook said that what they were about to do was "outrageous" and "an abuse of power" -- an allegation Mr. Burk did not take lightly.

"If we want to have civil conservations, accusing people of abusing power does not provide for that," he said.

Moments later, Ms. Cook also had a tense exchange with Ms. deMedeiros when the council president told Ms. Cook she was out of order for speaking over her.

"You don't let anybody speak," Ms. Cook snapped. "You're speaking so much that you rolled over people that voted in 2018. You just eliminated them."

Eventually, order was restored, and the council continued voting on the full ordinance. The motion passed 5 to 2, with Ms. Cook and Mr. Perry dissenting.