Injun Joe Larisa seems to have accomplished his mission of sabotaging the Narragansetts' pitch to buy Twin River for their long-sought casino. Instead of helping the Narragansetts achieve their dream - which could end the fears of many Charlestown residents of a casino in Charlestown - the town's special counsel for Indian issues jumped the Narragansetts' plan like a snarling dog. Within hours, Gov Chafee was spouting Larisa talking points. Based on news reports, Chief Sachem Thomas's meeting today with Chafee did not go well. Though Chafee didn't pull a Carcieri on Chief Thomas, Chafee's non-committal remarks had all the sincerity of those recorded messages that say "Your call is very important to us...." So no fireworks over Ninigret Park to celebrate the end of one major front in Charlestown's on-going class war yet. Thanks to Joe Larisa, the war grinds on.
The state Ethics Commission has told the Town Council that it will not issue an advisory opinion on whether it is ethical for Counselor Lisa DiBello to participate in town personnel matters. Both factions in the council (the CCA faction and the 2008 incumbent faction) had wanted the Ethics Commission to resolve this issue for them. But nuh-uh, the Council will have to deal with it themselves. This puts Slattery and Gentz in an interesting position, since they need Lisa's vote to maintain control of the Council. Turns out Jim Mageau was right that the TC can't ask for an advisory opinion on Lisa's behalf (color me shocked!). Instead, it will take an actual event - i.e. a DiBello action that sparks a live ethics complaint - to resolve this issue. In today's Sun story, DiBello says she will recuse herself from any such conflicts. I still think we're at the point where Lisa must decide whether she is a town council member or a litigant against the town.
Don't Hide. We're starting to get lots of people posting comments on this blog. That's great, and pretty much what we had in mind when we started this blog. But people, this IS NOT the CCA's e-mail merry-go-round. We do not buy into CCA's policy of cloaking everyone in anonymity whether they are CCA writers or e-mail responders (or both as the case may be). We encourage people to have the strength of their convictions and to sign what they write.
Proudly written by Will Collette (not an alias)
