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| "Duel on the Beach" by NC Wyeth |
Rather than attend yesterday's Town Council meeting where a complaint awaited her, Council member Lisa DiBello filed an incendiary memo with the Council against Town Administrator William DiLibero and Parks and Recreation Director Jay Primiano.
Primiano fired back with his own long, scorching memo listing specific complaints against Ms. DiBello by the town's beach staff and by Primiano himself.
These new documents were placed on Clerkbase today, appended to the Town Administrator's report. The new documents start on the 8th page and continue to the end.
DiBello's memo appears first. In it, she accuses DiLibero and Primiano of a conspiracy and cover-up. She calls the complaint that she interfered with Town staff "categorically untrue," "LIES "[her emphasis] and are part of a "continued pattern of harrassment I have had to endure as a result of my pending lawsuit against the town." Note: as of July 11, DiBello had filed an administrative complaint against the town with the RI Human Rights Commission; in May, her lawyer said she was considering filing suit in Superior Court.
You can read a full copy of DiBello's complaint, also on Clerkbase, starting on page 11 and continuing to the end (page 46).
DiBello also denies working for a beach concessionaire, identified as Deborah Dellolio in William DiLibero's July 5 transmittal memo (page 6). DiBello says she was working "on a volunteer basis as a friend."
DiBello denounced DiLibero and Primiano in strong terms and demanded a detailed accounting of the complaints against her, including the names of the persons who complained.
Primiano's submittals, which appear next in the materials (starting on page 11 and continuing to the end at page 17) seem responsive, at least in part, to DiBello's demand. He withholds the name of some staff members out of concern over "the safety and rights of my staff as it pertains to privacy."
Primiano's report lists numerous incidents where staff felt intimidated or harrassed by DiBello.
DiBello claims she is acting as a responsible and diligent member of the Town Council, responding to citizen complaints and overseeing town operations. Primiano claims she is hovering over, spying on, harrassing and intimidating his staff while actively undermining his authority as department director.
We all could have seen this coming.
Lisa DiBello was the town's Parks and Recreation Director until she was fired by the Town Council at the recommendation of Town Administrator in 2010 . Last November, she rode a sympathy vote into a Town Council seat, though she disclaimed any interest in vengence. But in March, she began legal action against the town which may soon become a lawsuit in state Superior Court. And she frequents the town beaches, intervening on occasion to "help out" as she puts it, or to "interfere" and "harrass" according to her successor and other town staff.
Regardless of which version of events is true (or whether the truth lies elsewhere), there is an obvious conflict between DiBello's duty to SERVE as a Council member and her interest in SUING the town to redress her grievances. She needs to choose: SERVE or SUE.
Author: Will Collette