Break-through in the DiBello lawsuit

Ethics Commission gives tentative go-ahead for Council action

By Will Collette

There has been an important procedural breakthrough in the unprecedented lawsuit by Council member Lisa DiBello against the Town of Charlestown and many present and former town officials. That case has been stuck in Town Charter limbo for months.

The Town Council has been unable to take official action to respond to DiBello v. Charlestown because Councilor DiBello is suing two of her fellow sitting Council members, Marge Frank and Gregg Avedisian. Because ethics rules prohibit DiBello from taking part in any Council action regarding her own lawsuit AND because Frank and Avedisian are ethically barred as well because they are defendants, the Town Council is forbidden under the Town Charter from acting.

A Charter change, approved by voters in 2010, requires that there must be THREE yes votes on any Council action, but only TWO Council members (Tom Gentz and Deputy Dan Slattery) are allowed to vote, since they are not parties to DiBello v. Charlestown.

DiBello v. Charlestown in Peeples Court

So when DiBello sent the Town Council her demand that if they pay her $1.5 million, she would drop her claim that the town mounted a complex, 5-year long conspiracy against her,  the Council could not respond. They couldn’t even discuss it.

But now Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero has received a preliminary decision from the RI Ethics Commission staff that, based on the staff’s interpretation of the law, Charlestown MAY proceed to at least discuss DiBello v. Charlestown under the state law’s “Rule of Necessity” hardship provision.

The Rule of Necessity allows the Commission some latitude to relax its standards on conflicts of interest if it is necessary to allow a government entity to function.

The preliminary ruling analyzes the different sorts of conflicts of interest experienced by the three Council members who have been recusing themselves from all DiBello v. Charlestown matters, Lisa DiBello herself, Gregg Avedisian and Marge Frank.

According to the preliminary ruling, DiBello still has a conflict of interest because she is, after all, the one who is suing the town so obviously, she can’t take part in any matter relating to her own lawsuit. She continues to be barred by her conflict of interest.

Gregg Avedisian and Marge Frank have similar situations since they are both being sued individually and in their capacities as part of the Town Council that voted to fire Lisa DiBello as Parks and Recreation Director in May 2010.

However, the Ethics Commission staff drew a distinction between the degree of conflict of interest evident in Avedisian’s and Marge Frank’s circumstances. Marge Frank is simply accused of voting to fire DiBello. She is not accused by DiBello of any other act.

Gregg Avedisian, on the other hand, is portrayed in DiBello’s complaint narrative as an active player in the alleged conspiracy against her.

You should read and bone up on DiBello’s complaint by reading it here, as well as my extensive coverage. Read this article for my analysis of DiBello v. Charlestown.

Because Marge Frank’s role was so minor in DiBello’s narrative, the Ethics Commission cleared her to join with Councilors Gentz and Slattery, now giving the Town Council a working quorum. NOTE: Under the amendment to the Town Charter adopted in 2010, there must be three YES votes to approve any Council action. With only three members eligible to vote on DiBello-related matters, all three Councilors must agree.

The Town Council is scheduled to discuss DiBello v. Charlestown in closed Executive Session on Monday, March 12, right before the big blow-out public meeting.

NOTE: One of the peculiar aspects about the DiBello v. Charlestown lawsuit is that, even though it has been filed in RI Superior Court, and both the Westerly Sun and Progressive Charlestown have written about it, as of close of business Friday, neither the Town of Charlestown nor any of the nine present and former town officials named in the suit have been officially served.

We will continue to follow DiBello v. Charlestown closely, so keep on reading Progressive Charlestown, your best news source for Charlestown politics.