Lisa DiBello announces she is running for re-election

…And thanks me for it

By Will Collette

The biggest drama at the June 25 Town Council continued monthly meeting came when Councilor Lisa DiBello spoke during “Council Comments” to announce her intention to run for a second term as Town Councilor, citing her disgust and anger at Progressive Charlestown in general, and me, in particular, as her motivation.

My bad, I guess, for giving Councilor DiBello a reason to run again.

She accused Progressive Charlestown and me specifically of “outright lies” and “slanderous attacks” and of abusing the right of free speech—while saying she had never actually read Progressive Charlestown herself. 

Click here to listen to her remarks.

Those types of bold charges require some definitive proof. It takes more than public statements made on the basis of second-hand reports.

Though she and her supporters may think I have been "picking on" her, I did no more than follow the evidence trail.

After Ms. DiBello’s repeated clashes with other Council members and town staff last spring, I got curious. A lot of the arguing seemed to be done in code, with references that just got me wondering what was behind it.

As I started looking and researching, it was like peeling away the skin of an onion - a very overripe onion. I took a hard look at the records behind many of Ms. DiBello’s other dealings and business transactions in Charlestown.

If you read on, I will list the issues where that cast a shadow on Ms. DiBello’s conduct as a town employee and now as a Town Councilor. I provide links to the original articles and those articles carry links to my research – actual documents that support each and every statement I have written.

I would invite Ms. DiBello to back up her charges with rebuttal evidence, not just dramatic rhetoric.

Further, I hope Councilor DiBello has a broader campaign platform than what she laid out on Monday. In 2010, her slogan was vote for me “Because I care.” Is her 2012 slogan going to be vote for me “Because I hate Progressive Charlestown”?  

Maybe that’s what Councilor  DiBello needs, given that she does not have much to show for her 19 months on the Council. Her record is that she provided the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) with the controlling vote on the Town Council, accounting for the numerous 3-2 votes to advance the CCA agenda.

As a Town Council member, Councilor DiBello earned two dubious distinctions. She became the first Council member in memory to simultaneously SUE the town she is supposed to be serving. And she may be the all-time record holder for making the most appeals to the Town Solicitor for a legal opinion or clarification.

She carries the lightest load of any Councilor, serving as Council liaison to only one town body - the Cross Mills Library - while the other Council members average three commissions each.

She was the deciding vote that allowed the CCA’s “Kill Bill” Campaign to force Town Administrator Bill DiLibero to resign. She was the deciding vote to kill the Homestead Tax Credit that would have brought tax relief to 2600 middle-class Charlestown households. And she got the town to institute the Hometown Hero award, a nice thing for sure, but not something that changed the quality of life in Charlestown.

Councilor DiBello is entitled to challenge my conclusions, but I am still waiting for her to challenge my research - the documents and facts. For her public attack against me from the Council podium to have merit, I think Ms. DiBello needs to respond, with facts and evidence, to the following issues I have covered here in Progressive Charlestown.

1. DiBello v. Charlestown. This is Ms. DiBello's legal action against the town she claims to serve.
1. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello is suing the town of Charlestown while sitting as a Council member? 
2. Did she tell Charlestown voters she planned to do this when she campaigned in 2010, or did she tell voters that she had no intention of taking vengeance against the town?
3. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello told the town that if the town gave her $1.5 million, she would go away? 
4. Is it true or not that Councilor DiBello hamstrung the Council for months from being able to respond to her lawsuit by not allowing the town to get emergency clearance from the Ethics Commission so the Council could at least deliberate on her demands? 
5. While I could ask Councilor DiBello questions about the claim in her lawsuit that there was a 5-year conspiracy involving at least nine town officials against her, I realize this is pending litigation. . However, at some point, she’s going to have to back up her claims.

2. The Dog Pound.
1. Is it true or not that for ten years, Ms. DiBello’s long-time business associate and housemate Deborah Dellolio held the town contract for concession services at the Charlestown Town Beach?       
2. Is it true or not that as Parks and Recreation Director, Ms. DiBello had direct oversight responsibility over the Dog Pound contract? 
3. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello did not disclose her relationship with Ms. Dellolio on her Ethics disclosure forms? 
4. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello recommended that the town award the concession contracts to Ms. Dellolio? 
5. Is it true or not true that her roommate’s business paid less than a third in concession fees to the town than concessionaires at Blue Shutters Beach paid? 
6. Is it true or not that last summer, there were end-to-end problems and conflicts between the Dog Pound and town officials, culminating in the town’s decision not to extend the Dog Pound’s contract? 

3. A Ray of Hope.
1. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello and Ms. Dellolio run this charity from their home? Is it true or not that from its inception, the charity has had several town employees on its board? 
2. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello refuses to disclose the IRS-990 reports that, as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, A Ray of Hope is required under federal law to file and make public? 
3. Has A Ray of Hope ever filed an IRS 990 report? 
4. Is it true or not that A Ray of Hope has NEVER filed its 2-page state corporate annual report on time? 
5. Is it true or not that the Secretary of State has twice revoked A Ray of Hope’s corporate charter and issued six reprimand letters? 
6. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello and her colleagues told the news media that A Ray of Hope had raised tens of thousands of dollars - perhaps more than $100,000 according to media accounts - money that has never been publicly accounted for as required by federal law?
7. Is it true or not that Ms. DiBello said on Channel 12 News that the $20,000 Oldsmobile she won on The Price Is Right would be donated to A Ray of Hope? Click here to see the video.
8. Is it true or not that this donation pledge was included in a fund-raising video produced by Ms. DiBello’s brother and that prospective donors were directed to send their donations to Ms. DiBello’s brother in California? 
9. Is it true or not that instead of donating the car as promised and advertised to A Ray of Hope, Ms. DiBello first kept the car and then transferred title to Deborah Dellolio, who still owns it to this day? 

Then there is the large collection of lapses in accountability and responsibility that I found in my research. They include: filing required annual Ethics disclosure forms late eight times; listing five different dates of hire on those ethics reports; never disclosing an exchange of gifts between herself and Deborah Dellolio during the 10 years that Ms. Dellolio was a town contractor and Ms. DiBello was a town official and, in the last election, filing her final campaign finance disclosure report for 2010 three weeks late. Add that to her always-late annual report filings with the Secretary of State and missing IRS-990 reports. 

One or two mistakes are understandable. But this persistent pattern of ignoring the rules about transparency and accountability raises troubling questions that, so far, Ms. DiBello has refused to answer. Indeed, when I asked her about the missing IRS-990 reports, she misquoted the law and refused to respond. Read her e-mail to me by clicking here.

 If I had published any of these articles or wrote about any of these issues without backup evidence and documentation, then everything Councilor DiBello said about me (and more) would be justified. But I do the research and provide readers with the links and references to support what I write. I also directly asked Councilor DiBello for information and comments but she rebuffed those efforts to give her a chance to tell her side of the story.

Just saying it doesn't make it so

That was her choice. But for her own decision, she has had ample opportunity to prove me wrong. 

Now that Councilor DiBello has used the Council platform to level accusations at me – indeed, she has made me her major campaign issue –the burden is on her to back up her statements.

Let’s start with full disclosure on A Ray of Hope. Release those 990 forms as required by law. Explain how and why you were able to be both overseer and housemate to a town contractor for 10 years.

Explain what happened to the car you pledged to donate to A Ray of Hope.

Explain how you feel you can simultaneously serve our town while you are suing us – and demanding that we give you $1.5 million to go away.

Don’t just issue broad-brush accusations from the Town Council podium. If I am wrong, show the public why. Correct the record. If you can.