RI Political Corruption
In what sort of environment could anyone possibly find it acceptable to place the faces of two local (and living!) officials on a monument to others who died heroically in a distant city? A decision by Mayor Charles Lombardi to remove the likenesses of two of the town’s former public safety officials from the town’s…
Montalbano’s public statement gives the impression that he thinks $12,000 is a reasonable fine for a minor paperwork error: I am pleased to have reached a resolution of this matter that is fair and just. The finding of the Ethics Commission in this case – that I failed to complete my paperwork – accurately reflects…
… becomes probably the last person in Rhode Island to admit the obvious: Resolving months of legal back and forth, state Senate President Joseph Montalbano today settled the ethics case against him for a $12,000 civil penalty. … Montalbano was accused of engaging in a conflict of interest by voting to put a casino proposal…
I thought it worth noting the item “Special-interest solons” from today’s Political Scene column in the ProJo: [Rep. Douglas W.] Gablinske [D-Bristol]…recently asked the state Ethics Commission to address this question: “how full-time union employees, who are also legislators, are able to promote union interests through legislation.” In a letter to the commission, Gablinske said…
The Senate appears to be willing to tackle a couple issues that certainly seem to foster political corruption. S 0283, proposed by Senators Gibbs, Bates, Cote, Blais, and Breene, would amend the currently defined procedure for voting: Each person desiring to vote shall, before receiving his or her ballot, state his or her name and…
Sounds to me like there may be a few nervous lawmakers up on the Hill: Shudders, dread, curiosity — and what several lawmakers called sadness — permeated the State House yesterday amid warnings by the state’s top federal prosecutor that the John Celona influence-peddling scandal had already spawned “active” corruption investigations against seven other politicians…
