Duxbury calls for a full review of all procedures governing the protection of important Town documents. "Important decisions are being made with the guidance of our Town Charter. When the integrity of Town documents is compromised, the decision-making process is flawed."
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
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Contact: Tammy Duxbury, 742-6440
DISTRICT FIVE RESIDENT TAMMY DUXBURY CALLS ON COVENTRY OFFICIALS TO EXPLAIN MISHANDLING OF COUNCIL VACANCY
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Media reports, review of charter by residents indicates Council Leadership, Town Solicitor were relying on faulty version of Town Charter to nix special election in District 5
(COVENTRY, RI 5/22/14) District 5 resident Tammy Duxbury is calling on the Coventry Town Manager and Town Solicitor to provide a detailed report on how an unauthorized version of Coventry’s Home Rule Charter was used to reject holding a special election immediately after the District 5 Council seat was vacated this past February. The Town Council Leadership and Town Solicitor apparently relied on an unauthorized, flawed version of the Charter to insist that a special election was not required, even though the codified version of the Charter requires a special election six months or more prior to the November election. The flawed printed version of the Charter set that timeline at twelve months.
Since the discrepancy first came to light, town officials have offered different explanations for the error. After the Town Manager told the media earlier this week that it was the result of a clerical error, Duxbury was told by Town Solicitor Fred Tobin yesterday that the town was being represented by a Providence law firm at the time and they had missed the error, which was made by the printing company when producing the charters. When asked by a resident at Town Hall whether there had been an investigation by the Town into what happened and if a report was available, the Assistant Town Solicitor did not provide a definitive answer.
“The people of Coventry deserve straight answers as to why decisions were being made about a special election based on flawed, invalid versions of our Home Rule Charter,” said Duxbury. “This episode calls the integrity of town records into question, and we need to make sure we have the internal controls in place to prevent these errors from happening again.”
Duxbury said if there has been an investigation, town officials need to release the report. The Town must explain what steps are being taken to make sure town records are being properly maintained and that a reliable review process is in place to keep clerical errors or printing errors from becoming law without public approval. If an investigation has not been conducted, Duxbury said it should be initiated immediately, with a commitment to provide a report to the citizens of Coventry so they can be assured of the integrity of town documents going forward.
