Consultant Reviews Firefighter Contracts in Surprise Presentation

by | Aug 29, 2017

The agenda listed the “Town Manager’s Report” but when Town Manager Gayle Corrigan got up to present her report at Monday night’s Town Council meeting, she instead turned the microphone over to outside consultant Michael Walker of Berkshire Advisors of Ohio.

Walker presented a report, titled “Fiscal Impact of FY2014-FY2016 and FY2017-FY2019 Fire Department Contract Changes.” The report was a fiscal analysis, said Corrigan after the meeting. Walker did not consult Fire Chief Russell McGillivray. Rather, he focused on the numbers, she said. Bringing in the chief will come later, said Town Council President Sue Cienki.

It’s unclear how much Walker was paid for his work.

During public comment, three members of the audience questioned the placement of the analysis in the town manager’s report. Specifically, they asked if the town manager had violated the Open Meetings Act.

The Rhode Island Open Meetings Act “requires the agenda ‘specify the nature of the business to be discussed.’ The Rhode Island Supreme Court has interpreted this to mean the agenda must provide reasonably specific notice to the public, so that agenda items that merely say, for example, ‘Old Business’ or ‘Reports’ are improper.”

Resident Rick Tremble asked why Corrigan hired another financial consultant when she herself was hired based on her financial acumen.

“It seems like a self-licking ice cream cone,” he said.

During an interview last week, Cienki was asked if there would be any financial presentation at Monday’s meeting. She said no. After the meeting Monday, Cienki stood by her comment.

“The town manager is in charge of managing the town,” said Cienki. She said she learned of the presentation earlier that day. “It’s the town manager’s report. It’s information…. “

Council Vice President Sean Todd said after the meeting he only learned of the report at 6:45 p.m. “I think that every town manager does things differently. I think we never had a town manager report like that before.”

Todd deferred to Corrigan as town manager to handle the specifics of the meeting and her report.

“It’s a fiscal impact statement,” said Corrigan when asked why it was not a separate agenda item. The EGFD firefighters contract is not up until 2019.

You can find Walker’s report here: Fiscal Impact:EGFD Contracts.

– Elizabeth F. McNamara

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Steve Bartlett
Steve Bartlett
September 4, 2017 12:23 pm

Elizabeth,

You should investigate and do an in depth story on the information in the presentation about the Firefighter’s contracts. The last two contracts that Mike Isaac, Tom Coyle and the Town Council negotiated, have cost the Town hundreds of thousands of dollars. Why did the Town Council approve the contracts? Did they actually read them before signing? I think not.

All residents should be very concerned.

Steve Bartlett

Renu Englehart
Renu Englehart
September 4, 2017 4:47 pm
Reply to  Steve Bartlett

I should think the town council should do an investigation especially since the last contract signed included three of the current five sitting councillors. Since the town manager reports to the town council, I would assume that the current town council president and the two other members would be aware if what was in the contract before they agreed to it. If the blame is to be placed, why not apportion it across all the parties, not cherry pick the few?

John Galt
John Galt
September 4, 2017 2:28 pm

This is “journalism?” Headline reads: Consultant Reviews Firefighter Contracts in Surprise Presentation – and 12 paragraphs later, we get a link to the presentation? This story is polemic, not journalism. East Greenwich Opinion would be a better name for this site. Whatever it is, it ain’t news!

Renu Englehart
Renu Englehart
September 5, 2017 3:33 am
Reply to  John Galt

Who is John Galt? Or perhaps the better question should be why does John Galt read something he’s so vehemently opposed to? After all if an individual can think for themselves, why would they bother to read news they don’t like at all? Isn’t that what Ayn Rand believed?

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