Elorza Passes Over New Licensing Board Nominee for Chair
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza has reportedly passed over new Board of Licensing nominee Charles Newton to be the new board chair, despite, according to Newton, having had conversations about him filling that role.
Newton was nominated to the board by Elorza after Dr. Jeffrey Williams stepped aside as board chair to spend more time on his ministry.
"I didn't go into this wanting to be in charge, or not wanting to be in charge," said Newton. "I've lived in the city since 1974, I felt I had something to contribute. We'd had discussions about the chairmanship, then I recently had probably a 30 second conversation [with Elorza], when he said he thought he might want someone else, and I respect that decision, and I said that's your decision, and I said thank you very much."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Mayor's office did not respond to request for comment on Friday.
Newton currently serves as Assistant Administrator for the state's Minority Business Compliance Office within the Department of Administration as well as serving on the Ocean State Business Development Authority, Housing Resource Commission, Neighborhood Development Fund and numerous other organizations.
"I think Charles would have been an excellent chair because of his MBE experience, he's got experience overseeing panels that tackled issues of a judgmental nature," said NAACP Providence Branch President Jim Vincent. "I supported Charles for the board, and when I got wind that he was being considered for Chair, I was excited. I don't know the reasons for the Mayor's decision. It's his call, and I thought Charles would have been excellent."
Board Shakeups
The impending new board chairmanship comes at a contentious time when the Board of Licenses has three three chairs in the past year.
"My understanding is that from what I've heard is that Sen. Pichardo is expected to be elected the next chair, but that's not official, just what you hear in the hallways," said City Council President Luis Aponte of current Vice-Chair Pichardo. "Given here is now three chairs in less than a year, there's an opportunity for [him] and the administration to send a clear message that there will be stability moving forward, and there's an opening for them to rethink things -- efficiencies, improvements."
Currently, the board is comprised of Pichardo, who serves as Vice-Chair; Delia Rodriguez-Masjoan; Luis Peralta, former board chair Johanna Harris, and the opening left by Williams departure that Newton is expected to fill.
Sharon Steele with the Jewelry District Association, who has been active with the board of licenses due to nightclub issues, said she believe that the only qualified board member to be chair is Harris, who served at the helm before Elorza had appointed Williams to replace her.
"I'd heard that until just recently, that Charles would be chair, but it now appears that's not the case," said Harris. "On that board, we have one person who is a real live attorney, whose spent her whole life in corporate law. The only person who is qualified is Johanna Harris, and anything less than that is a miscarriage of the responsibilities for which this board exists. We once again have violence in the jewelry district, we have guns, property damage, threats, graffiti, public urination. Why is this happening? Because Harris doesn't take crap from the attorneys."
Harris, who had been embroiled in the $3 Bar controversy on Federal Hill which saw the nightclub shut down amidst public debate over episodes of violence in the surrounding neighborhood, was the subject of an ethics complain by the bar's lawyers about her working for the city in a HR capacity, allegedly in violation of the law.
"How is Pichardo serving as chair not a conflict of interest? He's in the General Assembly, and he's got members -- Mattiello, DeSimone -- coming in to back these bad actors pretending to be restaurants when in fact are nightclubs," Steele continued. "I was there when Pichardo spoke out on behalf of Ada's Creations, who owes $59,000, and in violation of the law have still not entered into payment plan. He spoke out on their behalf, then voted to let them STILL not be in compliance with the law when all other establishments are required to be. "
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