North Providence: Meeting Minutes ‘Fell Through the Cracks’
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The North Providence town council meeting where three members allegedly cast votes in return for a $25,000 bribe was held in full public view—but more than a year after the meeting, detailed minutes remained inaccessible to most of the public.
The meeting in question was on February 10, 2009.
But the minutes posted on the town clerk’s Web site contain only a terse two-paragraph synopsis that tells virtually nothing about what happened—and the full testimony was not online. When we asked for e-mail copies, we received what was already online.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Every now and then, they fall through the cracks and I try to keep up as good as I can,” said Deputy Town Clerk Dee Comella, when asked to explain why, more than a year and half after the meeting, the complete minutes were unavailable online. “It was an honest mistake.”