RI’s Most Chaotic City

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle

 

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East Providence -- in chaos, according to community leaders. Photo: CC/JohnPhelan

It used to be known for “Townie Pride.” It was the ultimate expression of a cohesive and proud community, but today East Providence would be better served by the name “Townie Chaos.”

Today, the City of East Providence is bludgeoned by lawsuits and a seemingly never-ending stream of controversies, after the city’s HR Director sued the city for sexual harassment in 2016 — and is now being sued for discrimination by a long time African-American employee, and a botched fire academy rollout saw a new class of recruits scrapped and the city restarting the process. 

Moreover, the city has seen five Town Managers in the last six years. 

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“It’s not what’s in the water, it's the people,” said East Providence City Councilman Robert Britto. “It’s what people put in the water -- we pollute the water and with that comes issues and problems. You could see some of this coming a mile away. Anywhere else, if you're in the private sector, they'd be gone, you don't tolerate this.”

“But in the public sector, it’s the same problems over again. You'd think you'd learn from the first, second, third, fourth time -- some people just don't learn,” said Britto. 

Firefighter Class in Limbo

In January, East Providence announced that after starting the recruiting process, which began in June 2016, and was supposed to see an academy start in March of this year, that was going to start the process over. (See the letter to recruits BELOW).

GoLocal spoke with firefighter candidate Julien Fernandes, a 23 year-old who lives in Cranston, who applied and began the process to become a firefighter, only to be told by the city they would be staring over. 

“When I got the email, I tried to speak to the HR Director, and when I talked with her I said, I just don’t know what’s going on — we worked out butts off to get this point, under the assumption we’d be in the academy,” said Fernandes. “I think we deserve an explanation. She said something about an unfair hiring process, and referenced the city charter. I did my research and knew the personnel board had to vote, and she wouldn’t tell me how the vote went.”

Fernandes said he always wanted to be a firefighter — and that he is determined to apply again. 

“When I saw that East Providence was hiring, I’d always wanted to be a firefighter, I always loved East Providence,” said Fernandes on applying for the academy. “I jumped into an EMT course, got through all that, and took the national physical. I passed the exam, and thought, thank god I don’t have to do that again. I did the interview, and got the email that said congrats. And then another week or two later I got the email from the city about their decision."

Fernandes said he questioned the motives of why East Providence acted the way it did. 

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EP's going back to the drawing board for a new firefighter class is part of the city's chaos.

“I’d heard [HR Director] Kathy [Waterbury] had sued the city, and the fire department, which made me wonder what this was all about," said Fernandes. "Everybody was ready to go — how do you just pull the plug now?"

"I’m not one to quit. They’re not getting rid of me that quickly,” said Fernandes, of his plans to reapply.  “I’m on my own, I’ve got a son, I want to make a better life for him. It seems like for a lot of firefighters, police, it’s all about being a friend of a friend — I’m just trying to get that for myself."

Councilman Britto said that he is considering calling for an outside investigation, but that he has to justify it to city taxpayers.

“The [firefighters] decision comes from the personnel board. I, as a council person, don't have a say in 'can or should' they go forward. I could call for a revision of everything that's going on, perhaps even hiring someone outside to come in and examine what's taking place, ” said Britto. “But at this point I’m not saying I’m proposing it. Everything comes at the taxpayer expense, and while I wear my Council hat, I also am a taxpayer.”

Latest Lawsuit

A long-time city employee, Lita Garrett, recently sued the city claiming discrimination and unfair employment practices, which was first reported by NBC-10.  

In her suit, Garrett claims she was harassed and demoted after questioning the city’s hiring practices — including skipping over a qualified black male candidate for a city position to hire a former city police officer who hadn’t applied.

“I can't imagine cities operating any worse than that -- this is horrific,” said Jim Vincent, President of the NAACP Providence Branch. “You can't make up stuff like this. I used to work [in East Providence], Rita is one of the nicest people to work with.”

“What needs to be done in East Providence? A new HR Director, and a commitment to diversity,” said Vincent. “There’s the lawsuits, the situation with the firefighters — no one seems to know what's going on."

"It smells like corruption, and it's rearing it ugly head," said Vincent. "This isn't just about diversity, it's corruption. It’s not just about the 3 or 4 black people [the firefighter class], but what about the 8-9 other individuals. When you put all these things together, it paints a picture of chaos.”

Neither Waterbury nor Interim City Manager Timothy Chapman responded to request for comment on Tuesday.

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