A Providence building inspector lodged a complaint with the city, following what he says was a recent run-in with City Councilman Wilbur Jennings where he said he was threatened by Jennings.
"I do not appreciate at all that a city councilman and prospective property owner came to my second job, tried to threaten me with the security of my job, and [tried] to intimidate me into breaking the law by turning to a blind eye to the violations to that violations that have been issued," wrote Building Inspector Ted Isabella in an email to Jeff Lykins on July 27, following a run-in with Jennings at the Home Depot in Providence on July 25, where Isabella works as a second job.
Isabella wrote the following to describe how the encounter began.
"While I was at work, at Home Depot on Saturday, I was approached by Ward 8 Councilman Wilbur Jennings and Greg Aloiso at approximately 12:11 PM," wrote Isabella. "After small talk, Mr. Jennings began speaking with me about the City of Providence business regarding my job at the Department of Inspection and Standards and a property that I had submitted violations on. Mr. Jennings started by saying I needed to work with them regarding Mr. Aloiso's interest in a property."
Isabella went on to write, "This is the property you and I personally went to and met with Mr. Aloiso. This property is the one that had been cited for an illegal basement and attic apartment....as the conversation continued, Jennings stated that he was going to ask [Kevin] and you for 90 day extension on the court matter so something could be worked out with the property. I replied by saying that I have nothing to do with that part. "
Isabella then relayed what he said happened next -- and said it involved a threat by Jennings.
"Jennings again stated that I needed to work with them both on this matter. He then followed that up by telling me I need to watch myself because I was overstepping myself with my job," said Isabella. "I took this as a threat against me and my job. There was no other way to take what he said or in the manner he said it (his tone of voice) other than as a threat against me."
Jennings, who was first elected to the Providence City Council in November 2010, and re-elected in 2014, represents the Reservoir and West End neighborhoods. Jennings did not respond to request for comment on Friday.
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Isabella said he took concern with being confronted at his second job.
"I ended this matter by telling Mr. Jennings and Mr. Aloiso that they had no right to come to my second job trying to press me on this property, off the city clock," wrote Isabella, who said that the store manager spoke with him after to say that "something like this should not be occurring on Home Depot time and for city business to be left outside the store, for which I totally agree with."
"I would greatly appreciate if something is done regarding this matter, for it was totally inappropriate and I should not have to worry about issues like this at either of my jobs or outside of my work with the city," wrote Isabella.
Neither Lykins, to whom the email was addressed, nor 1033 labor union representatives responded to request for comment on Friday.
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"I've been around 27 years. We've arrested people at the State House, but I can't remember something like this before," said Rhode Island State Police Colonel Steve O’Donnell.
With 40.7 percent of the vote, Raimondo bested challengers Republican Allan Fung, who garnered 36.2% of the vote -- and Moderate Party candidate Bob Healy who got 21.4%.
The first newly elected Democrat in Rhode Island since 1992, Raimondo grew up in Scituate, boasting impressive educational credentials, graduating as Valedictorian from La Salle High School, and then going on to graduate from Yale, Harvard, and Oxford. Raimondo founded venture capital company Point Judith Capital before being elected General Treasurer in 2010.
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The incident did not go away however, as social media continued to bring up the situation -- questioning whether between the voting, and the car, if Pell, the youngest candidate in the race, was ready to lead the state.
Pell finished third in the Democratic primary in September.
Corbishley was forced to resign from ProCAP in 2011 after a multi-month investigation by GoLocalProv. He had served in the role of Executive Director since 1991 when then-Mayor of Providence Buddy Cianci named him to the position. During the investigations that found ProCAP to be severely mismanaged, Providence Mayoral candidate Michael Solomon chaired the ProCAP board.
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In September, GoLocalProv obtained a copy of a confidential memo outlining the strategy by a group of predominantly East Side residents to create a secret fund of $1 million to defeat Buddy Cianci for Mayor of Providence in November.
According to a confidential memo emailed by failed Providence Mayoral candidate Lorne Adrain to a group of 29 including a number of former top level staffers to David Cicilline, the group’s goal was to create a 501(c)(4) fund – a fund that would not have to disclose its members.
The individuals listed on the memo included: top Washington Trust Banker Ned Handy, former top David Cicilline aides Carol Grant and Deb Brayton, former Providence Journal Editor of the Editorial Page Bob Whitcomb, and three-time candidate for Governor Myrth York, to name a few.
The move by the Republican gubernatorial candidates Allan Fung's campaign to shoot a commercial about small business in Rhode Island -- in Ohio -- not only landed Fung on the biggest blunders list, it was one of 2014's top political stories.
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The Conrad Building property, of which Solomon has an outstanding Providence city loan dating back to 1988 as a minority shareholder, was listed at its location at 385 Westminster Street in his ethics reports for 2009 through 2013. The Hummel Report's Jim Hummel first reported in that Solomon still owed the city 24 years later on the $500,000 loan
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Project manager Michael Rossi with SyNet, Inc. revealed a budget for work which he says shows at $25,000 line item for work to be done at Corso's Tazza Cafe in 2011 -- under a job order for the failed 38 Studios.
Warwick-based SyNet bills itself as "the premier design-build low voltage contractor of structured cabling, access control, surveillance and audio visual systems in the Northeast."
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During the four year period, Providence dropped from being ranked 314th in the United States to a ranking of 358th. In a bruising Democratic gubernatorial primary, the issue of crime in the city -- and how Taveras performed at the helm -- was a major point of contention.
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"What we see is a coordinated national-state-local scheme where federal agencies are poised to seize unprecedented levels of control over local land-use and housing issues," commented Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. "Property owners and local officials are about to lose sovereignty over their own affairs to the federal government."
A hearing in December brought opponents out in force, but the plan was ultimately adopted. However, the debate is sure to be far from over.
When first asked why Elorza brought up the arrest, his campaign manager, Marisa O’Gara said, “Much of his story is about his struggles as a young man, and how he turned his life around. He chose to be forthright about this because he believes strongly in transparency and ethics, and he wants to be completely upfront with the people of Providence. He wants them to hear directly from him how these struggles shaped his vision for Providence.”
Asked tonight why his confession was nearly identical to [Central Falls Mayor James] Diossa’s, O’Gara said an advisor had drafted the letter. She confirmed the advisor, whom she did not name, had also worked for Diossa. She said the campaign had not been aware of the similarity in language.
“A former advisor helped our campaign write the first draft of this letter, and this same advisor had also worked on James Diossa’s letter. Jorge relayed his personal story, our advisor presented us with this language, and Jorge felt it accurately described his personal struggle. If we had known the language was the same as Mayor Diossa's, we would have immediately corrected it. What was really important to Jorge was disclosing the truth about the mistakes he made as a young man, mistakes about which he has been forthright and upfront,” O’Gara said.
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From whether or not the SEC should investigate, to an 11th hour hearing during the General Assembly session, opponents continued to line up to battle paying back the beleaguered bonds -- but under threat of a diminished credit rating, Rhode Island leaders opted to once again pay back the obligation.
