Wired: 2001 to 2002, A Book by Paul Caranci
Monday, May 01, 2017
Each week, GoLocalProv will publish a chapter of the book Wired: The Shocking True Story of Political Corruption and the FBI Informant Who Risked Everything to Expose It, by Paul Caranci.
The book details how Caranci gambled his thirty-year political career, his reputation, and his family’s safety in his quest to restore good, honest government to a community that needed it most by going undercover with the FBI for 17 months to exposed corruption.
Buy the book by CLICKING HERE
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INAUGURATION DAY IV
The new-year began with all the promise and possibilities that the inauguration of local elected officials begets. However, the enthusiasm had waned for me, making this event anti-climactic and somewhat mundane. What was once a very exciting day was now a day marred by the promise of more infighting if I hoped to enact proposals that I deemed beneficial to the quality of life in North Providence.
The Council is described in the town charter as a part-time body, but it sure seemed like a near full time job to me! Between meetings, meeting prep, constituent phone calls, issue research, proposal writing, press release drafting and issuance, constituent meetings and fact finding sessions, it was difficult to keep up. Add to that the need to find ways to actually garner support for my programs in the face of unwarranted political opposition and so many other responsibilities that local office required, and I worked an average of 25-30 hours a week on council duties alone. When this is divided by the $8,000 annual stipend, the average hourly salary was between $5.12 and $6.15. It should be obvious that those who are elected to office and perform their duties responsibly do not choose public service for the money!
Protecting the Integrity of the Village Commercial Zone
One of the first major issues confronting the Council in the new year was a proposal to locate a 7-Eleven at the site of the old Ronci Mill on Smith Street at the corner of Atlantic Blvd. The site was now a vacant lot and the developers were proposing a convenience store with a gas station and a 24-hour operating license. Bob Ricci, John Zambarano and Eileen Cook, the councilors that represented the district in which the facility would be located, were briefed by the developers and announced their support before I even had an opportunity to review the plans. I had learned to become leery of anything promoted by Ricci and Zambarano, however, so their pronouncement prompted me to take a very close look at the project.
While they viewed the proposed construction as economic development and focused on small issues such as egress and ingress, I focused on more critical issues such as the potential for increased traffic, disrupted traffic patterns, unsightly gas pumps that would abut a residential area, a 24-hour nuisance and a noisy late-night hangout in an area that abutted a residential zone.
The other major issue was that the development was proposed for a site that had been rezoned to Village Commercial when the Town’s Comprehensive Plan was adopted in the mid 1990’s. A Village Commercial Zone prohibits chain stores of any kind.
While Ricci was normally assertive and authoritative, Zambarano was generally meek and mild mannered. By this stage of his Council tenure however the 1981 graduate of North Providence High School was learning the political ropes from his best friend and mentor.
Yet, in this case, both Ricci and Zambarano groped and reached for reasons to justify their position. Ricci noted that there was once a Cumberland Farms across the street. When it closed, the people lost a convenience store and this was an opportunity to get one back. Ricci never mentioned that the Cumberland Farms had closed before the area was rezoned Village Commercial. He added that the Town had two other 24-hour stores, one in Marieville (the east side of Town) near the off ramp of Rt. 146, the other in Woodville, the middle of Town. This would be an opportunity for the west side of Town to enjoy the convenience that a 24-hour store provides. He neglected to point out, however, that in a Town of only 5.4 square miles, the other two locations were, at most, a four-minute drive away from the western-most part of Town during the late night and early morning hours when traffic was at a minimum. Ricci also failed to acknowledge that the two established 24-hour stores that he referenced were on a very commercial stretch of Mineral Spring Avenue and not in a Village Commercial zone.
Mayor Mollis even noted that construction of a 7-Eleven store in that location “didn’t fit into his vision of revitalization for Smith Street.” In fact, the site had been previously selected by Mollis for the construction of a new Senior Citizen Center, which had outgrown its current location in the heart of Centredale. In January 2002, Zambarano called for a special Saturday morning Council meeting so that residents would have an opportunity to see the 7-Eleven proposal and weigh in on it. About thirty or so residents responded to Zambarano’s call and attended the meeting. Despite Bob Ricci and the developers announcing that the “revised” plan no longer included access on Whipple Avenue, one of the side streets on which the facility was proposed, the residents made their opposition to a 24-hour 7-Eleven store very evident. As the meeting was drawing to a close, Ricci proposed to the developers that they ask their corporate officers if they could live with extended hours that would require the store to close only 5-6 hours a day. The developers responded several days later with a resounding “no,” causing Ricci to announce that the plan was dead and that the Council should formally reject the proposal at its March meeting.
Normally one might think that such a pronouncement would signal the end of discussion on the issue. However, controversy erupted again at the March meeting. Jason Sisto, the owner of the property on which the 7-Eleven construction was proposed, told the Council that he had gotten several calls from people interested in locating a gas station at that same site, a station that wouldn’t require a 24-hour license. In response Ricci told the few residents that attended, “If it were a choice between 7-Eleven and another gas station, I would choose 7-Eleven.” It was very evident to me that this entire conversation had been contrived in an attempt to provide one more delay with the hope of being able to grant the license at a subsequent meeting.
In what was now becoming a very discernible pattern, the justification was feeble. Imagine opting for a 24-hour 7-Eleven with four gas pumps, eight service locations, and an 18’ concrete canopy rather than a straight gas station without a 24-hour license. I countered, “If 7-Eleven is turned down and another service station takes its place, at least it wouldn’t operate 24-hours a day.” After all, it wasn’t the gas station that the neighbors objected to; it was the issuance of a 24-hour license. As before, Ricci’s latest argument was invalid and defied logic.
I continued my letter writing campaign and contacted residents to ensure their cohesiveness. Finally, on March 20, 2002, the Providence Journal reported, “’Seven-Eleven is dead,’ Councilman Robert Ricci proclaimed yesterday. Ricci said that continued neighborhood opposition has persuaded a majority of council members – including himself – to deny granting 7-Eleven a 24-hour license.” Saying that he and Zambarano spoke to neighbors recently and found “‘…they didn’t share the same sentiment. The residents, he said, remained concerned that a 24-hour store would attract people leaving nightclubs at closing time and lead to late night disturbances. They weren’t concerned about the aesthetics as much,’ Ricci said.” The developers said they would still ask the Council for a vote on the issue at the April meeting.
In the final analysis, the developers of the 7-Eleven did not pursue their proposal, as it was clear that there were too many legal and zoning hurdles to overcome. The entire episode did provide a glimpse into how Ricci and Zambarano conduct themselves when trying to support something that was clearly not in the best interest of the Town. The attempts at feeble excuses were a pattern that would be consistently and constantly repeated each time I tried to reason with them. I was simply left to my own devices to try to determine their motives. In hindsight, with the revelations of their “kleptocracy” it all makes perfect sense.
Appointing a New Town Clerk Another Unnecessary Controversy
Perhaps the most contentious item of an otherwise quiet political year was the appointment of a new Town Clerk. Joseph Rendine, the former District 1 councilman and Frank Anzeveno’s 1982 opponent for state representative, announced his retirement from a position to which he was appointed following the election of Dick Fossa as mayor. Both men were raised on Federal Hill, an Italian-American section of Providence, and although Rendine had been an ardent supporter of Fossa foe Sal Mancini, his friendship with Fossa was never seriously strained beyond the limits of repair.
The employment ad prompted several applications from many qualified and some not-so-qualified respondents. Because the Town Clerk’s position is the only full time position appointed by the Council, I took the selection responsibility very seriously. Two meetings were held in executive session to review the applications. I wasn’t able to attend the first meeting due to a work conflict, but after asking Council President Sisto, I learned that the discussions were shallow and devoid of any real evaluation. Essentially, he told me, "I read certain parts of some of the applications and we talked about them." Fearing that the Council was going to make an appointment without a real evaluation, I took it upon myself to develop a matrix for evaluating the applicants on a point-based system and I then ranked them in top-down order suggesting an interview for the top 3 candidates.
MaryAnn DeAngelus, the sister of Councilman Zambarano, was a high school graduate who, according to her resume, worked part-time as a banquet manager at the popular Twin Oaks Restaurant owned by her ex-husband, and part-time as a clerk in the Cranston Municipal Court. She had no full-time experience in a public office setting and did not even live in Town at a time when a residency requirement made that a condition of employment. (Note: The residency requirement did allow for new hires to move into Town within six months of their appointment if they were out-of-town residents at the time of their appointment.) Other applicants included a man who worked as a full-time town clerk in a municipality in Connecticut, a law school graduate who was a life-long town resident and another three-generation lifelong resident who worked in a similar full-time position for many years in the R.I. House of Representatives. That candidate also happened to be the grandson of retired State Senator Frank Sgambato, a well-respected former town councilman and senate majority leader to whom the Council chamber was dedicated.
The Council held a second executive session to discuss the candidates and narrow the field of choices to a few. At least that’s what I thought the meeting had been called for. In reality, it appeared that the other members were ready to announce their selection, one that they seemed to have been previously agreed to.
The Council would not even consider my evaluation system or ranking of the 18 applicants. I pleaded that they at least review my work even if they don’t want to accept the recommendations. Despite my admonitions, Peter Simone quickly made the motion to appoint MaryAnn DeAngelus. The motion was second by Ricci and Burchfield and the roll call vote was 5-0. I refused to vote noting that the committee had not done a thorough evaluation of the candidates and I believed a vote was premature. Zambarano wisely recused himself from the vote to appoint his sister although he failed to file the appropriate recusal form required by State law.
I argued that the selection of a councilman’s sister would present a major conflict of interest since the town clerk is responsible for taking meeting notes, preparing meeting agendas, disseminating all Council information, keeping town records and other duties that could be considered problematic if partiality could be shown to one specific Council member. “What would happen,” I asked hypothetically, “if a split council decision regarding a liquor license is appealed to the Department of Business Regulation? Would the council members that voted contrary to Zambarano have concerns about the Clerk’s impartiality?” I asked the Council to request an advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission to determine if a councilman’s sister, sitting as town clerk, could pose an appearance of impropriety. No one would second my motion. I believe they all feared what the answer might be. Instead, they insisted that Zambarano had already sought an Ethics Commission advisory ruling that indicated that he must recuse himself from the selection process.
Ricci bristled when I suggested that the appointment might give the appearance of a “political fix.” He shot back with accusations of hypocrisy because my wife Margie was serving as the clerk to the school committee and my father was a doorman in the House of Representatives. The fact that neither I, nor the Town Council, had anything to do with either part-time appointment apparently didn't matter to Ricci.
Neither of those appointments could possibly pose a conflict for me for two reasons. First, as mentioned, the Council had no voice in the appointment of either position. Second, the School Committee appointed Margie to her part-time position in 1992, and the Speaker of the House appointed my father to his part-time position in 1981. I wasn't elected to the Council until 1994. Further, neither position could ever pose a conflict with my duties as a councilman since neither person had any interaction with the Council. My sister, Linda Corsini, was particularly upset that Ricci would use my father in such a personal attack against me and made a point to say as much in a carefully crafted letter-to-the-editor.
Councilman Burchfield told the reporter that my criticisms of the Council’s evaluation process and resulting appointment were unwarranted. “I think all of this is somewhat immature. He has aspirations to be mayor. He’s probably trying to get positive publicity for that purpose alone.”
Ricci justified the selection of his best friend’s sister to Richard Salit of the Providence Journal saying, “I was really impressed with the interview she gave. And, to be perfectly frank, I know the family and their character. Certainly that makes me a little more comfortable with her.” In reality, I believed that the appointment, and the same tired personal attacks against the person logically anticipating the problems such an appointment could create, gave my suspicions of the collusion between Ricci and Zambarano even more validity.
For his part, Zambarano said that he recused himself from both the vote and the selection process. “I have had nothing to do with it,” he said, “I haven’t lobbied any of the council members. I haven’t talked to any of them except Ricci.” Apparently, that was the only person he needed to speak to. It should also have been enough to place Zambarano in violation of the State’s ethics laws.
When the reporter called me for a response to their charges, I was on a family vacation in Florida and driving through Lion Country Safari with my children in the back seat of the car. As I was speaking with the reporter, several monkeys climbed over my car forcing me to stop the car and wait for the monkeys to move away before driving on. The kids were hysterical with laughter. Monkeys - how appropriate, I thought, as I tried to restrain my own guffaws.
Paul F. Caranci is a historian and serves on the board of directors for the RI Heritage Hall of Fame. He is a cofounder of, and consultant to The Municipal Heritage Group and the author of five published books including two produced by The History Press. North Providence: A History & The People Who Shaped It (2012) and The Hanging & Redemption of John Gordon: The True Story of Rhode Island’s Last Execution (2013) that was selected by The Providence Journal as one of the top five non-fiction books of 2013. Paul served for eight years as Rhode Island’s Deputy Secretary of State and for almost seventeen years as a councilman in his hometown of North Providence. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Margie. They have two adult children, Heather and Matthew, and four grandsons, Matthew Jr., Jacob, Vincent and Casey.
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s History of Political Corruption
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