The Concerned Citizens for John Hope Settlement House is upping its pressure to remove Board President Representative Anastasia Williams -- and newly appointed Executive Director, former discredited ProCAP head Frank Corbishley.
Following a letter written to Williams last week asking for her resignation from the board after allegations surfaced of financial and political misconduct, the group will be holding a press conference at the House on Monday, September 8, at 5 PM.
According to group spokesperson Chace Baptista, "community members, JHSH supporters, and others will gather in the parking lot where a press conference will be held to publicly request Ms. Williams resignation or the board of directors to vote her off the board." Additionally, the appointment of a newly constituted interim board is requested.
"Throughout the history of John Hope, there have been tremendous leaders who have led the organization to prominence," said Baptista. "While we don't have any personal problem with Mr. Corbishley, we are dismayed that is was who the Board has selected to be ED. Especially since he ran ProCap into the ground, I don't think that his leadership is the kind that will bring JHSH back to being the Jewel of the Community that it is."
Former John Hope Executive Director Thomas Whitten told GoLocal that he is planning on attending the rally on Monday.
"I'm planning on going, and plan to find out more about what is going on," said Whitten. Whitten said that he is having issues currently getting his pension from John Hope, but said he could not speak further to the issue. "I'm due money, but I've got lawyers working on it, so I'm not going to get into that," said Whitten.
Whitten noted that he recently completed writing a history of John Hope Settlement House -- "from 1929 through 2005" -- and that he believes it will be out soon.
However, Whitten said that while he had tried to volunteer at the House recently, he found he was unable to do so.
"I've been over there are few times, mainly just to say hello to the staff and go around the gym," said Whitten.. "I tried to volunteer three months ago, with a few others who were concerned enough to help things move along. After Williams was elected, I left because I found it difficult to work there. That's part of the problem, people who want to do the right thing find they can't. Because I couldn't find myself being dictated, and that wasn't going to work."
Concerned Citizens for John Hope Settlement House has called for an overhaul of leadership at the John Hope Settlement House, following the abrupt resignation of former Executive Director Taino Palermo at the end of August. Palermo alleged that Williams used the house for political purposes, and did not reimburse the house for rental fees.
The plan put forth by the group includes removing Williams as well as remove the existing board members and install an interim board of directors; invalidating the installation Corbishley to any role of leadership or authority at JHSH; rehiring the recently fired interim Executive Director; establishing an Interim Board of Directors whose responsibility will be to recruit board members for a permanent board and create bylaws before interim board is dissolved; and completing a formal search for an Executive Director ensuring that the job is posted locally through First Source first considering John Hope Settle House receives CDBG funding, thus making it a requirement through the First Source Ordinance to post the position.
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s History of Political Corruption
Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci resigned as Providence Mayor in 1984 after pleading nolo contendere to charges of assaulting a Bristol man with a lit cigarette, ashtray, and fireplace log. Cianci believed the man to be involved in an affair with his wife.
Cianci did not serve time in prison, but received a 5-year suspended sentence. He was replaced by Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. in a special election.
Joseph Bevilacqua was RI Speaker of the House from 1969 to 1975, and was appointed as Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court in 1976. It was alleged that Bevilacqua had connections to organized crime throughout his political career.
According to a 1989 article that appeared in The New York Times at the time of his death:
The series of events that finally brought Mr. Bevilacqua down began at the end of 1984... stating that reporters and state police officers had observed Mr. Bevilacqua repeatedly visiting the homes of underworld figures.
The state police alleged that Mr. Bevilacqua had also visited a Smithfield motel, owned by men linked to gambling and drugs...
Thomas Fay, the successor to Bevilacqua as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, resigned in 1993, and was later found guilty on three misdemeanor counts of directing arbitration work to a partner in his real estate firm, Lincoln Center Properties.
Fay was also alleged to use court employees, offices, and other resources for the purposes of the real estate firm. Fay, along with court administrator and former Speaker of the House, Matthew "Mattie" Smith were alleged to have used court secretaries to conduct business for Lincoln, for which Fay and Smith were business partners.
Fay was fined $3,000 and placed on one year probation. He could have been sentenced for up to three years in prison.
Former Pawtucket Mayor Brian J. Sarault was sentenced in 1992 to more than 5 years in prison, after pleading guilty to a charge of racketeering.
Sarault was arrested by state police and FBI agents at Pawtucket City Hall in 1991, who alleged that the mayor had attempted to extort $3,000 from former RI State Rep. Robert Weygand as a kickback from awarding city contracts.
Weygand, after alerting federal authorities to the extortion attempt, wore a concealed recording device to a meeting where he delivered $1,750 to Sarault.
Cianci was forced to resign from the Mayor’s office a second time in 2002 after being convicted on one several charges levied against him in the scandal popularly known as “Operation Plunder Dome.”
The one guilty charge—racketeering conspiracy--led to a five-year sentence in federal prison. Cianci was acquitted on all other charges, which included bribery, extortion, and mail fraud.
While it was alleged that City Hall had been soliciting bribes since Cianci’s 1991 return to office, much of the case revolved around a video showing a Cianci aide, Frank Corrente, accepting a $1,000 bribe from businessman Antonio Freitas. Freitas had also recorded more than 100 conversations with city officials.
Operation Plunder Dome began in 1998, and became public when the FBI executed a search warrant of City Hall in April 1999.
Cianci Aide Frank Corrente, Tax Board Chairman Joseph Pannone, Tax Board Vice Chairman David C. Ead, Deputy tax assessor Rosemary Glancy were among the nine individuals convicted in the scandal.
Councilmen Raimond A. Zambarano, Joseph Burchfield, and Raymond L. Douglas III were sentenced to prison terms of 71 months, 64 months, and 78 months, respectively.
Central Falls Mayor Charles Moreau resigned in 2012 before pleading guilty to federal corruption charges.
Moreau admitted that he had give contractor Michael Bouthillette a no-bid contract to board up vacant homes in exchange for having a boiler installed in his home.
He was freed from prison in February 2014, less than one year into a 24 month prison term, after his original sentence was vacated in exchange for a guilty plea on a bribery charge. He was credited with tim served, placed on three years probation, and given 300 hours of community service.
State Representative Joseph S. Almeida was arrested and charged on February 10, 2015 for allegedly misappropriating $6,122.03 in campaign contributions for his personal use. Following his arrest, he resigned his position as House Democratic Whip, but remains a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly.
Fox pled guilty to 3 criminal counts on March 3, 2015 - accepting a bribe, wire fraud, and filing a false tax return. The plea deal reached with the US Attorney's office calls for 3 years in federal prison, but Fox will be officially sentenced on June 11.
