Buff Chace and Smiley Criticize Hiring of Max Wistow by Providence City Council
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
The battle lines are drawn.
On one side is the Providence City Council, and on the other side is Providence developer Arnold “Buff” Chace and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
The fight is over whether Chace scored a special deal that cost the city tens of millions -- some estimate that the windfall to Chace is worth $42 million over the next 30 years.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Providence City Council on Tuesday night voted to move forward with the hiring attorney Max Wistow. Wistow is well known for his work to recover funds for the State of Rhode Island in the collapse of 38 Studios and he was the special investigator for the receiver in the failure of the St. Joseph Hospital pension fund. Wistow recovered more than $110 million in the two legal battles.
After the vote, Wistow said, “I’m looking forward to attempting to vacate the consent order. The consent order is not only harmful to the city but completely unjustified and hurts Providence’s low-income residents.”
Chace and Smiley Criticized the Hiring of Wistow
“Since January of this year, Cornish Associates has been actively engaged in discussions with the Smiley Administration to amend the existing, court approved consent decree. While under no legal obligation to do so, Cornish Associates entered into these discussions in good faith and as a means to collaboratively ensure the continued creation of workforce and affordable housing in downtown Providence. Cornish Associates has a well-documented track record of promoting workforce and affordable housing as is evidenced by the fact that 25 percent of all of its downtown units are dedicated to this population,” said Patti Doyle, a spokesperson for Arnold “Buff” Chace and his development company Cornish Associates.
“We regret that the actions of the City Council this evening preclude us from continuing those discussions as it now appears that there exists the possibility of litigation. We further regret that it also now appears as though the Council is seeking to reverse a legal judgment designed to bolster additional, much-needed housing which clearly will have a chilling effect on all such initiatives contemplated throughout Providence – slowing the development of housing across the city. This slowdown would be a disservice to Providence residents, housing advocates, and state and city leaders who have worked tirelessly to stimulate investment as a means to address the critical need for more housing in our community,” said Doyle.
Smiley said in a statement, “I did not support the settlement the previous Administration agreed to, and given the legal assessment of our counsel, my team entered negotiations with Mr. Chace to secure a better deal. We provided the City Council a resolution that addresses the challenges of the old settlement and claws back 30% of the tax subsidy provided. The City Council has still not shared external counsel's proposal with the Administration, which does not allow us to assess its likelihood of success.”
Chace is a significant contributor to Smiley's political campaigns. Chace has donated $4,000 to Smiley's mayoral campaigns.
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