Wednesday, October 15, 2008 11:54 AM EDT
Carcieri appeals to town council
|
Governor implores Charlestown officials to go along with his choice of lawyer to argue tribal land case.
|
 Gov. Donald Carcieri says the matter is of extreme importance to him and to the entire state. |
CHARLESTOWN — Gov. Donald Carcieri made an unusual personal appeal to the Town Council Monday night to approve his choice of attorney to argue an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case — and to drop their insistence that the town’s solicitor for Indian Affairs also be involved — saying the matter was of extreme importance to him and to the entire state.
In a visit that was kept well under wraps, Carcieri arrived at Town Hall shortly after 5:30 p.m.
Deliberately excluding the town’s attorney, Joseph S. Larisa Jr., from the discussion, Carcieri talked to the council behind closed doors for about a half hour before quickly leaving the building. In the parking lot of Town Hall, he refused to reveal any specifics about his mission to Charlestown before climbing into a black SUV and being whisked away.
“I was just here to talk about how important this case is to the state and the town,” Carcieri said.
But minutes later, as he was leaving Town Hall, Larisa revealed that Carcieri had asked the council to let Theodore B. Olson argue the Kempthorne case on Nov. 3, and to drop its position that Larisa should share the 30 minutes of time allotted for oral argument. There was “extensive discussion,” Larisa said, though he acknowledged he wasn’t in the room at the time because “he [Carcieri] asked that I not be.”
According to Larisa, the council took no vote after hearing the governor’s pitch and, as of yet, has not reversed its position.
That position was spelled out in a council resolution that authorizes Larisa to use any means possible to make sure the town’s interests are represented in the Kempthorne case. In that case, the state and town are appealing a decision by the Secretary of the Interior to take 31 acres in Charlestown into trust for the Narragansett Indian tribe.
For months now, Larisa has been locked in a battle with the Governor’s office and Attorney General Patrick Lynch over who will argue before the Supreme Court in less than three weeks time. Larisa claims that he is the best choice because he has been involved in the case since its inception 10 years ago.
But, in a move that shows how important Carcieri deems the case, the governor hired Olson for $200,000 to argue the appeal at a time when the state budget is sinking. Olson is a former solicitor general for the United States, who has argued numerous times before the Supreme Court.
Monday night, the town’s other solicitor, Robert Craven, said Carcieri’s office contacted him during the day to arrange the governor’s face-to-face session with the council. In the meeting, Carcieri told the council members that Olson, and only Olson, should go before the Supreme Court on Nov. 3, Craven said.
“He felt strongly that the state ought to have one attorney,” Craven said. “He [Carcieri] was very eloquent,” council member Kate Waterman said, as the council left the closed session to go into a regularly scheduled meeting.
Other council members declined to talk about the governor’s unusual visit.
The governor used time to talk to the council that had been set aside for an attorney representing developer Larry LeBlanc, who has proposed that the town buy 81 acres across from the tribe’s disputed 31 acres, to prevent the possibility that it will be used to build a casino.
It is widely believed that chances for a casino will be greatly enhanced if the state and town lose the Kempthorne case since land held in trust for a tribe is usually not controlled by state and local zoning regulations. The state and town fear that if the Supreme Court upholds the trust decision in favor of the Narragansetts, the tribe will build a casino in Charlestown.
In an Oct. 9 memo to the council about LeBlanc’s land, Craven and Town Administrator Edward Barrett said they recently met with the developer, who told them he has had recent offers from casino interests to buy the 81 acres for as much as $20 million.
LeBlanc also said the Narragansetts had offered to buy the land, but the tribe’s Chief Sachem, Matthew Thomas, said this week that that wasn’t true.
In the memo, which was released by acting Council President James Mageau, Craven and Barrett recommend that the town buy LeBlanc’s land as a defense against an adverse decision in the Kempthorne case. They estimate the town could get the property for between $3 and $5 million and mention that it could always be used as a site on which to build a school or other facility for the town.
But Mageau has said he opposes the purchase. Not only is Charlestown in no economic position to buy the property, he said, but he also objects to the way LeBlanc made his offer at the eleventh hour, with the Supreme Court’s momentous decision hanging over the town’s head and a lame duck council in office.
“It’s a shake down,” Mageau has said.
LeBlanc’s attorney, William Landry, declined to discuss his client’s proposal. Asked specifically about Thomas’s assertion that the tribe has never offered to buy the property, Landry said he couldn’t comment on the tribe’s actions. But Landry said there had been offers to buy the property in recent weeks, though he wouldn’t say from whom.
Later in the evening, Landry met with the council in executive session to discuss LeBlanc’s proposal, but no vote was taken, according to Mageau. The council agreed to meet again in executive session this Friday at 1 p.m. to continue discussions, he said.
About 80 people attended the council meeting, nearly filling council chambers, many of them brought out by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance, a group opposed to Mageau. In recent days, the Alliance issued e-mails to its members urging them to attend. The e-mails noted that this was the council’s last meeting before the November election and, as such, Mageau would try to use it to pass his agenda.
Early on in the meeting, Dan Slattery, a founding member of the Alliance and the group’s president, criticized a business plan Mageau has developed for an event center at Ninigret Park, saying it is at odds in many ways from a master plan for the park that the public, and council, has already endorsed.
But Mageau said Slattery was just “playing his game of politics.”
In a visit that was kept well under wraps, Carcieri arrived at Town Hall shortly after 5:30 p.m.
Deliberately excluding the town’s attorney, Joseph S. Larisa Jr., from the discussion, Carcieri talked to the council behind closed doors for about a half hour before quickly leaving the building. In the parking lot of Town Hall, he refused to reveal any specifics about his mission to Charlestown before climbing into a black SUV and being whisked away.
“I was just here to talk about how important this case is to the state and the town,” Carcieri said.
But minutes later, as he was leaving Town Hall, Larisa revealed that Carcieri had asked the council to let Theodore B. Olson argue the Kempthorne case on Nov. 3, and to drop its position that Larisa should share the 30 minutes of time allotted for oral argument. There was “extensive discussion,” Larisa said, though he acknowledged he wasn’t in the room at the time because “he [Carcieri] asked that I not be.”
According to Larisa, the council took no vote after hearing the governor’s pitch and, as of yet, has not reversed its position.
That position was spelled out in a council resolution that authorizes Larisa to use any means possible to make sure the town’s interests are represented in the Kempthorne case. In that case, the state and town are appealing a decision by the Secretary of the Interior to take 31 acres in Charlestown into trust for the Narragansett Indian tribe.
For months now, Larisa has been locked in a battle with the Governor’s office and Attorney General Patrick Lynch over who will argue before the Supreme Court in less than three weeks time. Larisa claims that he is the best choice because he has been involved in the case since its inception 10 years ago.
But, in a move that shows how important Carcieri deems the case, the governor hired Olson for $200,000 to argue the appeal at a time when the state budget is sinking. Olson is a former solicitor general for the United States, who has argued numerous times before the Supreme Court.
Monday night, the town’s other solicitor, Robert Craven, said Carcieri’s office contacted him during the day to arrange the governor’s face-to-face session with the council. In the meeting, Carcieri told the council members that Olson, and only Olson, should go before the Supreme Court on Nov. 3, Craven said.
“He felt strongly that the state ought to have one attorney,” Craven said. “He [Carcieri] was very eloquent,” council member Kate Waterman said, as the council left the closed session to go into a regularly scheduled meeting.
Other council members declined to talk about the governor’s unusual visit.
The governor used time to talk to the council that had been set aside for an attorney representing developer Larry LeBlanc, who has proposed that the town buy 81 acres across from the tribe’s disputed 31 acres, to prevent the possibility that it will be used to build a casino.
It is widely believed that chances for a casino will be greatly enhanced if the state and town lose the Kempthorne case since land held in trust for a tribe is usually not controlled by state and local zoning regulations. The state and town fear that if the Supreme Court upholds the trust decision in favor of the Narragansetts, the tribe will build a casino in Charlestown.
In an Oct. 9 memo to the council about LeBlanc’s land, Craven and Town Administrator Edward Barrett said they recently met with the developer, who told them he has had recent offers from casino interests to buy the 81 acres for as much as $20 million.
LeBlanc also said the Narragansetts had offered to buy the land, but the tribe’s Chief Sachem, Matthew Thomas, said this week that that wasn’t true.
In the memo, which was released by acting Council President James Mageau, Craven and Barrett recommend that the town buy LeBlanc’s land as a defense against an adverse decision in the Kempthorne case. They estimate the town could get the property for between $3 and $5 million and mention that it could always be used as a site on which to build a school or other facility for the town.
But Mageau has said he opposes the purchase. Not only is Charlestown in no economic position to buy the property, he said, but he also objects to the way LeBlanc made his offer at the eleventh hour, with the Supreme Court’s momentous decision hanging over the town’s head and a lame duck council in office.
“It’s a shake down,” Mageau has said.
LeBlanc’s attorney, William Landry, declined to discuss his client’s proposal. Asked specifically about Thomas’s assertion that the tribe has never offered to buy the property, Landry said he couldn’t comment on the tribe’s actions. But Landry said there had been offers to buy the property in recent weeks, though he wouldn’t say from whom.
Later in the evening, Landry met with the council in executive session to discuss LeBlanc’s proposal, but no vote was taken, according to Mageau. The council agreed to meet again in executive session this Friday at 1 p.m. to continue discussions, he said.
About 80 people attended the council meeting, nearly filling council chambers, many of them brought out by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance, a group opposed to Mageau. In recent days, the Alliance issued e-mails to its members urging them to attend. The e-mails noted that this was the council’s last meeting before the November election and, as such, Mageau would try to use it to pass his agenda.
Early on in the meeting, Dan Slattery, a founding member of the Alliance and the group’s president, criticized a business plan Mageau has developed for an event center at Ninigret Park, saying it is at odds in many ways from a master plan for the park that the public, and council, has already endorsed.
But Mageau said Slattery was just “playing his game of politics.”
JoethePlumber wrote on Oct 16, 2008 8:33 PM:
" Let's hope they do the smart thing and buy the rights to buy the land, or the land itself. I'm sure Mageau is claiming that he's working "in the interests of the taxpayers" by refusing to support this land purchase - when in fact, he can't deny he's been pushing for a casino or gambling in Charlestown for decades, even being named an honorary Tribal Member (which may even grant him a share of whatever profits come from such a gambling establishment.)
As for the arguments before the Supreme Court let's hope they work it out - ego should be taken out of the question. If the argument is sound it should be decided with a coin toss between Larisa and Olson.
Keep the AG out of it - he's the least qualified and only wants to grandstand, putting his ego ahead of RIers because he wants the spotlight "
As for the arguments before the Supreme Court let's hope they work it out - ego should be taken out of the question. If the argument is sound it should be decided with a coin toss between Larisa and Olson.
Keep the AG out of it - he's the least qualified and only wants to grandstand, putting his ego ahead of RIers because he wants the spotlight "
JoethePlumber wrote on Oct 16, 2008 5:18 PM:
" Let's hope they do the smart thing and buy the rights to buy the land, or the land itself. I'm sure Mageau is claiming that he's working "in the interests of the taxpayers" by refusing to support this land purchase - when in fact, he can't deny he's been pushing for a casino or gambling in Charlestown for decades, even being named an honorary Tribal Member (which may even grant him a share of whatever profits come from such a gambling establishment.)
As for the arguments before the Supreme Court let's hope they work it out - ego should be taken out of the question. If the argument is sound it should be decided with a coin toss between Larisa and Olson.
Keep the AG out of it - he's the least qualified and only wants to grandstand, putting his ego ahead of RIers because he wants the spotlight "
As for the arguments before the Supreme Court let's hope they work it out - ego should be taken out of the question. If the argument is sound it should be decided with a coin toss between Larisa and Olson.
Keep the AG out of it - he's the least qualified and only wants to grandstand, putting his ego ahead of RIers because he wants the spotlight "
Worthless wrote on Oct 16, 2008 10:16 AM:
" Carcieri and his opinion are absolutely worthless. Who would even consider following this man's suggestion, He has driven our State into a financial mess all the while running on his experience in business and Republican conservatism. WHAT A DISGRACE. I'd rather have a bum on the street argue Charleston's opinion before the Supreme Court than anyone even remotely associated with the Governor!!! "
Ryan wrote on Oct 16, 2008 9:29 AM:
" Great story. The governor looks silly trying to prevent the town from having its interests represented by its solicitor. Carcieri has been mostly a failure as governor to this point, and he knows that if a casino goes up in charlestown or anywhere in RI his tenure as gov will go down in history as a complete failure. He's scrambling for a legacy. "
lmatt wrote on Oct 15, 2008 7:42 PM:
" interesting....the governor came all the way out to little charlestown.. what is he so scared of???? the narragansett indians perhaps?? "
Simple RIer wrote on Oct 15, 2008 5:22 PM:
" "...in a move that shows how important Caricieri deems the case, the governor hired Olson for $200,000..."
That's a generous interpretation of the governor's willingness to squander so much taxpayer money. Less charitable views are that: 1) neither he nor his counsel, King, understood that they were only one of three parties to the suit and Olson would not necessarily be the one to argue, 2) he values cronyism above merit and assumes that Olson's familiarity with the court trumps Larisa's uncontested expertise with the facts of the case, 3) the spectacle of him wasting $200,000 would force Charlestown to acquiesce, 4) no one will blame him if he hires Ted Olson and Olson loses.
Both Richards (from his own office) and Larisa have a decade of experience with the case and are the ones responsible for the Supreme Court granting certiorari. Instead of supporting the team that accomplished this impressive achievement and, with them, forging a consensus with the AG and the town regarding who should argue, the governor either through ignorance or arrogance gambled tax payer money on a choice which is expensive, contentious and not obviously superior to what he already had in hand.
"
That's a generous interpretation of the governor's willingness to squander so much taxpayer money. Less charitable views are that: 1) neither he nor his counsel, King, understood that they were only one of three parties to the suit and Olson would not necessarily be the one to argue, 2) he values cronyism above merit and assumes that Olson's familiarity with the court trumps Larisa's uncontested expertise with the facts of the case, 3) the spectacle of him wasting $200,000 would force Charlestown to acquiesce, 4) no one will blame him if he hires Ted Olson and Olson loses.
Both Richards (from his own office) and Larisa have a decade of experience with the case and are the ones responsible for the Supreme Court granting certiorari. Instead of supporting the team that accomplished this impressive achievement and, with them, forging a consensus with the AG and the town regarding who should argue, the governor either through ignorance or arrogance gambled tax payer money on a choice which is expensive, contentious and not obviously superior to what he already had in hand.
"
Joe wrote on Oct 15, 2008 4:42 PM:
" Buying the 81 acres as soon as possible is a very smart thing for the town to do on several levels. The most important being a hedge against a Narragansett Casino. A casino on that site would be horrible for the town and entire area. "
 | Share your thoughts.... Our TalkBack option has been updated to improve service to our viewers. Some comments made prior to March 26 may not be available for viewing outside of the archives section. Thank you for your patience during this update. TalkBack is an opportunity for viewers to exchange comments regarding online content. Comments are moderated. Please allow time for posting. Comments are not edited. They are either approved or they are not. Comments should be void of personal attacks, foul language, advertisements or impersonations. Please limit comments to 200 words or less. |