Complaint spurs Cranston officials to call on RI State Police to investigate City Council issue

Responding to an official complaint by the Collective Action Network RI, Cranston has asked the Rhode Island State Police to investigate the circumstances surrounding Cranston City Councilwoman’s sudden resignation from the Council and a planned appointment, tonight, of a person already announced to primary her in September, Kristen Haroian.

The letter to the RI State Police came Monday afternoon:

The complaint submitted to the entire Cranston City Council, Mayor Hopkins and administrators in Cranston City Hall – by Melissa Jenkins, Collective Action Network RI

Subject: Cranston City Council Investigation
Dear Council Members,

“I represent the Collective Action Network RI, a statewide organization focused on civic participation and civil rights. I’m also a registered Democrat.

I am appalled to hear of the efforts of Cranston City Council Chairperson Jessica Marino’s effort to oust Aniece Germain from the Cranston City Council Ward 2 seat. Ms. Germain served honorably in that position and to insinuate that she could no longer serve – and would face public hearings by her own council – over allegations of impropriety that have not been elaborated or investigated by any law enforcement agency – is disturbing.

Since when do public bodies have the right to subject their own members to public scrutiny over a private business or charity matter in the absence of any legal or ethical complaints? Ms. Marino has publicly stated that it was her responsibility, but it absolutely is not. City councils do not generally have the ability to examine the records of the private businesses or charities of their members. They do have the ability to investigate the official business dealings of city employees and departments per the charter, and this makes sense because they are charged with the oversight of public funds.

They are not charged, however, with the oversight of private businesses or charities overseen by council members. The correct action if you suspect wrongdoing of a fellow council member would be to refer the matter to the IRS, police, ethics board, or an appropriate enforcement agency to investigate and/or prosecute anyone who committed “improprieties” relating to private, non-official work, if any such thing did occur.

Threatening public hearings yourself? Of a matter on which you have no enforcement authority? That’s an overreach, at best.

Now, don’t get me wrong – IF such an agency did file charges against a public official, and IF those charges were serious – it might make sense for the other members of the body to consider whether their colleague could effectively serve.

However, here there have been no charges. No legal charges. No ethics complaints. No arrests at all. No
evidence of any actual crime or malfeasance.

Is it bad for a charity to lose their tax-exempt status? Of course. Is it rare? No. Is it criminal? No.

I investigated a bit to see how common this was, and in fact, it’s very common (see attached article). It’s an automated process by the IRS. Whole organizations exist for the sole purpose of helping charities regain that status because the automated process sometimes gets it wrong and charities themselves often get it wrong. Many, many organizations have had this happen. There’s a Reddit forum dedicated to the topic. It’s exceedingly common.

Most importantly, it’s not a crime. Unless the charity KNOWINGLY TOLD people that their donations were tax deductible when they were not, it’s not even an “impropriety.” It’s a SNAFU. Without evidence that donors or taxing authorities were misled or defrauded, this is no scandal. It’s a SNAFU and a common hurdle for charities.

Telling an individual councilor that they are in legal jeopardy over such a SNAFU when you are a lawyer and they are not? That would be a scandal. Telling a councilor that they will be subjected to public hearings that you don’t have the right to conduct? That would be a scandal. Telling someone that if they don’t resign, they and their children will be publicly embarrassed? That would be a scandal.

I think you need to call for an investigation here, but you need to investigate the SCANDALS, not the SNAFU.

Does it really make sense to any of you that a city council would have the right to subpoena the paperwork of a private charitable organization and review it in public hearings? Do you want your fellow council members – any time that you disagree with them – to have the right to publicly review your private Business dealings or tax returns and accuse you of improprieties? I don’t think that any of you would want that or accept that. I don’t see any provision in your city charter that would allow that if it’s not official city Business.

As an activist, I have never seen any such thing happen in all the many city council meetings I have attended in Cranston or anywhere else. It’s not done for a reason. Threatening that it could be done…wow. And to suggest that you’re doing it because you care so much about good governance? Also…wow. This is not good governance.

I urge the rest of you not to be complicit about this. This is a serious matter. There should be a thorough investigation of what Ms. Marino knew, when she knew it, and what she (a lawyer) told Ms. Germain (a non-lawyer).

I respectfully request that you all abstain from voting on any new appointments until that investigation has been conducted. I mean no disrespect to Ms. Haroian, who seems perfectly electable in her own right, but it casts a shadow over her also to be appointed under such circumstances.

Both Ms. Haroian and Ms. Germain deserve better treatment, as do all the residents of Cranston.”

Sincerely,
Melissa Jenkins
Collective Action Network RI

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The final agenda item on the Cranston City Council agenda for April 22nd, is the appointment of Kristen Haroian to complete Aniece Germain’s term of office.

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See previous stories on this topic, here:

This is a developing story.