Not again! Now Richmond Shuts Down Speaker at Town Council Meeting. Police Complicit?
Opinion piece by Louise Dinsmore, co-founder of Chariho Forgotten Taxpayers. A similar event happened earlier this year with Rob Cote and the Warwick City Council, where the ACLU has filed a complaint against the city council. The ACLU is “investigating”
The police should also be investigated for supporting such apparent tyrannical actions, so that a statewide policy might be implemented moving forward.
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The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference.
Sadly, the First Amendment is under attack in our country and in Richmond. You see, on Tuesday night, Town Council member Mike Colasante was precluded from finishing his remarks during “Public Comment” section of the Town Council agenda. He wanted to express his thoughts freely and without interruption and was precluded from doing that. He was also threatened with being removed from Town Council Chambers if he didn’t stop talking. The Town Council President asked the Chief of Police to remove Colasante if he didn’t stop.
Had Councilor Colasante been able to finish this is what you would have heard.
I was elected on a pro-business platform promising to lower
taxes. I began my service to the taxpayers as a member of the
Richmond Town Council with a sincere hope that all Town
Council members could work collaboratively. However, from
just about the moment I was sworn in to this day, I have been
met with nothing but resistance to the many positive proposals
and ideas that I’ve brought to the table. This has been nothing
less than shocking and quite frankly, disappointing.
At this point, after 10 months of being attacked over and over
again, I feel compelled to expose the hypocrisy of specific
fellow councilors.
From the very first council meeting,
Councilor Wilcox compiled copious pages of notes of what she
thought were open meetings violations against 3 fellow
councilors and submitted these notes to the RI Attorney
General’s Office. In addition, being on the council for just 3
weeks, Wilcox had the audacity to call me a misogynist on
social media, and said that I “mansplain” to her. Do you realize how
damaging that is to someone’s reputation? Councilor Wilcox,
you don’t even know me, and you’ve never taken the time to
get to know me. You should demonstrate a higher standard of
behavior and think twice before you put a statement of that
magnitude out into the public domain. While I’m fighting for
the hardworking men and women of Richmond, the retirees on
fixed incomes and young families saddled with high mortgage
payments and even higher tax bills, Wilcox is more focused on
filing Open Meetings Violations. How do you expect anyone to
be able to work productively under these conditions?
Councilor Nassaney keeps saying he wants everyone to be
polite, positive, productive and professional. That’s what he
says in the public domain on the Town Council dias for all of
you to hear. But what he says in private is something very
different. You see there’s the public Rich and then there’s the
private Rich. He is constantly character assassinating me and
now he’s moved on to doing the same to my wife! Councilor
Nassaney has approached
Senator Morgan
Ray Pouliot
Ken Moden
Larry Phelps and countless others in front of him
Mark Robar
Bob from Church Consulting with CDBG
And before the election he spoke with various town employees
and Louise Dinsmore, disparaging my wife and me!
In the last Council, Mr. Nassaney directed his obsessive
behavior towards Nell Carpenter and now, I’m his new target.
Nassaney is obsessed with trying to destroy my reputation. By
besmirching my wife he’s now crossed the line. This behavior is
very concerning to me, and I have considered whether or not
his behavior is a safety concern for my wife.
Councilor Trimmer has said that he wants this Council to get
along and work together. However, what does he do? He files
an ethics complaint against me. How does Mr. Trimmer expect
anyone to move forward and work productively under these
circumstances? When I speak on a topic, Mr. Trimmer
consistently limits my time and restricts my free speech. This is
not acceptable.
Taxpayers of Richmond – I want you to know that I have not
filed any OMA’s or Ethics complaints against my fellow
Councilors. What I have done is spent my time fighting for a
vision for Richmond that I outlined on the campaign trail. I
refuse to blindly “trust the experts” because on occasion said
experts have been wrong. I will ask questions and with those
questions comes endless push back from my colleagues. Push
back is ok when it’s respectful but I’ve been consistently
treated with blatant disrespect.
It’s evident that by your collective actions my fellow councilors
have exhibited an ill will towards me. But in all honesty, I don’t
feel the same way about you. At this time, we have to put
these differences aside and I’m asking these three Councilors to
hit the RESET BUTTON. You have to be willing to do this for us
to move forward. I can forgive and forget for the sake of the
burdened taxpayers of this town.
Instead of focusing your time on character assassination, filing
OMA’s and Ethics complaints, let’s get down to the real
business of lowering taxes (yes it can be done), cutting
spending, and economic development. If we can do this
together, we can make Richmond affordable for everyone! For
the next 14 months, that’s how I’m going to direct my energy
and I ask you to join me.
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