RI Ethics Commission to investigate nepotism complaint against Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins bostonglobe.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bostonglobe.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
LINCOLN – A little more than a month after Town Administrator Joseph Almond’s last day at Town Hall, several Lincoln residents are confirming interest in running for Lincoln’s top elected seat.
Philip Gould appeared before the Rhode Island Ethics Commission on Tuesday to seek an opinion on whether his position as police captain in Lincoln prohibits him from seeking the position.
According to the summary read by Staff Attorney Teodora Popova Papa, the town charter prohibits a town employee from holding an elected office with the town but not from seeking one while they re still an employee. It is the opinion of the staff that the petitioner is not prohibited by the code from continuing to serve as administrative captain while seeking election to the position of town administrator, she said.
Political Scene: 3 tales from RI where everybody knows everybody else
Here are a few:
◘ The City of Providence has paid more than $390,000 so far in accidental disability benefits to one of the highest profile political operatives in Rhode Island for injuries suffered 17 years ago when his foot reached for the brake, and accidentally hit the gas.
◘ Providence mayoral candidate
Brett Smiley s lawyer doesn t deny that Smiley solicited $500 from state contractor
Colin Kane while he still headed the state agency that oversees the award of state contracts. But he is seeking to convince the Ethics Commission: it was okay.
◘ And finally, the R.I. Ethics Commission split 3-to-3 recently over the propriety of a state senator introducing a bill to allow one of her lawyer-husband s clients to get a liquor license in an off-limits zone on the East Side.
The year: 1992.
The credit-union crisis had consumed the state. Corruption made regular headlines. Thousands had descended on the State House to demand reforms.
From The Providence Journal s archives: On January 5, 5,000 people gathered at their churches and proceeded to the State House to express support for a package of legislation . to bring ethics back to Rhode Island government. On April 27, over 650 people . convened at McVinney Auditorium in Providence to reiterate the call for ethical reform in Rhode Island state government. A poll . conducted by Alpha Research Associates . [found that] 66 percent oppose the appointment of General Assembly members to judgeships while in office or shortly after leaving office.