Town will hire investigator; findings could lead to councilman’s removal

By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

BURRILLVILLE — Under pressure to address accusations leveled by the union representing public works employees, the Town Council has agreed to hire an independent attorney to investigate whether one of its own members — Councilman Kevin Blais — violated the town charter when he allegedly harassed and intimidated town highway workers, including the former director of the department.

Acting on a recommendation by Town Solicitor Timothy Kane, the council voted in executive session Friday to have Kane research potential attorneys to lead the investigation and provide a list of recommended candidates for the council’s review. The council could make a choice as early as its first regular meeting in December.
The investigator must be an attorney because depositions will need to be taken in the case, which is expected to eventually lead to a full-blown hearing. If the evidence shows that Blais did, in fact, violate the charter, he could face expulsion from the council.
The allegations were made by former Department of Public Works Director Richard A. Bernardo — who reportedly resigned because of Blais — and leaders of the union representing DPW workers. The union, citing Blais’ alleged harassment of town highway workers at a project site on Tarkiln Road in September, filed a class action grievance with the town as well as an unfair labor charge against the council in connection with Blais’ alleged activitities, which union officials say included photographing and videotaping highway crews and confronting and harassing workers while doing their jobs.
Town Council President Nancy F. Binns said Friday that the council’s top priority is to “ensure that any investigation be carried out in an impartial manner so that everyone’s rights, including Mr. Blais,’ are protected.”
The charges against Blais came up at the council’s last meeting, but Kane told the council that if the allegations are true, the council needed to discuss those matters in executive session because there are potential issues of civil misconduct, potential town charter violations, issues relative to past and potential future litigation as well as fundamental procedural issues such as due process that the council needs to adhere to.
More than 100 people jammed the meeting in the high school media center. The meeting had to be move there at the last minute because the crowd exceeded the seating capacity of the council chambers at Town Hall. Most of the crowd included DPW workers.
John J. Tassoni, Jr., senior business agent for AFSCME Council 94, which represents Burrillville DPW workers in Local 186, addressed the council at the meeting, saying he sent a letter to Blais demanding that he cease and desist from harassing and intimidating union workers. Tassoni said he has documented statements from union workers regarding Blais’ actions, including his actions of Sept. 23 when Blais allegedly confronted Bernardo, an engineer and other workers at a road project on Tarkiln Road.
“If these kinds of incidents continue we will go to court and get a restraining order,” Tassoni warned the council that night. “At this point, some of the men are afraid to go back to work on Tarkiln Road for fear of what could happen.”
Tassoni referenced a section of the town charter that he says addresses and prohibits interference of town council members with the work of town departments. “Based on the statements I’ve heard I believe he’s interfering, but you, as a council, need to determine that,” he said.
“If this happens again, we’ll see you in court,” Tassoni told the council.
In his resignation letter to Town Manager Michael C. Wood, Bernardo said he was leaving the $92,232 a year position because of Blais’ constant “interference, harassment and intimidation.”
Bernardo alleges that Blais began harassing him and his staff a couple of years ago over issues related to DPW projects and vehicles, but that the intimidation became more pronounced after Bernardo testified in a recent court case involving Blais and the town.
Blais has refuted the charges, saying as a councilman he has made no more than three or four inquiries about various public works projects in town over the past year, including the Tarkiln Road project, which he questioned Bernardo about last month after learning that the project had been re-graded and changed and was negatively impacting the aquifer. The work was being done within feet of Blais’ girlfriend’s property on Tarkiln Road. Blais said he raised questions about the project because it was “a responsibility associated with my job as a councilman.”
Bernardo alleges that Blais’ meddling in DPW affairs and his harassment of the department’s staff escalated in recent weeks, especially right after he testified against Blais in a Superior Court case in which the town charged Blais with illegally storing trucks and other business equipment on residential property owned by his girlfriend on Tarkiln Road. What cemented Bernardo’s decision to leave, he said, was the fact that Blais had begun harassing and trying to intimidate other members of his department.
Blais and Bernardo have different accounts concerning the Sept. 23 exchange that took place between Blais, Bernardo and an engineer at the scene of the road project on Tarkiln Road. Blais said he merely went to retrieve his mail and then walked over to Bernardo to ask a question concerning the engineer for the project, whom he said became agitated and tried to provoke him. Bernardo said at least a dozen witnesses at the scene will corroborate the fact that it was Blais who became agitated.
The council will almost certainly hold a hearing on the charges against Blais once the special attorney hired by the town finishes the investigation. The hearing will be similar to the one the council held last year involving School Committeeman Raymond Trinque. The veteran school board member was charged with violating the charter when it was discovered that he was being paid as an announcer for hockey games at the town-owned ice rink. The charter states that members of the School Committee can not hold any other employment in the service of the town while serving on the committee.
At the end of the hearing, the council found that Trinque had technically violated the charter, but did not take any further action because he had voluntarily agreed to give up the job as rink announcer. At the time, the council felt the charges were not egregious enough to warrant any disciplinary action because Trinque never actually pocketed the money, but instead, gave it to charitable causes.
In Blais’ case, should the council – based on the evidence – determine that the charges warrant disciplinary action, it could choose to remove him from the council. The town charter specifically states that the council has the authority to remove any elected town official from public office if they violate the charter.