Union Official Tweets Pic of Coventry Rep.'s Car Parked in Handicapped Spot

In the ongoing exchange between Coventry Rep. Patricia Morgan and the Coventry fire union, things have frequently become a bit heated, especially on Twitter.

Anyone who follows both Union President Dave Gorman and the state representative has likely noticed the occasional jab or barb.

The discourse took a new turn on Monday when Gorman tweeted a photo of a black BMW purportedly belonging to Morgan parked in a handicapped spot in the parking lot outside the strip mall at 399 Bald Hill Road in Warwick. It does not appear that there is a placard hanging from the car’s rear view mirror.

“OK Pat, how do you spin this one?” Gorman asked.

Morgan, in an interview, said the photo was taken three years ago and she was with her 90-year-old mother at the time. She said she has a placard but forgot it in her glove compartment because her mother is strong-willed and tends to get out of the car before she’s ready.

“I don’t want her to fall,” Morgan said. “Clearly this is the low to which the unions are willing to stoop.”

Morgan said that she was approached by the constituent who took the photo and complained about the parking job. She said she had a conversation with her about the circumstances. Why it resurfaced three years later, Morgan said she doesn’t know.

“Yes, I forgot to put the tag up,” Morgan said. “I don’t ever use it unless my mother is with me.”

Morgan said she was having a meal with her mother at the Uno Chicago Bar and Grill restaurant in Warwick when the photo was snapped.

She said the photo surfacing Monday is “ugly and nasty” and believes it’s because “I am sticking up for taxpayers of my district.”