Do You Think House Speaker Mattiello Leasing Space to Cranston Firefighters is a Conflict of Interest?

Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello has said that he knows how to keep personal and political life separate.

He recently has said that there’s no cause for alarm that he leases office space on Park Avenue in his home city of Cranston to the International Brotherhood of Firefighters Local 1363, the Cranston Fire Union.

He voted for the landmark pension reform legislation that was approved in 2011, he said, suggesting that if there was a conflict, wouldn’t the fire union be upset by that vote?

“Everything I’ve ever done has been to serve the public’s interest,” he told WPRO. “I’m not going to give up a private tenant in a difficult economy to serve someone’s personal mean spirted agenda.”

Mattiello has blamed the criticism partly on talk radio stations, which he said have fueled the flames.

It’s not secret that radio personality John DePetro, who hosts a daytime show on WPRO, has been mentioning the union’s lease in Mattiello’s building for some time. GoLocalProv reported it on May 2, though many in Cranston have known about it long before it became a topic for state media outlets.

One thing that Mattiello has opposed is legislation that would restore Ethics Commission oversight of elected officials in the Rhode Island General Assembly.

As a result, the question of whether the business relationship is a slam-dunk violation of state laws about business associations will never be officially addressed. Instead, it is left to talk radio hosts, voters and the general public to decide.

Which brings us to the question: do you think the Speaker of the House’s business relationship with the fire union is a conflict of interest? Should he recuse himself when issues affecting the fire union are up for a vote?