Council Members Vote to Remove Ocean State Towing From City Tow List

Four members of the East Providence City Council voted after a hearing Tuesday night to remove Ocean State Towing from the city's tow list.

The company had requested the hearing after a majority of council members — including Mayor Bruce Rogers — voted to remove Ocean State from the list of six companies the city's police department uses on a rotating basis for tows in the city.

Rogers, who initiated action to remove the company from the tow list soon after taking office in December, announced at the beginning of Tuesday's hearing that he would abstain from voting on the matter.

Critics had pointed out that Rogers had long worked as a campaign manager for former City Councilman Brian Coogan, who owns another company on the list, A-1 Towing.

Rogers did not name Coogan at the beginning of the hearing, but said that he was abstaining from the vote because he had worked for someone with a tow company in the city.

East Providence Police Chief Joseph Tavares testified that shortly after he became chief in 2009 that he had heard of problems that people were having with the company. Complaints from people included that people were overcharged and were not able to retrieve their belongings from their cars after they had been towed.

Three police officers testified about being called to Ocean State to settle disputes between people whose vehicles had been towed and employees.

“We had a series of complaints from frustrated people speaking about how you did not treat them well," Tavares said. The police department also received information that an Ocean State employee had been involved in the theft of an ATV.

In 2010, Ocean State had two hearings in front of the Public Utililities Commission and was fined in connection with the violations, Assistant City Solicitor Robert Craven said. One involved nearly 30 complaints of people being overcharged from $3 to $193.

The attorney for Ocean State argued that the company did not get due process when it was removed from the tow list by a majority of council members on during a vote at a March 1 meeting.

Council members William Conley and Michael DiGioia noted at the time that they believed the company did not have due process. Tavares also raised concerns that the company had not had due process, though he recommended the council remove it from the tow list because of the complaints against the company.

Ocean State's president Steven Ladeira said he learned he had been removed from the city's tow list when he read about it in the East Providence Post the next day. The company also tows for Rehoboth and state police in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 

Ladeira's attorney argued Tuesday that the money the company has lost from the two months since the company was removed from the list plus the fines and restitution he has already paid were punishment enough.

He also said the East Providence business had to lay people off because of business the company lost because of the removal.

DiGioia asked Tavares during the hearing if he would still recommend the removal of the company from the tow list and he said he would, because of its substandard operation.

Frequent council meeting Thomas Riley said he started the complaint with the PUC after he was in an accident in 2009 and Ocean State responded, then denied having his vehicle.

Council members then voted four to zero that Ocean State be taken off the list, with Rogers abtaining.