Putting Portsmouth and Tiverton Under the Microscope

Dear Elected Officials in Portsmouth and Tiverton,

This communication is intended to keep you in the loop regarding an investigation that was begun 3 months ago.  At that time, I was asked to look into the efforts of both STOP and the Portsmouth Business Association vis-à-vis the anti-toll effort.  Some concerned citizens reached out to me, since I had indicated an interest in fighting the tolls judicially, which I still plan on, and requested that I made sure that campaign finance and lobbying rules were being followed.

After some initial fact gathering, it became abundantly clear that both STOP and the PBA had a total disregard for Campaign Finance and other statutes.  An assessment was necessary to see how far that attitude went.  Four groups of interns were assigned.

The first group looked at STOP and their methodology.  Immediately, violations were found.

The second group did a full analysis of the PBA.  Every touch point with government was analyzed.  A full database of PBA permits, licenses, variances, and other governmental matters has been developed.

The third group went through 3 years of Tiverton Town Council and School Committee votes, campaign finance reports, meeting videos, agendas, campaign statements, familial relationships and business interactions.  In short, it would seem that every single official in Tiverton has violated something in the past 3 years.  It should also be noted that most of these violations were accidental in nature and not the product of deceit.

Group number four studied Portsmouth.  A lot that can be said about Tiverton can be said about Portsmouth.  There are two “overlay areas of concern” regarding the Portsmouth Business Association and the Portsmouth Town Council which will be addressed in a separate communication sometimes in the next 48 hours.

The question now is what to do with all this information and what should be filed.  Quite frankly, both the Republican and Democratic Committees in both communities are somewhat at fault for not giving their candidates better advice.  You are supposed to be looking out for each other.  Mistakes like this are not supposed to happen.  Political committees are also at fault for not catching these mistakes before a group of interns did.

Both political committees are also at fault for the way the entire anti-toll effort has been conducted.  It has been sophomoric at times, ineffective others, pretty pathetic, outside of untargeted signature gathering, for the most part.  Those efforts will be analyzed in more detail in other Blogs and letters to the editor.

I feel comfortable starting to clear the decks now because the legislative part of this process is over.  Lead by the tri-sided STOP/PBA/Rep. John Edwards hydra, it never really had a chance.  During the hearing in the House Finance Committee, the Speaker scheduled a press conference at the same time.  There are other tea leaves to read as well but I will not bore you with them.  In the words of Jay-Z, “This is the death of auto-tune, moment of silence.”

It would be advisable for every elected official to seek legal counsel at this time.  That should not have to be said.  If you are an elected official and you do not already have retained private counsel, what are you doing?  Who is advising you?

What will follow in the upcoming weeks will be a series of Access to Public Record Act requests.  It needs to be determined what was truly accidental and what was truly deceitful.  Filings will follow.

I will take into account things like the number of Tiverton folks who have told me how much happier they are with this Council than the last one.  The effort here is not designed to effect electoral politics in 2014 although that effect could arise.  This is more about retaliation for a failed political effort that should have been a slam dunk.  That failure is costing me a lot of money and a lot of time spent away from Newport.

In the case of the Tea Party, an effort will be made to make the punishments fit the crimes.  My personal fear is my own hatred of birthers, racists and homophobes will cause me to move forward on every Tea Party related possible action regardless of seriousness.  I will pray for guidance in this case.

With regards to the PBA, I also have a conflict of sorts.  As an independent timeshare investor in Rhode Island, I know how challenging it can be to do business here.  I firmly understand the need to exploit every loophole in the law available.  I get that.  What I do not understand is this: based on how ineffective they are, they have been played since entering the stage, I do not understand the PBA’s arrogance level.  I will figure out a way to balance both concerns.

One last little thing need be mentioned.  It may be natural for some of you to doubt my effectiveness.  We could talk about open meetings cases I have won or the reversal of the original Bellevue Gardens decision.  However, there is a much more recent example.

In West Warwick and Coventry, there exists a slum lord named Mike Baird.  Mr. Baird had run up literally two decades of bad behavior with no serious consequences.  Recently, he shut off the hot water in one of his apartments where 2 children were living.  He obviously thought he would get away with it.

Over the past weekend, I got together with some other friends I have campaigned with and we decided to do something.  On Monday, a letter much like this one was posted on the Coventry patch and sent to elected officials in West Warwick and Coventry.  After decades of inaction, just 72 hours after posting the letter, one of his buildings was condemned.  There, like here, the fun and games are just beginning.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Bobby Oliveira

Newport, RI or Clark Mills, NY

401-924-3563

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMuf_ekJhOs