More Ethics Complaints

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
December 19th 2023

The Rhode Island Ethics Commission voted on Dec. 12 to open an investigation following a complaint filed by Town Council Vice President Richard Nassaney against councilor Michael Colasante.

The complaint alleges that Colasante had a business relationship with D’Ambra Construction and Richmond Sand & Stone, but did not recuse himself from votes to award contracts for paving North Road and Tug Hollow Road. In both cases, Colasante made motions to award the contracts to D’Ambra and then voted.

The complaint describes a business relationship between Colasante and the two companies, in which those companies did work at Colasante’s Buttonwoods Sawmill.

The council voted to award the North Road contract on Aug. 15 and on Sept. 8, equipment from both companies was observed doing work at the sawmill property.

On Oct. 13, equipment from D’Ambra Construction and Richmond Sand & Stone was again seen working on Colasante’s sawmill property. At the Oct. 17 council meeting, Colasante made a motion and voted in favor of granting the Tug Hollow contract to D’Ambra Construction.

Nassaney explained,

“It was the simple fact that he had at the time a relationship with D’Ambra Construction. There’s photos and videos of D’Ambra Construction equipment running on his property after he approved the bid for D’Ambra Construction to do the North Road and the Tug Hollow Road projects for the town.”

The vote to award the two paving contracts was unanimous, so Colasante’s recusal would not have changed the final outcome.

“If he would have recused, because it would not have affected the vote in any way, I wouldn’t have said ‘boo’,” Nassaney added. “He, whether knowingly or not, had a relationship with D’Ambra Construction. You just have to recuse from anything that has to do with the town.”

In his response to the complaint, Colasante said he had been doing business with Richmond Sand & Stone, not D’Ambra Construction. However, in photographs of Colasante’s sawmill property, the name “D’Ambra” is clearly visible on the earth-moving equipment.

In addition, state documents show that D’Ambra is the Registered Agent for both companies.

The Ethics Commission has 180 days to complete its investigation.

The Second Complaint

A second complaint against Colasante, filed by council President Mark Trimmer, is also under investigation. The complaint pertains to Colasante’s involvement in council decisions regarding Electrical Inspector Jeffrey Vaillancourt, who, the complaint alleges, was also doing work for Colasante at the time.

A Complaint Against Nassaney

The Ethics Commission is also investigating a third complaint, filed by former council President Nell Carpenter, pertaining to Richard Nassaney’s business relationship with Pasquale Farms, which was selling Nassaney’s hot sauce.

In an executive session on June 6, 2023, council members discussed the job performance of Electrical Inspector Jeffrey Vaillancourt and a complaint made to the town by Pasquale Farms regarding Vaillancourt’s behavior.

Nassaney recused himself from the discussion, because his “Rich’s Sweet Heat” sauce is sold at Pasquale Farms, but Carpenter stated that Nassaney still participated in the executive session, and in the open session that resumed after, and that Nassaney had also voted to take disciplinary action against Vaillancourt.

(It is not clear how Carpenter knew the details of the executive session discussion, since the minutes are sealed and she is not a council member.)

Nassaney said he could not comment on the ongoing investigation of Carpenter’s complaint.