Sheehan, Colasante Oppose Reynolds Reappointment

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
November 22nd 2023

RICHMOND – In a meeting that lasted only half an hour, Town Council members disagreed on the reappointment of Mark Reynolds to the Tax Assessment Board of Review. They also noted, but did not discuss, a report that the council had requested from the Economic Development Commission.

The Reynolds Reappointment

Before the council voted on the appointment of Mark Reynolds to the Tax Assessment Board of Review, which he chairs, councilor Helen Sheehan read a statement listing the reasons why she would not support the reappointment.

Sheehan said she would not vote to reappoint Reynolds, because “he does not have the best interests of the Richmond taxpayers in his heart.”

Sheehan provided several reasons for her opposition:

Firstly, an Open Meetings Act complaint, which the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office denied, against Sheehan, Michael Colasante and Mark Trimmer.

“It cost the taxpayers over $2,000 to defend us,” she said.

Second, Sheehan believes that Reynolds, who is running for a seat on the Town Council, was attempting to convince Richmond residents that Sheehan, Colasante and Trimmer are unethical.

Reynolds has also accused Trimmer, Colasante and Sheehan of costing the taxpayers $20,000 in legal fees when the three councilors appointed Clay Johnson to the Chariho School Committee.

“We were depicted as doing something unlawful, however, our Town Solicitor had given us a legal, written opinion that if it came to being a court case, that the court would probably say that the Chariho Act would take precedence over the town charter,” Sheehan said. “The Supreme Court did not agree, so Jessica [Purcell] now has the School Committee position.”

Sheehan’s third item was the ill-fated “Tri Town Committee,” an effort spearheaded by Colasante to get the three Chariho towns together to oppose unfunded state government mandates. (Charlestown never joined the committee.)

“Mike and I wanted the three Chariho Town Councils to get together to write legislation to require the state to fund any future mandates. Mark Reynolds was part of the group of people who misrepresented our goal as something nefarious,” she said.

Sheehan also accused Reynolds of having a personal bias against The Preserve.

“The Preserve is one of the biggest taxpayers in town,” she said. “I have some concern that Marks’ decisions on the Tax Assessment Board of Review might be influenced by his emotional bias against The Preserve.”

Finally, Sheehan said that the Richmond Community Alliance, a newly-formed political action Committee chaired by Reynolds, “criticizes Republicans on the Town Council.”

“The message that comes through in their written material is that the ethical group are the members of the alliance, while the unethical people are mostly Mike Colasante and me,” she said.

Colasante supported Sheehan’s assertions, adding that members of town boards and commissions should be required to work with the council as a whole.

Reynolds Responds

Asked if he wished to comment on Sheehan’s statement, Reynolds had plenty to say.

“There’s a lot of discussion recently about people’s First Amendment rights, and their rights to criticize, particularly, the government,” he said. “It’s a very important aspect of the First Amendment, yet, I’m being criticized by Ms. Sheehan, who I have never criticized in any newsletter or on social media. I’m being criticized because I come here and I tell you what I think.”

Reynolds also noted that he had served on the Tax Assessment Board of Review for three years, before he ran for a council seat.

“… to say that this is some campaign strategy that I have somehow concocted is absurd,” he said.

Reynolds then explained that most of the tax appeals heard by the board were made by The Preserve, which has contested almost every tax assessment.

“We would make decisions based upon evidence, and the evidence supports the assessments that the town has made against The Preserve, and we have upheld them, so in that respect, we are saving the taxpayers money, because we’re making sure The Preserve is paying its fair share of taxes just like everybody else in this room does,” he said.

Reynolds also noted that The Preserve is costing the town legal fees because it is suing the town on its tax assessments.

With Sheehan and Colasante opposed, council President Mark Trimmer, Vice President Richard Nassaney and councilor Samantha Wilcox approved the reappointment.

The EDC

In a response to a request from the Town Council for a report on the activities of the Economic Development Commission, EDC President Bryan Lebeau sent a single-page letter, which was attached to the council agenda. Lebeau did not attend the council meeting.

The letter states that the commission put forward six action items last April, and had received feedback on only two of them.

“We trust that you will approach this matter with the seriousness it deserves,” the letter states. “Your proactive efforts in embracing economic development initiatives and responding to the Economic Development Commission’s recommendations will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our town’s growth and prosperity. It’s time to put a stake in the ground and for our council to put their money where their mouth is.”

Trimmer described the letter as “disappointing.”