Town Solicitor Re-Appointment in Doubt

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA                                         
December 7th 2023

RICHMOND – The re-appointment of Town Solicitor Karen Ellsworth remains in doubt after Town Council members agreed at their Dec. 5 meeting to defer the discussion of her performance and re-appointment to the executive session that will follow the next council meeting, on Dec. 19.

Ellsworth’s contract will expire on Jan. 31, 2024. She has served the town since 2005, but her tenure in recent years has been less than secure, and the list of those opposing her appears to be growing.

Past Efforts to Oust Ellsworth

Former Town Council President Nell Carpenter tried several times to terminate Ellsworth, first in August 2021, then in October, and again in January, 2022.

Councilors Michael Colasante and Helen Sheehan opposed the renewal of Ellsworth’s 2023 contract, saying they needed more time to evaluate her performance. However, in the end, the council voted, with Colasante abstaining, to approve the contract.

This Time It’s Different

Ellsworth has never minced words when discussing the latest batch of land use bills to come out of the General Assembly, describing them as poorly drafted and confusing. But this time, it was House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi who learned of Ellsworth’s comments on the legislation and complained about her remarks to the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns.

Town Administrator Karen Pinch was then asked to contact the League’s Associate Director, Jordan Day. The specifics of that conversation have not been disclosed, but Ellsworth is reported to have made the offending comments at the Nov. 14 Planning Board meeting.

One of those comments can be found about an hour and a half into the meeting, where Ellsworth, referring to the new state legislation tells the Planning Board:

“My attitude is, if they make you do something stupid and you know it’s stupid, don’t do it, you know? I used to work up there. I know how they make sausage. They’re not right all the time. This is crazy. It’s crazy.”

Contacted Wednesday, both Pinch and Ellsworth declined to comment.

“I’m not going to comment, for the record, on anything, at this time,” Ellsworth said.

Council member, Samantha Wilcox, has had disagreements with Ellsworth in the past and is reported to support her ouster. One notable instance occurred last January, when Ellsworth stated that the Chariho Act superseded the Richmond Town Charter, opening the door for the Town Council to approve Clay Johnson for a vacant Chariho School Committee seat over second highest vote-getter, Jessica Purcell."

(Purcell took her case to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor. Purcell then replaced Johnson on the committee.)

Reached Wednesday, Wilcox said she did not feel that it would be appropriate to discuss Ellsworth’s job performance outside the executive session of the council.

“It’s a tough situation, because it’s job performance-related, that’s all,” she said.

However, Town Council President Mark Trimmer, who has supported Ellsworth, was more direct.

“Karen Ellsworth said what everyone else was thinking,” he said. “These land use laws and ordinances that are being pushed by the state are really, really bad news for the rural communities. I think their intent was to shift the burden of failed policies onto rural towns, and I’d say that on the record.”

Another Skirmish

A discussion involving Colasante, Planning Board Vice Chair Dan Madnick and later, council Vice President Richard Nassaney, became so contentious that Trimmer and Nassaney asked for, and received, a short recess.

Council members were planning a joint workshop with the Economic Development Commission to discuss the re-zoning of certain areas of town to attract businesses.

Madnick explained that the Planning Board had considered the zone change proposal.

“The Planning Board got together and talked about how to facilitate economic development,” he said. “One of the things we discussed is how do we implement zoning changes that could facilitate additional economic development – mixed use, commercial. And we looked at our zoning maps. … We just felt like it would be useful, with all these discussions of economic development, to try to push the town forward and find some areas that we could potentially re-zone.”

Then, unexpectedly, Colasante asked Madnick, a member of the newly-formed Richmond Community Alliance political action committee, about something the alliance had posted.

“There’s that Richmond Community Alliance, I guess,” he said. “They had five points that I guess they posted recently. Did you pen these?”

Madnick replied,

“Is it relevant to this conversation?”

“Yeah, because it mentions the EDC,” Colasante said.

“So what’s your point? “Madnick asked. “Since we’re talking in public, why don’t you read those five points? Make the point you want to make.”

Trimmer interjected.

“I’m going to call it here,” he said. “This is not an agenda item.”

Colasante persisted.

“I was just curious Dan… It’s right there in print,” he said.

Trimmer repeated that the alliance was not on the council agenda.

Nassaney then weighed in, telling Colasante,

“You want to build bridges, but you’re constantly throwing bombs. Unbelievable,” he said.

“You’ve got your soapbox, Richard,” Colasante fired back.

Nassaney responded by asking Trimmer if he could take a two-minute break, and the council went into a recess.

Asked Wednesday about that exchange, Nassaney said,

“He [Madnick] got up and defended himself with factual points and then, when he was finished, Colasante decided to passively-aggressively point out the Richmond Community Alliance and he wanted to find out who’s writing it, and instead of doing it openly and honestly as a fair question, he has to do it in this snide manner, and at that point, I just lashed out and made my statement. He just constantly attacks people he says he wants to work with.”

Other Business

The council approved a resolution, introduced by Trimmer, opposing the recently - revived proposal to bring high speed rail through southern Rhode Island towns.

“It’s going to be going through tribal lands and wetlands, electricity and water don’t mix,” he said. “It’s an enormous amount of money being spent on a railroad that no one rides and I don’t think anyone would ride.”

Trimmer said he wanted the town to draft a resolution opposing the project, and Ellsworth said one had already been drafted the last time the rail line threat was looming.

Trimmer said the resolution would need to be updated with the names of the current council members and also reflect the changes to the proposed plan.

Trimmer also noted,

“I had a constituent called up and said that the rail would literally go through the front door of his house.”

The council did not pass a resolution, introduced by Colasante, in support of Israel in the Israel-Hamas war.

Sheehan and Colasante voted in favor, but Trimmer, Nassaney and Wilcox abstained.