Manville Fire District Fined $5000 for Open Meetings Violation

A Rhode Island fire district that has seen more than its share of ethics litigation over the past few years, is once again in the news. The Manville Fire District has been fined $5,000, this time because it has violated a provision in the state’s Open Meetings Act that requires meetings of public bodies to be held in a handicap accessible location.

According to a press release issued today by the RI Attorney General’s Office: “Superior Court Justice Joseph Montalbano ordered the Manville Fire District to pay $5,000 for willfully or knowingly violating the state's Open Meetings Act ("OMA") when it failed to hold its board meetings in a handicapped accessible location on multiple occasions, despite being warned by the Office of Attorney General that this behavior violated the OMA”

The press release quoted Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin “Of all the requirements in the Open Meetings Act public bodies are required to follow, perhaps the easiest and most important to comply with is ensuring access to all citizens, including those with physical limitations. The Manville Fire District failed to do so on multiple occasions. The nature of the violation was egregious and a significant fine of $5000 is appropriate.”

Manville has nine other entries in my fire litigation database between 2010 and now, including ethics complaints over nepotism, ethics complaints over public records violations, ethics complaints over open meetings violations, and suits alleging retaliation for filing ethics complaints… and I know I am missing some…

Here is a copy of today’s press release.