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Lack of Quorum Halts Special Council Meeting - January 12, 2022
Lack of Quorum Halts Special Council Meeting - January 12, 2022
By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
RICHMOND — A special Town Council meeting to discuss, according to the agenda, “soliciting proposals for Town Solicitor” did not take place as scheduled Wednesday night.
With council President Nell Carpenter and councilor Lauren Cacciola the only members in attendance, the required quorum of three council members out of five was not reached and the meeting was canceled.
Carpenter waited an additional five minutes to start the meeting, in case one or more of the other councilors showed up, but none did.
“We’re going to give a couple minutes as a courtesy to see if the other three councilmen will be joining,” she said.
After several minutes had passed, Carpenter declared the meeting canceled.
“All right, it’s 6:05” she said. “I don’t intend on wasting anybody’s time. Thank you everyone for attending, but we do not have a quorum so therefore, we do not convene this meeting.”
Earlier in the day, the Town of Richmond had circulated notice that the meeting was canceled, and then later issued another notice that stated ”Tonight's Special Town Council meeting is NOT canceled. It is anticipated that there will not be a quorum, however. Sorry for any confusion previous messages may have caused.” It remains unclear why the zoom meeting was initiated, if a quorum was not expected.
The stated purpose of the meeting was to explore soliciting bids for the position of Town Solicitor, which has been held by Karen Ellsworth since 2005.
The agenda also included a proposed discussion of the establishment of a review process and qualifications for the Town Solicitor, a decision on how the position would be advertised and the terms of the solicitor’s contract.
Ellsworth did not attend the virtual meeting, however Michael Cozzolino, an attorney who also represents the Town of Richmond and who, unlike Ellsworth, has had his contract renewed without review or discussion, was present.
The discussion of the solicitor’s job description and tenure is now expected to take place at the January 18th council meeting.
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Beaver River Valley Community Association
P.O. Box 10, Shannock, RI 02875
Email: beaverrivervalley@gmail.com
Website: https://www.brvca.org