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Breaking News: Carpenter Will Try Again This Week to Oust Ellsworth
Breaking News: Carpenter Will Try Again This Week to Oust Ellsworth
RICHMOND — Following three unsuccessful attempts to oust Town Solicitor Karen Ellsworth, Town Council President Nell Carpenter will try again at a special Town Council meeting this Wednesday, Jan. 12.
Here’s some background on this effort:
Ellsworth’s contract expires on January 31st. She has competently served the town since 2005, representing the Town Council and the Planning Board. Carpenter first sought to terminate Ellsworth in August 2021 and attempted again in October, when she proposed that the town solicit bids for solicitor for the Town Council as well as municipal boards. Both motions were defeated, with Lauren Cacciola and Carpenter supporting the motions and Jim Palmisciano, Ron Newman and Rich Nassaney opposed.
Carpenter’s latest attempt took place at the January 4th council meeting, when the renewal of Ellsworth’s contract was on the agenda. With councilor Richard Nassaney absent, the vote on whether to renew the contract was a tie, with Carpenter and Cacciola opposed to the renewal and council Vice President Palmisciano and councilor Newman in favor.
Palmisciano proposed, for a second time, using a standard corporate employee evaluation procedure to measure Ellsworth’s performance, and the council agreed to continue the discussion of the proposed evaluation protocol to the Jan. 18 council meeting. But on Friday afternoon, notice of a special council meeting was posted on the town’s website, and the only agenda item is Ellsworth’s contract.
The item reads is as follows:
Discussion and Consideration Regarding Soliciting Proposals for Town Solicitor for the Town of Richmond
a) Establish Qualifications/Review Criteria
b) Determine Advertisement Scope
c) Determine Potential Contract Terms
The special council meeting will take place virtually via Zoom, in accordance with Gov. Dan McKee’s latest COVID-19 directive, on Wednesday, January 12th at 6 p.m.
Please use this link to attend the zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86551222273
The agenda, the link to the Zoom platform and instructions on how to participate can be found on the town’s website. We will also send a link for the meeting on Wednesday.
The agenda can be accessed here: https://clerkshq.com/Richmond-ri?docId=jan12_22ag&path=Richmond_TownCouncil%2CRichmond_Agenda%2Cjan12_22ag%2C
Please plan on attending and make every effort to make your voice heard!
The Beaver River Valley Community Association is grateful to Town Solicitor Karen Ellsworth for all of her excellent work on behalf of the Town of Richmond, and we fully support her continued tenure as Town Solicitor.
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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
