October
2,
2007
Contact: Arthur C. Barton 323-1148
Download this press release HERE
On
October 1, 2007, Arthur “Chuck” Barton,
President of Operation Clean Government,
called for Senator Stephen Alves
to step down from his role as head
of the Senate Finance Committee. “While
credible allegations of outrageous
abuse of his leadership position
remain unresolved, Alves needs
to step aside from his leadership
role to try to salvage some credibility
for the Senate,” said Barton. “With
the criminal conviction of Senator
Celona for abuse of his office,
the fine paid by Senate President
Montalbano for ethics violations,
and the pending conflict of interest
charges against former Senate President
Irons and Senator Ciccone, the
Rhode Island Senate is operating
under a dark cloud which is made
darker by the allegations against
Senator Alves. Out of respect for
the Senate and the importance of
his role as head of the Finance
Committee, Alves should remove
himself from that position. If
he does not, Senate President Montalbano
needs to remove Alves to show a
concern for the already documented
abuse of leadership positions in
the Senate.”
In
the Providence Journal on Sunday
September 30, 2007, Mike Stanton
reported that credible named sources
reported that Senator Alves killed
legislation that would have benefited
municipalities that did not give
Alves, in his job as an investment
adviser, the job of managing pension
investments. While the focus of
the article was the failure of
Johnston, which chose other brokers
to manage its investments, to gain
tax breaks for a new business moving
into the city, there were also
suggestions of retribution against
Woonsocket for that city’s
failure to do business with Alves.
These allegations come on top of
reports of a questionable fee paid
by Prudential Securities for undetermined
services by Alves in winning business
from a union and an outburst at
a West Warwick council meeting
in December where he threatened
the political future of councilors
who did not vote for his choice
as town prosecutor.
“If Senator Alves is using
his leadership position to reward
those who do business with him
and punish those who do not, he
is serving with the basest motives
of self-interest without any concern
for the citizens of Rhode Island
or his constituents in West Warwick.
Anything he does for his constituents
would appear to only be motivated
to continue as a Senator in order
to extort business and payments
from those who need his influence
as a leader in the Senate,” said
Barton.
“What is discouraging,” Barton
continued, “ is that Senate
President Montalbano and the others
defending themselves against ethics
charges are claiming that votes
in the General Assembly cannot
be questioned – the so-called ‘speech
in debate’ clause in the
Rhode Island constitution. I expect
that Senator Alves will adopt a
similar position regarding his
actions– that unless there
is a very specific bribe, legislators
are not subject to any legal consequences.
Now is the time for leaders of
the Senate, including Montalbano,
to take a stand to uphold a standard
of behavior for themselves. Where
is the outrage from those who are
tarred with the same brush from
being associated with the conviction
of Senator Celona and the allegations
against Senator Alves, Senator
Ciccone and former Senate President
Irons? When will the Republicans
and Democrats who do not and would
not enrich themselves at the expense
of the public interest speak up?”
The
OCG President commented that
the allegations are coming from
elected Democratic officials and
their operatives. “The issue
is not one of partisan politics,
but of public interest versus private
gain at public expense,” said
Barton. “The longer Senator
Alves remains in a leadership role,
the more the public will be convinced
that the Rhode Island Senate, if
not the entire government, is for
sale. While Alves continues in
his key role, the Senate looks
like a third world dictatorship
where the leaders milk the public
and the treasury for all that they
can while they can. The allegations
against Alves may be erroneous,
but they are credible. If Senator
Alves does not care enough about
Rhode Island and his own reputation
to step aside, then Senate President
Montalbano should care enough about
the reputation of the Senate to
remove him unless and until Senator
Alves is cleared of the allegations
swirling about him.”
