Is E.P. Mayor Right Officer to Appoint Next Fiscal Overseer?
East Providence Mayor James Briden wants to know for sure; he has asked the city solicitor to review the state law that creates an AFO and the City Charter.
The mayor wants to make sure he is the right person to appoint East Providence’s new fiscal overseer.
James Briden is asking city solicitor Timothy Chapman to review Rhode Island General Law 45-9-10, which creates the position of Municipal Administration and Finance Officer (AFO) to take over for the Budget Commission when it leaves at the end of March.
The AFO will be appointed by “the elected chief executive officer,” according to the law. Briden wants to make sure he is that officer with the help of Chapman’s legal interpretation of the law and the City Charter.
“Am I that individual that makes the choice?” Briden said. “It’s a relatively new law. Under an abundance of caution, I want a legal interpretation from the solicitor. It seems like the right step to take.”
Briden said he has no problem making the appointment “if I play that role in selecting an AFO.” He wants to make sure it is him.
“You know the old saying about an attorney who is his own attorney,” said Briden, an attorney and former city solicitor.
The law says that the candidates for the position, which is being advertised right now, will first be interviewed by the state’s municipal finance chief, Revenue Director Rosemary Booth Gallogly. The top three candidates will then be forwarded by her to the mayor, according to the law.
The mayor will select the AFO from those candidates. The AFO will report to the mayor.
The AFO will be paid up to $100,000 by East Providence. The AFO will be “responsible for the overall budgetary and financial administration” of East Providence for 5 years.
Exactly where in the hierarchy of the city’s administration the AFO will fit is a bit uncertain right now, although the responsibilities seem similar to the five-person Budget Commission.
“We’ll have to work out the details,” said Briden.
“But that person will help us stick to the five-year budget plan,” he said, even as the position creates another high-paid administrative post in East Providence.
Ron C
6:51 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Good for Mayor Briden. Better safe then sorry. A really good lawyer in town has looked at it and believes it would be ok if the state was paying the position. However, if the city is paying that makes the person a city employee and would advise Mr. Briden NOT to make the appointment. So it would seem the way around it to have the state pay the person and just bill us.
Just the Facts
9:29 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
The BC has been here for what seems like forever, consolidating, streamlineing and trying to find ways to save money and be fiscally responsible. So now the State wants us to duplicate the roll the City Manager already has @ the cost of the taxpayer? I know a whole bunch of Middle School kids that could put that 100k to good use.
Rags 1
11:14 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Clear case of mistrust of the fiscal decision making process on the part of the state in passing this act.
Law appears to run afowl of the duties of the City Manager and the City Charter.
However this person is selected, the fact is he/she will act as a counter-balance
to our spending habits in the past.
My hope is that the person is politically neutral and can inflict an opinion that is backed with authority to kep us on fiscal track.
SL
12:53 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
I believe it is time for the mayor form of gov. To be put to the voters of EP. We have seen a lot over the last 10 years and by no means is this directed at our current city manager,I feell he came into a tough situation and with the BC appointed clearly they made all the decisions. Sometimes change is good,anyway let's find out how the current voters feel.
Diane
1:39 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
The mayor and his puppets on the last city council clearly violated city charter, the city manager went right along with them on the violations, no one did anything about it, so I do understand why Mr. Briden wants to cover his ass.
Why pay two people to do basically the same job, let the city manager go, keep the state AFO, then maybe we would have some honesty in this city.
Bruce Zarembka
2:40 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
First, while I don't agree with all of the decisions that the budget commission made. (Mainly elimination of Middle School Sports) I am thankful that they were brought in, as our city was being led down the path towards insolvency. The last city council and school committee did not represent the people of the city, they represented their own special interests, Additionally many of the problems were also the result of previous city councils and school committes. But that is the past...Lets look at the positive as we move forward. We now have a teachers contact which is fair to both sides. We have closed two libraries (I know all don't agree with this)...but a city the size of East Providence does not need four. Their has been positive movement on a new contact with our Police Department as well as resolving what was a huge problem with the underfunding of the police pension fund. it appears that the the current city council has taken more of a unified approach towards solving the mess they inherited.
The safety net with Mr. Briden approving the AFO, is that he will be given the top three candidates whom will be vetted by the State Budget Officer. this should take away the politics that East Providence has unfortunately become known for. Bring in the best candidate and keep moving forward towards financial stability. At some point this may allow for the re-implementation of Middle School Sports.
As coach Bill Belichk once said "Live in the past...die in the present."
Rick
9:26 am on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Where ate our state reps in this discussion. The budget commission did its job and got us back on track financially now the state is forcing a babysitter on us at a very high salary. What exactly are the duties of this babysitter going to be that she is going to be paid six figures. If they are doing the job of the city manager then isn't it kinda stupid to have one considering the objective is to save the city money. I really wish our state level reps would stand up to Chaffee and say enough is enough it is time to let EP stand on its own.