War of Words Over Police Chief Continues

The war of words over the East Providence police chief goes on apparently.

The attorney for East Providence’s city manager, who is dueling with the police chief’s attorney in his handling of last spring’s placing of Joseph Tavares on administrative leave and subsequent reinstatement by the Budget Commission, continued the public exchange of letters last Friday.

City attorney Michael Ursillo responded to attorney Thomas McAndrew with a letter forwarded to him from City Manager Peter Graczykowski for a response.

“Frankly, we are disappointed that you continue to share your communication with the media as we thought we had an agreement to move forward on this issue in a professional manager outside of the public arena,” said Ursillo. 

“Your continuing efforts to play this out in the press are, in fact, counterproductive to your stated goal of encouraging the City Manager to support the Chief in successfully running the department. If you had concerns, I would have expected a phone call and a request for a meeting as opposed to relentless press releases.” 

Ursillo then went on in a letter sent to the press to dispute McAndrew’s charge that the timing of the release from the police union on its vote of no confidence in the police chief was a conscious decision to gain some support for himself and an advantage over the chief. 

Ursillo said also that the city manager’s reputed misstatements and inferences to undermine the chief were not misstatements or inferences.

In fact, he said, “it is you who has mischaracterized the facts and outcomes of the various investigations and their impacts in both your correspondence and press releases. Your client was obviously not pleased by the outcome of these investigations exonerating City officials and the Police Department despite his allegations to the contrary over the course of almost four years now. This has had the perverse effect of fanning the fire into a needless conflagration.” 

Ursillo also said the “Police Chief will continue to be treated with respect and held to the same high standards of accountability as all other Department Heads working for the City Manager. The Chief will also be subject to the review and evaluation process approved by the Budget Commission.”

“The City would rather not respond to such spurious allegations in the public realm, although this response will be shared with the press to set the record straight given your most recent press releases,” Ursillo said.

“In the future, it is respectfully requested that any and all concerns be brought directly to the attention of the City Manager or myself instead of feeding the media frenzy with what is a personnel matter and, as such, should be handled on a professional level.”