Statement of John Ward, Woonsocket City Council President, pertaining to the Investigator’s report on the Mendon Road Land Deal.
Regarding the Report
Let me begin by thanking Attorney Aaron Weisman for his hard work and excellent report regarding the Mendon Road Land Deal matter on behalf of the Woonsocket City Council and all the citizens of Woonsocket. The report is a clear and accurate analysis of the large number of emails and data collected on the City Council web page. I appreciate that he was able to produce an easily understandable narrative and provide a solid base of information for any further investigations.
In addition, I want to thank all those who cooperated and provided honest answers to all the questions posed to them and appreciate all the work our solicitor’s office did in assisting with the collection and provision of the information for the city council and Attorney Weisman.
Regarding former Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt
In an October 10, 2022, article in the Valley Breeze, after her removal from office, former Mayor Baldelli-Hunt said, “I’m standing tall, I’m very proud of the work my administration has done with strong directors.” She said this while at the same time she was working this secret land deal in collaboration with her Planning Director who sat directly behind her during the removal hearings, to use federal funds to buy property from her former employer, long-time business partner, and beneficiary of six other land deals within Woonsocket during her ten year term of service as mayor for which, through her extensive involvement, he was able to sell for a total of $7 million and a likely earn a profit of more than $5 million. And this secret deal would have added another $1 million in profit for him. Not bad work. Wasn’t that a very generous, uncompensated gesture on behalf of the former mayor?
So, why had she thought she could do this without the city council and her other friends in her administration? Well, it seems she simply thought she could!
Back on July 28, 2021, I made a formal request for an opinion from the city solicitor as to whether the mayor was required to comply with the terms of two ordinances by which the city council asserted their authority to participate in the approval process for the spending of federal funds, whether he mayor was required to seek the approval of the city council prior to submitting the annual Community Development Block Grant spending plan to HUD, and whether the administration was required to seek city council approval for expenditures over $100,000 for spending from non-general fund sourced revenue. The request was made because of the former mayor’s assertion that, “in her opinion, she is not bound by the council ordinances because the funds are exclusively derived from Federal grants and do not involve the spending of local funds.”
The opinion of the solicitor in his response dated July 28, 2021 (and as included in this report), was clear.
- “Yes, the Mayor of the City of Woonsocket is obligated to comply with the provisions of both Ordinances… There are no provisions within Federal or State Law or Federal or State guidelines that contradict the Ordinances or prevent the required compliance with the Ordinances.”
- “…the City Council must approve the CDBG Plan prior to its submission to/filing with HUD.”
- “…any contract/agreement that the City enters into with a value over $100,000 or for a term greater than one year requires City Council approval, regardless of the funding source.”
Yet, despite this clear opinion of the solicitor regarding the budgeting and spending of federal funds, in a column written in the Valley Breeze of August 4, 2021, were these passages.
“The mayor said her name is the only name on the submittal for federal funds, and she’s not going to allow another body to tell her what she has to do. No one will bully her, and no one will intimidate her, she said, adding that she has always done what’s in the best interest of the city and its taxpayers, not allowing politics to enter the mix.”
“City rules are pretty straightforward,” said Baldelli-Hunt. The council, no matter who the mayor is, has basic authority over the municipal budget, retaining the ability to cut money after the administration presents the budget. If there is an application for a state or federal grant and no matching funds are needed to be placed in the budget, she said, the council doesn’t have authority.”
Clearly, this was a precursor to the matter we are discussing this evening.
On page 12 of the report the author comments, “…Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt’s email of April 25, 2023 (regarding the city purchase of property at 330 Social Street), coupled with the history of her disputes with City Council members over her power to expend federal funds without City Council approval, supports a determination that the Mayor was not at all ignorant of the law requiring City Council approval of a $1.13 million real property purchase. That is, it is reasonable to conclude that the Mayor quite consciously—and in violation of provisions of the Woonsocket City Charter—kept the $1.13 million real property purchase from the members of the Woonsocket City Council.”
Further, beginning on page 16 the author states, “In sum, there seems to be no substantiation at all to justify the City of Woonsocket paying Mr. Bourque $1.13 million for the Mendon Road Property. In other words, given the factors discussed above, including but not limited to the appraised value of the undeveloped land, the zoning issue precluding egress from the Property, the failure of any documented valuation or even of any documented valuation process, and the potential wetland issues, such $1.13 million price appears to be unsupported.”
“What may be discerned about the $1.13 million purchase price, however, is that it was a price agreed upon, apparently over some time, directly and only between Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt and Mr. Bourque. The City’s former Director of Planning and Development, Stephen Lima, stated that he attended a meeting in the summer of 2019, during which he witnessed a heated discussion between Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt and Mr. Bourque over what the Mendon Road Property would be used for. Mr. Bourque wanted to use the property for the development of duplex properties, while the Mayor strongly and very loudly pushed back, stating that such duplex development was not what they—meaning she and Mr. Bourque—had agreed upon.”
Regarding Michael Debroisse, Director of Planning and Development
On page 5 of the report, it is made clear that not only was Director Debroisse attempting to circumvent the requirements of our city charter, but he also intentionally worked to deceive the solicitor, HUD and the closing attorney on the deal with his manipulation of an ordinance to give the false impression that the city council had granted authorization to make the Mendon Road land purchase. Whether the Ordinance amendment was at the direction of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt matters little considering his subsequent actions as described in the report. To quote the report, “…it is reasonable to conclude that, per direction of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, Director Debroisse’s failure to comply with what he knew to be the legal requirement of obtaining City Council acquiescence and approval was not an indeliberate one.”
On page 13 of the report, it is made clear that Director Debroisse has been less than forthright in his statements made to the city council, the investigator, and the public regarding the determination of the fair value of the Mendon Road property. The report states, “When asked for the basis of that $1.13 million valuation—a valuation represented to be “reasonable . . . [b]ased on [the Department of Planning and Development’s] analysis of the acquisition cost (current comps and sales)”—Director Debroisse replied that it was the product of “comparables” and “prior sales” research pulled from data, including “sales cards,” on the City’s database pertaining to certain discrete properties within the City, and that, while Director Debroisse did not himself conduct such an analysis, it was conducted by a member or members of his team at his direction. Yet, when questioned, the members of his team disclaimed ever having performed any such City-data-base-predicated “comparables” and “prior sales” valuation research of discrete, let alone any, properties. The members of Director Debroisse’s team, that is, purported to have had no insight or knowledge into how the $1.13 million sales price came to be. Nothing that came out of the Department of Planning and Development, then, appears to have remotely supported a valuation of $1.13 million.
Finally, despite the appearance of the Director’s cooperation with the investigator, it must be noted that the Director, on three separate occasions, refused to respond to questions from the members of the city council and the Attorney Weisman before he was instructed, ordered or persuaded to respond by the mayor and/or solicitor.
The matters described in this report clearly describe actions that satisfy five of the six reasons for removal from office. These acts constitute “Willful violation of any provision of the charter or ordinances: Willful neglect of duty; Corrupt or willful malfeasance in office and Willful misconduct to the injury of public service.” In addition, the Directors failure to research the history of the Property such that he was not immediately aware of the limitations on development and therefore, the true value of the Property, also make it clear that he suffered “Incompetency to perform the duties of this office.”
Director Debroisse has now been allowed to retire from his position with the city. It is truly unfortunate that he was caught up in the former mayor’s deceitful plan to further enrich her business partner.
From page 18 – “Given that Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt had apparently intended to keep the purchase of the Mendon Road Property from the City Council and others, and given the lack of any apparent justification for the $1.13 million purchase price and that such purchase price was apparently determined directly between the Mayor and Mr. Bourque only, there seems to be legitimate basis to query whether considerations other than the best interests of the citizens of Woonsocket might have played a role in the Mayor’s decision to purchase the Mendon Road Property from Mr. Bourque for $1.13 million.”
Conclusion
Mayor Baldelli-Hunt, as was her style, always made sure to point out that this purchase was for affordable housing for elderly Woonsocket residents. Her obvious tactic was to give the impression that “the ends justify the means” and those who express opposition or concern over the deal were obstructionists and acting politically to stop her from doing such a wonderful thing. Too often, those stories held sway with the public and the media. Now we can easily see that they were often just lies to distract from her real motives, to enrich her friends by using underhanded tactics in secret to benefit those who would benefit her, whether politically or otherwise.
I personally believe that this episode represents criminal acts and needs further investigation by the appropriate law enforcement agencies. I don’t say this out of any animus towards the parties involved, but as a long-time public servant who has been witness to too many public corruption cases in the State of Rhode Island and believe that elected public officials and public employees must hold themselves to the highest ethical standards and should be held accountable when they intentionally violate the public trust.
Furthermore, new information has been learned through media interviews that conflicts with the information provided in this report. That discrepancy is important and demands further investigation by the city council.
I will vote in support of this resolution and look forward to further investigations into the matters raised in this report, whether as an observer of the law enforcement process or a city official regarding other administrative matters in city hall.
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