East Providence council backs measure making Chapman permanent city manager

Vote is eventually unanimous despite testy exchanges among members present

By Mike Rego
Posted 5/4/17

EAST PROVIDENCE — Timothy J. Chapman, the former city solicitor who has been serving as acting manager since the firing of Richard Kirby from the same position in August of last year, had the …

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East Providence council backs measure making Chapman permanent city manager

Vote is eventually unanimous despite testy exchanges among members present

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — Timothy J. Chapman, the former city solicitor who has been serving as acting manager since the firing of Richard Kirby from the same position in August of last year, had the interim tag removed from his title by unanimous vote of those city council members present at the body’s May 2 meeting.

The move took place following some intra-council wrangling, which occurred during discussion of the proposed resolution prior to the members casting their votes. The tally wound up being 4-0 in support of the change. Ward 2 Councilwoman Anna Sousa was not present at the meeting.

The city manager will continue to serve at the pleasure of the council per the dictates of the city charter. His tenure will end concurrent with the existing council, whose term expires following the November 2018 election when the city will also formally change its form of governance to mayor-council from manager-council.

Ward 4 Councilman Brian Faria vociferously questioned the necessity of the action by continually referring to the “process,” but eventually relented and voted to support the change in Mr. Chapman’s status.

Mr. Faria wondered aloud about the ramifications to him and his ward if he voted against the measure, saying he did not want the current council to devolve into continuous 3-2 votes as has happened with previous incarnations of the body.

“I have no issue with Timothy Chapman,” Mr. Faria said before the vote. “I work well with him…It’s all about the process now…Tim is doing a great job. No one is looking to get rid of Mr. Chapman. That’s why this strikes me as odd, this resolution…If it’s not broken, why fix it?”

Part of the “process” Mr. Faria was referring to dealt with a vote taken by the council previously in this session not to rehire Mr. Kirby, a move requested by Ward 3 Councilman Joe Botelho and backed by Ward 1 Councilman Bobby Britto. Mr. Britto was one of two councilors to originally vote against Mr. Kirby’s removal some 10 months ago and who joined Mr. Botelho in unsuccessfully seeking his return earlier this year.

In supporting the removal of the interim tag from Mr. Chapman, Mr. Britto said he had “clearly stated my position on the topic after the Kirby vote.” While he wanted the previous manager returned, he said, directing his comments to Mr. Chapman, he “supported this man going forward.”

Mr. Britto continued, saying he wanted to remove any apprehension Mr. Chapman might feel in making decisions knowing he was possibly "48 hours" from being fired by the council. This was in reference to the council's ability to post a public hearing and potentially terminate the manager's contract with just two-days notice.

Mr. Britto added it was also imperative to make Mr. Chapman the permanent manager because he has started renegotiating contracts with all of the city’s unionized personnel, agreements that are set to expire at the conclusion of the current fiscal year in October.

While Mr. Faria and Mr. Britto did most of the sparring last week, the former did not spare Council President and Mayor Jim Briden from his rebukes. Mr. Briden sponsored the resolution. Mr. Faria questioned the timing of Mr. Briden’s effort and the lack of specificity in how it was written among other things.

Mr. Briden, who rarely speaks in anything other than reserved tones at meetings, offered up a vigorous response to Mr. Faria by detailing his rationale.

He said his “primary” reason for calling for the change in Mr. Chapman’s status was the aforementioned contract talks. “I think it’s important for those with whom he is negotiating know he has the full support of the council,” Mr. Briden said.

He also said it was significant to Mr. Chapman’s ability to go about his daily duties as the city’s chief executive officer as well as being an effective check on the council.

“He needs to be able to make decisions and sometimes make decisions that are not that are not popular. And to manage in a strong and effective way. And it’s important for the city council to support the city manager in that way so the city can be run well,” Mr. Briden continued. “And I like having a situation where the city manager can disagree with me and not be afraid what the consequences might be.”

Mr. Faria had little regard for Mr. Briden’s explanation, saying the way the measure moved was an example of why the manager form of government was “killed.” He pointedly added to Mr. Briden, “You not only insulted the process, but you polluted the process to the very end.”

Mr. Briden responded, “Let’s agree to disagree. You have your views. I respect that. I view it differently.”

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MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.