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10/24/2022
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Senator Ciccone calls on Mayor Elorza to table Triggs vote
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Cites concerns on process and lack of public input
STATE HOUSE – Sen. Frank A. Ciccone (D-Dist. 7, Providence, North Providence) issued a statement today slamming the procurement process to identify and award a contract to manage and operate Triggs Municipal Golf Course for the next 10 years. The Providence Board of Parks Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the matter this Wednesday at 9 a.m. The course has been operated by the same management group for the past 33 years. Triggs is located within the Senator Ciccone’s legislative district.
The parks commissioners posted an agenda over the weekend and the posting was highly problematic. First, it only included an agenda item to vote for the incumbent instead of general language on the subject matter. Secondly, and most offensively, the agenda put public comment at the very end of the meeting after the vote would be taken by the board to award the contract to the incumbent.
“This process does not build in the community or their voices in any way shape or form. To post an agenda and put the vote before public comment is offensive and should be an affront to every taxpaying resident of Providence. This entire process wreaks of how things were done in the Providence of old. Imagine taking time out of your work schedule to attend a hearing at 9 a.m. to find out the matter had been voted on before you were allowed to testify? Today, I’m calling on Mayor Elorza to table this matter and suspend this highly irregular process,” said Senator Ciccone.
Mayor Elorza serves as chair of the Providence Board of Parks Commissioners.
“We know Triggs is in a state of disrepair. We know the Rhode Island Golf Association has put forward a thoughtful bid to make significant capital investments in the course and build the community into the fabric of Trigg’s in a meaningful way. We also know there’s less than 10 weeks left in the Elorza Administration and the head of his Park’s Department may not even be in that post come January,” added Ciccone. “I think it would be best for all parties if this matter was left to the next administration to be thoughtfully reviewed and include a process that incorporates significant community feedback and dialogue. Triggs is one of Providence’s largest green spaces and we need to rethink how it serves our residents.”
“I’m not saying this process is rigged, but it certainly feels rigged. No one should be handing out favors with 10 weeks left in their administration. Mayor Elorza has an opportunity to correct this process before the stench of it lingers for another decade,” concluded Ciccone.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
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