Town Council May Go To Court To Overturn 41 Years Of Elected Planning Commissions
When: Monday, July 24 at 7 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Town Hall
What: On the Town Council Meeting Agenda is, “Discussion and potential action to Petition the Rhode Island Superior Court for a Declaratory Judgment regarding the legality of Charlestown having an elected Planning Commission.”
UPDATE: The RI ACLU has written to the Town Council urging them to go slow in their actions to overturn Planning Commission elections. Read their letter.
Charlestown is unique in being the only municipality in Rhode Island that has a Planning Commission elected by the voters. Being unique is certainly not a bad thing nor is it illegal. In many Connecticut towns, members of the Planning and Zoning Commissions are elected. What we do in Charlestown may be unique in Rhode Island, but it isn’t that unusual.
In 1981, Charlestown’s voters approved our first Home Rule Charter; the Charter was ratified by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor. The Home Rule Charter specified that the Planning Commission was to be composed of five regular members and two alternate members, all elected in a general election. These provisions of the 1981 Charter have resulted in 41 years of elected Planning Commissions, members of which have been voted into office in 21 elections. The results of each of these elections have been certified by the state.
Margaret Hogan, a land use attorney who frequently brings development applications before the Planning Commission, has been trying for many years to get the town into court so that a court might rule that the Planning Commission is illegally composed. In 2008, when Jim Mageau was on the Town Council, and now in 2023, with the new “CRU” Town Councilors, there have been Town Councilors receptive to this idea.
In 2008, Ms. Hogan, as a member of the Charter Revision Advisory Committee, wrote a legal memorandum, and her conclusion was that RI law requires appointment rather than election of Planning Commissions. In response, Charlestown’s Town Solicitor at the time wrote an advisory opinion that the election of Planning Commissions in Charlestown is consistent with RI law, an opinion that left Mr. Mageau without sufficient votes from his fellow Town Councilors to go to court.
Now in 2023, Ms. Hogan has again been appointed to a Charter Revision Advisory Committee, along with another attorney who has appeared before the Planning Commission, a local gravel bank owner who is also a land developer, and several other members. They are once again claiming that the provisions of RI law which require an elected Planning Commission are illegal.
Their claim ignores the 2008 Solicitor’s opinion, a 2011 legal memorandum from Charlestown’s current Solicitor, and a recent and nearly parallel ruling involving a conflict between a RI law and another town’s Charter provision by the RI Supreme Court.
Despite all the legal evidence in support of Charlestown’s elected Planning Commission, Town Council President Deb Carney has put going to court against the duly elected Planning Commission on the agenda.
Having flawed legal arguments doesn’t stop the Town Council from going to court. The Town Council will have access to the Town’s treasury to fund their suit. If the Planning Commission does not have legal representation, the court will only hear one side of the argument. Perhaps that is how they think they can win.
The goal is to change the outcome of 21 elections and remove current elected officials from office, thwarting the will of the voters, so that they can appoint Planning Commission members more to their liking.
In addition to canceling the votes of 21 elections, what they propose violates the rights of the seven current Planning Commissioners who were elected by the voters to serve their terms and perform the duties prescribed in RI law, in Charlestown’s Home Rule Charter, and in our Zoning Ordinance. They have served in these positions, some since 2018, and have taken the oath of office. There is no basis for their removal other than this false claim that they were illegally elected.
Planning is all about land use, about issues of conservation, and about development. There are many things in which the Planning Commission does not have discretion, but there are other areas where it does. In areas of long-range planning, in the creation of regulations, and in the protection of natural resources, the decision of who sits on the Planning Commission makes a difference, and that decision ought to belong to the voters.
The banner image is a photograph of the 2018 Planning Commission hearing a developer’s proposal for a Dollar General at the corner of Old Post Road and Narrow Lane.
July 26, 2023 @ 11:47 am
Since when do members of the town council go to court to try to overturn the outcome of duly elected officials because they don’t like the outcome? This sounds like more of a third world country than a democratic one.
In the words of Ronald Reagan, “Democracy is only one generation away from extinction”. Are we there?
July 24, 2023 @ 7:26 pm
When is the next council election? Time for these folks to go
July 24, 2023 @ 7:09 pm
Is this streaming live by chance?
July 24, 2023 @ 5:25 pm
This town council is supposed to be representing the interests of the people of Charlestown, not private investors.
This has been changing ever since Deb Carney got involved in the town council. These changes should be brought to a vote by the poeple of Charlestown.
July 24, 2023 @ 1:54 pm
Deb Carney, Maggie Hogan and their developer buddies are determined to change the character of Charlestown from its current rural nature to a fully developed urban community like Westerly, Narragansett, or South Kingstown. If they want to live in a fully developed community why don’t they go and live in one and leave Charlestown to those of us who love its rural character and who moved here for that reason.
July 24, 2023 @ 12:16 pm
It’s more like fascism than communism. .. To think Deb Carney is acting more like a MAGA Republican than the democrat I voted for, and that I signed Mageuau’s petition to get on the ballot based on family ties makes me want to puke. Abuse of power at its worse. They won’t get my support again. Isn’t there a meeting tonight at town hall? ( Monday the 24 th)?
July 24, 2023 @ 2:03 pm
The meeting time and place are at the top of this post. The Town Council will discuss this issue at the meeting tonight.
When: Monday, July 24 at 7 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Town Hall
July 24, 2023 @ 5:43 pm
Sounds like Deb Carney is posing as a Democrat to deceive the voters. Dirty politics.
July 25, 2023 @ 6:41 pm
Just another Republicrat. Seems like more Republicans are masquerading as Democrats in an effort to ease the concerns of the Democrats and lighten the blows our political system has suffered since the MAGA cult evolved. Leave Charlestown in the care of those elected legally. Don’t ruin the last Southern RI town in existence.
December 10, 2023 @ 2:45 pm
Just DemoRats showing their true colors.
They have always been tyrannical. They just hid their agenda behind popular social causes
July 24, 2023 @ 10:21 am
This proposal to have an elected Planning Commission has been reviewed 3 times and each time has been determined to be legal. To try to have this reviewed again is unconscionable. The fact that other towns are appointed does not make it right. It is wrong to take that right away from the voters and how other people do it does not make it right.
The Platform of those controlling the council says that they will listen to the voters and be open minded. They are acting exactly opposite of that, which seems to be there MO. They will have to change the Platform on which they ran for election.
July 24, 2023 @ 9:40 am
What can we do about this? What is a proper action plan? Any advice?
July 24, 2023 @ 9:00 am
Communism!
July 24, 2023 @ 4:38 am
This is just another attempt to control the voters. Carney is trying to consolidate the power of her council by taking away the power of the vote. Public scrutiny is needed to make sure the Town Council doesn’t take the peoples’ right to vote.