Meeting on Fung report canceled

CRANSTON, R.I. — A special meeting of the City Council to discuss a secret report on the city Police Department was called off Wednesday when council members refused to participate.

John E. Lanni Jr., president of the Democratic majority council, said a number of his members were afraid they were walking into a trap laid by Republican Mayor Allan W. Fung to have them attend a closed-door discussion that would leave them unable to talk about the report publicly.

Fung had called a special meeting for 7 p.m. at City Hall, specifying that it would be in “executive session” to talk about the controversial 180-page written assessment of the Cranston police by the state police. Council members would have been able to see the report, although they were not going to be provided take home copies.

The meeting would have been held in private in accordance with a provision of the Rhode Island Open Meetings Law allowing for a nonpublic meeting about “investigative proceedings.”

“They thought it was a ploy to keep them quiet,” Lanni said.

The meeting was canceled after Lanni said he polled the members to test their attitudes and then had council lawyer Patrick Quinlan inform the mayor’s office that they would not attend an executive session. After an executive session, the council typically votes to seal the minutes of the meeting and enters into an implicit agreement not to divulge what was discussed.

Fung, who is keeping the report secret for the time being, sent it to Atty. Gen. Peter F. Kilmartin, asking for an advisory opinion of what may be released under the provisions of the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act.

“Our office is reviewing the matter” and will render the opinion to Fung, said Kilmartin spokeswoman Amy Kempe. Asked how long it is likely to take, Kempe replied, “It will be reviewed in the normal course of business.”

The assessment covers, among other subjects, according to state police Col. Steven G. O’Donnell, surveillance of Cranston Police Department members by private detectives, allegedly illegal audio recordings by department members, a previously unknown allegation of wrongdoing that prompted the resignation of a high-ranking officer, and the security of the department’s information management system.

Robert J. Coupe, director of administration for Fung, said Wednesday night that the mayor and his aides would have tried to persuade the council in executive session of the imprudence of publicizing the report unredacted. If council members had promised to respect the privacy rights of individuals mentioned in the report, he said, then the report would have been shown to them.

There was no intent to trick the council, Coupe said.

The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, however, said Fung should promptly make public the full report.

Asking the attorney general to tell him what parts of the report would be appropriate to release is unnecessary and unwarranted and likely will significantly delay access to the report, according to the ACLU.

The civil liberties organization said Wednesday that it faxed a letter to Fung reminding him that the Access to Public Records Act outlines what information, such as personnel records and records of investigations, may be withheld from the public — not what the government must withhold. In other words, according to the ACLU, Fung has discretion to release the report unedited.

Relying on the public records law to withhold the results of the assessment would be completely inappropriate, given the public interest in the matter and the estimated $500,000-plus cost in taxpayer funds to do the assessment, the ACLU declared.

“The city should not seek to use APRA as a shield to withhold disclosure of critically important information from an investigation of alleged serious abuses of the public trust,” the letter states.

O’Donnell declined to reveal any of the assessment contents, except to say that the report contains recommendations for department improvements.

As an alternative to a meeting of the mayor and council, the mayor’s office through Deputy City Solicitor Evan Kirshenbaum agreed to provide a copy of the report to Quinlan, the council lawyer. Quinlan, it is agreed, will analyze whether its public release would be legally and practically problematic.

Quinlan then would share his impressions — but no specifics about the contents — with the council so that the council would have a better idea of the feasibility of publicizing the report

“The entire City Council is really looking for the full report unredacted,” Lanni said.

For all intents and purposes, Lanni added, the council at this point will have to wait for the advisory opinion from Kilmartin.

 gsmith@providencejournal.com

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