Chaotic, unproductive Tiverton council meetings lead to election of new president

September 7, 2017 11:39 pm

By John Krinjak

Email: jkrinjak@abc6.com

Twitter: @johnkrinjakABC6

TIVERTON, R.I. (WLNE) — After a contentious and at times raucous special meeting of the Tiverton Town Council, Denise DeMadeiros took her seat as the new president.

The meeting was called by now-former President Joan Chabat, after two councilors pulled her aside and asked her to resign.

The concern–that meetings constantly got out of control–with rudeness and a lack of decorum preventing the council from being productive.

Chabat’s critics say keeping everyone in line was up to her–and she was able to do it.

But Chabat argued she has made improvements based on feedback over the last term, and tried to shift at least some of the blame onto five brand new council members who are less familiar with the rules.

Among those new members is outspoken councilor Randy Lebeau, who accuses the members who approached Chabat about resigning of engaging in backroom politics and threatening Chabat.