Rule change withdrawn at Providence City Council meeting

Three days after former Providence City Council President Luis Aponte resigned from his leadership role, he skipped a special meeting held to vote on changing the rules.

The meeting was called to vote on a rule change that would allow the removal of the city council President. Majority Leader Bryan Principe withdrew that request saying it was no longer necessary.

“We are not going to be in this sort of position again. These are unusual circumstances that are behind us,” said Principe.

The change would have allowed a President to be removed from power if 2/3 of the members vote on it.

Acting Council President Sabina Matos did not think that was necessarily the right option. But, she tells ABC 6 News she does think a rule change of some type should be looked into.

"I myself was very concerned with the rule. This was just a last resort,” said Matos. “I think we should update the rules so we can avoid any situation similar to this in the future.”

Aponte did not respond to our request for comment.

It’s not clear yet when a vote will be held for a permanent replacement to fill the role as President.

(C) WLNE 2017