House minority leader calls for DOT investigation

February 12, 2016 5:30 pm

By Samantha Lavien

news@abc6.com

One day after the Governor signed the monumental RhodeWorks bill into law, the House Minority leader is calling for an investigation into the state DOT.

This comes after some House Democrats wrote letters to their constituents explaining the reasons why they planned to vote in favor of the legislation.

"I don’t know exactly what happened but it needs to be sorted out. People deserve to know," Rep. Newberry.

In his letter to the Speaker, Newberry says he learned that multiple Democratic members of the House wrote letters to constituents expressing fear that if they did not support the toll bill RIDOT might retaliate against their districts.

State Rep. Patricia Serpa wrote one of those letter. A portion reads, "If I do vote against this bill, I have an uncomfortable feeling that if I call DOT with a request for a repair or replacement in District 27, my request will not exactly be a priority."

RIDOT Director Peter Alviti calls any allegation insinuating that there would have been retaliation absolutely false.

"That notion is ridiculous," said Alviti. "The fact that the 10 year plan was laid out publically and provided to the state planning council that is a commitment on DOT’s part that every project that we are going to do for the next 10 years is clearly spelled out."

Speaker Mattiello released the following statement, “I appreciate the concerns expressed by Leader Newberry. However, I have looked into the situation and if this issue was based on actual facts, I would request that an oversight hearing be held. But I have learned that the letter was written by a few Representatives based on their own personal concerns and not on any actions taken by the DOT. I have found the DOT, under the new leadership of Director Alviti, to be very accommodating to the Representatives and the public.”

Representative Mia Ackerman released this statement, “All the Representatives have been contacted by constituents and one of my colleagues wrote a letter that I liked. I reworked it and gave it to my secretary, but unfortunately she didn’t make the changes I asked for, as evidenced by the wrong district number appearing in the letter. It went out to about a dozen people before I could correct the letter. I have never spoken to anyone at DOT or elsewhere in state government that made me feel uncomfortable. I feel badly about the misunderstanding that occurred.”

And, Representative Patricia Serpa released this statement, "I have always found DOT to be pleasant and responsive in my dealings with them. I wrote in the letter that my request may get shuffled to the bottom of the pile based solely on human nature, and not on any knowledge that I had.”