01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, March 15, 2007

By Maria Armental

Journal Staff Writer

CHARLESTOWN — First, residents sought recourse with the state Attorney General’s Office, filing a spate of complaints alleging violations of the Open Meetings Law.

Now the wrangling could move to a higher office, the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Rhode Island.

Town resident John J. Goodman, one of the regulars at Town Council meetings since the election, has asked U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente “to investigate the possibility of corruption, profiteering and denial of honest services in Charlestown, RI.”

“Many residents feel that important decisions affecting the future of Charlestown are being considered and enacted behind closed doors, without proper oversight, input or debate of the full Town Council and the citizens from (whom) they derive their power,” Goodman wrote to Corrente on Tuesday.

Goodman’s request was triggered by Councilman’s James M. Mageau’s published comments that he intended to forward a state general auditor’s report on the construction of the new police station and ask for an investigation under the RICO (Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization) Act.

The report found that the town violated the Town Charter by spending $257,330 more than the $3.3 million that voters had authorized. An additional $349,568 came from federal grants.

The findings sent both council factions digging through old council records, and they found proof that it wasn’t the first time a Town Council had authorized budget transfers to close the gap on a project.

“The citizens of Charlestown must demand an immediate investigation, including review by federal authorities into possible interstate racketeering violations,” Council Vice President Harriet A. Allen wrote in an e-mail regarding one finding in which $108,300 was overspent on the Buckeye Brook Road project last year.

Allen’s e-mail, which refers to an overexpenditure “cover up” and the “buying of votes,” playfully refers to Mageau’s request to send the report to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

At the state level, the Attorney General’s Office found earlier this month that the Town Council violated the law when then members-elect James M. Mageau, John O. Craig Jr., and Bruce W. Picard met at a Wakefield bar with Edward M. Barrett five days after the November election to discuss Barrett’s appointment as town administrator.

The Office is still investigating two other Open Meetings Act complaints. The first, filed on Jan. 5 by Council Vice President Harriet Allen and later joined by Council President Katharine H. Waterman, accuses Mageau and fellow councilmen John O. Craig Jr. and Bruce W. Picard of violating the act by going into a closed session on Jan. 4 without properly disclosing the reason for the meeting. The minutes from that meeting have been sealed.

The second complaint, filed on Jan. 22 by Clifford L. Vanover, accuses the three councilmen of meeting in private and without notice to discuss the appointment of the new town solicitor.

A complaint filed by Mageau on Feb. 5, accusing the Planning Commission of meeting on Feb. 21 without a quorum by relying on two alternates, is being reviewed for merit.

marmenta@projo.com