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Drowning in corruption in Bonnet Shores: Dr. Melissa Jenkins Mangili
Drowning in Corruption in Bonnet Shores
by Melissa Jenkins Mangili, commentary
In Narragansett, some residents have an additional layer of government. This layer, designed to support local fire protection and road services, is called a Fire District (FD). While these services are now provided by the town, it is difficult for the government to declare itself obsolete and it has assumed a new role: supporting a single business at the expense of residents. Worse, the business has now gained governmental powers by taking over the FD Council.
That’s right – Bonnet Shores residents are directly taxed and governed by investors in a private corporation.
Empowered by the General Assembly to levy taxes, enact and enforce laws, fine and imprison residents, seize property, receive state and federal grant funding, and control the use of millions of dollars’ worth of land held in trust for public use, the Bonnet Shores FD has been completely usurped by a private corporation whose stated mission is to benefit its investors. A large investor1 was appointed to chair the FD after an “election” held at the business using rules that they made up, a slate of co-investors, ballots they counted, and staff they paid. Not surprisingly, they “won” every seat.
A FD Charter from 1932 granted broad government powers and voting rights to those owning real estate “in their own right”. Subsequent Constitutional law established that property-based voting is illegal, and corporate investors do not generally own individual property. Nonetheless, investors in the Bonnet Shores Beach Club Condominium Corporation (BSCCC) began voting more than a decade ago – and nobody stopped them.
How did this happen?
Ironically enough, it started with a sewer.
By 2015, the BSCCC’s septic system had failed. They were ordered by CRMC to upgrade. Land in the area cost millions. The town sewer hookup fee for so many units would cost $3.2 million. However, if the FD allowed use of its land (a highly irregular use for land intended for public preservation) and the investment group classified itself as a single property rather than multiple units, the cost would only be around $35,000. Investors “voted” themselves into positions on the council (easily, since they dramatically outnumber residents).
Describing their investment interest as “condominium ownership” they convinced the RI Ethics Commission that they were eligible for exemption from the most basic principle of ethical governance, NOT voting in your own financial interest. As a unified investment group with shared business interests, they did not qualify for such exemption – yet it was granted.
They took control of the council, granted themselves a free easement to use public land for private profit, and hooked up to the Town sewer as a single property, saving millions. The benefits being obvious, they continued to dominate the FD.
Residents blew the whistle – loudly and repeatedly – but nobody stopped them. Every state office and agency claimed that they have “no oversight over fire districts” despite abundant rulings that these are general government agencies. There is no oversight. Residents continue to pay taxes and are subject to whatever laws these (mostly non-resident) investors make but receive no essential public services. Meanwhile, the BSBCC benefits from easements, rent-free meeting and parking space, no-bid contracts, and even grants – at the expense of all state and federal taxpayers – which purport to serve public interests but are directed, at least in part, to improvements on private property.
A legal scholar2 recently pointed out that Bonnet Shores is not the only FD using an unconstitutional Charter, and that the General Assembly has the obligation and authority to immediately and unilaterally change these Charters. While they prefer that such changes come from the district itself, it’s abundantly clear that this can’t happen in Bonnet Shores. The Council is fully corrupted; residents outnumbered 3:1 cannot address this by voting.
Legal remedies also failed. After residents won in court, a Commission to change the Charter successfully drafted a much-improved revision over 12 public meetings before presenting it to the legislature. The FD Chair/Large Investor directed large donations to the Chair and the Vice Chair of the committee charged with its vetting the night before the hearing, and both accepted. The bill died in committee and has never been re-introduced.
Civil rights have never depended upon popular vote. If they had, schools might not be integrated to this day. It’s clear that the General Assembly can act immediately and unilaterally to revise or revoke the unconstitutional FD Charter for Bonnet Shores and other districts where civil rights are being trounced using powers directly delegated by the General Assembly.
As the legal review noted, “The FD charters prove that these small bodies wield general governmental power. Therefore, their wealth-based restrictions…violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment…Since the FD charters are ultimately created and controlled by the General Assembly…the General Assembly has the obligation and power to ensure that Rhode Islanders have a democratic voice in their local governments, so it should act now.”
The vast majority (35/39) of FD’s use the same voting scheme which allows every citizen over the age of 18 who resides in the district and is eligible to vote in any general or special election in the town to vote in the FD. The General Assembly can immediately and without local input require that all Fire Districts use the same voting scheme.
Your rights should not depend on which district you live in; every Rhode Islander should have the same rights. Immediately amending unconstitutional FD Charters to allow the same rights in Bonnet Shores as in the other FDs in Rhode Island is not only fair, but perhaps the only way to fix a broken district where special interests have been allowed to take over the community despite dubious legal and ethical foundations for special interest voting in the first place.
1Narragansett Tax Assessor’s Database. Carol O’Donnell and family own 5 units in the BSCCC valued at $810,500.
2Marks, D. Sun, Surf, and Suppression: Unconstitutional Voting Restrictions in Rhode Island Beach Enclaves. Roger Williams University Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, Summer 2024.
Dr. Melissa Jenkins is a civil rights activist, full-time resident of Bonnet Shores and registered voter in Narragansett who was denied the right to vote in the Bonnet Shores FD.
Bonnet Shores despite its issues with the beach club voting right is an exceptional community with great people, beautiful homes, and terrific beaches and scenic views. It’s our little slice of paradise. The issues that divide us are exaggerated and articles like this do a huge disservice to the residents trying to work together to make a difference. The view of this author is not shared by the majority of Bonnet residents and the divisive rhetoric is counter productive. It makes compromise and problem solving harder to achieve.
Bonnet is indeed a wonderful community but a large group of investors have chosen to exploit a government entity for private profit, and nobody stopped them.
Unfortunately, many of these investors will make comments like this because they want to continue their gravy train. Fess up, Dave C.
Over 150 neighborhood residents have signed this petition demanding that the unconstitutional charter be revised or revoked.
https://chng.it/BcrNp5rDDD
An informal poll also showed that the majority of residents feel that the “Fire District” has outlived its usefulness.
It’s not a happy place when residents are harassed and even assaulted and there’s a constant police presence at Fire District Council meetings. It’s not a happy place when residents are paying $500/yr and receiving no essential public services and severe infringement on their civil rights.
It’s not a happy place at all anymore and you can thank your co-investors for trying to take advantage of an unconstitutional loophole for private profit. This is a matter of law and civil rights, not “compromise” so the gravy train can run on.
When is the State and the General Assembly, which claims to have “no oversight over fire districts”, going to realize that they DO have oversight when it comes to blatant violations of statute, court rulings and the Constitution! What has happened, and continues to happen, at Bonnet Shores is a travesty marked by personal self-interest, avarice, deceit, manipulation and a heinous disregard for the resident community. Shame on the perpetrators and shame on our representatives who sit idly by as the travesty unfolds.
Excellent & Accurate Overview of what has occurred! Corrupt R.I. General Assembly Politicians ( many of whom own Property at the Elitist Commercially Zoned Beach Club) have continued to violate the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the RI and US Constitution in direction violation of the 14 th Amendment!
How can the R.I. General Assembly Violate the State & Federal Laws they are elected to uphold? CORRUPTION!
Well said! The General Assembly must right this wrong for Bonnet Shores and all fire districts in the state.