October 2, 2007
Contact: Arthur C. Barton 323-1148
Download this press release HERE

On October 1, 2007, Arthur “Chuck” Barton, President of Operation Clean Government, called for Senator Stephen Alves to step down from his role as head of the Senate Finance Committee. “While credible allegations of outrageous abuse of his leadership position remain unresolved, Alves needs to step aside from his leadership role to try to salvage some credibility for the Senate,” said Barton. “With the criminal conviction of Senator Celona for abuse of his office, the fine paid by Senate President Montalbano for ethics violations, and the pending conflict of interest charges against former Senate President Irons and Senator Ciccone, the Rhode Island Senate is operating under a dark cloud which is made darker by the allegations against Senator Alves. Out of respect for the Senate and the importance of his role as head of the Finance Committee, Alves should remove himself from that position. If he does not, Senate President Montalbano needs to remove Alves to show a concern for the already documented abuse of leadership positions in the Senate.”

In the Providence Journal on Sunday September 30, 2007, Mike Stanton reported that credible named sources reported that Senator Alves killed legislation that would have benefited municipalities that did not give Alves, in his job as an investment adviser, the job of managing pension investments. While the focus of the article was the failure of Johnston, which chose other brokers to manage its investments, to gain tax breaks for a new business moving into the city, there were also suggestions of retribution against Woonsocket for that city’s failure to do business with Alves. These allegations come on top of reports of a questionable fee paid by Prudential Securities for undetermined services by Alves in winning business from a union and an outburst at a West Warwick council meeting in December where he threatened the political future of councilors who did not vote for his choice as town prosecutor.

“If Senator Alves is using his leadership position to reward those who do business with him and punish those who do not, he is serving with the basest motives of self-interest without any concern for the citizens of Rhode Island or his constituents in West Warwick. Anything he does for his constituents would appear to only be motivated to continue as a Senator in order to extort business and payments from those who need his influence as a leader in the Senate,” said Barton.

“What is discouraging,” Barton continued, “ is that Senate President Montalbano and the others defending themselves against ethics charges are claiming that votes in the General Assembly cannot be questioned – the so-called ‘speech in debate’ clause in the Rhode Island constitution. I expect that Senator Alves will adopt a similar position regarding his actions– that unless there is a very specific bribe, legislators are not subject to any legal consequences. Now is the time for leaders of the Senate, including Montalbano, to take a stand to uphold a standard of behavior for themselves. Where is the outrage from those who are tarred with the same brush from being associated with the conviction of Senator Celona and the allegations against Senator Alves, Senator Ciccone and former Senate President Irons? When will the Republicans and Democrats who do not and would not enrich themselves at the expense of the public interest speak up?”

The OCG President commented that the allegations are coming from elected Democratic officials and their operatives. “The issue is not one of partisan politics, but of public interest versus private gain at public expense,” said Barton. “The longer Senator Alves remains in a leadership role, the more the public will be convinced that the Rhode Island Senate, if not the entire government, is for sale. While Alves continues in his key role, the Senate looks like a third world dictatorship where the leaders milk the public and the treasury for all that they can while they can. The allegations against Alves may be erroneous, but they are credible. If Senator Alves does not care enough about Rhode Island and his own reputation to step aside, then Senate President Montalbano should care enough about the reputation of the Senate to remove him unless and until Senator Alves is cleared of the allegations swirling about him.”