One year ago this month former House Speaker Gordon D. Fox pleaded guilty to bribery for accepting money to ensure a liquor-license application was approved by the city's Board of Licenses. At the time he accepted the bribe, in 2008, Fox was a state representative and vice chairman of the licensing board.
Since those and other charges that earned Fox a three-year prison sentence were first made public last March, the board has struggled with the public relations fallout. Its paid members, who earn between $19,000 and $25,000 a year, also continue to be dogged by complaints of inefficiency and an inability to get a handle on the city's growing problem of illegal nightclubs.
Mayor Jorge O. Elorza's office says it has been working to make the licensing process more user-friendly. But as far as board member Johanna Harris is concerned, the problems may be beyond repair. "In many ways, the whole system should be blown up. It's a bad system," she told PBN in this week's cover story.
The City Council responded earlier this month by hiring a law firm to conduct a comprehensive review of the board, whose members are appointed by the mayor.
There's no time to waste. City leaders must move quickly to rebuild public confidence in the board and its decisions.
As long as the belief exists, for example, that "you need to know a guy" to get a timely hearing, it will keep alive the worst perceptions of Providence as a pay-to-play city where businesses should think twice before investing. •