Group seeks ethics probe of CRMC chair, others

PROVIDENCE – The Conservation Law Foundation last week asked the R.I. Ethics Commission to investigate members of the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council, citing “a history and practice of unsupportable decisions in favor of development requests, nearly all of which are linked to former Rhode Island legislators.”
The CLF praised the CRMC’s professional staff but attacked the “politically appointed council,” citing “powerful evidence of a lack of impartiality.”
In a letter to the ethics panel, the conservation group listed 18 CRMC decisions that it said were “in violation of law, unsupported by environmental science or public policy, and … against the scientific recommendation of CRMC’s professional staff.” No credible reasons were given for the decisions, the CLF wrote.
In its 14-page letter, the group also asserted that CRMC chairman Michael Tikoian has a longtime business relationship with former House Speaker Joseph DeAngelis, a lawyer with whose positions the panel often has agreed.
“This record raises serious questions about the integrity and impartiality of the council,” said Cynthia Giles, director of the CLF’s Rhode Island Advocacy Center.