Topic of new town solicitor splits Tiverton council

The recently elected Town Council is at odds over how to proceed with hiring a new town solicitor, with a majority going along with a proposal by Council Vice President Justin Katz to interview attorney Giovanni D. Cicione on Dec. 27 and have him serve as counsel until at least the end of the fiscal year June 30.

TIVERTON — The recently elected Town Council is at odds over how to proceed with hiring a new town solicitor, with a majority going along with a proposal by Council Vice President Justin Katz to interview attorney Giovanni D. Cicione on Dec. 27 and have him serve as counsel until at least the end of the fiscal year June 30.

While four members agreed to proceed, three members didn’t think it was a good idea.

Current solicitor Anthony DeSisto’s resignation was on the council’s first meeting agenda in November, but he said his firm would stay on until a new solicitor was hired.

That could take months, council member Nancy Driggs said of the process that has been followed in the past. Having to work with the current solicitor is not acceptable, she said.

Driggs, council President Robert Coulter and Donna Cook were on the Charter Review Commission and were vocal about their legal help requests to DeSisto being ignored. That was followed by the Board of Canvassers denying a proposal to put CRC-drafted questions on the November ballot. On the advice of DeSisto, the canvassers only allowed questions the Town Council had approved for the ballot. Katz spoke in favor of the CRC proposal that sought to put 20 priority questions on the ballot.

Driggs said their relationship with DeSisto is “frustrating” and “could be characterized by a lack of trust.” DeSisto appeared in court against them in May regarding their failed proposal to put charter review-related questions on the May financial town referendum ballot.

Driggs suggested discussing a relationship with a new solicitor immediately “while we go through the process” of finding a new longer-term solicitor.

So many lawsuits are in the works that it doesn’t make sense to hire someone temporarily, the minority of the council argued.

“You can’t just pick someone out of a hat,” Councilwoman Denise deMedeiros argued. “There’s a lot going on,” she said, referring to the number of lawsuits and pending land acquisitions in the town’s industrial park.

“It will interrupt it if we have three different lawyers in three months,” deMedeiros said.

There is also a majority of new Town Council members. A new solicitor would have to be brought up to speed.

“I’d be afraid it would slow down what we have moving now,” Councilman Joseph Perry said.

DeMedeiros said she had “great trust” in the current solicitor.

“I do not,” Katz said, suggesting they have a special meeting to interview Cicione, the attorney he named.

Three or more of the new council members are involved in lawsuits against the town, Councilwoman Patricia Hilton said, and that could present a conflict.

“It’s not a matter of handing over five case files,” she said of the amount of work a new solicitor will have to prepare to take on.

Coulter mentioned wanting to reduce the legal budget.

Cicione states in a portion of his profile online: “Giovanni D. Cicione is an advisor to businesses and their owners. He has experience negotiating complex real estate and merger and acquisitions transactions, assisting new ventures, managing all aspects of deals including finance, due diligence, strategic planning, tax analysis, and government relations. He has worked on negotiations and transactions with companies ranging from small venture backed ‘start-ups’ to members of the Fortune 100.”