Rhode Island
Providence city councilor sues McKee for firing him over pro-Palestine stance • Rhode Island Current
![Providence city councilor sues McKee for firing him over pro-Palestine stance • Rhode Island Current Providence city councilor sues McKee for firing him over pro-Palestine stance • Rhode Island Current](https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/MiguelSanchez.jpg)
Providence City Councilor Miguel Sanchez maintained he had no regrets for the pro-Palestine activism that led to his firing from Gov. Dan McKee’s office in October.
Now, he wants his job back, along with back pay and damages for the “mental anguish” and free speech violations from his firing, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on Monday.
The 15-page complaint against McKee and two of his top advisors, Joseph Almond and Antonio Afonso, alleges the state administrators violated free speech protections under the First and 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by firing Sanchez over his social media posts and participation in a pro-Palestine rally in October.
“The First Amendment does not allow government employers to ‘silence discourse, not because it hampers public functions but simply because superiors disagree with the content of employees’ speech,” the complaint states, referring to a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling protecting a Texas county constable’s clerical employee who was fired over a private comment she made about then-President Ronald Regan.
The complaint also describes Sanchez’ firing as “viewpoint discrimination.”
Sanchez was hired by the governor’s office in 2021 to work in the governor’s Constituent Services Office, earning $50,000 a year for an administrative position answering phone calls that was likened to “tech support” in the complaint. The position was not political, and the governor’s office had never taken issue with Sanchez’ personal politics previously, even after he was elected to the Providence City Council in 2022.
After the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, Sanchez made a series of social media posts condemning violence and called for a cease-fire. He also shared a video from a pro-Palestine rally held outside the Rhode Island State House on Oct. 21. While the rally was reported to have included antisemitic chants, Sanchez “did not engage or advocate for any violence, intimidation, harassment, or anything other than peaceful marching,” the complaint stated.
Two days after the rally, McKee’s legislative director, Rico Vota, brought in Sanchez for questioning. Rota told Sanchez it was “inappropriate” to publicly state an opinion at odds with McKee, and to refrain from additional social media posts. Vota also told Sanchez his behavior could “complicate” Sanchez’s pending application to transfer to a job with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.
Sanchez complied, refraining from social media posts and forwarding press inquiries to McKee’s advisors, according to the complaint. After a story highlighting his previous, social media posts, including from the rally, was published in the Providence Journal, Sanchez was again called in by McKee’s advisors, and fired.
During that final meeting, Sanchez alleges he was denied the opportunity to speak to human resources or a legal advisor. The complaint also states he was asked if he took down his prior social media posts, even though he was never asked to previously.
His firing, with a week of severance, was confirmed by McKee’s administration on Nov. 1.
The complaint asks the court to award back pay and compensation for Sanchez’s subsequent job search and force McKee’s office to reinstate Sanchez.
Sanchez now works as a case manager for Better Lives Rhode Island, a Providence social services agency. He declined to comment on the lawsuit on Wednesday.
McKee’s office did not immediately return inquiries for comment. The defendants had not filed a response in court as of Wednesday morning.
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Rhode Island
Washington County Fair is back in Richmond for 58th year | ABC6
![Washington County Fair is back in Richmond for 58th year | ABC6 Washington County Fair is back in Richmond for 58th year | ABC6](https://www.abc6.com/content/uploads/2023/08/k/s/b8e761575223c1859fea978a1ceeaf391415882a.jpg)
RICHMOND, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island’s largest agricultural event is back for its 58th year.
The Washington County Fair begins today at 8 a.m. and will run until 10 p.m. on Sunday, August 18.
The event, located at 78 Richmond Townhouse Road, includes access to all day events.
The fair includes concerts, special acts and events, the giant midway and kiddy land area, agricultural events, tractor and horse pulls, a farm museum, and much more.
Richmond is in the process of constructing a roundabout at the intersection of Routes 138 and 112, (also known as known as Kingstown Road and Carolina Nooseneck Road-Richmond Townhouse Road).
The construction may affect traffic patterns for people heading to the fair.
![](https://www.abc6.com/content/uploads/2024/08/q/e/342224119-975844193827969-8268751284635322409-n-300x213.jpg)
(Courtesy of Rhode Island Department of Transportation)
The fair sees over 130,000 visitors yearly.
More info on the event can be found here.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island FC 3 – Hartford Athletic 0: 3 Hartford Thoughts
![Rhode Island FC 3 – Hartford Athletic 0: 3 Hartford Thoughts Rhode Island FC 3 – Hartford Athletic 0: 3 Hartford Thoughts](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1200,h_600,c_fill,f_jpg,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa8a68e83-ed38-4757-acea-e5eeea00cc07_3672x2579.jpeg)
Following a brief spell of more encouraging results, Hartford Athletic returned to form with a dispiriting 3-0 loss away at RIFC on Saturday. Wasted opportunities in a reasonably balanced first half gave way to a second period totally dominated by the hosts and the Latics return to Trinity Health Stadium with whatever good feeling had been generated in the last few weeks having totally evaporated.
Here are three thoughts on the performance and what it says about where the club is right now.
1 – Nobody Consistently On The Same Page
One major source of Hartford’s problems on Saturday night — and most nights — is that they don’t seem to have quite come together as a team in any phase of the game. It was visible defensively in Rhode Island both from open play — where it was far too easy for RIFC to work the ball into the box — and from set pieces where again it was simply too easy for the hosts to get a free header. Going the other way, the players seemed to be on different pages more often than the same one, leading several promising transitional opportunities to be squandered as the ball was played to nobody or a runner was missed.
Part of this is almost certainly due to the lack of a settled first eleven; without consistent competitive minutes together it’s difficult for any group of players to really settle in. The reasons for this unsettled-ness are varied.
Injuries have played a role, but the club has already dispensed with three players — Romario Williams, Jay Chapman, and Rece Buckmaster — who were presumptive starters at the beginning of the season, and the turnover has also contributed to the problem.
2 – Profligacy Continues To Be Problem
It’s no surprise that this side would waste valuable opportunities as that’s been another theme all season. On Saturday it was Deshane Beckford and Mamadou Dieng who spurned golden chances and the game might have looked very different if either had converted and the teams had been level at the half.
In this case, it’s tempting to say that it’s unsurprising: Beckford has never been a truly clinical finisher and it may very well be that Dieng will never develop that instinct. It’s not merely one or two players.
Nobody has seemed particularly confident or comfortable in front of goal all season, including the now-departed Romario Williams who had previously been one of the most consistent and efficient scorers in the history of the league. On some nights, Hartford struggles to generate meaningful chances but on others the chances are there and the players are simply unable to convert them. Even a league-average attack would put this club in a much better position and the inability to be even league-average — particularly given Brendan Burke’s track record — is deeply concerning.
3 – What Happens Now?
The season isn’t truly over — the hallmark of lower division football is that teams collapse or go on hot streaks from seemingly nowhere and with 12 games to play it’s too early to entirely turn out the lights — but it is a big mountain to climb. Absent a sudden run of results that mountain might become insurmountable over the next few weeks and it’s fair to ask what the Latics are going to do next. It seems likely — at this point — that Brendan Burke will return for 2025, in which case there’s a real need to finish this season with an eye toward the next. Significant changes will be needed to this roster (once again) but the players who are going to be back should gobble up the bulk of the minutes.
It’s perhaps also worth seeing if Dantouma Toure, Pele Ousmanou or Ian Shaul has anything to offer. The squad is rather light at the moment to talk about offloading any more players but if there are opportunities to move on from veterans who are not going to return in 2025 it would make sense to do so. It’s equally unlikely that there will be a chance to acquire anyone with a view to next year but if an opportunity presents itself, it would also make sense to seize it.
Rhode Island
Superior Court judge upholds Barrington property owners’ right to block public access to seawall • Rhode Island Current
![Superior Court judge upholds Barrington property owners’ right to block public access to seawall • Rhode Island Current Superior Court judge upholds Barrington property owners’ right to block public access to seawall • Rhode Island Current](https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Nayatt-road-1024x613.png)
If it’s not in writing, you can’t enforce it.
So ruled Rhode Island Associate Justice Kristen Rodgers in an Aug. 9 decision, affirming a Barrington couple’s argument that they should not have to maintain a public access walkway along a seawall at the edge of their property because the public access permit wasn’t included in land records until years later.
Rodgers’ 18-page order overturns a December decision by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, calling its decree to maintain public access to the seawall “non-sensical” and “in no support of the law.”
“Accepting CRMC’s conclusion would mandate that every unrecorded interest in property will ultimately become enforceable against bona fide purchaser for value whenever that unrecorded interest surfaces,” Rodgers wrote in the decision.
CRMC affirms public access along Barrington seawall despite lack of documentation
The ruling is the latest twist in a three-year battle between state coastal regulators and Holly and Lance Sheffield, who purchased the six-bedroom home on Barrington’s Nayatt Road in May 2021. The couple has insisted in oral and written testimony that they had no idea the 430-foot-long seawall separating their property from Narragansett Bay must include a 2-foot-wide public path to the adjacent public access point on Elm Lane.
Daniel Procaccini Jr., the attorney representing the Sheffields, said his clients were pleased with the decision.
“The Court recognized what they have said from the very beginning—CRMC cannot enforce an unrecorded assent against unknowing, innocent homeowners,” Procaccini said in an email Tuesday. “It is disappointing that my clients had to spend the better part of 3 years litigating this issue through multiple appeals to obtain a ruling that was obvious from the outset. The Sheffields are now looking forward to putting this issue behind them and to enjoying the same level of privacy that any homeowner could expect.”
But the dispute may not be settled.
“The CRMC is reviewing the court’s decision and is considering appealing it to the Supreme Court,” Laura Dwyer, an agency spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday.
The 1982 permit requiring the public access point was never entered into land records, because state law didn’t require such recordings until 1988. Further obscuring access to the information were subdivisions of the land and multiple sales since the 1982 permit.
But after the couple put up wire fencing, cameras, and later a security guard to block alleged “trespassers,” state coastal regulators intervened, issuing a pair of cease and desist orders in September 2021 and May 2022 based on the 1982 public access permit.
The dispute landed in Providence County Superior Court in March 2023 because the council failed to respond to the Sheffields’ petition to administratively dismiss the public access requirement within the time frame set out by state law. A judge sent the issue back to the CRMC in November 2023 with a strict, 20-day deadline to make its decision. The council upheld public access to the path, maintaining that the Sheffields’ plea of ignorance did not let them flout state law enshrining shoreline access. Less than a week later, the Sheffields through their attorney appealed the decision back to Superior Court. The December complaint alleges the council was “arbitrary, capricious and legally erroneous,” pointing to the lack of case law or state statute cited by the council to back up its decision.
“Indeed, in CRMC’s revisionist history, it appears no court had any occasion to comment on this unique exception to an otherwise well-understood and broadly applicable doctrine,” the complaint states.
The CRMC in response pointed to new evidence shared in the Sheffields’ court testimony — but not previously included in its public decision process — regarding Holly Sheffield’s familiarity with state coastal regulations; in other words, she should have known to investigate potential rules around the seawall. The CRMC argued the omitted information meant the decision should be sent back (again) to the state agency.
But Rodgers disagreed, instead siding with the Sheffields based on state law allowing for judicial review when all other administrative options for contested cases were “exhausted.”
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