VIDEO: GoLocal News Editor Blocked from Attending City Hall Meeting on Regulating Clubs

VIDEO: GoLocal News Editor Blocked from Attending City Hall Meeting on Regulating Clubs

GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle was blocked from attending a “working group” meeting at Providence City Hall to discuss and set policy on the regulation of the club industry. A meeting by state law that should have been accessible to the public and the media.

Council President Sabina Matos scheduled the meeting — which was not publicly noticed. While the press and the public were blocked from attending Matos’ “working group” meeting, two controversial political Providence players were going into Matos' office suite behind closed doors — one of Matos’ campaign donors who was tied to the ethics violation of former Council President Luis Aponte and the other a major club owner. His establishment has been linked to multiple stabbings in or just outside his club.

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SEE MATOS INTERVIEW BELOW

“It’s a working group. It's not a commission. It's not a committee that requires a notice to be posted," said Matos. "It's just a working group of internal, mostly internal members of the staff, trying to figure out and hear from them what can we do to make improvements in the process.

When Matos was asked if the group would be open to the public in the future Matos said, “No, not right now."

"It's going to be an internal working group right now, we don't have any intention of doing an open process," said Matos. "Recommendations will be made public, and there will be an opportunity for the community...to come give feedback."

When asked if working groups were under the open meeting law, Matos said they are not.

But, according to state law, a “'Meeting’ means the convening of a public body to discuss and/or act upon a matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. As used herein, the term ‘meeting’ expressly includes, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, so-called ‘workshop,’ ‘working,’ or ‘work" sessions.’”

Donors and Club Owner

Hidden behind closed doors was Keith Fernandes, the president of the Providence Apartment Association and Anthony Santurri, one of the top club owners in Providence.

Fernandes is a major donor to city council members and Mayor Jorge Elorza and was tied to former City Council President Luis Aponte’s state ethics code violation. The Ethics Commission found that in April of 2016, Aponte voted to amend zoning changes that would impact the property of his landlord Fernandes.

Fernandes has donated more than $2,000 to Elorza and has made five donations to Matos totaling $625.  Like Fernandez, Santurri is a significant donor to Providence council members and mayors. He has given $500 to Matos and thousands more to Elorza and other city council members. 

Club Colosseum on Pine Street has been a site for numerous acts of violence including stabbings in both 2014 and 2016. One of the incidents made national news. 

At 4:30 PM, when GoLocal arrived to attend the working group meeting, it was first scheduled for hearing room B. But when GoLocal arrived to cover the meeting, the group was hurried into Matos' private office in the City Council suite behind locked doors, which require visitors to be buzzed in.  Once in the office, Matos’ Chief-of-Staff Erlin Rogel block Nagle’s entrance into the meeting.

Dylan Conley, the Chair of the Board of Licenses who on Monday had proposed a "24-hour" club zone -- before Matos announced the creation of the "night life working group" -- came late to the meeting. 

Matos told Nagle after the meeting that meeting was a “working group” and that it was closed to the public and to the media.  This was in stark contrast to what her press spokesman had told GoLocal both earlier in the day and before the meeting began.

Different Stories, Matos and Spokesman Have Different Stories

On Wednesday morning, press secretary to Council President Sabina Matos, Billy Klepner told GoLocal about the meeting to be held in City Hall on Wednesday — but that press and public would not be allowed. 

Klepner said that the group was meeting to discuss how the group would be structured moving forward -- and that the council would announce what came out of the discussion at the meeting. "It's not actually a working group meeting, its a meeting to form the working group," said Klepner.