Tassoni

State Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr., D-Smithfield, is expected to appear before the Rhode Island Ethics Commission on Tuesday regarding his efforts to serve as a mediator in municipal labor disputes.

Tassoni, who served as business agent to Rhode Island’s largest state employee union until last spring, has formed a new company, The Sentinel Group, specializing in public relations, marketing, business development and dispute resolution. In August, he asked and was granted permission to be placed on the state purchasing division’s list of qualified arbitrators/mediators. That also enabled him to participate in the state’s master-price agreement, with listed fees of $125 per hour or $1,000 a day.

Although Tassoni lacks a college degree –– one of the minimum qualifications to get on the list –– Governor Carcieri’s director of administration, Gary Sasse, reviewed Tassoni’s application and concluded that the totality of the senator’s experience qualified him.

Tassoni, a 1976 graduate of Smithfield High School, is chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government, and a member of the Senate Labor Committee. He worked until last spring for Council 94 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees.

In his union roles, Tassoni said on his resumé, he has had to “negotiate union contracts and resolve union grievances,” as well as preparing and presenting cases for arbitration.

In October, Tassoni sought an advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission regarding whether he could serve on the list, since he is a state legislator, and also what restrictions might apply to the type of mediation work he could perform. He vowed in his letter to the commission not to accept any work mediating labor disputes at a state agency until hearing from the commission.

“Being on a list of qualified arbitrators/mediators does not constitute state employment as it is not a guarantee of income,” he wrote the commission.

A draft opinion by staff lawyer Jason M. Gramitt, circulated at the commission’s Nov. 17 meeting, said that the state Code of Ethics prohibited Tassoni, as a legislator, from being placed on the list “to resolve disputes between the state and labor unions.” The code, wrote Gramitt, would “prohibit any state elected official from seeking or accepting work from the state as an employee, independent contractor or consultant.”

The commission briefly discussed Tassoni’s request at its Nov. 17 meeting, but did not act because of a misunderstanding in his request, said Gramitt. Tassoni told the commissioners that he doesn’t intend to seek work mediating state labor disputes, but was interested in being on the list for work in municipal disputes, since communities from throughout Rhode Island use the list.

Tassoni also said that he would not mediate any disputes in Smithfield or North Smithfield, the two communities in his Senate district.

Consequently, the commission withdrew the draft advisory opinion and plans to consider a revised opinion at its meeting on Tuesday.

Gramitt said that the code does not seem to present a problem for Tassoni to mediate municipal labor disputes.

mstanton@projo.com