A vote to extend the state of emergency in Middletown for an additional five weeks passed by the slimmest possible margin at the Aug. 17 meeting of the Town Council, with three dissenting members venting frustration on continuing the declaration while others in the public and private sector have moved or are moving to reopen their doors.
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, the Town Council declared by unanimous vote a state of emergency, which affords municipal executive officers, in this case town administrator Shawn Brown, broader powers to issue regulations rather than seek approval through elected bodies. This flexibility is needed, according to state and local officials, to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Gov. Gina Raimondo had encouraged Rhode Island’s cities and towns to declare their own local states of emergency after her executive order in March. These orders have been reaffirmed continuously, the latest one signed on Aug. 7, extending it to Sept. 2.
Middletown first declared a state of emergency on March 16, setting up a center of operations at the Fire Department headquarters. Successive orders closed Town Hall and limited parking access to beaches, parks and playgrounds. These temporary regulations have been occasionally augmented over time. Brown said that the town has been following the state’s lead mainly from the Rhode Island Department of Health and Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Middletown’s public meetings have been all remote since March.
The council had unanimously voted for extensions until Aug. 17, when Vice-President Paul Rodrigues and councilors Theresa Santos and Dennis Turano voted against the motion. Brown, who is away on vacation, was absent from the meeting.
“I have patiently waited for [an answer] to the question of why we continue to do this and the answer I got was that we may not receive the [supplemental] funding,” said Rodrigues before the vote. “And that’s O.K. if that’s the case. But someone needs to show me that in writing. Show me some other places that are open that are not going to receive funding. I find that hard to believe.”
Town Hall is currently closed to the public. Town clerk Wendy Marshall said that voters submitting emergency ballots beginning on Aug. 19 will use the side doors.
Portsmouth extended its emergency order until Aug. 29. In Newport, the current order is in place until Aug. 24.
Brown has previously said that these emergency declarations will make it easier for the town to receive reimbursement for costs related to COVID-19 mitigation, most notably from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which made funds available after President Trump issued an emergency disaster declaration for Rhode Island in March.
But some council members have been skeptical that any federal funds will trickle down to Middletown. Rodrigues had previously vowed to vote against any future extensions, although he joined in the previous unanimous vote on July 6. He said it was time to move on .“I’m just a little bit annoyed,” he said. “Town Hall is not open. I go to work every day out in public and everyone else goes to work every day in public. The library is open. I just don’t understand this. I had a resident text me asking why they could go to Home Depot but can’t go to Town Hall. I’m not supporting it any longer.”
With the state budget yet to be passed by the General Assembly and future congressional relief legislation in limbo, Rhode Island municipalities are in a waiting game as they work to plug holes due to decreased revenue.
And skepticism about federal relief on the way is not limited to three Middletown councilors. According to the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, Rhode Island is one of only three states, along with New York and New Jersey, that has not directed any of the $1.25 billion from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund established in the CARES Act to local communities. Messages to Raimondo’s office asking for comment on how local declarations may affect funding were not immediately returned.
State Sen. Lou DiPalma said that while CARES Act funding has not been allocated to Rhode Island municipalities directly, some funds have been given to school districts to help with COVID-19-related expenses. During an Aug. 18 phone conversation, he said that while state emergency declarations are often a requisite for disaster relief, it is not a requirement on the local level.
“The most important piece [of municipal emergency declarations] is non-monetary. It’s the ability to appropriately control what happens from the governmental perspective,” he said, “what you can do without having to go through the town charter.”
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