City Councilman John J. Igliozzi (Ward 7) has requested that the City Solicitor’s office provide a complete report of its progress with regard to a recent City Council resolution requesting the City Solicitor to pursue a broad range of actions pertaining to the Garcia Enterprises tax issue.

The resolution, which was adopted by the City Council on February 5, 2009, requests that the City Solicitor: 1) Engage the legal services of an independent law firm to initiate collection proceedings against Garcia Enterprises, Inc.; 2) Initiate a lawsuit against Cicilline Law Offices for breach of contract; and 3) Initiate a malpractice suit against Hodosh, Lyon & Hammer, Ltd. (formerly “Blasbalg & Hammer”). 

Igliozzi noted that an initial response from the Law Department missed the mark. “It appears the City Solicitor’s office is not following all the provisions laid out in the resolution.” The councilman explained that, “The purpose of the resolution, in addition to asking the City to continue its efforts to pursue Garcia Enterprises for the overdue taxes, is to ensure that the City aggressively pursue legal action against the attorneys who were at the heart of the collection debacle.”

Councilman Igliozzi emphasized that, “Providence taxpayers are on the hook for $135,000 in unpaid taxes and interest (which continues to accumulate), along with over $200,000 the administration spent on a ‘no-bid’ investigative report by KMPG to review the matter.”  He added that, “The entire sorry episode could have been averted if not for the direct actions of the attorneys at the two law firms. They and/or their firms must take responsibility.”

The Law Department has been requested to appear before the full Finance Committee at the March 5, 2009 meeting, to present a report explaining what steps have been taken to date to comply with the resolution. 

“The people of Providence have every right to expect aggressive action to resolve this embarrassing situation, and for those responsible to be held accountable,” Igliozzi said.