Coventry council restores public comment, dockets removal of president and solicitor, and seeks forensic audit of invoices

Vice President J.P. Verducci presided over a packed Coventry Town Council meeting where members voted to restore public comment, docket motions to consider termination of the town solicitor's contract and the removal of Council President Hillary Lima, and asked for a forensic audit of legal invoices once the unredacted documents are available.

The council unanimously voted 6-0 to suspend council rules and return public comment on undocketed items to the end of the agenda, after several council members said removing those comments had upset residents and councilors. Councilwoman Alisa Capaldi said the action was necessary because "there is never an appropriate time to silence the public, whether we agree with them or we don't." Councilman Brown added that councilors themselves were upset by the prior removal.

The meeting then focused on invoices and the town solicitor's role. Council members repeatedly criticized limitations on access to the solicitor's unredacted billing. Councilman Who (name not specified in the record) said the council had been blocked from seeing invoices and that "if you have nothing to hide, show the invoices." The council voted 6-0 to add to the next meeting agenda a motion to terminate the solicitor's contract and to open discussion of the contract at that future meeting. The council also voted 6-0 to add a separate agenda item to consider removing the council president from her leadership role.

Council members also voted to add, for consideration at the next meeting, a motion calling for a forensic audit of every unredacted invoice from the law firm of Stephen J. Angel, contingent on receipt of those invoices. That motion was seconded and passed 6-0.

Public commenters urged transparency. Resident Scott Guthrie submitted documents to the clerk that he said show the council president and solicitor relied on outside model rules and suggested bills and records had been removed from public custody; the council voted 6-0 to add his submitted documents to the record. Multiple residents warned against removing public access to records and urged protection of any invoices and related materials so they remain available for review.

Town Manager Perillo confirmed that recent invoices already produced to the town had been paid after approval by the council president. Council members said they want full unredacted invoices returned to the town so the council can consider them and, if necessary, authorize an audit.

The council followed procedure discussed in the meeting: as Vice President Verducci noted, items added to an agenda by majority vote may be informational only and cannot be voted on at the same meeting except in specific emergency circumstances referenced to a statute cited in the meeting. Several councilors emphasized that the docketed motions are intended to bring the matters to a properly noticed vote at the next meeting.

The council took no immediate action to remove any official at the meeting; all actions were to add the matters to the next meeting's agenda for formal votes. The motions to suspend rules, restore public comment, docket termination of the solicitor's contract, docket removal of the council president, request a forensic audit, and add public documents to the record all passed unanimously among the six members present.

The council also set expectations about process: members said they want the unredacted invoices in town custody before commissioning any outside review and requested that staff provide estimates and cost guidance for a forensic audit so the council can consider funding options at the next meeting.

The council adjourned after handling these governance items; the docketing votes mean several formal votes and a potential contract termination or personnel action will be considered at the next publicly noticed meeting.

Ending

The council's actions at this meeting were procedural steps to bring questions about legal billing, records access and leadership to formal votes at a subsequent meeting. No personnel were removed or contracts terminated at this session; members voted to schedule those matters for future hearings once required documents and fiscal details are available.