A Westerly Town Council member is calling for the council to be reorganized and a new president elected because of an “unglued, profanity-laced tirade” directed at him immediately after an executive session meeting on July 10.
Council member Dylan LaPietra said council President Edward Morrone used “extreme profanity” and “repeatedly challenged me to go outside and fight him.”
“He told me that, even though he was 74 years old, he would kick my a– outside,” LaPietra said. “He challenged me to a fight so many times that I had to actually reply to him: ‘No, I don’t want to go outside.’”
LaPietra added, “It was very unprofessional, disconcerting, and shows behavior, I would say, wouldn’t be fit for his position.”
Morrone did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Another council member present, William Aiello, said he could not recall specific words that Morrone used after the executive session, including if Morrone specifically said fight, but he confirmed Morrone made threats to LaPietra and was acting in a physically intimidating manner.
“I do know that he called him outside – ‘step outside,’ or ‘let’s go outside,’ or something to that effect,” Aiello said. “I don’t recall if Ed actually poked Dylan or not. But obviously he got in his face…I just call it the puffy chest behavior.”
Aiello called Morrone’s behavior “shocking” and “explosive,” and said that he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.
“We’ve all seen each other a little upset now and then, but I’ve never seen the verbal and physical actions to that degree,” Aiello said, referring to council dynamics.
LaPietra and Aiello would not comment for this story on what led to the outburst, because it followed a closed door discussion.
But LaPietra said he didn’t say anything to Morrone “outside my town council duties that would have warranted a response like that.”
Aiello said LaPietra maintained his composure during Morrone’s outburst and didn’t escalate the situation.
[DISCLOSURE: LaPietra is a tax preparer at Westerly Tax Group and has previously prepared the author’s income taxes.]
Council members Joy Cordio and Kevin Lowther were also present during the outburst but would not comment for this story. Councilors Mary Scialabba and Phil Overton were not at the meeting.
Under Rhode Island public records law, The Public’s Radio sought copies of non-privileged audio recordings from the executive session and audio recorded after the executive session ended but was denied on both requests.
The council had gone into executive session to discuss a personnel matter, and two separate cases under litigation. One of the agenda items was the lawsuit filed against the town of Westerly and state of Rhode Island by the Watch Hill Fire District and Watch Hill Conservancy, seeking to invalidate a right-of-way to the Napatree Point beach and conservation area Westerly designated public in 2008.
The lawsuit, filed in May, has caused division in Westerly and on the town council, and focused new public scrutiny on Morrone, who owns a home in the Watch Hill Fire District and previously worked as a consultant for the fire district and conservancy. Public records show he was paid $30,000 by the fire district prior to returning to the council in 2022.
Shoreline access advocates have called on Morrone to recuse himself from the case, which he has refused to do, citing guidance from the town solicitor, William Conley. More recently, activists have been pushing for the council to seek outside counsel in the case because of skepticism about Conley’s history handling rights-of-way issues in Westerly and questions about his experience. That criticism led Conley to publicly defend his credentials at a council meeting last month in which he cited his firm’s litigation caseload and a Hall of Fame honor he received from Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly.
When the town council returned to its open meeting following the closed door session on July 10, Morrone was no longer present and LaPietra voted not to seal the minutes related to discussions about the Watch Hill right-of-way case. He was out-voted by the other councilors.
The Westerly Town Council meets again on Monday, and could go into executive session on the fire district lawsuit, which was put on the agenda as a possible subject for closed door discussions.
Both LaPietra and Aiello said they haven’t spoken with Morrone about the outburst at the July 10 meeting.
When asked if he thinks councilors should consider reorganizing the council following Morrone’s outburst, Aiello said, “I think the behavior that was exhibited, the verbal and physical, needs to be addressed. This isn’t something that we can just ignore. I think it’s something that the council needs to address with whatever outcome.”
Alex Nunes can be reached at anunes@thepublicsradio.org
