An independent investigation into the award of contracts for the moving of school equipment has found no evidence of fraud or intent to personally gain, but rather that administrative oversight was lacking and the personnel involved failed to follow policy and broke the law.
The award of contracts totaling more than $400,000 to Jada Trucking – which wasn’t licensed and lacked insurance – with no competitive bidding came to light in July when another trucking company, Astro of New England LLC, which also has done work for the department, sent an email to the Warwick Beacon. Chuck Lamendola, president of Astro, said at the time he also sent the information to the school superintendent.
The story prompted Mayor Frank Picozzi to call for a state police investigation. The mayor said Chief of Staff Bill Facente received a call Tuesday from the state police that no criminal activity was found and on that basis there would be no report. Oddly, since he raised the issue, Lamendola said, he was never contacted by state police.
Picozzi noted that while Timothy Groves of the law firm of Barton Gilman, who was retained by the school department to investigate, interviewed 15 individuals and reviewed 300 pages of documents, only Steven Gothberg, director of construction and school projects, and Kevin Oliver, director of facilities and operations, were singled out in the report.
From his cursory review of the report, Picozzi questioned why contracts hadn’t come to the attention of the school purchasing agent. Picozzi also asked why more individuals had not been questioned in the school investigation.
In his seven-page report – a synopsis of the full report – Groves says that all school procurements, whether for operational or capital expenditures, “should go first to the purchasing office.” Further, he said, the actions of Oliver and Gothberg violated state law and department policy. Both, he said, acknowledged they had not followed policy and that Oliver, believing that Juda Trucking was the “preferred vendor” for moving services, initiated requisitions to of supplies to Juda, “which he knew to be owned by his first cousin, David Oliver.”
Deeper in the report, Groves writes, “Significantly, the investigation found no credible evidence that Kevin Oliver had any intention of defrauding the school district or the taxpayers to financially benefit himself or his cousin, David Oliver.” Groves notes that when Kevin Oliver believed Astro was the preferred vendor for moving, he directed work to Astro without posting it for public bidding.

No red flags

The report notes neither the purchasing office, superintendent, School Committee nor the Building Committee “even red-flagged” any of the requisitions for moving services.
“Disciplinary consequences are at the discretion of the School Committee, but regardless of the outcome, Mr. Oliver’s admitted violations of the Rhode Island Code of Ethics should be reported to the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.”
When Lamendola brought the practice to the attention of the Beacon, the school department was racing to complete renovations at Greenwood School and move Oakland Beach School, which had been operating out of the former Gorton Junior High School, back to Oakland Beach as renovations neared completion.
The department also faced a deadline to move Holliman School, where renovations are now progressing, to a temporary home at Gorton. Both Astro and Jada provided estimates for the work, but Lamendola thought they were not being fairly weighed since Jada’s bid did not contain materials [packing boxes and the like] whereas his bid did. He also pointed out that Jada did not have the required insurance and lacked a license from the Public Utilities Commission.
In his report, Groves said Gothberg “knew and fully understood that, barring some permissible exception” any recommendation for construction-related moving procurements over $10,000 should have gone out to bid.
Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur, who has earned the reputation on the council as a stickler on bids, has read the report but preferred to without comment until Picozzi meets with school administrators and members of the committee. He did say that over the years “I have had a lot of respect for Steve Gothberg and Kevin Oliver.” He said they responded to his questions and followed through on commitments.
He said the report should be a “heads up to a lot of people to follow procedures.”

Committee OK’d disciplinary action
Groves spells out procedures the school administration should consider to ensure that state law and department procedures are followed.
The final sentence of his report reads: “After considering the above recommendations, the superintendent and the School Committee accepts them in their entirety and the employees involved have been disciplined accordingly.”
Shaun Galligan, chairman of the School Committee, issued the following statement in response to questions:

"Following a thorough investigation and careful consideration, the Warwick School Committee voted 4-0 to accept the superintendent’s recommendation for discipline of the two employees involved in procurement violations. School Committee member Ms. Hazelwood recused herself and did not participate in the discussion or the vote.

“The committee acknowledges the seriousness of the findings and has taken appropriate disciplinary action. As this is a personnel matter, we will not comment further on the specifics of the discipline.

“We remain committed to ensuring that the Warwick Public Schools’ procurement processes are transparent, ethical and in full compliance with all applicable laws and policies. Moving forward, we will implement necessary measures to uphold these standards and maintain the trust of our community."