NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I.-- North Providence officials met Monday to discuss their options for filling at least two vacancies on the Town Council.
Two of the Town Council members resigned in the wake of a federal corruption investigation charging them with bribery.
Council President Joseph Burchfield resigned Friday and John Zambarano stepped down over the weekend. A third council member accused in the scheme, Raymond Douglas III, has not resigned, but he faxed a letter to the mayor on Monday saying he will take a leave of absence to discuss his options with his family and lawyer.
Douglas did not indicate how long the the leave would be, but he said he would decide soon whether he will or should resign his seat.
The mayor, the town solicitor and the council vice president said they are looking at three options: allow the council to fill the unexpired terms with candidates from a list submitted by the town Democratic Party leader; let the vacancies go unfilled until the fall election; or hold a special election, which would cost the town thousands of dollars.
The mayor and the town solicitor said they have contacted the state Board of Elections for guidance.
"Hopefully, there could be a little room for us to put this election off to save the town $20,000 or $30,000. It would be very, very important to us. Those are the questions that we're asking right now that I have no answers for," Mayor Charles Lombardi said. "We need to pass a budget -- adopt a budget -- and at the same time, my concern is the additional dollars that would need to be expended for a special election."
"I think we can conduct business with the four of us if we can save the town and the taxpayers money. I think that would be the best route to go," council Vice President Manny Giusti said.
The Town Council met Monday night for a budget workshop.
Burchfield, Zambarano and Douglas are accused of accepting a $25,000 bribe from a developer to support the construction of a supermarket. The project was never built.
Douglas has asked a judge's permission to leave the state later this month for a pre-planned vacation in South Carolina. Federal prosecutors are opposing the request. A judge will consider the request at a hearing May 17.
NBC 10 went to Douglas's employer, Northeast Auto, on Monday, but a representative said he no longer worked there.
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